Gigapixel Photographic Technology for Integrated Reservoir Characterization: A Deepwater-Reservoir Outcrop Example

Detailed characterization of outcrop analogs can provide useful insights for understanding the reservoir geology and for constructing realistic reservoir models. Outcrop data can provide information about reservoir facies and properties, small features not imaged by seismic data (e.g., thin beds, thief zones, fractures), and spatial variability (continuity) and statistical distribution of key properties/features. Gigapixel technology allows the above information to be extracted in an easy manner. Digital photopans can be zoomed in and out to identify, for example, the extension of shale beds or structural faults. This paper will present a description of the technology and how it is integrated into existing subsurface workflows using a deepwater example. We have developed workflows that allow for the integration of observations made in the field with those interpreted on gigapixel panoramas. Measured sections, microscope images, facies descriptions and other observations are directly referenced on the photopan and used for characterizing geology, understanding well data, and for constructing reservoir models. We have been applying these workflows in the past few years and they have made impact in each one of the applications described above, in particular for the characterization of reservoir facies and properties.