Understanding Fractured Reservoirs & Rocks
..in the Middle East, West of the Shetlands, the USA.
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Tuesday, January 23, 2018, London, The Geological Society
Download the event report
The fact that fractures are common in the subsurface have been known for at least the last century but the practice of treating reservoirs as fractured rock masses has been extremely slow in becoming a standard industry practice, despite that fact that fields with such reservoirs are known from SE Asia, the carbonates of the Middle East and much more recently, the basement West of the Shetlands.
Why is this? As a primer, I refer you to Nelson’s book “The Geological Analysis of Naturally Fractured Reservoirs” which has an extremely detailed account of the complexities involved; getting beyond the Foreword is a triumph! Or, more recently, to an AAPG paper by folk from Statoil’s Research Centre who said:
(I paraphrase)!)
• You can’t predict the spatial distribution of open fractures in the subsurface based on a few cores, image logs, seismic etc.
• Flow patterns can be very complex and difficult to predict; in-flow to a few wells doesn’t change this.
• Simulation of dual-porosity (matrix + fractures) systems is very difficult and tends to be run on coarse grids, reducing predictive power.
• Analogues are of limited use: maybe best avoided?
All very different to normal sandstone reservoirs…..
In addition, but on different scales of both dimension and time, it is believed that micro-fractures control basin-wide vertical migration of petroleum.
Agenda
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8:30
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Welcome & Introduction: followed by SESSION 1:
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9:30
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David Bamford - Director - Finding Petroleum
Chairman's introduction
Talk Description.
Introduction to fractured reservoirs, the commercial benefits from understanding them, and background
David Bamford is well known around the oil & gas industry both as an explorer and a geophysicist. He holds a Physics degree from the University of Bristol and a Ph.D in Geological Sciences from the University of Birmingham.
Since 2004, he has been a non-executive director at Tullow Oil plc, being recruited for this position especially for his exploration knowledge. He serves on the Nominations and Remuneration Committees, and was chairman of the latter, and Senior Independent Director, for 3 years prior to his retire from the board at the end of April 2014.
He was on the board of Premier Oil from May 2014 to May 2016.
He retired from BP plc in 2003, his last four positions being Chief Geophysicist (1990-1995), Business Unit Leader (General Manager) for first West Africa and then Norway (1995-1999), and finally Head of Exploration until 2003.
He has served on the boards of Paras Ltd, a small exploration and IS/IT consulting company in which he held 22% equity, until its sale to RPS Energy in 2008 and Welltec a/s, a Danish well engineering company, as the nominee of the private equity investor Riverside.
From 2012 to 201 he was on the board of ASX-quoted Australia Oriental Energy as a non-executive director.
He was a founder of Richmond Energy Partners, a small oil & gas research house, and several media companies that focus on the oil & gas sector, and has served as an advisor to Alliance Bernstein, Opus Executive, the Parkmead Group plc, and Kimmeridge Energy LLP. Since retiring from BP, he has undertaken asset and company valuation projects for investment banks, hedge funds and small oil companies.
Finding Petroleum
Finding Petroleum was established to help the oil and gas industry network, and stay up to date on the latest technological developments. It does this via hosting regular events and with an online social network of nearly 10,000 members.
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9:40
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Dr Robert Trice - CEO - Hurricane Energy
Establishing, predicting and modelling the hydrodynamic fracture network of basement reservoirs during the exploration and early appraisal phase. A Case study from the West of Shetland Lancaster Field
Talk Description.
Productive naturally fractured basement fields typically owe their hydrocarbon accumulations to the trapping mechanisms of buried hills and faulted margins. Basement reservoirs are therefore associated with large gross rock volumes and predominantly well-defined seismic signatures.
Whilst the GRV envelope may offer relatively obvious drilling opportunities the success of exploration and appraisal drilling is dependent on the presence and sampling of a hydrodynamic fracture network the fluid flow properties of which are controlled by three key reservoir characteristics: (a) fracture connectivity; (b) the relative magnitude of fluid pressure and lithostatic pressure; and (c) the magnitude and orientation of the mean stress across the hydrodynamic fracture network.
