Analogs to the San Andres Horizontal Play? A Fresh Look at ... · The Six-County Study Area1 Together with the Horizontal Wells and Mapping2 of the San Andres Residual Oil Zones 1

Analogs to the San Andres Horizontal Play?

A Fresh Look at the Glorieta – Yeso Play in

Southeastern New Mexico

December 2018

Steve Melzer*

Evan Allard**

With Considerable Assistance & Advice from R. Trentham, UTPB

* Consulting Geological Engineer

** Summer Intern, CO2 ROZ Conference and Graduating Senior, UTPB

Outline of Talk

• Introduction

• Benchmarking: The San Andres ROZ

• The Permian Basin Carbonate Shelf Settings

• The Two San Andres ROZ Plays

• The Story of Two Different Sub-Basins (Midland &

Delaware)

• The Glorieta-Yeso (ROZ?) Play

• Passing Comments on the Deeper Abo Formation

“Flip” Your Mind to ROZ Thinking

• Transition Zone (TZ) Thinking has long been a

Hindrance to Advancing Reservoir Understanding in the

O&G Industry

• Having said that, Transition Zones Do Exist!

• Residual Oil Zones (ROZs) are a Broader Concept

– Reservoir Rocks and Oils Are Often Affected by Mother Nature’s

Water Flooding

– Can be Much Thicker and Have Substantial Economic Value

– Are Most Often Due to Later-stage Tectonics (Post-Entrapment)

– Can Occur Where no Main Pay Zones Exist (“Greenfields”)

• Opening One’s Mind to the Reservoir Evolution and

Changing Properties Above Can be Essential

Paleogeographic

Map of the

Permian Basin

with its Two

Major Sub-

basins

(Delaware and

Midland) and

Nearby Regions

Permian Basin

Stratigraphic Chart*

(Permian Only)

* Adapted from Kerans, C. C., Bureau of Economic

Geology, PBGSP Annual Meeting, 2/27-2/28/06, Austin, TX

The Two San Andres ROZ Plays

1) CO2 EOR

2) Horizontal Well Depressuring

The San Andres ROZ Mapping

Yoakum

County

Examples: ROZ Profile Types (Greenfields)

The

Seminole

ROZ

The Idealized Seminole ROZ (Type A Profile)

~250’ Thick

1) CO2 EOR in the ROZ

2) The Horizontal San Andres (ROZ) Play

The Six-County Study Area1 Together with the

Horizontal Wells and Mapping2 of the San Andres

Residual Oil Zones

1 Residual Oil Drives New Resource Play, Melzer, L.S. (2018), Amer Oil & Gas Reporter, Oct (PBIOS) Edition, October 2018

2 Identifying and Developing Technology for Enabling Small Producers to Pursue the Residual Oil Zone (ROZ) Fairways in the Permian Basin San Andres

Formation, Trentham, R.C., Melzer, L.S. & Vance. D. (2016), Research Partnership to Secure Energy for America and U.S. Dept of Energy Final Report,

www.netl.doe.gov/file%20library/research/oil-gas/10123-17-final-report.pdf

450 Laterals

Making

35,000 bopd

as of May ’18

We Need to Show How the San

Andres ROZ Studies Provide Insights

to Another On-going Horizontal Play

but First:

The Story of Two Different Permian

Sub-Basins

(Midland & Delaware)

The Two Sub-Basins

• The Western (Delaware) Sub-basin of the

Permian Basin was a very Deep Basin in the

Late Pennsylvanian and Early Permian Ages

• The Eastern (Midland) Sub-basin was Shallower

• The Wolfcampian Series (Late Pennsylvanian

and very Early Permian was the era when both

Sub-basins began to fill

• The Midland Sub-basin Filled First and the

Delaware Much Later

Basin Geometry Impacts on

Commerciality

• The Deeper the Basin, the Thicker the Source of

Hydrocarbons

• The Deeper the Basin, the Steeper the Basin

edge Slopes are to the Rimming Sediments

(Carbonate Shelves)

• The Deeper the Basin, the More Likely there are

Stacked Reservoirs in the Carbonate Shelves

since the Geographical Position of the Basin

Rims Remain Relatively Fixed*

* We are assuming here that subsidence and/or uplift tectonics are relatively inactive as the Basin Fills

Conceptualized Image of Stacked Reservoirs at

the Shoreline Around a Deep Basin

Regions of

“Stacked”

Reservoirs

In Shallower Basins…

• The Slopes to the Basin Sediments are gentler

and the Rimming Sediments Prograde into the

Basin as the Basin Fills

• The Area Occupied by the Basin Shrinks over

Time

• The Midland Basin Shows this Trend During the

Periods from the Wolfcamp through Lower San

Andres to Grayburg

This Looks at the Midland Sub-basin

Meanwhile, the

Delaware Sub-basin

remained of Relatively

Constant Size

* Adapted from Original Work by Bob Ward, Gulf Oil, Pers. Comm, 1992. Modified by Bob Trentham, 2007

*

Image of Prograding Basinward Reservoirs

at the Shoreline Around a Shallow Basin

Note the Huge

Expanses of the

Flat Carbonate

Shelf (Sabkha)

Animation of the Interglacial Flooding Event in Lower San Andres

To see animation of interglacial flooding in the Lower San Andres, see “Interglacial Flooding” Animation at http://melzerconsulting.aptapb.com/residual-oil-zones/

Deep and Shallow Basins: Rimming Shelves

The Effect of the Depth of the Basin on the

Shelf Surrounding the Basin Can Be Dramatic

• The Width of the Inner and Outer Carbonate Ramps (IR & OR) where the Reservoir Quality Rocks (i.e., missing the finer-grained sediments) are located can be much wider

• Geological Time Scale Sea Level Changes (even fairly minor ones) can broaden the Reservoir Quality Rock in IR & OR

• The Salt Flats or Sabkha can be Very Large in Areal Extent

Carbonate Shelves Rimming Deep and Shallow Basins

Deep Basin

To see animation of deep vs shallow Basin Effects on the carbonate shelf reservoirs, see “Deep & Shallow Basin”

Animation at http://melzerconsulting.aptapb.com/residual-oil-zones/

Deep Basins:Why is this Important?

