Completed Study

Stephen C. Ruppel, principal investigator; Fred P. Wang, Jeffrey A. Kane, Hongliu Zeng, F. Jerry Lucia, James W. Jennings, Jr., Rebecca H. Jones, Charles Kerans, Mark H. Holtz, Dallas B. Dunlap, and Joseph S. Yeh

The objectives of this research, which is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, are to develop and test new methodologies for improving imaging, measuring, modeling, and predicting reservoir properties in carbonate oil and gas reservoirs. The focus of these studies is the Permian-age Fullerton Clear Fork reservoir in the Permian Basin of West Texas and analogous outcrops in the Sierra Diablo Mountains of West Texas. Primary focus in 2002 was (1) the interpretation and modeling of 3-D seismic attributes within a high-resolution, cycle-stratigraphic reservoir framework on the basis of outcrop analogs; (2) the characterization, correlation, and modeling of reservoir rock fabrics; and (3) the construction of a 3-D reservoir model that incorporates, as critical constraints, the sequence stratigraphic architecture of the field and petrophysical relationships defined by rock fabric studies. This model will serve as a foundation for renewed field exploitation and recovery of the large volumes of oil remaining in the reservoir. We expect that the results of the study will be tested by operator deployment of appropriate exploitation strategies such as horizontal wells, CO₂ injection, profile modification, and infill drilling. The ultimate goal of the project is to find new, more cost effective ways to locate and recover the oil remaining in existing carbonate reservoirs in the Permian Basin and in the United States.

For more information, please contact Steve Ruppel, principal investigator. Telephone 512-471-2965;
e-mail stephen.ruppel@beg.utexas.edu.

July 2005