Geologists are therefore obliged to work with an understanding of these three key reservoir parameters and with global and local knowledge related to the specifics of naturally fractured basement.
This case study presents how Hurricane has established a practical understanding of the key parameters that describe the hydrodynamic fracture network at Lancaster and used that understanding to predict where and how to place two successfully tested production wells.
Dynamic and static modelling of the Lancaster field has led to reserve estimates which will be evaluated through an early production system.
The early productions system is designed to be the first phase of a full field development targeting oil in 2019. The case study will present the philosophy and techniques that have been applied to evaluating Lancaster and will summarise the near-term data acquisition that will further aid in the prediction and modelling of the Lancaster hydrodynamic network.
As Hurricane’s founder, Robert has over 25 years’ oil industry experience. He has combined specialist technical expertise in fractured reservoirs’ characterisation and evaluation. He has a PhD in Geology from Birkbeck College, University of London and gained the bulk of his geoscience experience with Enterprise Oil and Shell. He has worked in field development, exploration, well-site operations and geological consultancy. Robert has held the position of Visiting Professor at Trondheim University (Norway) and has published and presented on subjects related to fractured reservoirs and exploration for stratigraphic traps.
It is Robert’s vision that lies behind Hurricane, providing clear strategic direction as the company develops and he takes the lead in all aspects of the scientific and technical heart of the company.
Hurricane Energy
Hurricane is a new generation of oil company that exists to discover, appraise and develop oil from fractured basement reservoirs.
We have an experienced team of experts in basement reservoirs. Between us, we have spent decades in the oil industry. Hurricane has discovered more oil in the UK in the past ten years than any other company.
We can do this because we look at things differently to other oil companies. We are innovative, pioneering and creative. Technically led and driven, we use our niche expertise to find oil where others have looked but not seen. We exploit discoveries and we help to realise the value of those discoveries.
We are a company with a small team of staff, operating to the highest corporate standards but with a minimum of bureaucracy.
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10:15
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Kathy Kelly - Subsurface manager - Gulf Keystone Petroleum
Shaikan - Early Insights into a Giant Fractured Carbonate Field
Kathy Kelly has worked as a Geophysicist in the Petroleum industry for over 30 years for a variety of companies including BG Group, Sasol Petroleum and Serica Energy.
Kathy Joined Gulf Keystone in 2011 as Principal Geophysicist and after three years working in the London office transferred to Erbil to lead the sub-surface team in Kurdistan.
She returned to London in April 2017 and has since been working as sub-surface manager based in the London office.
Gulf Keystone Petroleum
Gulf Keystone Petroleum Ltd. (LSE: GKP) is a leading independent operator and producer in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and the operator of the Shaikan oil field with current production capacity of 40,000 barrels of oil per day.
Gulf Keystone was one of the first companies to see the potential of the region and in 2009 discovered the Shaikan field which was declared a commercial discovery in 2012.
The Company operates one of today's largest onshore developments with a production capacity of 40,000 barrels of oil per day, with plans to increase to 55,000 bopd in the near term, and further beyond.
The Company believes there remains significant upside potential in the Shaikan field and seeks to unlock this value through its development activity.
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10:50
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Coffee & Tea; Exhibits
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11:15
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Shane Hattingh - - ERC Equipoise
The Challenge of Estimating Recovery from Naturally Fractured Reservoirs
Talk Description.
Shane has 31 years' industry and research experience in the earth sciences and reservoir engineering. He began his career as an exploration geophysicist for South African mining companies, before moving into the oil industry. As a reservoir engineer, he has worked for Soekor, the South African national oil company and Energy Africa, a small independent. He worked for international consultancies for ten years before joining ERC Equipoise in 2012. Shane's specialist interest is numerical simulation, including fractured reservoirs, difficult waterfloods, gas storage, compositional models and enhanced oil recovery projects.
He has a university education in geology and geophysics and a PhD in applied mathematics on the subject of numerical simulation of low permeability naturally fractured gas reservoirs. Shane is active in reserves estimating and reporting and is a United Kingdom Chartered Scientist and a founder member of the Europe Chapter of the Society of Petroleum Evaluation Engineers. He has experience in many parts of the world, particularly in West Africa and the Middle East.
