W005 The Upper Jurassic of the North Sea: A Case Study in Assessing Controls on Reservoir Quality in Shallow Marine Depositional Systems
Course Facts
- Course Code:
- W005
- Duration:
- 2 days
- Type:
- Classroom
- CEU:
- 1.6 Continuing Education Units
- PDH:
- 16 Professional Development Hours
- Certificate:
- Certificate Issued Upon Completion
Summary
The workshop will focus on characterising the controls on reservoir distribution and reservoir quality in shallow marine shoreface and shelf depositional systems. The key learnings will be exportable to shallow marine plays in different geographic areas and/or lithostratigraphic units. Core analysis will focus on the Upper Jurassic Ula Formation but the learnings overall have regional applicability to the Fulmar Formation and other North Sea equivalents.
Duration and Training Method
The workshop will explore the criteria necessary to differentiate sedimentary successions deposited in land-attached shoreface settings and non land-attached shelf sand fairways, whilst also investigating primary and secondary controls on reservoir quality in both play types. The structural controls on sandbody distribution within a stratigraphic context will also be investigated, particularly the influence of diapiric activity. Understanding the role of diapirism and its influence on reservoir presence/absence is exportable to other diapir-influenced shallow marine depositional systems. Exercises and case studies will illustrate problems associated with stratigraphic interpretation, sandbody correlation and facies interpretation in shallow marine systems. Core viewing will allow participants to make observations and will include group exercises focussing on constraining depositional models within a sequence stratigraphic framework and understanding controls on reservoir quality.
Day 1 - Introduction to the Ula Formation and its applicability as a case study for Late Jurassic syn-rift shallow marine plays
- Upper Jurassic stratigraphy of the Central Graben
- Depositional models, including modern and ancient analogues
- Geochemical, petrophysical and mineralogical concepts related to Ula reservoir quality
- Primary (i.e. depositional) and secondary (i.e. diagenetic) controls on reservoir quality
- Core viewing and exercises
- Wireline log and CCA data exercises
Day 2 - Facies architecture and controls on reservoir quality in shallow marine depositional systems
- Facies architecture and controls on reservoir quality in shallow marine depositional systems
- The role of diapirs and salt movement on sandbody distribution and architecture
- Links between depositional processes, diagenesis and reservoir quality
- Integration of petrophysical, CCA and wireline log data with sedimentological data
- Core viewing and exercises
- Conclusions and wrap-up
Who should attend
The course is designed to appeal to all geoscientists and petroleum engineers involved in the subsurface analysis of the Upper Jurassic of the North Sea. Although emphasis will be placed on using the data within an exploration context, many themes will be of equal value to participants focussed on reservoir-scale field development and production.
Prerequisites and linking courses
There are no prerequisites for this workshop
Click on a name to learn more about the instructor
John Cummings
John Cummings
Background
Upon completion of a BSc in Geography from the University of Leeds in 2006, John spent 18 months working as an analytical chemist for RSK Group prior to commencing his PhD at the University of Liverpool in 2007. John’s PhD focused on utilising ichnology as a supplementary tool in interpreting depositional environments within submarine fan settings, while also assessing the response of benthic macrofauna to periods of environmental change/stress. The research led to the refinement of turbidite facies models through the integration of novel ichnological analysis techniques and the development of an ethology (trace behaviour) based deep-marine trace fossil model exportable to Late Mesozoic to Cenozoic sections. The research resulted in widely cited publications in Palaios and Sedimentary Geology. Upon completion of his PhD in 2010/2011, John commenced a career with Ichron working as a reservoir geologist. Due to John’s solid grounding in ichnology and process sedimentology, he immediately gained exposure to a wide range of geological studies from a variety of geographic regions and geological settings. John was acting as project manager on large studies within a year and was promoted to Senior Reservoir Geologist within 3 years. John worked extensively on the Johan Sverdrup field during its appraisal stage, logging more than 1.8 km of core across the field. This exposure led to John working extensively across the wider Utsira High area, generating robust stratigraphic schemes and depositional models for Permian to Cretaceous depositional systems across the area. John has also worked extensively in the Norwegian Central Graben, producing a series of play fairway maps and gross depositional environment reconstructions. A component of this work was core description of c. 1.2 km of core penetrating the Ula Formation, leading to an evolved understanding of the distribution of Ula Formation sand bodies and the controls on reservoir quality within this prolific play.
Affiliations and Accreditation
PhD University of Liverpool - Geology
BSc University of Leeds - Geography
Courses Taught
W005: North Sea Exploration Workshop: The Upper Jurassic North Sea: A Case Study in Assessing Controls on Reservoir Quality in Shallow Marine Depositional Systems
Dates for this Course
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