• Deep Basins have Huge Thicknesses of Organic-rich

Sediments that can Hold Large Volumes of Oil to be

Exploited with Horizontal Wells

• Those Basins are Rimmed with Stacked Reservoirs

which can be Receptacles for Migrated Oil and be

Accessed with Single Vertical Wells

• An Analog to this is the Delaware Sub-basin, its

Northwestern Shelf and West Side of the Central Basin

Platform

Shallow Basins:Why is this Important?

• Shallow Basins have Wide (Lateral) Expanses of Reservoir Quality Rocks

• Sea Level Changes can Provide Reservoir Quality Rocks Over Large Lateral Distances

• Large Expanses of Reservoir Quality Rocks can Host Very Large Volumes of Oil and Provide Avenues (Flush Fairways) for Natural Water Floods Leading to Large Areal Extents of Residual Oil Zones

• An Analog to this is the Midland Sub-basin and its North Shelf and East Side of the Central Basin Platform

The Glorieta – Yeso

Horizontal Play

Key Diagnostics for Identifying (Type 3)

Carbonate Reservoir ROZsUsing Experience from the San Andres ROZ Studies

• Excellent Mud Logs Shows of Oil (and Gas) but Drill Stem Tests and/or Production Tests Making only Sulfur Water w/ a “Trace of Oil”

• Conventional Whole Core Test Results with 8-20% Oil Saturations (So) – Oil Wet Rock

• Reservoir Trends Showing ‘Fairways’ (allows Sweep Pathways)

• Tilted Oil/Water Contacts for the Main Pay Zones

• Horizontals Making Large Volumes of Sulfur Water often with Delayed Oil Production that is Sour Oil

• Pervasive Dolomitic Lithologies

• Slightly Low to Very Low Produced Water Salinities When Compared to MPZs

• Suppressed Methane & Enhanced H2S, CO2 & NGL Gas Compositions

• Bow-shape Porosity and Resistivity Logs

Additional Factors to ConsiderInterbedded (or Stacked) MPZs and ROZs

• Andrews County San Andres and the Gl-Yeso Formation

Profiles Occasionally Show Some Evidence of ROZs

with Interbedded (isolated and unflushed) Main Pay

Zones

• “Shingles” on Top of the ROZ are not Uncommon –

Provide Immediate Oil Confusing the Longer-lived (large

Reservoir) ROZ Production

• Where Can the Sweep Water Come From?

– Sacramento Mtn Outcrop

– Transmissive Fault Path From Another Reservoir?

• What About the Sweep Water Discharge?

32

Glorieta/Yeso Reefal Trend (NM)Main Pay Zones

Artesia

Carlsbad

Glorieta-U.

Yeso Type

LogsResistivity LogFm Density Log

Mud Log

Reference Map for Following Cross Sections

Carlsbad

Stratigraphic Cross Section of the Yeso Formation Showing the

Porosity Trend in the Glorieta - Upper Yeso

(Datum – Top of Glorieta Formation)

Structural Cross Section of the Yeso Play (Datum – Minus 900 Feet Mean Sea Level)

Artesia

400’

Passing Comments About the Deeper Abo

Formation (Better Documented in Literature)

• Lies Immediately Below the Yeso Fm

• Also is a Carbonate Shelf Trending in the Same

Position as the Yeso (Stacked Fomations)

• Possesses Even More Evidence of ROZ

Characteristics including a Documented Tilted

Oil/Water Contact in the Empire Abo Field

• Better Analog to Gl-Yeso than the San Andres

Permian Basin

Stratigraphic Chart*

(Permian Only)

* Adapted from Kerans, C. C., Bureau of Economic

Geology, PBGSP Annual Meeting, 2/27-2/28/06, Austin, TX

39

Abo Reefal Trend Map in New Mexico

After Lemay (1960), Southwestern Federation of Geological Societies Transactions, Oct 12-14, 1960

Eddy

Co.

Lea

Co.

40

Abo Cross-Section Through Major NM Fields

After Lemay (1960), Southwestern Federation of Geological Societies Transactions, Oct 12-14, 1960

Note: Tilted OWC

41

Empire Abo Map Illustrating Down to the East Tilted OWC

After Lemay (1960), Southwestern Federation of Geological Societies Transactions, Oct 12-14, 1960

Note: OWC Tilt = ~200’ in 10 miles

Summary of Presentation

• ROZ Concepts Appear to Apply to Both the

Glorieta-Yeso Horizontal Play and to the Deeper

Abo Formation in SE NM

• The Actual Sweep Zone Appears to be in the

Interval of the Glorieta & U. Yeso

• If the Interval is actually a ROZ, the Longevity of

Production will be Greater owing to the Sweep

and Required Lateral Continuity of the Sweep

within the Interval

Gl-Yeso & San Andres Production

Longevity?

Curves Derived by Taking all Monthly Crude Oil Production from Horizontal Wells in

the Play & Dividing by the Monthly Number of Wells