Bitumen and heavy oil geochemistry: a tool for distinguishing barriers from baffles in oil sands reservoirs

Research Article| December 01, 2011 Bitumen and heavy oil geochemistry: a tool for distinguishing barriers from baffles in oil sands reservoirs Milovan Fustic; Milovan Fustic Nexen Inc. 801 – 7th Avenue SW Calgary, AB T2P 3P7 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Barry Bennett; Barry Bennett Gushor Inc. Bay #2, 925 – 30th Street NE Calgary, AB T2A 5L7 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Jennifer Adams; Jennifer Adams Department of Geoscience University of Calgary 2500 University Drive NW Calgary, AB T2N 1N4 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Haiping Huang; Haiping Huang Department of Geoscience University of Calgary 2500 University Drive NW Calgary, AB T2N 1N4 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Bill MacFarlane; Bill MacFarlane Nexen Inc. 801 – 7th Avenue SW Calgary, AB T2P 3P7 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Dale A. Leckie; Dale A. Leckie Nexen Inc. 801 – 7th Avenue SW Calgary, AB T2P 3P7 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Steve Larter Steve Larter Department of Geoscience University of Calgary 2500 University Drive NW Calgary, AB T2N 1N4 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Author and Article Information Milovan Fustic Nexen Inc. 801 – 7th Avenue SW Calgary, AB T2P 3P7 Barry Bennett Gushor Inc. Bay #2, 925 – 30th Street NE Calgary, AB T2A 5L7 Jennifer Adams Department of Geoscience University of Calgary 2500 University Drive NW Calgary, AB T2N 1N4 Haiping Huang Department of Geoscience University of Calgary 2500 University Drive NW Calgary, AB T2N 1N4 Bill MacFarlane Nexen Inc. 801 – 7th Avenue SW Calgary, AB T2P 3P7 Dale A. Leckie Nexen Inc. 801 – 7th Avenue SW Calgary, AB T2P 3P7 Steve Larter Department of Geoscience University of Calgary 2500 University Drive NW Calgary, AB T2N 1N4 Publisher: Canadian Energy Geoscience Association Received: 14 Mar 2011 Accepted: 21 Dec 2011 First Online: 12 Jul 2017 Online ISSN: 2368-0261 Print ISSN: 0007-4802 © the Society of Canadian Petroleum Geologists Bulletin of Canadian Petroleum Geology (2011) 59 (4): 295–316. https://doi.org/10.2113/gscpgbull.59.4.295 Article history Received: 14 Mar 2011 Accepted: 21 Dec 2011 First Online: 12 Jul 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Permissions Search Site Citation Milovan Fustic, Barry Bennett, Jennifer Adams, Haiping Huang, Bill MacFarlane, Dale A. Leckie, Steve Larter; Bitumen and heavy oil geochemistry: a tool for distinguishing barriers from baffles in oil sands reservoirs. Bulletin of Canadian Petroleum Geology 2011;; 59 (4): 295–316. doi: https://doi.org/10.2113/gscpgbull.59.4.295 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyBulletin of Canadian Petroleum Geology Search Advanced Search Abstract To optimize SAGD well-pair placement and improve thermal recovery operations, geochemical bitumen composition logs are used to identify barriers and baffles to fluid flow, which may compartmentalize McMurray Formation reservoirs in the Athabasca Oil Sands. SAGD steam chamber growth and cumulative steam oil ratios are sensitive to both vertical permeability and bitumen viscosity variations, which are commonly encountered in the oil sands reservoirs. In the McMurray Formation, tidally influenced meandering channel deposits are commonly vertically stacked, forming reservoir columns up to 80 m thick. In many instances, inclined heterolithic strata (IHS), consisting of interbedded sand and silt deposited on point bars, comprise barriers to vertical steam chamber growth at multiple horizons of a reservoir. Thus, the identification, characterization, and delineation of IHS intervals is a critical step for evaluating the reservoir development potential, and designing an optimal reservoir development strategy. While siltstone beds are routinely identified in cores and geophysical logs, thin siltstone beds that can act as a barrier to fluid flow are not discernible in seismic reflection data and have proven difficult to correlate between adjacent delineation wells.In this study, geochemical bitumen analysis is used to determine the integrity and continuity of siltstone beds within IHS in order to assess their potential impact on SAGD steam chamber growth. First, high-resolution molecular composition profiles are obtained from gas chromatography – mass spectrometry analyses of bitumen extracted from cores. The continuity of biodegradation-susceptible aromatic hydrocarbon concentrations measured through vertical profiles of a reservoir were used to determine if siltstone-prone intervals observed in log and core data acted as barriers or baffles to fluid flow over geological time. Integration of the bitumen molecular composition data with geological cross-sections fosters predictions of the lateral extent of the identified barriers. Furthermore, inferences about reservoir charging and in-reservoir fluid mixing histories are also made. Geochemical log data indicate that thickness of a heterogeneous low permeability interval is not necessarily the critical attribute of a barrier to fluid flow. Integration of both sedimentological information and bitumen geochemical data is useful for the identification of barriers and baffles to fluid flow in oil sand reservoirs. The method can be applied prior to positioning of SAGD well-pairs and thus could represent an important step for development planning of heterogeneous reservoirs. You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.