ERC Equipoise
ERC Equipoise (ERCE) is the United Kingdom's leading employee-owned Oil and Gas Reservoir Evaluation firm. Headquartered in London and with an Asia-Pacific office based in Singapore, our in-house team comprises of Geoscience, Engineering, Petrophysics and Economics professionals
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11:50
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Jo Garland - director - Cambridge Carbonates
Natural Fracture Systems in Carbonate Reservoirs
Talk Description.
This paper is jointly written by Andy Horbury of Cambridge Carbonates
Jo is a director and carbonate specialist at Cambridge Carbonates Ltd.
Following her PhD research in carbonates at Durham University, Jo’s industry career started in 1998 at Enterprise Oil where for 5 years she worked in exploration, production and operations. Her career then took her to Norway, where she was activity leader in Statoil’s carbonate exploration research programme.
Jo joined Cambridge Carbonates Ltd in 2004, and became a director of the company a year later. She works as a consultant carbonate geologist, with recent focus on the Middle East, SE Asia, Barents Sea, the Adriatic, fractured carbonate reservoirs and hydrothermal dolomites. She has a breadth of experience ranging from new ventures and exploration work, reservoir characterisation projects, seismic expression of carbonates, fieldwork, and analysing large datasets for global trends.
Cambridge Carbonates
Cambridge Carbonates Ltd. is a geological consultancy that provides expertise in carbonate and evaporite systems to the oil and gas industry. As well as offering a range of non-proprietary reports for purchase, Cambridge Carbonates deliver bespoke expertise to clients in regional studies, play evaluations and reservoir characterisation projects.
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12:25
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Brian Smart - Director, PetroMall Ltd - Future Energy Partners Ltd
The interaction of reservoir engineering & geomechanics
Talk Description.
The interaction between the two disciplines over as petroleum engineering geomechanics has evolved over the last 40 years was probably governed initially by scepticism on the part of the reservoir engineer that geomechanics had little to offer. And that in any case the advantages offered were costly to implement and often long term in delivery. (Drilling engineers were quicker to fully embrace geomechanics)
The presentation recounts early experience and argues that a comprehensive conceptual model of the stress-sensitive features of a reservoir, based on observations and measurements, can at least create a platform for cross-discipline discussion. Developments in methods for data generation and the modelling of the conceptual model have also lead to more comprehensive, affordable solutions.
As is often the case, it is the extreme examples of a phenomenon that are recognised first, e.g. the subsidence and well-loss in Ekofisk being a classic example. It is argued that compaction-driven and other phenomena are pervasive, and may, for example, manifest themselves in important ways as reservoirs undergo maximum pressure-depletion as decommissioning approaches. And of course the increasing importance of fractured reservoirs with their inherent stress-sensitivity has heightened interest in reservoir geomechanics.
Brian Smart is a Director of PetroMall Ltd and an Honorary Professor, Tomsk Polytechnic University Formerly Head of the Institute of Petroleum Engineering and a Vice-Principal at Heriot-Watt University, he is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Royal Society of Edinburgh and the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining. His technical interest is in Rock Mechanics.
www.Petromall.org
Future Energy Partners Ltd
Future Energy Partners (FEP) is a unique oil and gas advisory service which prides itself on technical excellence in selected fields and supplementing business management and leadership; in the face of uncertainty.
We offer truthful, professional opinion and advice; no playback of what you already know, and no spin.
FEP was founded by 4 senior industry practitioners who consider the challenges faced by today's oil and gas environment are going to require herculean acts of leadership and technical skill in a transforming, transitioning, industry, in order to maintain an energy supply that is sustainable and even recognisable compared to recent history.
Similarly nations developing an oil and gas industry face related challenges as they seek to maximise the benefits of this new wealth-creating opportunity - in a responsible manner.
Global reach
FEP actively participates in the facilitation and conduct of seminars and webinars worldwide, for example in conjunction with its associate partner Finding Petroleum.
