analogs to the san andres horizontal play? a fresh look at ... · the six-county study area1...
TRANSCRIPT
Analogs to the San Andres Horizontal Play?
A Fresh Look at the Glorieta – Yeso Play in
Southeastern New Mexico
December 2018
Steve Melzer*
Evan Allard**
With Considerable Assistance & Advice from R. Trentham, UTPB
* Consulting Geological Engineer
** Summer Intern, CO2 ROZ Conference and Graduating Senior, UTPB
Outline of Talk
• Introduction
• Benchmarking: The San Andres ROZ
• The Permian Basin Carbonate Shelf Settings
• The Two San Andres ROZ Plays
• The Story of Two Different Sub-Basins (Midland &
Delaware)
• The Glorieta-Yeso (ROZ?) Play
• Passing Comments on the Deeper Abo Formation
“Flip” Your Mind to ROZ Thinking
• Transition Zone (TZ) Thinking has long been a
Hindrance to Advancing Reservoir Understanding in the
O&G Industry
• Having said that, Transition Zones Do Exist!
• Residual Oil Zones (ROZs) are a Broader Concept
– Reservoir Rocks and Oils Are Often Affected by Mother Nature’s
Water Flooding
– Can be Much Thicker and Have Substantial Economic Value
– Are Most Often Due to Later-stage Tectonics (Post-Entrapment)
– Can Occur Where no Main Pay Zones Exist (“Greenfields”)
• Opening One’s Mind to the Reservoir Evolution and
Changing Properties Above Can be Essential
Paleogeographic
Map of the
Permian Basin
with its Two
Major Sub-
basins
(Delaware and
Midland) and
Nearby Regions
Permian Basin
Stratigraphic Chart*
(Permian Only)
* Adapted from Kerans, C. C., Bureau of Economic
Geology, PBGSP Annual Meeting, 2/27-2/28/06, Austin, TX
The Two San Andres ROZ Plays
1) CO2 EOR
2) Horizontal Well Depressuring
The San Andres ROZ Mapping
Yoakum
County
Examples: ROZ Profile Types (Greenfields)
The
Seminole
ROZ
The Idealized Seminole ROZ (Type A Profile)
~250’ Thick
1) CO2 EOR in the ROZ
2) The Horizontal San Andres (ROZ) Play
The Six-County Study Area1 Together with the
Horizontal Wells and Mapping2 of the San Andres
Residual Oil Zones
1 Residual Oil Drives New Resource Play, Melzer, L.S. (2018), Amer Oil & Gas Reporter, Oct (PBIOS) Edition, October 2018
2 Identifying and Developing Technology for Enabling Small Producers to Pursue the Residual Oil Zone (ROZ) Fairways in the Permian Basin San Andres
Formation, Trentham, R.C., Melzer, L.S. & Vance. D. (2016), Research Partnership to Secure Energy for America and U.S. Dept of Energy Final Report,
www.netl.doe.gov/file%20library/research/oil-gas/10123-17-final-report.pdf
450 Laterals
Making
35,000 bopd
as of May ’18
We Need to Show How the San
Andres ROZ Studies Provide Insights
to Another On-going Horizontal Play
but First:
The Story of Two Different Permian
Sub-Basins
(Midland & Delaware)
The Two Sub-Basins
• The Western (Delaware) Sub-basin of the
Permian Basin was a very Deep Basin in the
Late Pennsylvanian and Early Permian Ages
• The Eastern (Midland) Sub-basin was Shallower
• The Wolfcampian Series (Late Pennsylvanian
and very Early Permian was the era when both
Sub-basins began to fill
• The Midland Sub-basin Filled First and the
Delaware Much Later
Basin Geometry Impacts on
Commerciality
• The Deeper the Basin, the Thicker the Source of
Hydrocarbons
• The Deeper the Basin, the Steeper the Basin
edge Slopes are to the Rimming Sediments
(Carbonate Shelves)
• The Deeper the Basin, the More Likely there are
Stacked Reservoirs in the Carbonate Shelves
since the Geographical Position of the Basin
Rims Remain Relatively Fixed*
* We are assuming here that subsidence and/or uplift tectonics are relatively inactive as the Basin Fills
Conceptualized Image of Stacked Reservoirs at
the Shoreline Around a Deep Basin
Regions of
“Stacked”
Reservoirs
In Shallower Basins…
• The Slopes to the Basin Sediments are gentler
and the Rimming Sediments Prograde into the
Basin as the Basin Fills
• The Area Occupied by the Basin Shrinks over
Time
• The Midland Basin Shows this Trend During the
Periods from the Wolfcamp through Lower San
Andres to Grayburg
This Looks at the Midland Sub-basin
Meanwhile, the
Delaware Sub-basin
remained of Relatively
Constant Size
* Adapted from Original Work by Bob Ward, Gulf Oil, Pers. Comm, 1992. Modified by Bob Trentham, 2007
*
Image of Prograding Basinward Reservoirs
at the Shoreline Around a Shallow Basin
Note the Huge
Expanses of the
Flat Carbonate
Shelf (Sabkha)
Animation of the Interglacial Flooding Event in Lower San Andres
To see animation of interglacial flooding in the Lower San Andres, see “Interglacial Flooding” Animation at http://melzerconsulting.aptapb.com/residual-oil-zones/
Deep and Shallow Basins: Rimming Shelves
The Effect of the Depth of the Basin on the
Shelf Surrounding the Basin Can Be Dramatic
• The Width of the Inner and Outer Carbonate Ramps (IR & OR) where the Reservoir Quality Rocks (i.e., missing the finer-grained sediments) are located can be much wider
• Geological Time Scale Sea Level Changes (even fairly minor ones) can broaden the Reservoir Quality Rock in IR & OR
• The Salt Flats or Sabkha can be Very Large in Areal Extent
Carbonate Shelves Rimming Deep and Shallow Basins
Deep Basin
To see animation of deep vs shallow Basin Effects on the carbonate shelf reservoirs, see “Deep & Shallow Basin”
Animation at http://melzerconsulting.aptapb.com/residual-oil-zones/
Deep Basins:Why is this Important?
