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STAR--Structural Analogues for Reservoirs*
By
Fault Dynamics Research Group1
Search and Discovery Article #40264 (2007)
Posted October 25, 2007
*Reprinted, with some modification in format, from AAPG European Region Newsletter, September 2007, v.2, (http://www.aapg.org/europe/newsletters/index.cfm) p. 7-8, with kind permission of Professor McClay and AAPG European Region Newsletter, Hugo Matias, Editor ([email protected]).
1Geology Department, Royal Holloway University of London, Director Professor Ken McClay ([email protected]). For information on the Fault Dynamics Research Group and on the STAR project, please visit the FDRG website (http://fdrg.rhul.ac.uk), or contact Professor McClay. For further information on MSc degrees in Petroleum Geoscience at Royal Holloway, please visit the website (www.gl.rhul.ac.uk).
STAR – Structural Analogues for Reservoirs is a multidisciplinary consortium project aimed to produce realistic 4D evolutionary models and analogues for reservoir structures for the international petroleum industry. The project, directed by Professor Ken McClay of the Fault Dynamics Research Group in the Geology Department Royal Holloway University of London, is currently supported by 11 international companies - BP, BG Group, BHPBilliton, ConocoPhillips, Nexen, ONGC, PDVSA, RepsolYPF, Shell, Statoil, and Talisman.
The STAR project involves integrated scaled physical modeling, field studies, remote sensing studies, and seismic studies, as well as numerical modeling of faults-fractures and folds in sedimentary basins in the upper crust. The aims are to produce 4D models of fault and fold systems in a wide range of tectonic settings – from extensional and rift basins, strike-slip terranes, in inverted basins, in deltas and salt terranes, and in fold and thrust belts. Using the latest technology – 3D seismic interpretation tools (Landmark, IESX, GeoProbe), 3D visualization techniques (Paradigm VoxelGeo and 3D Canvas), ARC GIS software, and section construction and restoration software (Midland Valley 2D and 3D Move), researchers produce integrated studies of fault systems that can be used to describe reservoir structures in hydrocarbon basin systems. Detailed fault and fracture analyses are carried out on field, seismic, and remotely sensed analogues using software such as Badley’s Traptester software.
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Developments and Knowledge Transfer New developments in analogue modeling techniques with high-quality 3D reconstructions and 3D visualization techniques have produced startling new views on fault and fracture systems in sedimentary systems. These combined with model animations, remotely sensed imagery of fault structures, and detailed field studies have produced a wealth of new data on structural styles and fault and fold geometries in three dimensions. Numerical modeling for fault-fracture systems together with seismic case studies have produced new models for the evolution of fault systems though time. The research carried out by the STAR team is international - from Australia to Argentina, NW Europe to Ethiopia, from the Middle East and to SE Asia. Key highlights of recent research include new studies of active rift fault systems in Afar (Figure 1), 3D visualization of analogue models (Figures 2 and 3), and the development of new analogue modelling technologies that enable high-resolution modelling of faults and fractures in rift systems and in salt diapir terranes, as well as in strike-slip fault systems (Figure 4). Results of the STAR research project are distributed online via a new interactive secure website where model results, photo galleries, model movie animations, case studies, atlases and toolboxes are available to view online or download using the latest web technologies. Field reports, MSc and PhD theses are all available through the STAR website. In addition to new research results the website also contains much archive and legacy data and results produced by the Fault Dynamics Research Group over the past 15 years. Training and knowledge transfer are key elements of the STAR programme, with field courses-seminars, as well as CPD course, a key component of the consortium’s activities. In 2008 the group is running field courses in the Pyrenees, Nevada and in the Gulf of Suez as well as training courses at RHUL. Expansion and future development of the research conducted by FDRG and the STAR project will be facilitated by recent staff appointments and with currently four new faculty positions being advertised. New faculty - Dr. Jürgen Adam, formally of Dalhousie University has joined FDRG to undertake Particle Imaging Velocimetry (PIV) experiments mainly for salt tectonics. On September 4-5th the Fault Dynamics Research Group (FDRG) at Royal Holloway, University of London hosted the annual Structural Analogues (STAR) consortium meeting to discuss the progress on the project. Representatives from all 11 participating companies attended the two-day meeting at the Department of Geology at Royal Holloway, University of London. Many of these extended their visit to attend the annual Petroleum Geoscience MSc Symposium (MSc courses in Basin Evolution and Dynamics and in Tectonics).
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