Characterization and Modeling of the Geo-Body Geometries and the Reservoir Properties: An Outcrop Analog Study of Jurassic Carbonate Reservoirs in Central Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Well exposed Jurassic outcrops belt in central Saudi Arabia provides good outcrop analogs which can be utilized to capture the high resolution facies types and architecture that might help to fill the inter-wells gap in the subsurface. This study is focused on the characterization and modeling the facies types, body geometries deposited in geomorphic elements of carbonate ramp system and the distribution of the reservoir properties on it. Three-dimensional models for the different facies-body geometries were conducted to provide accurate stochastic representation. This study was conducted at a selected Jurassic outcrop reservoir analog that exposed around Riyadh area. The Mesozoic carbonate strata of central Saudi Arabia are interpreted to have been deposited in ramp systems and exposed in hundreds of kilometers in the strike and dip direction of palaeoshoreline. The study integrates detailed sedimentological and stratigraphic analysis from outcrop strata to capture facies-body geometries and their petrophysical properties on the ramp system. Nine lithofacies were interpreted from the stratigraphic sections. Spatially, the porosity and permeability show different ranges of heterogeneity from micro to meso and macro scales. Laterally, the reservoir properties show steady variations in contrast with the abrupt change vertically. This variation seems to be related to the sedimentary structure, grain size, and degree of cementation. Different pore types were recognized in the studied intervals, which include fracture, intraparticle, moldic and intercrystalline porosities. Several 3D facies models were constructed using sedimentological and stratigraphic data that collected from the field. These models express the complex and heterogeneous relationship between facies-body geometries in the outcrop precisely. Integration of these data to subsurface equivalent reservoirs will provide qualitative and quantitative information useful for understanding and predicting reservoir quality and architecture in carbonate ramps.