Reservoir quality database (for enhanced prediction and risk reduction)
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Liverpool
Department Name: Earth, Ocean and Ecological Sciences
Abstract
As we explore for deeper and hotter oil and gas reservoirs, the quality (porosity and permeability) of the host reservoir rock becomes ever more critical, since burial and heating typically lead to extreme degrees of compaction and mineral cement growth (these are collectively known as diagenesis). There is no universal way of predicting sandstone reservoir quality, especially in high-pressure and high-temperature settings, so that this aspect of oil and gas exploration is becoming increasingly critical. As well as ultimately producing an invaluable tool to help exploration, it is expected that this research will result in new insights and conclusions about the origin and distribution of the controls on sandstone reservoir quality deep in sedimentary basins.
This research is designed to collect published data on sandstone oil and gas reservoir quality, dispersed over the world's literature in book-chapters, journals and published government archives, into a relational database. The database will contain porosity and permeability data and information on the age, depth, temperature and type of sedimentary rock. Most crucially, it will contain data on the fundamental characteristics that control reservoir quality; the mineralogy and texture of the original sand grains, type and quantity of mineral cements and the quantity of clay matrix.
This task is substantial but not impossible; in the one year initial project it is proposed that the database-build is restricted to UK basins and neighbouring areas (Norwegian sector of North Sea, Irish territorial waters). The ultimate goal is to capture all relevant published data for all sedimentary basins on Earth.
This database will help oil and gas exploration companies predict sandstone reservoir quality, and so reduce risk, by allowing explorers to find appropriate analogues. The database will help to extend the life of mature basins within UK territories and should help exploration and exploitation in challenging high pressure and high temperature environments such as the areas west of the Shetland Islands. It is expected that there will be an ever-increasing demand for this type of knowledge.
End-user organisations (oil and gas exploration companies: BG, BP and Nexen) have been involved in the inception and design of this research initiative and will be consulted extensively at the outset of the work to ensure that the database design is fit for purpose. The research will involve two-week visits to BG, BP and Nexen in order to input proprietary data into the database. This will demonstrate its potential to be an industry standard for reservoir quality prediction.
During the project a formal proposal for a Joint Industry Programme (JIP), to continue this work, will be prepared and circulated to all oil and gas exploration companies. A workshop will be held at Liverpool University, towards the end of this short project, to promote the Reservoir Quality Database to all interested oil and gas exploration companies. The workshop will promote the JIP to sustain and continue this work.
As part of the new JIP, oil and gas companies will be invited to develop company-specific, proprietary versions of the Reservoir Quality Database, fully compatible with the open-access version, since these companies do not typically systematically archive their own data. They will be invited to have data from current or ongoing projects archived as well as older data, in order to ensure maximum impact of historical exploration and oil field appraisal activities.
The output from this initial phase of the work will be presented at a major petroleum geology-focussed conference and submitted as a paper to an international journal. It is expected that this unique collation of sandstone reservoir quality data will lead to a new perspective on compaction and cementation and so result in new research initiatives, both at Liverpool and possibly within oil and gas exploration companies.
This research is designed to collect published data on sandstone oil and gas reservoir quality, dispersed over the world's literature in book-chapters, journals and published government archives, into a relational database. The database will contain porosity and permeability data and information on the age, depth, temperature and type of sedimentary rock. Most crucially, it will contain data on the fundamental characteristics that control reservoir quality; the mineralogy and texture of the original sand grains, type and quantity of mineral cements and the quantity of clay matrix.
This task is substantial but not impossible; in the one year initial project it is proposed that the database-build is restricted to UK basins and neighbouring areas (Norwegian sector of North Sea, Irish territorial waters). The ultimate goal is to capture all relevant published data for all sedimentary basins on Earth.
This database will help oil and gas exploration companies predict sandstone reservoir quality, and so reduce risk, by allowing explorers to find appropriate analogues. The database will help to extend the life of mature basins within UK territories and should help exploration and exploitation in challenging high pressure and high temperature environments such as the areas west of the Shetland Islands. It is expected that there will be an ever-increasing demand for this type of knowledge.