• Deep Basins have Huge Thicknesses of Organic-rich
Sediments that can Hold Large Volumes of Oil to be
Exploited with Horizontal Wells
• Those Basins are Rimmed with Stacked Reservoirs
which can be Receptacles for Migrated Oil and be
Accessed with Single Vertical Wells
• An Analog to this is the Delaware Sub-basin, its
Northwestern Shelf and West Side of the Central Basin
Platform
Shallow Basins:Why is this Important?
• Shallow Basins have Wide (Lateral) Expanses of Reservoir Quality Rocks
• Sea Level Changes can Provide Reservoir Quality Rocks Over Large Lateral Distances
• Large Expanses of Reservoir Quality Rocks can Host Very Large Volumes of Oil and Provide Avenues (Flush Fairways) for Natural Water Floods Leading to Large Areal Extents of Residual Oil Zones
• An Analog to this is the Midland Sub-basin and its North Shelf and East Side of the Central Basin Platform
The Glorieta – Yeso
Horizontal Play
Key Diagnostics for Identifying (Type 3)
Carbonate Reservoir ROZsUsing Experience from the San Andres ROZ Studies
• Excellent Mud Logs Shows of Oil (and Gas) but Drill Stem Tests and/or Production Tests Making only Sulfur Water w/ a “Trace of Oil”
• Conventional Whole Core Test Results with 8-20% Oil Saturations (So) – Oil Wet Rock
• Reservoir Trends Showing ‘Fairways’ (allows Sweep Pathways)
• Tilted Oil/Water Contacts for the Main Pay Zones
• Horizontals Making Large Volumes of Sulfur Water often with Delayed Oil Production that is Sour Oil
• Pervasive Dolomitic Lithologies
• Slightly Low to Very Low Produced Water Salinities When Compared to MPZs
• Suppressed Methane & Enhanced H2S, CO2 & NGL Gas Compositions
• Bow-shape Porosity and Resistivity Logs
Additional Factors to ConsiderInterbedded (or Stacked) MPZs and ROZs
• Andrews County San Andres and the Gl-Yeso Formation
Profiles Occasionally Show Some Evidence of ROZs
with Interbedded (isolated and unflushed) Main Pay
Zones
• “Shingles” on Top of the ROZ are not Uncommon –
Provide Immediate Oil Confusing the Longer-lived (large
Reservoir) ROZ Production
• Where Can the Sweep Water Come From?
– Sacramento Mtn Outcrop
– Transmissive Fault Path From Another Reservoir?
• What About the Sweep Water Discharge?
32
Glorieta/Yeso Reefal Trend (NM)Main Pay Zones
Artesia
Carlsbad
Glorieta-U.
Yeso Type
LogsResistivity LogFm Density Log
Mud Log
Reference Map for Following Cross Sections
Carlsbad
Stratigraphic Cross Section of the Yeso Formation Showing the
Porosity Trend in the Glorieta - Upper Yeso
(Datum – Top of Glorieta Formation)
Structural Cross Section of the Yeso Play (Datum – Minus 900 Feet Mean Sea Level)
Artesia
400’
Passing Comments About the Deeper Abo
Formation (Better Documented in Literature)
• Lies Immediately Below the Yeso Fm
• Also is a Carbonate Shelf Trending in the Same
Position as the Yeso (Stacked Fomations)
• Possesses Even More Evidence of ROZ
Characteristics including a Documented Tilted
Oil/Water Contact in the Empire Abo Field
• Better Analog to Gl-Yeso than the San Andres
Permian Basin
Stratigraphic Chart*
(Permian Only)
* Adapted from Kerans, C. C., Bureau of Economic
Geology, PBGSP Annual Meeting, 2/27-2/28/06, Austin, TX
39
Abo Reefal Trend Map in New Mexico
After Lemay (1960), Southwestern Federation of Geological Societies Transactions, Oct 12-14, 1960
Eddy
Co.
Lea
Co.
40
Abo Cross-Section Through Major NM Fields
After Lemay (1960), Southwestern Federation of Geological Societies Transactions, Oct 12-14, 1960
Note: Tilted OWC
41
Empire Abo Map Illustrating Down to the East Tilted OWC
After Lemay (1960), Southwestern Federation of Geological Societies Transactions, Oct 12-14, 1960
Note: OWC Tilt = ~200’ in 10 miles
Summary of Presentation
• ROZ Concepts Appear to Apply to Both the
Glorieta-Yeso Horizontal Play and to the Deeper
Abo Formation in SE NM
• The Actual Sweep Zone Appears to be in the
Interval of the Glorieta & U. Yeso
• If the Interval is actually a ROZ, the Longevity of
Production will be Greater owing to the Sweep
and Required Lateral Continuity of the Sweep
within the Interval
Gl-Yeso & San Andres Production
Longevity?
Curves Derived by Taking all Monthly Crude Oil Production from Horizontal Wells in
the Play & Dividing by the Monthly Number of Wells