From Vitor Abreu-
Unlike continental and shallow-marine depositional environments, deepwater depositional systems develop in remote, difficult to access locations that prevent more direct observations of sedimentary processes and resulting depositional architecture. Therefore, outcrop analogues are even more important to observe and learn from, in order to support de-risking costly exploration projects, for example by assessing reservoir presence risk, net-to-gross predictions and reservoir connectivity.
Also, vertical scales of 10 to 20 meters are often below seismic resolution, making it difficult to predict in that scale facies variations occurring in distances of 1 to 2 kilometers, which are common well-spacings in production deep-water projects. Seismic-scale outcrops like the ones from the Brushy Canyon Formation help fill this gap in showing lateral and vertical variations in facies in scales that are not represented by data using conventional, industry seismic and wells.
This field course is designed for geoscientists and engineers exploring for and producing deepwater (DW) reservoirs globally, and particularly in the Permian Basin. At the end of this course, participants should have improved abilities to recognize deep-water depositional facies and reservoir architecture, as well as how to use sequence stratigraphy to identify and map key surfaces for DW exploration.
The Guadalupe and Delaware mountains in west Texas and New Mexico show unique, world-class exposures of shelfal to slope and basinal settings with seismic-scale, continuous exposures. These exceptional outcrops are ideal to learn about depositional systems, lateral and vertical variations in facies and sequence stratigraphic architecture and surfaces. Coeval shelfal to deep-water environments are exposed both downdip and along strike, with clear stratigraphic relationships from a carbonate shelf margin incised by canyons, feeding confined to weakly confined channel systems, connected to distributive lobe complexes and distal fan fringe sandstones that thin and pinch out onto a basin margin far removed from siliciclastic sediment sources.
Participants will learn:
1. To recognize main archetypes of deep-water-reservoirs, relating them to exploration strategies and production behavior
2. How to interpret key stratigraphic surfaces based on changes in lithofacies stacking and associations.
3. How to interpret DW EoD’s based on lithofacies associations, stacking and diversity
4. How to use outcrop analogues and depositional models to better understand 3-D distribution of reservoir facies.
5. To analyze exposures of carbonate shelf and ramp to siliciclastic basinal systems in order to relate depositional facies to seismic scale geometries and sequence stratigraphy.
6. To examine seismic scale outcrop geometries, document outcrop facies, and demonstrate similarities to productive intervals in the Permian Basin.
7. To apply Walter’s Law and chronostratigraphic principles in core, well-log and seismic interpretation, and relate to prediction of play elements and best productive intervals for unconventional resources.
8. To analyze sequence stratigraphy for carbonates and mixed carbonate-clastic depositional systems.