SwRI: Structural Geology for Geoscience Services for the Oil and Gas Industry

Structural geology services offered at Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) include:

• Field investigations of faulting in carbonate and clastic sedimentary strata:

  • Fault system evolution

  • Fault zone deformation

  • Scaling relationships

  • Permeability architecture

• Two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) geometric and kinematic modeling, balancing, and restoration along with seismic interpretation

• Stress analysis using 3DStress^®, a SwRI-developed program that calculates:

  • Slip tendency and direction

  • Dilation tendency

  • Leakage potential of faults and fractures

• Prediction of effective reservoir properties based on subseismic-scale fault and fracture analyses

• State-of-the-art facility for physical analog modeling of geologic structures, including application of dynamic structured light facility for digital terrain analysis of developing models:

  • Extensional structures

  • Contractional structures

  • Strike-slip structures

  • Salt-related structures

• Field courses and short courses in extensional, strike slip, and contractional tectonic regimes, highlighted in a Technology Today article.

Interpreted seismic line from a fold-thrust belt in offshore Turkey helps constrain subsurface geometry.

 

Geologic cross section based on seismic and dip-meter data forms the basis for restoration.	Digital elevation model of the top surface of an analog clay model constructed from dynamic structured light data. Here, the data are used to evaluate fault interactions and the potential for reservoir compartmentalization.

 

Sequence of restored geologic cross sections shows the evolution of the fold-thrust structures that are the structural framework for the petroleum system.

 

Slip tendency analysis (3DStress®) of Bare Mountain and Yucca Mountain faults, southern Nevada. Hot colors indicate areas of likely fault slip.	Dilation tendency analysis of synthetic fractures cutting through a simulated borehole. Pink, purple, and dark blue indicate fractures that are likely to dilate (open) in the current stress state.

 

Analog sandbox model simulating deformation in an extensional tectonic setting leads to increased understanding of roles of major and minor faulting in reservoirs.

For more information about structural geology and energy exploration and development capabilities at SwRI or how you can contract with SwRI, please contact David Ferrill, Ph.D., at dferrill@swri.org or  (210) 522-6082.