Ranking of Possible Processes Leading to Heavy Oil Zones by Basin and Petroleum Systems Modeling
— A Kuwait Case Study
Biodegradation, water washing, oil mixing, degassing along faults and gravity segregation are possible reasons for alteration processes in reservoirs that can lead to heavy oil occurrence. Detailed knowledge of the charge history of the reservoir is one critical element in order to understand these processes. The description of the charge history and the natural processes that lead to a heavy oil occurrence in the reservoir can be assessed by Basin and Petroleum Systems
![Previous Hit](/images/arrow_left.gif)
![Next Hit](/images/arrow_right.gif)
![Previous Hit](/images/arrow_left.gif)
![Next Hit](/images/arrow_right.gif)
![Previous Hit](/images/arrow_left.gif)
![Next Hit](/images/arrow_right.gif)
Migration induced heavy oil occurrence can be caused by mixing of different oil phases in the reservoir and the different migration timing of produced components in the source rocks with maturation of this source rock.
In basin and petroleum systems
![Previous Hit](/images/arrow_left.gif)
![Top](/images/arrow_up.gif)
The migration from the kitchen areas to the reservoirs is modeled using the regional model. In a second step, the simulation results for temperature, pressure and fluid flow from the regional model are taken into consideration by the local model and migration from the regional model is applied to the high-resolution geometries of that local Model. The PVT boundary conditions of the regional model are taken, to constrain the local model.
In a case study of the application of this method to an oilfield in Kuwait the different possible processes leading to heavy oil in the reservoir have been investigated and ranked in their importance. The results of this study will be used to further improvement of the reservoir model of the field and a refined resource assessment.
AAPG Search and Discover Article #90100©2009 AAPG International Conference and Exhibition 15-18 November 2009, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil