Location: Provence

Mark Bentley: TRACS International Consultancy and Langdale Geoscience.

Using analogue outcrops in the Luberon and Cassis area of southern France, this course develops workflows for static and dynamic modeling in carbonate reservoirs, covering in particular the issues of conceptual reservoir characterization, the handling of scale and the representation of fracture detail in cellular models. The analogue section chosen is a direct analogue for Shuaiba/Kharaib Middle East reservoirs, including high and low energy areas of rudist platforms, inner and outer shelves, and chalks. The modeling principles are transferable to other carbonate environments.

7 days; field activities and exercises (100%); the outdoors will be used as a classroom.

Advanced. A course for technical professionals working in integrated teams who are planning development activities in carbonate reservoirs (reservoir engineers, geoscientists, petrophysicists) and all involved in reservoir and simulation modeling.

This class requires an EASY exertion level. Provence is quite comfortable in the late summer to fall, with temperatures of 10-25°C (50-80°F) and occasional rain showers. The field locations are all easily accessible requiring only a short walk from the transport. The longest walk is approximately 0.5km (0.3 mile) along a road section. There will be one boat trip (weather dependent) to view key cliff exposures that can only be seen from offshore (1-2 hours duration).

You will learn to:

1. Describe a carbonate reservoir in terms of essential reservoir elements and the architectural arrangement of those elements.
2. Evaluate reservoir property distributions for those elements in a form suitable for input to static/dynamic reservoir modeling.
3. Judge the scale at which a static/dynamic modeling exercise should be conducted, including any need for multi-scale modeling.
4. Prepare rules of thumb for effective property modeling in carbonates at a range of scales.
5. Assess fracture systems in carbonates and explain the options for modeling them (explicit DFN vs implicit effective properties).
6. Apply the concept of representative elementary volumes (REV) to fractured and unfractured carbonates.
7. Discuss optimal development planning for an oil reservoir based on the outcrops seen during the course.
8. Catch up with current research activities in carbonate reservoirs.