Our presence reaches parts of the globe, such as: the UK, the USA, Sub-Saharan Africa, with partners wherever we work.
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Sponsors of this event
Cambridge CarbonatesCambridge Carbonates Ltd. is a geological consultancy that provides expertise in carbonate and evaporite systems to the oil and gas industry. As well as offering a range of non-proprietary reports for purchase, Cambridge Carbonates deliver bespoke expertise to clients in regional studies, play evaluations and reservoir characterisation projects.
Cambridge CarbonatesCambridge Carbonates Ltd. is a geological consultancy that provides expertise in carbonate and evaporite systems to the oil and gas industry. As well as offering a range of non-proprietary reports for purchase, Cambridge Carbonates deliver bespoke expertise to clients in regional studies, play evaluations and reservoir characterisation projects.
Hurricane EnergyHurricane is a new generation of oil company that exists to discover, appraise and develop oil from fractured basement reservoirs.
We have an experienced team of experts in basement reservoirs. Between us, we have spent decades in the oil industry. Hurricane has discovered more oil in the UK in the past ten years than any other company.
We can do this because we look at things differently to other oil companies. We are innovative, pioneering and creative. Technically led and driven, we use our niche expertise to find oil where others have looked but not seen. We exploit discoveries and we help to realise the value of those discoveries.
We are a company with a small team of staff, operating to the highest corporate standards but with a minimum of bureaucracy.
Gulf Keystone PetroleumGulf Keystone Petroleum Ltd. (LSE: GKP) is a leading independent operator and producer in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and the operator of the Shaikan oil field with current production capacity of 40,000 barrels of oil per day.
Gulf Keystone was one of the first companies to see the potential of the region and in 2009 discovered the Shaikan field which was declared a commercial discovery in 2012.
The Company operates one of today's largest onshore developments with a production capacity of 40,000 barrels of oil per day, with plans to increase to 55,000 bopd in the near term, and further beyond.
The Company believes there remains significant upside potential in the Shaikan field and seeks to unlock this value through its development activity.
ERC EquipoiseERC Equipoise (ERCE) is the United Kingdom's leading employee-owned Oil and Gas Reservoir Evaluation firm. Headquartered in London and with an Asia-Pacific office based in Singapore, our in-house team comprises of Geoscience, Engineering, Petrophysics and Economics professionals
Future Energy Partners LtdFuture Energy Partners (FEP) is a unique oil and gas advisory service which prides itself on technical excellence in selected fields and supplementing business management and leadership; in the face of uncertainty.
We offer truthful, professional opinion and advice; no playback of what you already know, and no spin.
FEP was founded by 4 senior industry practitioners who consider the challenges faced by today's oil and gas environment are going to require herculean acts of leadership and technical skill in a transforming, transitioning, industry, in order to maintain an energy supply that is sustainable and even recognisable compared to recent history.
Similarly nations developing an oil and gas industry face related challenges as they seek to maximise the benefits of this new wealth-creating opportunity - in a responsible manner.
Global reach
FEP actively participates in the facilitation and conduct of seminars and webinars worldwide, for example in conjunction with its associate partner Finding Petroleum.
Our presence reaches parts of the globe, such as: the UK, the USA, Sub-Saharan Africa, with partners wherever we work.
Geospatial ResearchOver the last decade, GRL have extensive field experience across the Middle East, including the Zagros, UAE, Oman, and Turkey. In the northern Zagros alone, we have carried out 25 successful field campaigns for 14 companies, covering 40 exploration license blocks over an area of more than 20,000 sq.km., giving us extensive outcrop experience of Cambrian to Pliocene stratigraphy. We have detailed knowledge of structural style throughout the Middle East, and comprehensive understanding of the interplay between regional geodynamics, trap development, and hydrocarbon systems.
In applying our understanding of surface geology to help our clients interpret the sub-surface, we have completed our outcrop-scale vector-based mapping of the Zagros, and have constructed over 8,000 km of balanced cross-sections across SE Turkey, Iraq, Iran and The Gulf. Our Zagros-related products also include very extensive, detailed quantitative data to characterise fractured reservoirs, to provide robust inputs for our clients' Discrete Fracture Network models.
