Print this pageABSTRACT: Subtle History and Geology of Villeperdue Oil Field
B. C. Duval, P. Arbin
Villeperdue oil field is located in the Paris basin 80 km east of Paris. The first well was drilled in 1959 and tested some oil. But it was not until 1982, after a subtle seismic and drilling history, that exploration resumed and the field proved commercial.
The reservoir is an oolitic limestone of early Callovian age (late Dogger); it has an average thickness of about 30 m and is 1850 m below ground level.
The trap, not obvious from seismic data, is a combination of stratigraphic, structural, and diagenetic features. The structure is a western-plunging nose, and the eastward updip closure is supposedly controlled by permeability change with the possible influence of gentle faults and pressure barriers. The producing surface is about 70 km2, with a 60-m oil column.
Gross porosity, ranging from 8 to 20%, is highly variable, the result of numerous porosity types. As a result, each well has its own characteristics, and field development is mainly controlled by this problem. Thus, porosity detection over the field, and consequently delineation, are dependent on subtle seismic facies studies.
Today, 145 wells have been drilled, of which 120 are producing and 19 are used for water injection. Horizontal wells are planned to increase productivity. Production of this giant oil field (based on the Paris basin scale) has been of 3 million m3 to date, with an average weekly production of about 13,000 m3.
AAPG Search and Discovery Article #91000©1990 AAPG Conference-Giant Oil and Gas Fields of the Decade 1978-1988 Conference, Stavanger, Norway, September 9-12, 1990