The Reservoir Characterisation of the Sea Lion Main Complex

The Sea Lion field lies north of the Falkland Islands and was discovered in May 2010. 9 wells provide a substantial data base for field characterisation studies. The reservoirs comprise a series of stratigraphic fans deposited into a deep, anoxic lake, on the down-thrown side of the basin boundary fault. The reservoir comprises mass flow sands with sub-ordinate low density turbidites set within lacustrine shales. 10 facies are identified from core. Attempts to discriminate facies using techniques such as FZIs and neural networks, met with mixed success. Facies are combined into 4 associations (rock types), for use in dynamic flow modelling. Grid-block scale conceptual models of each rock type were constructed and used to generate pseudo-relative permeability curves using a technique usually applied to core data. Fans mapped on seismic are partitioned into one or more lobes, based on sand bodies penetrated in the wells, or the conceptual model where correlation between wells is not possible. Rock types are distributed within the fans using a hierarchical reservoir architecture (“fan-lobe-surge”). We also discuss the permeability characterisation of the system using a variety of sources.