End-user organisations (oil and gas exploration companies: BG, BP and Nexen) have been involved in the inception and design of this research initiative and will be consulted extensively at the outset of the work to ensure that the database design is fit for purpose. The research will involve two-week visits to BG, BP and Nexen in order to input proprietary data into the database. This will demonstrate its potential to be an industry standard for reservoir quality prediction.
During the project a formal proposal for a Joint Industry Programme (JIP), to continue this work, will be prepared and circulated to all oil and gas exploration companies. A workshop will be held at Liverpool University, towards the end of this short project, to promote the Reservoir Quality Database to all interested oil and gas exploration companies. The workshop will promote the JIP to sustain and continue this work.
As part of the new JIP, oil and gas companies will be invited to develop company-specific, proprietary versions of the Reservoir Quality Database, fully compatible with the open-access version, since these companies do not typically systematically archive their own data. They will be invited to have data from current or ongoing projects archived as well as older data, in order to ensure maximum impact of historical exploration and oil field appraisal activities.
The output from this initial phase of the work will be presented at a major petroleum geology-focussed conference and submitted as a paper to an international journal. It is expected that this unique collation of sandstone reservoir quality data will lead to a new perspective on compaction and cementation and so result in new research initiatives, both at Liverpool and possibly within oil and gas exploration companies.
People |
ORCID iD |
Richard Worden (Principal Investigator) |
Description | The finding have led to several oil companies urging us to set up a reservoir quality database joint industry consortium. The low oil price means that this is likely to happen in the next 12-24 months depending on the oil price and the state of the global economy |
First Year Of Impact | 2015 |
Sector | Energy |
Impact Types | Economic |
Description | Industry course in Stavanager in Norway |
Geographic Reach | Europe |
Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
Impact | The course was designed to change attitudes to reservoir exploration and appraisal in the Upper Jurassic of the North Sea. |
Description | New approach to reservoir quality prediction in oil and gas fields within companies |
Geographic Reach | Multiple continents/international |
Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
Impact | This work has influenced practitioners in companies (BP, BG) in their approach to rservoir quality prediction during oil and gas field exploration, appraisal and field management |
Title | Reservoir quality database |
Description | The database is designed to gather reservoir quality data (petrophysics and petrolgraphic data) that has been published and/or is publically available from the UK, first of all, and then for the whole world. Such data are often produed by oil companies but are seldom archived and are never built in to a relational database. |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Provided To Others? | No |
Impact | The reservoir quality database (RQD) concept was funde to build a research consortium funded by oil companies. Given the continuing low price of oil and mass redundancies, companies have expressed huge interest but recommend waiting until the oil price comes back up. Companies such as BP and BG see huge advantage in developing the RQD, to maximise ue of their own old and new data but I need to wait some more months before I start selling this concept. |
Description | Collaboration with DNO |
Organisation | DNO ASA |
Country | Norway |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | Research via the Chlorite Consortium at the University of Liverpool |
Collaborator Contribution | Offering staff time to discuss and liaise and access to oilfield core samples |
Impact | None yet - it has only just started |
Start Year | 2021 |
Description | Collaboration with Equinor |
Organisation | Equinor |
Country | Norway |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | New and ongoing reservoir quality research funding |
Collaborator Contribution | They have provided data due to the work on the reservoir quality database |
Impact | One paper submitted to a journal: Griffiths, J., Worden, R. H., Utley, J. E. P., Brostrøm, C., Martinius, A. W., Lawan, A. Y., Al-Hajri, I. (submitted). Origin and distribution of grain-coating and pore-filling chlorite in deltaic sandstones: Reservoir quality assessment of the Tilje Formation, Smørbukk Field, Offshore Norway. Marine and Petroleum Geology. |
Start Year | 2019 |
Description | Collaboration with Oil company: BP |
Organisation | BP (British Petroleum) |
Department | BP Exploration Company |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | Shared the reservoir quality database concept and early outputs from the collation of UK reservoir quality data Shared the stalled RQ database, that could not be grown into a sdpin-out company duie to the oil and gas sector cutbacks, with a company specialising in data analytics, machine learning and AI |
Collaborator Contribution | The provided confidential data, costing at least £100,000 to generate |
Impact | Big step forward in development of the database |
Start Year | 2015 |
Description | Collaboration with Oil company: BP |
