Summer 2019

Saltwork courses in applied carbonate sedimentologyWe are committed to offering up to date and comprehensive ap-plied understandings across all our training modules

intro

A TRAINING MESSAGE FROM THE SALTWORKSThe catalog outlines the various train-ing modules we offer across all applied aspects of carbonate reservoir studies.Our course structure is modular so you, or your training coordinator, can con-struct a training program that meets your particular needs.

The recommended program length for carbonate studies is three days made up of two days of the “understandings” modules (3000 code #’s), followed by a more specialized one-day program. This specialized third day is made up of two advanced modules covering topics of specific interest. Historically, some of the most popular advanced modules are;1) Wireline in carbonates2) Dolomitization3) Reef plays in SE Asia

This program can be supplemented with specific topics related to carbonates in saline systems as you can select from all modules in the evaporite catalog, e.g.,1) Evaporite basins2) Salt tectonics3) Saline reservoirs

We can also integrate our training with problem-specific data your staff are working on, including; core, wireline, rock property, seismic and other data. Introductory aspects of training in the use of these data are also possible, for example, an introductory module deal-ing with basic wireline interpretation.

Contact us to discuss a course for you. Email: enquiries@saltworkconsultants.com

CARBONATE RESERVOIR FRAMEWORKGeologists and geophysicists working in carbonate reservoirs know that to understand and predict reservoir quality needs more than the application of a simple depositional model. Such simple models may suffice for sandstone reservoirs, but in carbonates, the original depositional poroperm is often radically altered by a combination of diagenetic and struc-tural overprints.

Some interesting facts:

• More than 60% of the world’s oil and 40% of the world’s gas reserves are stored in carbonate reservoirs.

•The Middle East is dominated by carbonate fields, with around 70% of oil and 90% of gas reserves contained within these reservoirs.

•Carbonates typically exhibit highly varying properties (e.g., porosity, permeability, flow mechanisms) within small sec-tions of the reservoir, such variations are often the result of variable diagenetic fluids crossflows and structural alteration, making them difficult to characterize.

• Classic sequence stratigraphic and wireline interpretation paradigms need to account for this variability if reservoir volumetric calculations are to be accurate

Saltwork’s applied carbonate course modules are designed to understand better the reservoir’s porosity distribution, fluid saturation, and the mechanisms by which pores are linked to allow flow. This leads to improved wireline and seismic inter-pretation and knowledge of how to apply this understanding in improved exploration and development efficiencies.

Contact us: www.saltworkconsultants.com

Understand-ings (2 days)To deal with more specialized reservoir quality topics, the trainee must first gain a rock-based understanding of a carbonate reservoir and its diagenetic evolution within a tectonic and climatic framework.

The four modules listed on this page give participants the comprehensive background and conceptual frame needed to tackle the more advanced topic sets.

Once these more general topic sets are mastered, the client company can choose which of the advanced topic sets best fit their training needs. The advance modules can be arranged to constitute a total of three days (2 advanced modules on the third day) up to five days (with six advanced modules).

Great Barrier Reef, Australia

Abyss Cave,Belize

Carboniferous dolomite

GBR

What defines carbonate sediment?Limestones and early dolo-mites are deposited with dis-tinctive textures that can indi-cate the original depositional setting, ocean chemistry and water depth.

CODE # TOPIC

3000.01 Carbonate grains

3000.02 Depositional textures

3000.03 Altered textures

3000.04 Mud in carbonates

3000.05 Classification of carbonates

3000.06 Why carbonates are complex

Diagenetic evolution Carbonate texture and rock chemistry preserve evidence of as the various diagenetic fluids it was exposed to during burial, re-equilibration and uplift.

CODE # TOPIC

3025.01 Marine cements

3025.02 Meteoric alteration

3025.03 The burial evironment

3025.04 Uplift and alternation

3025.05 Isotopes and other tracers

Porosity and permeabiltyUnlike sandstones, porosity and permeability distributions in ancient carbonates are rarely directly related to the depositional setting. Rather they indicate a complex inter-play of depositional and dia-genetic factors.

CODE # TOPIC

3050.00 Ø & k textural variation

3050.01 Choquette and Pray Ø types

3050.02 Lucia classes & k predicition

3050.03 Classes & reservoir quality

3050.04 Poroperm trends & burial

3050.05 Diagenetic geometries

Carbonate geosystems in timeThe modern gives a limited sampling of epeiric and sa-line basins. This reflects the limited climatic and tectonic spectrum of today. Past sys-tems were more extensive and variable.

