Novel Approach on Thin Bed Reservoir Case Study from Muda Formation, Natuna Basin

Abstract

The presence of shale in thin beds reservoirs affects formation evaluation where the standard conventional log analyses are not designed to properly correct this effect. The conventional logging tools, with low vertical resolution, are not able to characterize these thin beds. This implies that log values do not represent the true bed or layer properties, but rather an average of multiple beds. Muda Formation are characterized by thin bed layers, made up of clastic rock sequences with dominant lithology of sandstone inter-bedded with shale, siltstone, and organic material as confirmed by drilling cuttings, logs response, and also supported by observation from sidewall cores. There are many uncertainties related to the presence of thin beds, primarily sand, silt, shale or their combination in term of their petrophysical properties and lateral extent. Inadequate reservoir characterization can cause significant amounts of oil and gas to remain unidentified. Accurate petrophysical parameters determination play an important role in the development plan of a field. The lateral and vertical variations in the petrophysical properties of the reservoir lead to different scenarios of the field development. The study of Muda Formation in this structure has integrated the sidewall core and log data. The contribution of the thin sand laminae to the average log response resulted in underestimating the porosity (Ф) and hydrocarbon saturation (Sh). The advanced measurement, like the resistivity anisotropy, proved quite useful as the vertical and horizontal resistivity across these beds leading to measurable electrical anisotropy. The resistivity measured perpendicular to the bedding is significantly higher than resistivity measured parallel to the bedding. The situation occurs due to high resistivity sand layers interbedded with low resistivity shale layers. The true sand porosity and hydrocarbon saturation were calculated using the laminated sand shale sequence and calibrated with core data. The study led to the more realistic petrophysical estimation of the sand shale laminae. A combination and integration of high-resolution image log for sand count, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) for porosity evaluation and triaxial resistivity for volumetric model through Laminated Sand Analysis approach are found useful to solve thin bed reservoir issue.