Organisation | Petryx |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | Shared the reservoir quality database concept and early outputs from the collation of UK reservoir quality data Shared the stalled RQ database, that could not be grown into a sdpin-out company duie to the oil and gas sector cutbacks, with a company specialising in data analytics, machine learning and AI |
Collaborator Contribution | The provided confidential data, costing at least £100,000 to generate |
Impact | Big step forward in development of the database |
Start Year | 2015 |
Description | Collaboration with a new company called Petryx |
Organisation | Petryx |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | We provided data from the nascent RQ database. This, ideally, would have led to a spin-out company in its own right, but the down turn in the oil and gas sector killed this possibioity. |
Collaborator Contribution | They provided AI, data analytsics and machine learning know-how |
Impact | AAPG Conference abstract submitted for presentation in September 2020: Database for CCS Storage Domain and Seal Rock Properties R H Worden, L Fielding, L Davies, S Fielding |
Start Year | 2020 |
Description | Conference presentation, December 2015 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Presentation of interim results to post-grads, academics and a few industry professionals at an annual conference on Sedimentology, December 2015 |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
Description | Database for CCS Storage Domain and Seal Rock Properties |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Presentation of a talk at an AAPG ICE conference |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
Description | Invited talk at AAPG ICE in London in October 2017 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | This was an invited talk at the International AAPG conference in London. The audience heard about reservoir quality in sandstones with an example from the reservoir quality database. The talk led to numerous requests for further information. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
Description | Presentation at a national conference |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | I gave a talk at the Clay Minerals Research in Progress meeting at Manchester on the 13th of September 2016 at Manchester University. The talk was titled "Reservoir quality database for enhanced prediction and modelling: clay minerals in UK reservoirs from the Devonian to the Palaeogene" |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
Description | Presentation at a national conference |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | I presented a poster at the Clay Minerals Research in Progress meeting at Manchester University on the 13th of September 2016. The poster was titled "Middle Jurassic Brent Group clay mineralogy and petrography: basin-scale review to guide enhanced oil recovery" |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
Description | Presentation at an international conference |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | I presented a talk at PETEX in London on 16th November 2016 to about 70 to 90 attendees. The was titled "Brent Group Petrography and Diagenesis: Implications for Reservoir Quality and Enhanced Oil Recovery. This was based on the collated data as part of the RQD database activity The intended purpose was to promote the concept of the Reservoir Quality Database and to communicate the benefits of "big data" studies of petrography and petrophysics of petroleum reservoirs. The talk promoted lively debate and some excitement about the value of the NERC-funded work at Liverpool University |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
Description | Presentation to oil company: Nexen, July 2015 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | Workshop, teleconferenced around the world, detailing the research undertaken and gathering interest in the proposed Reservoir Quality Database industry consortium. Note that Nexen signed letters of support for this NERC grant. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
Description | Presentations to oil company: BG, September 2015, and December 2015 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | Workshops, teleconferenced around the world, detailing the research undertaken and gathering interest in the proposed Reservoir Quality Database industry consortium. Note that BG signed letters of support for this NERC grant. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
Description | Presentations to oil company: BP, August 2015, December 2015 and January 2016 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | Workshops, teleconferenced around the world, detailing the research undertaken and gathering interest in the proposed Reservoir Quality Database industry consortium. Note that BP signed letters of support for this NERC grant. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015,2016 |
Description | Whole day presentation and discussion with EnQuest |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | This day of presentations to EnQuest geologists was designed to let them see our capabilities, including for the Reservoir Quality Database. This led to 2 MSc projects, which may be stepping stones to PhD projects or other types of funded research work. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
Description | Whole day presentation to Statoil at their research centre in Trondheim |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | The aim of the one day workshop was to promote the reservoir quality database and other research ideas and output from Liverpool University's Diagenesis Research Group. The impact was immediate with Statoil asking to fund a 9 month post-doc with Liverpool, worth £143,000. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |