Improving Carbonate Reservoir Development Decision: A Study of Controlling Factors Based on Geological and Engineering Objectives, Halfaya Oil Field

Abstract

Detecting the optimum layer for well placement, which requires a diverse assortment of tools and techniques, represents a significant challenge in petroleum studies due to its critical impact on minimizing drilling costs and time. This study aims to evaluate integrated geological, petrophysical, seismic, and geomechanical data to identify the optimum zones for well placement. Three different reservoirs were analyzed to account for lateral and vertical variations in reservoir properties. The integrated data from these reservoirs provides many tools for reservoir development, especially to detect appropriate well placement zones based on evaluations of reservoir and geomechanical quality. The Mechanical Earth Model (MEM) was constructed using well logging data from 14 wells to estimate reservoir breakdown pressures. The reservoir instability results obtained from the MEM were discussed based on wellbore failure criteria, including breakout, drilling fluid losses, and breakdown pressures. Additionally, seismic data was utilized to offer essential insights for determining optimum well locations by identifying the boundaries between the reservoir beds. The horizontal stress contrast, Young's modulus, Poisson's ratio, and unconfined compressive strength were analyzed to reflect the geomechanical quality of the reservoir. Appropriate layers for placing a horizontal well were considered based on both geological and engineering objectives. This work showed that geomechanical models, along with petrophysical models and seismic data, should be considered for selecting the optimum zone for reservoir development.