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oa Refined Migration Techniques in Basin and Petroleum Systems Modeling - Is It worth the Effort? a Study from the Jeanne D’Arc Basin Offshore Newfoundland
- Publisher: European Association of Geoscientists & Engineers
- Source: Conference Proceedings, GEO 2010, Mar 2010, cp-248-00320
Abstract
Combining compositional predicting PhaseKinetcs with state of the art migration methods such as mapbased<br>ray-tracing, pressure driven Darcy-flow and capillary pressure driven invasion percolation, allows<br>to take into account the influence of petroleum composition and its phase behavior even during<br>hydrocarbon generation, migration and accumulation. In combination with these migration models<br>different adsorption methods and different critical saturations as well as secondary cracking processes<br>inside and outside the source rock and different API calculation methods are applied. The question is:<br>which minor processes can be calibrated independently and can therefore be validated? Or is the<br>system over-determined and minor processes are just helpful to calibrate and manipulate the system?<br>In the present study area, the geochemical composition of the Egret source rock and the accumulated<br>quantities in the Jeanne d’Arc basin are well known. Therefore, we can test and quantify the processes,<br>which affect the fluids during primary and secondary migration. Chemical properties of the source rock<br>have been investigated based on 38 samples and PhaseKinetics were determined. The first step was<br>the evaluation of a heat-flow history through time, using different crustal- and stretching-models. The<br>heat-flow maps were then calibrated based on available vitrinite reflectance, bottom hole temperature<br>and apatite fission track data. In a second step different fluid flow simulators were combined with<br>different types of kinetic data. Additionally, we tested the influence of different equations of states<br>(EOS), namely Peng-Robinson and the Soave-Redlich-Kwong EOS, on the ensuing phase behavior and<br>physical properties (e.g. API gravity) of the migrating fluids in the models. We demonstrate also that<br>some other minor processes are not completely taken into account such as the real nature of the<br>hysteresis effect of drainage and imbibition for capillary pressure vs. saturation and that real interfacial<br>tension maps for both gas and oil should be used instead of two constant IFT values. However, defining<br>all minor processes in detail does not always lead to more accurate results due to the generally high<br>uncertainties in basin modeling, which causes also a very poor determination of losses during primary<br>and secondary migration. However, to reproduce and calibrate the general pattern of generation,<br>migration and accumulation these minor processes can be used very well.