Carbonate Reservoir Characterisation

Overview

Most of the oil and gas in the Middle East is held in carbonate reservoirs, and they are among the most difficult to understand. Their porosity can be primary or created later by dissolution, their permeability can vary by orders of magnitude over a few metres, and fractures and diagenesis can change how fluids move in ways that logs alone do not reveal. This course explains how carbonate reservoirs form and how to characterise them for development planning. Participants study carbonate depositional environments, facies and sequence stratigraphy, then the diagenetic processes such as dolomitisation, dissolution and cementation that shape the final pore system. The course covers pore type classification, rock typing, the use of core, thin sections and special logs, and the integration of these data into static models. Examples from Gulf fields illustrate how carbonate characterisation affects water flooding, gas injection and well placement.

Objectives

• Describe carbonate depositional environments and facies
• Apply sequence stratigraphy to carbonate successions
• Explain diagenetic processes and their effect on reservoir quality
• Classify carbonate pore types and define rock types
• Integrate core, thin section and log data
• Characterise fractures and their impact on flow

Who should attend

Training methodology

Participants describe core photographs and thin sections from Middle East carbonate reservoirs, identify facies and pore types, and build a simple sequence stratigraphic framework from well data. Log and core data are combined to define rock types and permeability transforms. Field examples show how characterisation choices changed development results. Group exercises culminate in a short integrated characterisation of a sample field, presented by each team on the last day. Questions from participants' own fields are welcomed and discussed.

Programme outline

Dates and fees

Certificate

Frequently asked questions