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
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