N035 Sedimentology, Sequence Stratigraphy and Reservoir Architecture of Paralic Deposits (Utah, USA)

The course addresses production-scale stratigraphic questions:

• How to identify stratigraphic surfaces that segregate reservoir facies
• Reservoir correlation
• When and where to expect flow barriers and baffles

The course addresses exploration-scale stratigraphic questions:

• How to use parasequence stacking patterns to assist with well correlations
• Predicting likelihood of down-dip reservoirs in untested structures

The tutors aim to challenge the way people think about paralic stratigraphy and give them deterministic approaches to analyze subsurface well data. Lessons are drawn from world-class outcrops in the Book Cliffs of Utah and Colorado (fluvial to wave dominated deltaic and incised valley fi ll deposits) to demonstrate common exploration and production scale subsurface situations. The class provides stratigraphic insights to well correlation that allow for more accurate predictions of reservoir distribution in both high and low accommodation settings and provide criteria for assigning risk to the interpretations.

This seminar goes beyond simple facies recognition to giving people skills that allow them to use models to make risk-based predictions of reservoir geometries.

Itinerary
 
Day 0:
Arrive in Grand Junction, CO and attend evening orientation lectures. Night in Grand Junction, CO.

Day 1:
Morning lectures on geology of the Western Interior Seaway and introduction to deltaic depositional systems. Drive to Price, UT with stops along the way to view the geology. Field stop in Price to look at facies associated with wave dominated deltas. Night in Price, UT.

Day 2:
Morning lectures on deltaic depositional systems and introduction to sequence stratigraphy. Field stops demonstrate up-dip to down-dip stratigraphic variations in wave dominated deltaic stratigraphy. Focus on how to correlate parasequences through the identification of fl ooding surfaces. View of the landward pinch-out of a parasequence and discuss the means by which parasequences terminate and the implications for reservoir correlations. Night in Price, UT.

Day 3:
Morning lectures on sequence stratigraphy and identifi cation of sequence boundaries. Demonstrate how to use sequence stratigraphy to understand subsurface correlation through the application of stratigraphic modelling. Classroom exercises emphasize stratigraphic principles and how to use subsurface stacking patterns to predict reservoir distribution and the occurrence of sequence boundaries. Night in Price, UT.

Day 4:
Describe a vertical section and use stacking patterns to make predictions about the down-dip extent of reservoirs. Then use continuous 3D outcrops exposures (6 miles depositional strike by 9 miles depositional dip) to check predictions and to discuss and demonstrate common correlation pitfalls. Night in Green River, UT.

Day 5:
Use outcrop exercises to demonstrate both field and well scale stratigraphic relationships associated with incised valleys and sequence boundaries. Discuss expectations concerning reservoir continuity within incised valley fills compared to marine sandstones. Reinforce learnings by identifying incised valley fills with subsurface correlation exercises. Night in Green River, UT.

Day 6:
Use several outcrop exercises to trace incised valley fills down depositional dip. Discuss importance of incised valleys for reservoir prediction within a field and for the identification of down-dip reservoirs for new exploration plays. Night in Grand Junction, CO.

Day 7:
Morning core workshop viewing examples seen throughout the week in outcrop followed by an afternoon wrap-up session. Night in Grand Junction, CO or return home, depending on flight schedules.

Day 8:
Participants depart Grand Junction, CO anytime.