Geospatial ResearchOver the last decade, GRL have extensive field experience across the Middle East, including the Zagros, UAE, Oman, and Turkey. In the northern Zagros alone, we have carried out 25 successful field campaigns for 14 companies, covering 40 exploration license blocks over an area of more than 20,000 sq.km., giving us extensive outcrop experience of Cambrian to Pliocene stratigraphy. We have detailed knowledge of structural style throughout the Middle East, and comprehensive understanding of the interplay between regional geodynamics, trap development, and hydrocarbon systems.
In applying our understanding of surface geology to help our clients interpret the sub-surface, we have completed our outcrop-scale vector-based mapping of the Zagros, and have constructed over 8,000 km of balanced cross-sections across SE Turkey, Iraq, Iran and The Gulf. Our Zagros-related products also include very extensive, detailed quantitative data to characterise fractured reservoirs, to provide robust inputs for our clients' Discrete Fracture Network models.
Registered Delegates
Tim Papworth
General Manager Armenia
AGAPE Armenia
United Kingdom
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John Fisher
Genel Energy
United Kingdom
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Robert Parker
Consultant
Parker
United Kingdom
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Ben Seymour
Field Architect
Aker Solutions
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Jonathan Long
Senior geologist
Geospatial Research
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Andrew Foulds
Director
Petrafiz Ltd
United Kingdom
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Geoffrey Boyd
Field Development Consultant
Antium FRONTFIELD
United Kingdom
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Richard Jones
CEO
Geospatial Research Ltd
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Mike Ainsworth
Petrodragon
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David Craik
Consultant
Atlaslocal
United Kingdom
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Tim Harper
Founder & Director
Geosphere Ltd
United Kingdom
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Robert Chatwin
principal geologist
Petrofac
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David Sendra
Associate Consultant
BlackRockQI
United Kingdom
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Lee Hartley
Reservoir modeller
Golder Associates
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Brian Smart
Petromall
Malta
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Joe M Boztas
Director/Interpreter
Boz Seismic Services
United Kingdom
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Mark Cottrell
Technical Director
Golder Associates (UK) Ltd
United Kingdom
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Frederic Yeterian
Director
Philax International (UK) Ltd
United Kingdom
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Alexander Bump
BP
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Alexander Chalke
Partner
Grosvenor Clive & Stokes
United Kingdom
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John Clure
Managing Director
Phoenix Hydrocarbon Resources Ltd
United Kingdom
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David Ashby
BP
United Kingdom
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Neil Price
Gulf Keystone
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Colin More
Prospect Geoscience
United Kingdom
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Christian Richards
Sales Manager
Bridgeporth
United Kingdom
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Kevin Parmassar
Gulf Keystone
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Richard Herbert
Director
R Herbert Associates
United Kingdom
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Robert Kennedy
Managing Director
Caithness Petroleum Limited
United Kingdom
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Jon Ferrier
CEO
Gulf Keystone Petroleum
United Kingdom
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Kes Heffer
Director
Reservoir Dynamics Ltd
United Kingdom
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Carl Fredrik Gyllenhammar
GeoScientist
CaMa GeoScience AS
Norway
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Kathy Kelly
Sub-Surface Manager
Gulf Keystone Petroleum Ltd
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Steven McTiernan
Retired
United Kingdom
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Joanna Garland
Director
Cambridge Carbonates Ltd
United Kingdom
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Lawrie Cowliff
Geoscientist
Halliburton
United Kingdom
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Richard Walker
Geophysical Consultant
Richard Walker Geoscience Ltd
United Kingdom
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Sarah Thompson
Geologist
Cambridge Carbonates Ltd
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Clare Smith
Geoscientist
Hansa Hydrocarbons
United Kingdom
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Robert Stevens
Richmond Energy Partners
United Kingdom
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Andrew Webb
Manager, Petroleum Reservoir and Economics
CGG
United Kingdom
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Robert Trice
CEO
Hurricane Energy
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Patrick Taylor
Director
RISC (UK) Limited
United Kingdom
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Jorge Gines
Lead Geologist
CGG Satellite Mapping
United Kingdom
