Sedimentological analyses, reservoir characterization and 3D reservoir modelling in the Oseberg area

Project description

The Upper Jurassic Heather Formation poses a series of challenges for the Oseberg South field. The sedimentology and depositional environment of the lower member of this formation in the Omega structure is poorly understood, with a variety of low and high porosity and permeability lithologies expressed in cores that are difficult to reproduce in 3D geological models without oversimplification.

The aim of the study would be to provide a better description of the Lower Heather deposits and to suggest a methodology for representing these deposits in both static high-resolution and dynamic upscaled 3D models. The methodology will be based on lithological descriptions of cores in the Oseberg area and regional to local correlations of wells using biostratigraphic data and sequence stratigraphy principles guided by seismic interpretation. The work will also include interpretation of depositional environments and the associated petrophysical properties of the Lower Heather member. The student will work at Equinor and at UiB in close collaboration with a student who will work on a MSc project which addresses the regional extent of the Middle-Upper Jurassic deltas of the Omega structure.

The figure show Location of the Oseberg South field and cross-section through the different structures of the field, with Lower Heather member in the Omega structure being circled. Depositional environment setting on reference photography. 3D view of the simplified facies parameter for the Lower Heather in the Omega structure geomodel in RMS software.

Photo:

Equinor

Proposed course plan during the master's degree (60 ECTS):
The courses will most likely, and depending on the student, be selected from:

Spring courses:
GEOV218 / Rock Physics (10 ECTS)
GEOV302 / Data analysis in earth science (10ECTS)
GEOV360 / Advanced clastic sedimentology (10 ECTS)
Autumn courses:
GEOV361 / Sequence Stratigraphy and Source-to-Sink (10 ECTS)
GEOV254 / Geodynamics and Basin Modelling (10 ECTS)
GEOV300 / Scientific writing and communication in Earth Science (5 ECTS)
GEOV364 / Advanced basin analysis (5 ECTS)

External data
Seismic data and interpretations will be provided by  Equinor

Field-, cruise, or lab-work
Lab analyses of cores but no field work is included.

NB: This project is not yet approved by the program board