Exterior Envelop Characterization Technologies of Carbonate Fault-controlled Paleokarst Reservoirs

Carbonate fault-controlled karst reservoirs are a form of oil- and gas-rich fractured-cavernous reservoirs. The exterior envelope of fault-controlled karst reservoir defines the effective reservoir’s external geometry. Its exact identification can define the borders of reservoirs’ and effectively constrain the inscription and modeling of the fault-controlled karst reservoir interiors. To address the difficulty of identifying the exterior envelope of carbonate fault-controlled karst reservoirs, we proposed a number of optimization techniques, including an optimal texture contrast algorithm, wavelet decomposition processing based on matching pursuit algorithm, and principal component analysis. The results of two case studies are shown at the end to illustrate intuitively the remarkable optimization methodologies for forward modeling studies and field implementations. These innovative methods improve the precision of reservoir interpretation. Other similar reservoirs can benefit greatly from implementing these innovative methodologies.