Northern Gulf of Mexico Sandstone Reservoir-Quality Database (GOMRQ): Multiple Data Types for Evaluating Reservoir-Quality Risk

Reservoir quality (i.e., porosity and permeability) is a major risk factor in forecasting economical reservoirs in sandstones. Many geologic factors affect reservoir quality, which makes forecasting difficult. However, construction of statistical and petrographic databases that collect a large population of reservoir-quality data under known conditions greatly aids a worker in producing a forecast. Such databases provide a realistic range of reservoir-quality values that can be expected under designated conditions, which constrains the forecast.

Two types of reservoir-quality data sets have been constructed for the northern Gulf of Mexico sandstones ranging in age from Jurassic (Norphlet Formation) to Pleistocene. One data set is a collection of statistical reservoir-quality data, such as core porosity and permeability analyses, wireline-log porosity analyses, pool-data summary statistics, and mercury injection capillary pressure. The other data set consists of petrographic thin-section point-count analyses with associated porosity and permeability measurements. The assembly of these large reservoir-quality databases into Microsoft Excel digital spreadsheets allows the data to be integrated into analytical programs to forecast reservoir quality.