Exploration Insights February 2020 | Page 22

22 | Halliburton Landmark Exploration Insights | 23 As a final comment, outcrop studies should always be conducted with health and safety uppermost in mind. With comprehensive risk assessment, personal protection equipment, and adherence to safe working practices, the likelihood of injury can be reduced to a minimum. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Rarity, F., X.M.T. Van Lanen, D. Hodgetts, R.L. Gawthorpe, P. Wilson, I. Fabuel-Perez and J. Redfern 2014. LiDAR-based digital outcrops for sedimentological analysis: workflows and techniques. Sediment-Body Geometry and Heterogeneity: Analogue Studies for Modelling the Subsurface. Geological Society of London - Special Publication no. 387, p. 153-183. (XURBB_642927). Read, H.H. 1940. Metamorphism and igneous action. Advances in Science, p. 223-257. (XURBB_642931). Many thanks to all the colleagues I have spent time with in the field. Every conversation discussing an outcrop leads to insight and new ideas. Reynolds, A.D., M.D. Simmons, M.B.J. Bowman, J. Henton, A.C. Brayshaw, A.A. Ali-Zade, I.S. Guliyev, S.F. Suleymanova, E.Z. Ateava, D.N. Mamedova and R.O. Koshkarly 1998. Implications of outcrop geology for Reservoirs in the Neogene productive series: Apsheron Peninsula, Azerbaijan. AAPG Bulletin, v. 82, no. 1, p. 25-49. (CAZBB_121347). REFERENCES AUTHORS Bowman, M.B.J., and Smyth, H.R. 2016. Reducing uncertainty and risk through field-based studies. Geological Society of London - Special Publications, v. 437, p. 1-8. (XURBB_642929). Hinds, D.J., M.B. Allen, M.D. Simmons and E. Aliyeva 2006. Architecture Variability in the Pereriva and Balakhany Suites of the Neogene Productive Series, Azerbaijan: Implications for Reservoir Quality. Oil and Gas of the Greater Caspian Area. AAPG Studies in Geology no. 55, p. 87-107. (CAZBB_155442). Newell, A.J. and S.M. Shariatipour 2016. Linking outcrop analogue with flow simulation to reduce uncertainty in sub-surface carbon capture and storage: an example from the Sherwood Sandstone Group of the Wessex Basin, UK. In Bowman, M., H.R. Smyth, T.R. Good, S.R. Passey, J.P.P. Hirst and C.J. Jordan (Eds.), The Value of Outcrop Studies in Reducing Subsurface Uncertainty and Risk in Hydrocarbon Exploration and Production. Geological Society of London - Special Publications no. 436, p. 231-246. (XURBB_619052). Pringle, J.K., Howell, J.A., Hodgetts, D., Westerman, A.R. and Hodgson, D.M. 2006. Virtual outcrop models of petroleum reservoir analogues: a review of the current state-of-the-art. First Break, v. 24, no. 3, p. 33-42. (XURBB_642930). Professor Mike Simmons, Technology Fellow, Halliburton Mike is responsible for the investigation of innovation in geoscience as applied to hydrocarbon exploration. Previously, he was Earth Model Director at Neftex® and, before that, he worked at BP, Aberdeen University, and CASP at Cambridge University. His main interests are applied stratigraphy and the geology of the Tethyan region. He teaches at a number of universities, where he promotes the value of sequence stratigraphy in the exploration process. DISCLAIMER This article is a synthesis based upon published data and information, and derived knowledge created within Halliburton. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, no proprietary client data has been used in its preparation. If client data has been used, permission will have been obtained and is acknowledged. Reproduction of any copyrighted image is with the permission of the copyright holder and is acknowledged. The opinions found in the articles may not necessarily reflect the views and/or opinions of Halliburton Energy Services, Inc. and its affiliates including but not limited to Landmark Graphics Corporation. Figure 4> LIDAR-based outcrop model used to develop a reservoir model. After Rarity et al. (2014). subsurface uncertainty and management of the risks identified. CONCLUSIONS The study of outcrops remains vital to successful petroleum geology. Fieldwork allows geoscientists and their associated colleagues in exploration and production to develop and reinforce their skills and gain insight into areas of contention. Moreover, outcrops act as analogues and data points, vital for successful interpretation of the subsurface. Data gathering is now aided by a variety of technological innovations that facilitate the input of outcrop observations directly into subsurface models. Attend our talks during Geo2020 on March 16-19, 2020 WEDNESDAY 18 16:15 in outcrop studies. Today, the geoscientist in the field can use drones, panoramic cameras, and LIDAR (3D laser scanning) (Figure 4) to create outcrop models that are directly importable into the software used in subsurface modeling (Pringle et al., 2006; Rarity et al., 2013). As noted by Bowman and Smyth (2016), advances in digital outcrop characterization and data capture, coupled with increased computational capabilities, have resulted in a resurgence in fieldwork; these field studies are required to develop depositional, stratigraphic, and structural concepts and provide the data that underpin the current generation of complex, computer- generated, 3D subsurface models. These models provide an informed means of benchmarking the subsurface, along with a more considered view of Highlighting Lowstand Exploration Potential Using Insights from Earth Systems Modeling - A Case Study from the Northern Arabian Gulf THURSDAY 19 16:15 Updating Arabian Plate Sequence Stratigraphy Find out more...