CODE # TOPIC

3075.01 Eustasy, greenhouse, icehouse

3075.02 Epeiric seaways and giants

3075.03 Eustacy, karst, present & past

3075.04 Are carbonates different?

3075.05 Are all carbonates fractured?

These advanced topics are designed as modules that follow on from the understandings topics. There are a total of six advanced topic modules, and each is 0.5 day long. If all six modules are chosen, this will constitute a five-day training program. If only two are of interest then, in combi-nation with the four modules of the understandings program, the total course length will be three days.

All modules emphasize the utility of applied geological knowledge in improving efficiencies during carbonate exploration and field develop-ment.

Advanced topics

San Andres reservoir

Cretaceous dolomite

Advanced topics

Scott Reef Reef spur and groove

San Andres reservoir Bypass reef wall

Cretaceous dolomite Diagenesis

DolomitizationMost dolomite is a diagenetic min-eral phase. Sometimes dolomiti-zation enhances reservoir quality, other times it destroys it

There are many types and styles of dolomite, some are economi-cally significant and can have rec-ognisable criteria at both the lo-cal (wireline) and regional scales. Some sequences maintain eco-nomic levels of dolomite induced or enhanced poroperm, while overdolomitisation destroys it.

CODE # TOPIC

3125.01 Models & geobodies

3125.02 Permeability contasts

3125.03 Reservoir linkages

Wireline Interp.Wireline-based porosity logs give values that are typically not reli-able representations of values in the reservoir.

The module defines petrophysi-cal effects of matrix and porosity variability and the effects on m, n and Sw in a variety of carbon-ate textures. Using Archies Law, it then applies this knowledge to quantify better the reservoir.

CODE # TOPIC

3150.01 Conventional Ø logs

3150.02 Matrix vs response

3150.02 What is a real m & n?

3150.03 Reliable Ø interp.

3150.04 Combining logs

Diagenetic strat.The high solubility of evaporitic salts, especially the potash bit-terns means there are particular problems and hazards associated with the utilisation of bedded and halokinetic potash.

Pervasive natural karst typify all past and present salt deposits. Ef-fects of these natural geohazards can be increased if flood possibili-ties are not accounted for from the sinking of the first shaft and throughout the life of the mine.

CODE # TOPIC

3175.01 Different to clastics

3175.02 Sealevel & carbonate

3175.03 Diagenesis in seismic

Carbonate reservoirs have a level of matrix and structural complexity not seen in the sandstone reservoirs of the world. This makes under-standing and prediction more difficult

These advanced and more topic-specific modules explore the detail and predictive outcomes that occur with a better understanding of the hydrocarbon-carbonate association. The topic sets extend the trainee’s understanding beyond the fundamentals garnered in the first two days of the carbonate training program.

Advanced topics...cont’d

Fractures

Fractures Moorea

Reservoir & sealReservoir sedimentation and dia-genesis (poroperm evolution) var-ies from field to field and region to region across the Phanerozoic. Understanding the depositional, climatic and diagenetic controls on these variations is critical to effective and efficient petroleum exploration and field develop-ment.

The module gives a predictive un-derstanding of carbonate reser-voirs distribution within a climatic and plate tectonic framework.

» Platform & basin scalings » Diagenesis and geobodies » Predictive reservoir models

Sequence stratig.Carbonate sediments are mostly biogenic (a carbonate factory is photic) and, once deposited, are subject to the vagaries of diagen-esis. These factors must be consid-ered during sequence stratigraph-ic modelling and the definition of sequence boundaries

This is especially apparent if seis-mic and eustatic interpretations and poroperm patterns have al-ready been done, based on the siliciclastic assumption that re-gional sedimentation patterns are largely a response to physical en-ergy and sealevel.

» Carbonate eustacy over time » Highstand versus lowstand » Early diagenetic intensity

Fluid and tectonic evolution creates

traps and seals

The Quaternary is not a perfect key to

the past

CODE # TOPIC

3225.01 Reservoirs by area

3225.02 Reservoirs by time

3225.03 Reservoir diagenesis

3225.04 Reservoir prognosis r

CODE # TOPIC

3250.01 Controls on sealevel

3250.02 Earth climate & time

3250.03 Greenhouse seaways

3250.04 Basin scale prognosis

Rhodalgal wackstone

Reef plays in AsiaMost reservoirs producing from carbonates in SE Asia are hosted in Oligo-Miocene sediments. Unlike the giant fields in the reef-rimmed carbonate platforms of the Middle East and the Americas, these SE Asian fields occur are typically smaller and hosted in bedded heterozoan sediments.

This module classifies the various carbonate fields of SE Asia and discusses why they and their depositional models are distinc-tive, when compared with classic carbonate platform models.

