This tutorial example aims to demonstrate model initialization within a MEM workflow involving salt rheologies. In this workflow the salt viscosity is defined in 10000 's of years units (dKa) facilitating salt creep to decrease the deviatoric stress within salt in initial initialisation stages. In sub-sequent initialisation stages the time units for salt viscosity are gradually changed until units suitable for production time scale (days) are reached.

 

The model geometry is 8 km x 8km x 6 km and the stratigraphy considers 7 formations which are named as listed below (from top to bottom):

 

•Shale04

•Salt02

•Shale03

•Reservoir

•Shale02

•Salt01

•Shale01

 

The model has interesting structural features namely:

 

1.Shale04 constitutes a mini-basin with a maximum thickness of c.a. 2.3 km deposited above Salt02 formation. At the bottom of such mini-basin the Salt02 formation thins out almost forming a salt weld.

 

2.The reservoir and the bounding shale formations change from an almost flat configuration in the southern boundary (Y = 0 m) to an anticline shape in the northern boundary (Y = 8000 m).

 

3.The reservoir is around 600 m thick and has a relief of 1 km in the North-South direction and a relief of 830 m in the East-West direction.

 

 

 

Model geometry from different perspectives

 

 

 

Detail of reservoir relief

 

 

 

The simulation considers the following stages:

 

Initialization stages

 

•Elastic gravity initialization

•Tectonic displacement

•Constitutive model release with displacement reinitialisation

•Change of time units (dka to cyears)

•Change of time units (cyears to years)

•Change of time units (years to days)

 

Production Stages

•Production year 1

•Production year 2