High-resolution sequence stratigraphy applied to reservoir zonation and characterisation, and its impact on production performance - shallow marine, fluvial downstream, and lacustrine carbonate settings

High-resolution sequence stratigraphy (HRSS) is a data-driven methodology that refers to the stratigraphic refinement achieved below seismic resolution. HRSS follows the standard sequence stratigraphy methodology and nomenclature, which are well established for the shallow marine to downstream reaches of the fluvial systems. Still, nomenclature must be flexible to some extent when applied to lacustrine carbonate settings. A high-resolution stratigraphic sequence is a cycle of change in stacking patterns of facies, facies associations, architectural elements, or depositional systems bound by the recurrence of the same sequence stratigraphic surface in the rock record that is observed below the resolution of a third-order sequence. Criteria that allow its identification include: I) typical internal Transgressive Regressive (T-R) pattern; II) vertical recurrence of the signature of stacking patterns at each considered hierarchy; III) trends (non-random distribution) of the vertical arrangement of stacking patterns that determine high-frequency sequences as the basis for defining and building the systems tracts of immediately higher-order sequences; IV) mappability of the stacking patterns and their respective bounding stratigraphic surfaces at each considered hierarchy. Reservoir zonation and characterisation is an essential application of HRSS in the petroleum industry. HRSS highlights the reservoir spatial distribution and heterogeneities, which are the stratigraphical essence of 3D geological and fluid flow models. Such models must be sufficiently robust to forecast production performance, to guide reservoir management, to optimise production, and to increase the ultimate recovery factor. In greenfields, HRSS identifies the best reservoirs for production. In brownfields, it guides an increase in production that marks a new phase of rejuvenation. HRSS rationalises and optimises hydrocarbon production and hence is an indispensable methodology for reservoir geology.