A Structural Simulation Tool for Faulted Sandstone Reservoirs: Exploratory Study Using Data from Utah and the Gullfaks Field

Koestler, Andreas G.; Milnes, A. G.; Olsen, Torben; Buller, Antony T.

doi:10.1007/978-94-011-0896-6_12

Cited by 6 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…6a-e) demonstrate well the non-planar geometry of the main faults, and the poles to the faults are remarkably well-distributed along great circles. The latter phenomenon, which was also noted by Koestler et al (1992) for two faults in the western part of the domino area, reflects the cylindrical geometry of the nonplanar faults at reservoir level. The poles to the best-fit great circles (¢3-axes of Ramsay (1967)) define the axis of curvature of the fault surfaces.…”

Section: Geometry Of Main Faultssupporting

confidence: 61%

“…This contrasts to the rotation of the bedding in the domino area, which is about 15 ° . From this, and from the fact that bedding is not planar, it can be concluded that the rigid domino model does not work satisfactorily for the main, western part of the Gullfaks Field (see also Koestler et al 1992).…”

Section: The Rigid Domino Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The sub-seismic ( l -5 0 m displacement) fault pattern was modelled numerically (Fig. 29a), based on quantitative data from an onshore field area (Koestler et al 1994) and assuming that sub-seismic faults are more or less parallel to the seismic faults. The modelling was based on an old (1987) seismic interpretation of the block.…”

Section: The Horst Complex and The Accommodation Zonementioning

confidence: 99%

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Structural geology of the Gullfaks Field, northern North Sea

Fossen

Hesthammer

1998

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The large amount of structural data available from the Gullfaks Field have been used to unravel the structural characteristics of the area. Two structurally distinct subareas have been revealed (a major domino system and an eastern horst complex) that show significant differences with respect to fault geometry, rotation and internal block deformation. The main faults have very low dips in the domino system (25 30 ° ) as compared to the horst complex (65°), whereas most minor faults are steep in all parts of the field. Forward modelling indicates that the horst complex balances with rigid block operations. However, the domino area underwent significant internal deformation, reflected by the low acute angle between bedding and faults, and by non-planar bedding geometries. The internal deformation is modelled as a shear synthetic to, but steeper than, the main domino faults. This deformation explains a large-scale (kilometre sized) drag zone that has a triangular geometry in cross-section. Much of this shear deformation occurred by strain-dependent grain reorganization in the poorly consolidated Jurassic sediments, which led to a decrease in porosity. A strain map is presented for the domino area, indicating where the porosity is likely to have been decreased due to internal shear. Hangingwalls are generally more deformed (sheared) than footwalls. This is seen on both the kilometre scale (large-scale drag) and the metre scale (local drag).

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Section: Geometry Of Main Faultssupporting

confidence: 61%

Section: The Rigid Domino Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Horst Complex and The Accommodation Zonementioning

confidence: 99%

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Structural geology of the Gullfaks Field, northern North Sea

Fossen

Hesthammer

1998

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“…8b). Early stochastic simulations of the internal faulting and fracturing (Koestler et al 1994) assumed that sub-seismic faulting would be developed with orientations approximately parallel to the seismically defined faults. The stochastic simulations failed to predict the orientation of the smaller-scale faults that were observed in later studies using attribute analysis of reprocessed seismic data (Hesthammer & Fossen 1997).…”

Section: Case Study 2: Gullfaks Extensional Fault Examplementioning

confidence: 99%

Elastic dislocation modelling for prediction of small-scale fault and fracture network characteristics

Dee¹,

Yielding²,

Freeman³

et al. 2007

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Predicting the effects of small-scale faults and fractures on reservoir behaviour requires a definition of their spatial distribution, orientation and mode. Elastic dislocation (ED) theory can predict the distribution of displacement, strain and stress in the rock volume surrounding major faults, from mapping of fault geometry and slip distribution in 3D seismic-reflection datasets.The intensity of small-scale faulting can be related to the predicted local strain, or the degree to which the shear stresses exceeded the rock failure envelope. We illustrate the methodology with three case studies: (i) a relatively-simple thrust anticline from Venezuela, where hydrocarbons are trapped in Pliocene sandstones within the faulted hanging wall anticline; (ii) the Gullfaks Field and of the North Sea; and (iii) the Miskar Field, offshore Tunisia, where large seismically mapped normal faults are forward-modelled to predict small-scale fault characteristics for comparison with detailed interpretation and seismic attribute analysis. Key requirements for the development of a robust predictive model of the small-scale fault and fracture network are a geometrically consistent framework model, judicious choice of mechanical properties, and a reasonable estimate of regional background strain.

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“…Because of its position, this area geologically (especially structural geology) has attracted much interest over the last decade (Fossen 1989;Petterson et al 1990;Koestler et al 1994;Fossen and Rornes 1995;Fossen andHesthammer 1998, 2000). The area also contains the highest density of geological data in the North Sea rift system (Beach 1986), including a large amount of 3D seismic survey, deep sea profiles and dipmeter data, in addition to cores and other information from about more than 150 exploration and production wells (Petterson et al 1990;Zanella and Coward 2003).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

2D and 3D seismic simulation for fault modeling: exploratory revision from the Gullfaks field

Siddiqui

Mathew

Menier

et al. 2016

J Petrol Explor Prod Technol

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2D and 3D seismic data have emerged as a key tool in the oil and gas industry to visualize and understand subsurface morphology and boundaries. In addition to providing excellent structural images, the dense sampling of 2D and 3D survey can sometimes make it possible to map reservoir quality and the distribution of hydrocarbon with well-marked limitations. Here we use 2D and 3D seismic data to map and interpret basic structures and fault lines to construct 2D and 3D base fault models of the Gullfaks field, while avoiding common pitfalls. This work also highlights important concepts and principles that allow selection, interpretation and simulation of particular areas containing hydrocarbon traps through the comparison of different maps such as time structure, amplitude and coherence. The field covers an area of approximately 50 km 2 entirely confined within block 34/10 in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea. The area of the seismic lines extends to 4875 m laterally and vertically up to 4.5 s. Based on all the selected horizons, constructed maps and dominant fault construction models (2D and 3D), we show the presence of a major fault that cuts five horizons of the area of interest. The structural features include antiform and a set of extensional faults with master, antithetic and synthetic faults with opposite sense of shear (dip direction and angle *60°). Ductile deformation at the bottom of seismic lines shows the fluctuation of amplitude of acoustic signals in seismic lines. Our results demonstrate uplift along the major fault during extension indicated by chaotic distortion at the bottom, which reveals a gas trap. In the Gullfaks field, termination of fault movement and subsequent deformation appears to have occurred for a long period of time. This illustrates the use of 2D and 3D visualization with horizon attributes that can conveniently provide massive amounts of data which elucidates the trapping mechanism of faults.

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A Structural Simulation Tool for Faulted Sandstone Reservoirs: Exploratory Study Using Data from Utah and the Gullfaks Field

Cited by 6 publications

References 11 publications

Structural geology of the Gullfaks Field, northern North Sea

Structural geology of the Gullfaks Field, northern North Sea

Elastic dislocation modelling for prediction of small-scale fault and fracture network characteristics

2D and 3D seismic simulation for fault modeling: exploratory revision from the Gullfaks field

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