| 4D
points the way to gas recovery
Posted: 21 April 2003
Dubai, UAE — Time-lapse or 4D seismic surveys
could extend the life of gas reservoirs by identifying bypassed
accumulations and identifying flow barriers, a new study has shown.
An award winning paper based on rock property work in BP Egypt’s
Ha’py field in the Nile Delta suggests the same time-lapse
seismic data that has proved so successful in the cost-effective
management of oilfield reservoirs could equally apply to gas fields.
“Although the 3D effects will be smaller they should still
be visible, especially in shallow gas reservoirs,” said the
paper’s author, Robert Francis Marten, a geophysicist with
BP Egypt.
Marten’s modelling study compiled with co-authors James Keggin
and Giles Watts has been awarded the American Association of Petroleum
Geologists (AAPG) 2002 Gabriel Dengo Memorial Award, to be presented
in Salt Lake City USA in May.
“The science behind 4D seismic research is beautifully simple:
as oil or gas is produced the reservoir experiences pressure and
saturation changes. When these changes are large enough, repeat
seismic surveys can track flood fronts and recognise barriers and
bypassed pockets, which will have significant commercial benefits,”
said Marten.
The modelling studies were carried in relation to Pliocene reservoirs
in the Nile Delta where 14 trillion cubic feet of gas has been discovered
and current production comes from numerous fields.
The paper was first presented at the Cairo 2002 conference in October
last year when local geophysical societies (EPEX, EGS) combined
with the might of the international geotechnical societies (AAPG,
SEG, EAGE) to present a powerful showcase of new technologies in
use in the Middle East and Africa.
For more information see www.bp.com.
Posted by Richard Price,
Editor Pipeline Magazine
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