» Climate & tectonism » Island arcs & foreland basins » Carbonates in tectonically-

active settings

SE Asian reservoir plays are distinct

CODE # TOPIC

2225.01 Defining the Miocene

2225.02 Light & island arcs

2225.03 Miocene reservoirs

2225.04 Prediction in SE Asia

Many evaporite basins contain enhanced volumes of hydrocarbons in the sedimentary basin. This is especially apparent in the Middle East and the Circum-Atlantic salt basins. These are the regions where the majority of the world’s giant and supergiant oil and gas fields have been discov-ered in the past 15 years.

Saltwork training focuses on the evaporite association in a separate set of course modules (see our evaporite course catalog, which is down-loadable from the Saltwork website). Three relevant modules from the evaporite training system are given here to give a feel for content in the evaporite-related training modules. These three, and all the other training modules listed in the evaporite training catalog, can be chosen as additional half-day modules in all client-designed training courses.

Email: enquiries@saltworkconsultants.com

Website: www.saltworkconsultants.com

Additionaltopics

Salt kinetics Bitumens in Ara salt Hutt Lagoon

Salt tectonicsMany of the world’s oil and gas fields occur in halokinetically-influ-enced structures across many of the world’s salt basins (e.g. Campos Basin, Gulf of Mexico, North Sea, Lower Congo Basin, Santos Basin and Zagros).

The course gives a predictive un-derstanding of salt and how it controls local and regional salt tectonics, reservoir sedimenta-tion and diagenesis (poroperm). This is critical to effective and ef-ficient petroleum exploration and field development.

» Salt tectonics & basin-scales » Predictive salt models » Circum-salt diagenesis.

Saline reservoirs A large proportion of the world’s giant and supergiant oil and gas fields are associated with salt. With carbonate reservoirs, this proportion is more than 50%.

This is especially apparent in the Middle East and in circum-Atlantic Aptian settings. Worldwide, all giant and supergiant gas fields in thrust belts have an evaporite seal.

Salt acts a seal to underlying and adjacent reservoirs. In diagenesis it supplies brines than can create or enhance reservoir poroperm.

» Physics of salt seals » Bedded associations » Halokinetic associations » Dolomite & evaporites.

Source rocksOil in carbonate reservoirs, sealed by evaporite salts, may have been sourced in earlier less saline, but still related, evaporitic (meso-haline) conditions.

Similar conditions favour evapo-rite and organic matter preserva-tion

» Halotolerants tend to flourish in mesohaline waters.

» Why “feast and famine” makes source rocks

» Organic geochemistry of halotolerants and halophiles

» Indicative biomarkers » The four main ancient

evaporitic source rock systems

» Time limits of the modern.

Salt flows and so creates traps and

fluid foci

Salt maintains its seal integrity

Saline systems en-courage the preser-vation of organics

CODE # TOPIC

2225.01 Physics of salt

2225.02 Extensional systems

2225.03 Compressional

2225.04 Circum-salt systems

CODE # TOPIC

2250.01 Salt seal integrity

2250.02 Beds, plays & plumes

2250.03 Halokinetic reservoir

2250.04 Dolomitisation & salt

CODE # TOPIC

2275.01 Salinity tolerances

2275.02 Halotolerant & philes

2275.03 Organic indicators

2275.04 Depositional settings

At SaltWorks we are committed to offering up-to-date and comprehen-sive training.

We also offer a full range of related consultancy services and a compre-hensive GIS databases that encompasses all of the examples offered in any of our training modules. All data plots and polygons are cross-refer-ence to their source data.

Refer to our web page to see the complete range of services that we offer.

Our promise

www.saltworkconsultants.com

Principal instructorDr. John Warren is the principal expert and technical coordinator for Saltworks. His career spans more than 30 years in salty systems.

Interests include; Wireline Analysis, Car-bonate and Evaporite Systems, Oil and Gas, Economic Geology and Potash explo-ration and development.

He has written 4 books on economic as-pects of evaporites, has contributed re-lated chapters in a number of books and has published more than 60 scientific ar-ticles in applied aspects of saline geology.

Course materials Each participant in the course receives a complete set of digital course notes. This material is a series of hi-resolution pdf files that give the participant a copy of every slide presented during their train-ing course.

In addition, each participant receives a digital copy of Dr. Warren’s 2016 book “Evaporites: A compendium” published by Springer (ISBN978-3-319-13512-0). This all-color edition runs to more than 1800 pages and has been cited as the most complete summary of evaporites current-ly available.

© SaltWork Consultants 2015 (ACN 068 889 127)

Kingston Park, Adelaide 5049 AUSTRALIA

Telephone: +61 8 121 5710 (Australia) +66 8 9498 1512 (roaming/SMS)

Web page: www.saltworkconsultants.com

Email: jkwarren@saltworkconsultants.com