Petroleum Geology Project, Northern Iraq

Albian-Geo provides petroleum geology, subsurface data integration and field-development support based on practical experience in heavy-oil appraisal, mature-field redevelopment, well planning, reservoir characterisation and geological data management.

The focus is on converting dispersed geological, well, production, GIS and infrastructure data into coherent technical products that support well planning, intervention strategy, field redevelopment and operational decision-making.

Key Capabilities

Reservoir Characterisation

Gap analysis, petrophysical interpretation, Petrel model construction, log correlation and revised tops.

Formation studies and volumetrics

OWC, water saturation, porosity, permeability, thickness, facies classification, P10/P50/P90 and deterministic volumes

Well planning

Support to one >4,000 m exploration well, 23 production/appraisal wells and acid gas injection well planning

Legacy data mining

Recovery of original non-digitised records and safeguarding of abstracted data in a database

Cross-discipline technical products

Well schematics, visual database, GIS-linked data, mapping, infrastructure planning and support to technical departments

Drilling Support

Geological programmes, wellsite geological responsibility, remote support, formation tops and geological reports

Heavy-Oilfield Redevelopment Northern Iraq

Overview:

Field development of two adjacent fields
- Shallow, carbonate, stacked reservoirs (API ~15 to 18)
- Existing low quality 2D seismic
Intermittent production from 1930's
Force Majeure due to ISIS activity in 2013
Well Stock destroyed by ISIS
Resumption in 2018

Increase in well stock, production ramp up...
Infrastructure repair, replacement and augmentation...

Legacy Data Mining & Subsurface Data Recovery

Original records in various non-digitised formats.

Identification of lack of combined and coherent geospatial data for analysis.

Data abstracted and safeguarded in database.

Transformed into useful and integrated products for benefit of all Departments:

Well schematics
Well books
Mapping
Visual database...

Subsurface Database & GIS Intergration

Subsurface database designed based on well name.

Database enhanced to contain additional relevant infrastructure information.

Extensive use of GIS and imagery to add and extract features/ information for general mapping and database attribution:

Road type, demining, flowlines...
Legacy oil spills
Security planning, (line of sight studies)...

Database linked to GIS and other software to avoid:

Improper data versioning
Replication and hoarding
Cut and paste error migration

Well Books & Well Stock Review

Large percentage of existing well stock shut-in, never commercially produced or destroyed.

Well data dispersed between departments and individual spreadsheets (data hoarding).

Over 30 geological inputs together with production and well histories prepared.

Using all available information, the wells were assessed for intervention strategies:

Proximity
Intervention type
Chance of success
Current production requirement...

Five (5) wells brought into production Q3 2019.

Reservoir Characterisation Petrophysical Investigation

Consolidation of information from previous data mining activities and other external studies:

Gap analysis
Re-processing of 2D seismic
Petrophysics interpretation

Construction of in-house Petrel reservoir model: log correlation and revised tops.

Evaluation of well flow test data:

Spatial evaluation of data (for management visualisation)
- Maps, histograms and correlations
- Pressure gradients, cumulative and production flow
- Identification of possible compartments and under pressured zones

Conduct internal formation studies:

OWC, water saturation
Porosity and permeability
Thickness and areas
Facies classification (supervised neural networks)
P10, P50, P90 and deterministic volumes calculated.
- Use of own bespoke Monte-Carlo spreadsheet (over 50,000 calculations and 10,000 realisations using Beta distributions)

Revision to models and technical reporting and presentations.

Exploration, Appraisal & Production Well Planning

For:

1 exploration well >4,000 m (selection of objectives and targets).
23 Production and appraisal wells in two fields.
Acid gas injection well(s).

Prepare technical and operational factors appreciation report to identify drill locations and objectives:

Identify production and development requirements:
- Preliminary FDP obligations
- Production vs appraisal
- Sector vs area development
- Budget constraints
Use of GIS and remote sensing to identify current operational constraints:
- Water production, security
- Geo-hazards, suitable pad areas
- Infrastructure proximity
Identify geological data knowledge gaps:
- Well spatial distribution
- Core data
- Reservoir compartmentalisation
Identify appraisal wells and recommend wireline tool strings
Develop drilling plan

Reconnaissance and Client approval for location and plan. Prepare and issue:

Individual field geological data/information packs for wellsite geologist.
23 geological programs.
SOWs and procedures for wellsite activities.

Assist Engineering and Security Department with planning mapping:

Flowline lengths
Pad elevations
Locations for infrastructure
Village buffer zones
Demining...

Prepare technical appreciation for location and target formation for acid gas disposal.

Evaluate all relevant factors affection the aim of the project
Provide three (3) courses of possible action with recommended plan

Drilling Support & Geological Reporting

10 production wells* were drilled and brought into production in Q2 and 3 2019.

Prepare geological programs for each well.

Direct wellsite geological responsibility on two wells Q96 and Q97, remote decision (town) support for remainder.

Data integrated into Petrel model and database.

Confirm formation tops, write and issue geological reports.

Manage report revision processes (Client comment resolutions)

*Drill locations identified in PFDP circa 2010-11. Not part of the new 23 well drilling campaign.

Well schematics:
Support to Technical Departments

Designed to provide and easy reference desktop well aide-memoire.

Provides verified and harmonised data for all users.

Compliments visual database and well books:

Schematics available as a link for downloading/viewing direct from visual database

Industry standard software linked to enhanced database:

Production tests, hazards, tops, mud weights, construction, sample analysis, flowline lenghts...

Visual Database:
GIS Support to Technical Departments

Produced from results of data mining.

GIS geo-database, linked to Company server and using Google Earth as user interface.

Numerous attribution available and links to downloadable documents.

Control of data and versioning with regular updates...

Low cost; ease of use:

No additional or time consuming training required
Provides a familiar perspective to view geo-spatial data at scale
Basic planning tools available: distance, area, profiles...
User selectable layers (avoids clutter)
Linked to mobile phone or tablet for use in the field

Water Management Plan & Aquifer Interface

Local surface water is not available for production needs....

Requirement during plateau production is to:

Provide up to 31,000 cubic metres of water per day.
Provide environmental disposal of brines from processing facilities.

Joint plan with Engineering Department.

Limited hydrological and hydrogeological data available for desk study:

Recourse to data mining:
- rainfall, hydrographs and groundwater quality data
- Identification of water shows from old 1930's lithology logs
Identification of potential abstraction and disposal aquifers:
- Pressure support for future EOR considered
Conceptual model and simplified groundwater model
Aquifer characterisation:
- Quality, quantity, equity
- Baseline survey (Future liabilities mitigation)

Plan presented to Client in Q3 2012 and accepted.

Geomatics and Survey Management

"... the well locations do not plot correctly on Google Earth..."

Transformation of original Pol-Service (Polish Survey) coordinates into WGS84

Provision of high resolution imagery and DEM for remote visualisation, geo-hazard identification and planning

Management of high accuracy GNSS static survey and computations to establish new benchmarks within DPSC area to be used for:

Imagery control (updates)
3Dseismic survey control
infrastructure works and well positioning...

Harmonise exiting low quality benchmarks into operational coordinate reference system (CRS).

Mentor contractor on use of web based and static processing.

Qaiyarah Border and South Side K9 facility.jpg