Formation Evaluation Workflow Assesses Mass-Transport Complex Reservoirs
Authors: Carpenter Chris 
Published: January 2021

This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Chris Carpenter, contains highlights of paper SPE 203016, “Formation Evaluation in Mass-Transport Complex Reservoirs,” by Ulises Bustos, Schlumberger; Carlos Duran, Petróleos Sudamericanos; and Alvaro Chapellin, Schlumberger, et al., prepared for the 2020 Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference, Abu Dhabi, held virtually from 9-12 November. The paper has not been peer reviewed.

Mass-transport deposits (MTDs) are sedimentary, stratigraphic successions remobilized after initial deposition but before substantial lithification and transported downslope by gravitational processes as non-Newtonian rheological units. In the complete paper, the authors present an openhole advanced formation-evaluation approach that enables assessment of tight-matrix and natural-fracture systems at a level not previously accomplished in these types of geological formations.

Introduction

The considered wildcat project by Petroleos Sudamericanos is in the Lower Magdalena Valley hydrocarbon province in Colombia. From a stratigraphic point of view, the targets belong to tertiary deposits from the lower Neogene. Gravity-driven processes are complex and include creep, slide, slump, debris flow, and multiphase granular flows. The remobilized sedimentary deposits resulting from these processes are called MTDs or mass-transport complexes (MTCs) and are the main target job. Overlaying a crystalline basement, four MTC cycles were identified (although the present work only covers three MTC cycles) deposited in shallow marine environments. Each cycle consists of quartzite; phyllite; and schistose metamorphic rocks, largely gneiss with strong milonitization effects and foliated tremolitic marble in the top of the sequence. A summary of these types of rock is provided in the complete paper.

The non-Archie nature of these rocks represents a challenge for formation evaluation. For reducing these uncertainties, a volumetric model with spectros copy dry-weight elements and nuclears was created that enabled solution of the total porosity, which was then benchmarked against the lithology-independent total nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) porosity. The saturation computation was achieved with the fast neutron cross section method (FNXS) for the gas component and with total carbon for the liquid hydrocarbon fraction. The natural fracture system was analyzed with borehole image logs and with radial sonic-based dispersion analysis. The integration of matrix and natural-fracture assessment provided a robust formation evaluation that enabled identification of the main interest zones across the MTC cycles.

Multifunction Spectroscopy for Matrix Analysis

The multifunction spectroscopy tool is 1.72 in. in diameter and 18.3 ft long, consisting of a pulsed neutron generator and four detectors. The first detector is the compact neutron monitor, sensitive to fast neutrons and located adjacent to the high-output pulsed neutron source, measuring neutron output with high accuracy and precision. The second (near) and third (far) gamma-ray detectors are used for inelastic and capture spectroscopy measurements. The fourth and farthest-spaced detector (deep) uses an yttrium aluminum perovskite scintillator, which is involved in gas detection and assessment. The nuclear spectroscopy measurement is performed in energy and time domains; both aspects are described in detail in the complete paper.