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Sarah Dominay
Hurricane Energy
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Jack Cawthorne
Geologist
RockWash
United Kingdom
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David Jackson
Consultant
Consultant
United Kingdom
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Matthew Thompson
Geologist
Hurricane Energy
United Kingdom
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Chris Hayes
Well Operations Director
RPS Energy
United Kingdom
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John Hall
Consultant geophysicist
Consultant
United Kingdom
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David Jenkins
Director
Hurricane Energy plc
United Kingdom
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Abhen Pather
Principal Geoscientist
RPS Energy
United Kingdom
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Peter Farrington
Geophysicist
Consultant Geophysicist
United Kingdom
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Laura Sylvester
Impact Oil and Gas
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Alex Kirsch
SCDM Energy
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Jon Treen
director
Delta Energy
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Abbey Hunt
Geoscientist
Impact Oil and Gas
United Kingdom
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Kouakou Yao
Geologist
SCDM Energy Ltd
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Lisa Randall
Data Analyst, NW Europe
Drillinginfo
United Kingdom
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Ahmed Elghorori
Geoscientist
Independant
United Kingdom
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David Webber
Seismic Operations Consultant
Seismic Operations Consultant
United Kingdom
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Nnamdi Anyadike
London office
Energy Correspondent
United Kingdom
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Mike Hibbert
Independent consultant
Independent consultant
United Kingdom
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Karen Curum
Geoscientist
Shell
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Martin Riddle
Technical Manager
Envoi
United Kingdom
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Turlough Cooling
Vice President - Sub-Saharan Africa
io oil & gas consulting
United Kingdom
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Hannah Aylwin
Geoscientist
SLR Consulting
United Kingdom
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Mike Braim
ERC Equipoise
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John Griffith
Upstream Advisor
JJG Consulting International Ltd
United Kingdom
|
Ewan Whyte
Technical Director
SLR Consulting Ltd.
United Kingdom
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Shane Hattingh
Principal Reservoir Engineer
ERC Equipoise
United Kingdom
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Amanda Turner
CEO
Lir Resources
United Kingdom
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Anongporn Intawong
Team Leader Geoscientist
Spectrum Geo
United Kingdom
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Nigel Dodds
ERC Equipoise
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David Peel
Technical Director
Lukoil
United Kingdom
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Andy Harris
SpectrumGeo
United Kingdom
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Holly-Marie Owen
Senior Geoscientist
ERCE
United Kingdom
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David Pilling
Head of Oil & Gas
Nedbank Capital
United Kingdom
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Chris Wheaton
Director
Stifel
United Kingdom
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Mark Holliday
Director
ERCEquipoise
United Kingdom
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Melanie Markwick-Day
Senior Underwriting Officer, Upstream Energy
Neon Underwriting
United Kingdom
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Karyna Rodriguez
Director of Geoscience
TGS
United Kingdom
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Karl Jeffery
Editor
Finding Petroleum
United Kingdom
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David Bamford
Director
New Eyes Exploration Ltd
UK
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Brian Taylor
Geophysicist
TNG Geophysics
United Kingdom
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Avinga Pallangyo
Events Coordinator
Finding Petroleum
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Niels Arveschoug
CEO
North Sea Natural Resources Ltd
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John Weston
Principal
Ulysses Petroleum Management
United Kingdom
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Richard McIntyre
Sales Manager
Finding Petroleum
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Kai Gruschwitz
Technical Director
Notting Hill Geoconsulting
United Kingdom
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Alastair Bee
Westwood Global Energy
United Kingdom
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Jonathan Westbury
Senior Commercial Business Advisor
Gaffney, Cline & Associates
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Dave Waters
Director and Geoscience Consultant
Paetoro Consulting UK Ltd
United Kingdom
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Hugh Ebbutt
Associated Director
WSS Energy Consulting
United Kingdom
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Anne-Mette Cheese
Geology Advisor
Gassnova SF
United Kingdom
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