TX 75083-3836, U.S.A., fax 01-972-952-9435. AbstractThis paper describes a systematic and logical workflow for characterizing a UAE outcrop of the Upper Thamama reservoir.This integrated workflow uses sequence stratigraphy, geologic modeling, and fluid flow simulation and was used as a tool for training early-career UAE geoscientists and engineers. Although the primary focus of the paper is on the mechanics of geologic modeling with principles applicable to UAE fields, the integrated workflow covers the entire spectrum from rock characterization all the way to flow simulation.Outcrop analogs are a valuable source of data for reservoir characterization. They are particularly useful for visualizing interwell variability because subsurface wellbores represent discrete widely spaced data. In other words, outcrops provide the continuous, large-scale coverage of a seismic line and provide the fine-scale resolution of core measurements. Modeling input parameters such as lateral and vertical continuity (variogram range), object dimensions (aspect ratios), detailed reservoir architecture (layering), facies relationships, and the nature and extent of diagenetic features can be observed and measured.To better understand reservoir properties of the Upper Thamama producing zones in Abu Dhabi, a geologic model was developed from descriptions of time-equivalent, analogous outcrops in the Emirate of Ras Al-Khaimah. Parasequences, maximum flooding surfaces, sequence boundaries and lithofacies were described in four measured sections. Porosity measurements derived from logs, core porosity, and core permeability data from an Abu Dhabi oil field were applied to similar lithofacies observed in outcrop. These subsurface data were used in the outcrop 3D model to more precisely reflect subsurface reservoir behavior because outcrops in the UAE experienced a significantly different burial history relative to the subsurface reservoirs. 1For the stratigraphic interval studied in outcrop (i.e., Upper and Lower Kharaib Formation), four composite reservoir facies (three permeable and one "dense") adequately described the flow behavior. These reservoir facies were modeled using Petrel 2 software and were scaled up into a simulation model using ExxonMobil's next generation reservoir simulator, EM power .™ ,3 Multiple scenarios, including various injection patterns, scaleup methods, and locations of thin, highpermeability streaks, were investigated. Results mimicked known behavior in analogous producing fields and the process of going from rock data to simulation provided a useful training tool for reservoir characterization methods and techniques.
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