Going Beyond Exploration

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Lecture 15
Going Beyond Exploration
Headlines Alpha Wildcat Finds Thick
Oil Zone!
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Our Exploration Flowchart
Management Approved Wildcat Well

• Identify
• Opportunities

Success
Courtesy of ExxonMobil
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Our Assessment Results
Alpha Prospect Main Compartment - Risked
1.0
100
Gas Only
0.8
62 COS
Gas Cap Oil Leg
0.6
51 Chance of Finding More Than
the Economic Minimum
0.4
Economic Minimum
Oil Only
0.2
0.0
0
100
200
300
400
500
Million Oil Equivalent Barrels
62 Chance to find any hydrocarbons 51 Chance to
find 100 MBOE 5 Chance to find 400 MBOE
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Congratulations! A Huge Success
Alpha Prospect
YOUR exploration well on the Alpha prospect
discovered an estimated 325 MBO
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Whats Next?

• Exploration would drill one or two confirmation
  wells to verify there is enough HCs to make some
  money (Value gt Costs)
• If results continue to be good, the FIELD would
  pass on to Development or Production people

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Delineation Well
Alpha Prospect
6 Months later A delineation well is
completed to the NE An OWC is found at 4500 m
the same depth as in the discovery well The
porosity is slightly better 26 versus 23 in
the discovery well
Block 7
Delineation Well

Salt Diapir
Discovery Well
Block 8
Bonanza Basin
The delineation well has confirmed enough oil to
merit field development EUR now set at 348 MBO
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GG in Development

• Exploration has drilled a discovery and a
  delineation well.
• The ultimate recover for Alpha is estimated to
  be 338 MBO,
• which greatly exceeds the economic threshold
  of 100 MBO

Questions

• Can we refine our picture of the distribution of
  oil at Alpha?
• Is the reservoir a single unit, or is it
  segmented (separate regions to drain)?
• How many wells and where should they be drilled?
• What sort of facilities (platform?) will we need?
• How can we speed-up time to first oil?
• What uncertainties remain?

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We Need More Detail
Reservoir Map at the end of Exploration
Reservoir Map at the end of Development
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Some Questions
Why did they drill well 3?
Why did they drill well 4?
Where would you place well 5?
Why?
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Data for Development
We may need better quality data to address
development needs
Data Used for Exploration
Data Reprocessed or Reshot for Development And
Production
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GG in Production

• Production has begun at Alpha.
• The initial production rates are as expected.

Questions

• How should we manage the field so as to maximize
  our investments?
• Can we monitor how oil is being swept out of the
  reservoir?
• What about injection wells and enhanced recovery?
• Is there more oil in the vicinity either at
  deeper depths or in nearby traps?
• Can we build a computer model of the field that
  matches existing production data? If so, we can
  test future recovery with different drilling
  scenarios.

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Reservoir Simulation
Geologic Model
HISTORY MATCH
Oil Production
Actual in Blue
Modeled in Red
Production Time
INPUT
Reservoir Simulation
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The Value of GG to an Oil Company

• GG work is done to add HC reserves (volumes)
• New discoveries
• More from discovered producing zones
• Additional producing zones
• Get the most reserves at the lowest cost
• Invest in the right basins
• Drill in the optimum locations
• Correctly assess what can be recovered
• Avoid unnecessary wells

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Lets Fast Forward a Number of Years

• The Alpha field has been producing for 5 years
• We want to maximize production

Build a Geologic Model
Develop a Reservoir Simulation
Match Past Production
Model Future Production
Iterate to Match Production History
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A Geologic Model
An integration of all geologic, geophysical,
petrophysical and interpreted or conceptual
information about a reservoir into a single 3D
numerical description of that reservoir
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A Geologic Model

• Each cell can be populated with rock fluid
  Properties
• Facies
• Porosity
• Permeability
• Fluid Saturation
• Etc.

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Using a Simulation
Past Production
Future Production

• How do we use this information?
• Field development planning
• Field production optimization
• Reservoir surveillance

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In Summary

• The OG Industry needs top-notch scientists and
  engineers to work on a vast array of problems
• The assignments are challenging, fast-paced, and
  multi-disciplined
• Often your work is tested in the matter of months
• Great Ideas Good Science -gt Success

L 15 Beyond Exploration