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Colorado Basin, Argentina: A Case Study Combining Forward
Sedimentary and Petroleum
System
Models for Consistent Evaluation of Basin
Evolution, Play Development, and
Petroleum
Migration and Trapping*
By
Andre Vayssaire1, Patrick Wojciak1, Dan Carruthers2, Daniel Figueroa3, Oscar Mancilla3, Claudio Haring3, Alicia Salinas3, Daniel Soubies3, Jean-Michel Gaulier4,
Guillaume Smagghe5, John Bunney5, and Romain Debarre6
Search and Discovery Article #40155 (2005)
Posted June 6, 2005
*Adapted from extended abstract, prepared by the authors for presentation,
entitled “Combining Forward Sedimentary and Petroleum
System
Models to
Consistently Evaluate Basin Evolution, Play Development, and
Petroleum
Migration
and Trapping. A Case Study from the Colorado Basin, Argentina,” at AAPG
International Conference & Exhibition, Cancun, Mexico, October 24-27, 2004.
1Beicip-Inc, Houston, TX;
2The Permedia Research Group Inc, Ottawa;
3Repsol- YPF, Argentina;
4Total, Paris, France;
5BP Exploration, Houston, TX
6Beicip-Franlab, Rueil-Malmaison, France
General Statement
We present a multi-disciplinary approach to understand the basin-scale evolution
of a continental margin petroleum
system
, using a reservoir modeling workflow as
an analogue. Generation of a consistent description of geophysical, geological,
and petrophysical dataset and understanding of their related uncertainty ranges
is key in order to address the various scales of physical processes operating as
the basin evolves. In our approach, we appropriately solve at different
length-scales within the same geologic volume the numerical solutions of
temperature, pressure, and
petroleum
migration back through time.
A deep offshore
case study from the Colorado Basin (Argentine Continental Margin) (Figure
1), covering an area of 160,000 km2
is
presented. We created a workflow combining integrated seismic stratigraphic
interpretation, stratigraphic facies prediction, 3D basin modeling,and
multiphase petroleum
migration. Results from the study have enhanced our
understanding of the geological evolution of the Colorado Basin with specific
emphasis on the key risks on reservoir presence and
petroleum
system
elements.
It helped us to identify the variety of play-types and associated key risks
within the basin.
|
WorkflowUsing the key interpreted seismic stratigraphic horizons, we generated the framework model by subdividing the stratigraphic section (Figure 2) according to zonations determined in wells and stratigraphic styles, and then evaluating both crustal and bathymetric evolution. A numerical stratigraphic approach (Dionisos®) was used to predict the stratigraphic architecture and facies distribution (Figure 3) in the undrilled areas using macro-scale physical laws over geological times, taking into account the existing wells and seismic information as constraints. The outputs of the stratigraphic simulation were used to populate a 3D basin model (Temis3D®). The dynamic evolution of the basin, including the compaction, pressure, temperature, and hydrocarbon generation, was calculated through time, and properties were calibrated against observed well data and offset analogues.
The evolving basin properties were then passed onto a high-resolution
The workflow illustrated here combines the accuracy, refinement, and efficiency of three different numerical models and takes full advantage of the available data. Consistency of the geological and petrophysical descriptions and uncertainty are seen as keys to addressing the various scales of physical processes. Multiple scenarios constrained by available data were run to test geological hypothesis, such as 1) stratigraphy and facies distribution (source rock presence and type, reservoir presence and quality, seal capacity), 2) thermal regime, 3) charge access, and 4) migration pathways and efficiency. |