Reservoir Characterization Fieldtrip

This training presents the reservoirs that deposited in modern and ancient fluvial, estuarine and deltaic environments, and includes an applied exercise of production geology (data base: fluvial and estuarine reservoirs of a Cretaceous oil field).

This course is open to any geoscientist with a basic knowledge of geology, and any participant at bachelor or master level.
It has been specially designed for direct application by exploration and production geologists / geophysicists, working on shallow water reservoirs, ranging from fluvial, estuarine, to shore face deposits. Reservoir engineers in charge of modelling and producing these reservoirs should be interested also.

This field trip is a unique opportunity to:

• Visualize the modern-day environments of deposition and the associated reservoir geo-bodies,
• Compare the modern deposits to their Eocene reservoir analogs and analyze their spatial distribution within a sequence stratigraphic framework,
• Understand the best way to produce these reservoirs with a real-live business-case Cretaceous oil field exercise (fluvial & estuarine reservoirs).

The aims of this training are to examine:

1. Detailed facies analysis of shallow marine depositional environments: fluvial – estuarine – deltaic.
2. Reservoir characterization of the sand bodies that deposited in these environments:  geometries, internal heterogeneities, interconnections.  
3. Sequence stratigraphic analysis of the large-scale reservoir architecture: spatial distribution of reservoirs and seals, analysis of potential stratigraphic traps.  
4. Direct application of these field concepts to a business case study (Cretaceous oil field exercise):

• with reservoir characterization (sedimentology of fluvial & estuarine systems),
• reconstruction of reservoir architecture (sequence stratigraphy & reservoir layering)
• and presentation of guidelines for production optimization.

Learning-by-doing, based on extensive exercises during the field trip.

The teaching material is composed of field guide books, power point presentations, poster sessions (before and after each field stop), core descriptions (high-quality cores, preserved in epoxy), very high resolution seismic lines (Seistec & Sparker), and Cretaceous oil field data (core pictures, well logs correlation panel).

Each participant is required to provide a yearly medical certificate before attending this field course. Participants must be in good health and physical conditions to attend.
Attendees must also wear adapted shoes (suitable for sandy and wet shore, and stony ground) and bring clothing for hot day time temperatures (sun hat, sun glasses, etc.).

• Introductory lecture presenting the depositional environments of the Aquitaine basin.
• Fluvial meandering channels with sandy-conglomeratic point bars.
• Estuarine meandering channels, with heterolithic point bars (core).
• Estuary-funnel sandy tidal bars (cores and very high resolution seismic).
• Internal architecture of the estuarine bay-head delta: reservoirs and internal seals.
• Sequence stratigraphic model and reservoir architecture of the tide-dominated Gironde incised valley (very high resolution seismic).

• Inner estuary meandering sandy tidal channels and muddy tidal flats (cores and very high resolution seismic).
• Outer tidal inlet channel-fill and sandy tidal flat.
• Sequence stratigraphic model and reservoir architecture of the wave-dominated Arcachon bay (very high resolution seismic).
• Comparison with the tide-dominated Gironde incised valley.

• Introduction to basin setting: the Eocene Roda Sandstone is composed of six fluvio-deltaic sequences, which infilled a piggy-back basin located in the foreland of the Southern Pyrenees.
• Flood-dominated Gilbert delta lobes, facies, reservoir architecture and sequence stratigraphy.

• Tidal dunes and tidal bars deposited at the base of the Gilbert delta foresets, under the influence of tidal currents: facies, reservoir architecture and sequence stratigraphy.

• Braided streams & meandering channels: facies, reservoir architecture and sequence stratigraphy.
• Direct application of the field concepts to a business case study: a Cretaceous oil field exercise, with reconstruction of reservoir characterization & architecture, based on sedimentology and sequence stratigraphy, with a presentation of guidelines for production optimization.