By the end of this programme, participants will be able to:
- Identify stratigraphic variations in carbonate pore architecture and understand their impact on permeability.
- Analyze the relationship between primary depositional facies, sequence stratigraphic frameworks, and diagenetic history in shaping pore architecture and reservoir quality.
- Understand fracturing in carbonates and how fracture density, aperture, and length correlate with facies, lithology, and diagenesis.
- Assess the controls on carbonate reservoir heterogeneity at sub-reservoir to reservoir scales.
- Apply 3D geostatistical modeling techniques to better understand carbonate reservoir heterogeneity and optimize reservoir development and management.
DAY 1
Understanding Carbonate Reservoirs: Controls and Facies Distribution
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- Factors controlling carbonate production: temperature, latitude, depth, salinity, and their impact on reservoir facies distribution.
- Carbonate microfacies:
- Classification schemes: Dunham and Folk.
- Types of reef rocks and microbialite classification.
- Overview of grain types: non-skeletal (e.g., cortoids, ooids, pisoids, oncoids, grapestones, intraclasts, extraclasts) and skeletal (e.g., coral, bryozoans, algae, molluscs, foraminifera).
- Understanding the carbonate matrix.
- Exercise: Analysis of modern carbonate depositional environments and facies distribution.
DAY 2
Carbonate Platforms, Builders, and Sequence Stratigraphy
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- Carbonate factories and their evolution through time:
- T (tropical), C (cool water), and M (mud-dominated) factories (Schlager model).
- Types of carbonate platforms: isolated, rimmed attached, attached, and ramps.
- Distribution and significance in reservoirs.
- Carbonate sequence stratigraphy and cyclicity:
- Shelf cycles of ramps, Lofer, and Latemar cycles.
- Brining upwards cycles and identification of stratal discontinuities.
- Techniques for recognizing discontinuities in core, well-logs, and seismic data.
- Exercise: Core and thin section descriptions for carbonate sequences.
DAY 3
Carbonate Diagenesis and Reservoir Characterization
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- Diagenesis processes:
- Cement types and their influence on porosity and permeability.
- Dolomitization: positive and negative effects on reservoir quality.
- Dedolomitization and its implications.
- Carbonate ichnology:
- Bioturbation index and ichnofacies.
- Reservoir characterization:
- Classification and types of pore systems.
- Exercise: Integrating seismic, well logs, and core data to evaluate carbonate plays.
DAY 4
Modern Carbonate Depositional Environments
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- Examination of current depositional systems: reefs, lagoons, shoals, and open marine settings.
- Identification of key stratigraphic surfaces: sequence boundaries, transgressive surfaces, and maximum flooding surfaces.
- Exercise: Practical identification of stratigraphic surfaces in cores and logs.
DAY 5
Seismic Expression and Reservoir Analysis
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- Seismic characteristics of carbonate platforms:
- Interpretation of platform geometries and depositional patterns.
- Recognizing key seismic signatures of carbonate reservoirs.
- Net-to-gross calculations for carbonate reservoirs:
- Understanding the distribution of reservoir quality facies.
- Evaluating porosity, permeability, and reservoir connectivity.
- Exercise: Performing net-to-gross calculations and seismic interpretation for carbonate reservoirs.
