Online Short-Course in Sandstone Reservoirs
Course Details
Welcome to the Online Exploration and Development of Sandstone Reservoirs Short-Course. We understand that with the global pandemic, oil price crash and with most companies slashing training budgets, travel expenses are the biggest hurdle in getting the training you need.
Starting in 2015 we were the first online geoscience course provider that included live lectures, exercises and modules that you can pick and choose. Although we recommend that you complete all modules in the correct progression, we understand time and budget constraints, therefore you have the flexibility of choosing what modules to take and the order in which you complete them.
Course notes and exercise materials will be provided to you using a dropbox link. The price of individual modules is $250 and if you choose to take all modules together you can do so for $2500 if you’re a professional, $900 if you are a student. We give additional discounts as well, e-mail us to find out if you are eligible.
Each module runs for 3-hours and is taught live on Zoom so you have an opportunity to be interactive and ask the instructor questions. If you want a sample of the instructor’s teaching style you can watch this youtube webinar.
Who Should Attend
• Geologists
• Geophysicists who wish to better understand carbonate seismology and seismic stratigraphy
• Petrophysicists
• Engineers who wish to develop a better understanding of the factors that control distribution, reservoir connectivity, and compartmentalization in carbonate reservoirs
• Graduate Students (Masters or Doctorate) who wish to develop a better understanding of the petroleum industry and the importance of carbonate reservoirs
The course assumes no prior knowledge of carbonates therefore we also encourage non-geoscientists and graduate-students to enroll.
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Course Outline
Module 1
After a decade of providing consulting services to companies across the globe, we have seen patterns in the kind of mistakes that lead to failure. Failure in miscalculating reserve estimates, reservoir presence, and quality based on errors in sub-surface data interpretation.
In this 2-hour module, Dr. Jaffri will lecture for about an hour and a half and we will spend another 30 minutes or so on exercises that will hammer-in the concepts covered.
Module 2
Description and interpretation of grain sizes and sedimentary structures is critical in determination of depositional environments and setting up a lithofacies framework. The module covers the most common sedimentary structures from fluvial to deep-marine environments and their core and borehole image logs expression.
This module presents outcrop, core, and borehole image logs examples from basins across the globe. By the end of the module, participants should have an “Atlas” that they can then refer to when describing their own core or quality-checking work performed by a consultant.
Module 3
ntil ten years ago, most geologists would write off entire sections of core as “bioturbated” and not take the time to describe ichnofacies or to think about the possible relationship between bioturbation and reservoir quality.
Thanks to the work of George Pemberton, Murray Gingras, James MacEachern, Tom De Keyser and others we now know that bioturbation can both increase and decrease reservoir quality. Therefore, if and when you do find bioturbation in your reservoirs it is your responsibility to understand what effect burrowing has had on quality.
Topics to be covered: How to measure bioturbation index, Psilonichnus ichnofacies, Skolithos ichnofacies, Cruziana ichnofacies, Zoophycos ichnofacies, brackish water vs normal salinity, shorefaces vs deltas, biogenically enhanced permeability.
Module 4
Fluvial systems present exploration and development geoscientists and engineers with a unique set of challenges. Most fluvial channels are below seismic resolution therefore a distinct set of “good practices” need to be set up to image them. Correlation can be a mess because of the inherent heterogeneity in the depositional system. We will discuss scaling-relationships and better correlations methods. We will also discuss populating geomodels with input the most software packages such as Petrel or RMS need.
Topics covered: Fluvial architectural elements, river classification by Andrew Miall, overbank fines, levee and crevasse splay sandstones, calculation of channel depth and width and channel belt width using cross-strata set thickness.
Module 5
Deltaic reservoirs globally hold vast hydrocarbon reserves. This module focuses on the location of source, reservoir and seal facies within a deltaic system. There is a great deal of confusion in oil and gas business units when it comes to stratigraphic trapping styles in deltas.
After a brief introduction to delta classification by processes (wave-dominated vs wave influenced, tide-dominated, tide influenced, etc) and grain size, we will move on to seismic facies and how you can differentiate deltas on the shelf vs those that have prograded to or beyond the shelf margin.
Module 6
Wave-dominated linear coastlines are common during global highstands along passive continental margins and include some very high quality reservoirs. Waves and long shore drift form a wide range of sand bodies which we will systematically cover. Log and cores examples of common sand-body types will be provided since the majority of these are below seismic resolution.
Topics covered: Shorefaces, Strand Plains, Barrier Islands, Washover fans, Marshes, Spit Bars.
Module 7
Tides can dominate in epeiric (interior) sea-ways due to resonance and along embayed coastlines typical of rift basins. Recent research has highlighted the diversity of tidal sand waves between narrow straits. In this course, we will first go through tidal processes and then cover sand bodies produced by tidal currents and their expression in sub-surface datasets such as seismic, logs, and core.
The second half of the course will discuss the relationship between deltas and incised valleys and the seismic and log expression of incised valley fill.
Topics to be covered: fluvial-tidal-transition zone, bayhead deltas, estuaries, tidal flats: sand flats, mixed flats, mudflats, tidal inlets, tidal channels, ebb-tidal deltas, flood tidal deltas, tidal bars, tidal sand waves, incised valleys.
Module 8
Before we introduce course participants to deepwater architectural elements such as channels and lobes, we like to cover the range of fluid and sediment graviy flows. We will begin by differentiating between mass-transport complexes, bottom current deposits and sediment gravity flows. We will then cover the more popular classification schemes of Lowe, Shanmugam and Mutti and highlight the differences between turbidity currents and debris flows.
The exercise teaches participants how they can differentiate between turbidites and debrites in core and borehole image logs.
Module 9
Deepwater sandstones form incredibly rich hydrocarbon reservoirs. Their thickness and distinct external geometries and internal reflection configuration allow fantastic imaging on 3D seismic data.This module builds upon the last one and discusses architectural elements in deepwater (slope and basin floor) settings. Core, log, outcrop and seismic examples of channels, lobes and channelized lobes are provided from across the globe.
Topics covered: Channel complexes, channel elements, channel storeys, lobe elements, fans, seismic facies, log expression, mud-rich vs sand-rich systems.
Module 10
This module focuses on sequence stratigraphy from an oil and gas perspective. Using logs participants will learn to predict reservoir types in shallow marine settings. The module focuses on both shallow and deep marine depositional systems and how reservoir and source rocks are deposited along a shelf-to-basin profile with varying relative sea-level stands.
Topics to be covered: depositional sequences, sequence boundaries, maximum flooding surfaces, ravinement surfaces, systems tracts, parasequence types and their stacking patterns, reservoir, and source rocks distribution changes with changes in sediment supply, accommodation, tectonics, and eustatic sea-level change.
