The TRMLN Field is wholly contained within Concession Block 405a and consists of eight
fields located in eastern Afrika. The greater TRMLN Field was discovered by the TRMLN-1
well in 1996. Further exploration on Concession Block 405a yielded seven additional field
discoveries in the northern part of Block 405a, which are satellite discoveries to the
TRMLN Field. Figure 2-1 shows map of greater TRMLN.
Figure 2-1
Production in the Greater TRMLN Field is derived from three reservoirs: the Triassic Argileux
Greseux-Inferior (TAG- I), and the Carboniferous F Sands (F1 and F2 sands). Production
commenced in June 2003, with three reservoirs on partial pressure maintenance (TRMLN
F1, TRMLN TAG-I and TRMLNW F1) and five on primary depletion, (TRMLC TAG-I,
TRKMD TAG-I, TRMLNW TAG-I, TRMLW F1 and TRMLNW F2). In 2008, gas injection
commenced in all fields for full pressure maintenance (FPM), with the exception of
MLNWTR TAG-I reservoir. As of December 2012, the wells have produced 14,562 Ksm 3 of
oil and condensate. The oil and condensate are mixed and processed through the MLN TR
Central Processing Facility (CPF) before being exported to the OH-3 pipeline. Oil and
condensate gravities in the five fields range from 40 to 51 API gravity, resulting in a current
average export gravity of 49 API gravity.
Three historical drilling campaigns have taken place in the Greater TRMLN Field. Burlington
Resources conducted the Phase 1 drilling campaign (1996-2004), which was carried out
during the exploratory, appraisal, and early development stages. This entailed the drilling of
16 producers and five gas injectors. In 2005 and 2007, Burlington Resources submitted
revised development plans (RDPs) recommending FPM for all but one of the greater
TRMLN Field reservoirs in order to increase oil recoveries. Based on technical and
economic analyses, it was determined that the future development of seven TRMLN
reservoirs be revised to FPM via gas injection. It was recommended that the eighth
reservoir, the TRMLNW TAG-I, continue to be based on primary depletion.
This necessitated the Phase 2 drilling program (2005-2007) consisting of four oil producers,
five gas injectors, four existing producers converted to gas injectors, and one oil producer
completed to an alternative zone. When implemented, the Phase 2 program would increase
the total well count to 16 oil producers and 15 gas injectors throughout the greater TRMLN
Field. The drilling program was designed to provide FPM support to optimize economic
recovery. Burlington Resources initiated the drilling program and company assumed control
midway through the program in June 2006. At the conclusion of the Phase 2 drilling
program, the total well count consisted of 19 oil producers and 12 gas injectors.
The conversion to FPM necessitated make-up gas (MUG), which was provided from two
unassociated gas fields, the TRMLSE 4/6 TAG-I and TRMLSE RKF, located approximately
30 km south of the Greater TRMLN Field. ELAs for TRMLSE 4/6 TAG-I and TRMLSE RKF
fields were submitted and approved in 2005.
The MUG requirement created the need to expand the existing TRMLN CPF, which
included the installation of a second train for gas treatment and re-injection in order to
increase gas injection capacity. The expansion project doubled the gas processing
capability of the plant, which allowed gas injection into the Greater TRMLN Field to increase
ultimate oil recovery. The gas expansion project required the drilling of new gas injection
wells to inject gas into both a) reservoirs that were on primary depletion and b) production
wells to improve the sweep of the reservoir. Reservoir simulation model results justified the
additional wells. Full pressure maintenance commenced in August 2008. Currently, the
seven reservoirs approved for FPM are on gas injection. The eighth reservoir, the TRMLNW
TAG-I, remains on primary depletion.
The Phase 3 drilling program conducted from 2010 to 2011 consisted of drilling six
producers and four gas injectors. In addition, one existing producer was converted to a gas
injector and another was completed and tied-back into production. The new wells were
designed to access areas of the fields that were not being drained effectively by the existing
wells. The new wells would improve pressure maintenance and capture oil volumes that
otherwise would have been unrecovered. No upgrades were needed to the TRMLN CPF for
this program. In 2012, a fourth TRMLSE well, the TRMLSE-7, was equipped for production
and currently provides TRMLSE MUG production. The total well count at the end of the
Phase-3 drilling campaign was 26 producers and 17 gas injectors.
3.1
Figure 3-1
3.1.1
Structural Events
Several tectonic-orogenic episodes in the structurally complex Berkine Basin
affected structural styles and trap formation. Three of these episodes
particularly influenced the vicinity of Concession Block 405a. The first major
event that defines the Sahara platform structures is the Pre-Cambrian Pan-
African collision. The suturing together of West Africa Craton and the East
Saharan Craton created the north-to-south trending, deep basement structures
that have periodically become reactivated. The first key episode in the late
Carboniferous Hercynian Orogeny resulted in an uplift event that induced a
major regional tilt of the Paleozoic sequence to the east with deep erosion of
successively older rocks to the west. This 60-million-year erosional episode
removed the Paleozoic almost entirely in some regions, and likely removed the
entire Permian and a portion of the Carboniferous within Concession Block
405a. The event preserved an easterly thickening Carboniferous section from a
truncation line running across the western portion of Concession Block 405a
(Figure 3-2).
Figure 3-2
In the second episode, late Triassic to early Jurassic rifting created the primary
structural traps within the pre-Hercynian sequences and eventually resulted in
a northward thickening wedge of Triassic sediments sourced from the uplifted
Hercynian Highlands to the south and southwest. Deposition included the
fluvial channel sands, floodplains, siltstones and paleosols associated with the
TAG-I formation.
The third episode occurred during the late Cretaceous when a collision
between the African and European plates created the Atlas Mountains and a
compressional regime across North Africa. This resulted in transpressional
movement and inversion, often along the pre-existing Triassic faults that were
aligned on older northeast-southwest Paleozoic trends.
3.1.2
Source Rocks
The Berkine Basin petroleum system contains two major source rocks. The
Frasnian Meden Yahya Formation serves as the principal oil source rock for the
Central Berkine Basin, with the deeper Silurian
Tannezuft hot shale of Gothlandian age providing a major source of dry gas.
3.2
3.2.1
Figure 3-3
Well control throughout the greater TRMLN Field encountered TAG-I gross
intervals ranging from 51-84 m in thickness. The average well porosities of the
sandstones derived from petrophysical analysis range from 10-16%. Air
permeabilities measured from conventional core analysis range from 0.01-1900
mD.
3.3
Regional CarboniferousTournasian
Stratigraphy (F Sand)
The early Carboniferous Tournaisian F1 and F2 sands form significant
reservoirs in Concession Block 405a of the Berkine Basin. The sediments were
deposited in a broadly shallow marine environment on the passive margin of
the North African Platform. Characteristic sub-environments included distal
offshore, offshore transition, and proximal shoreface settings.
Unlike the prolific TAG-I reservoirs in this part of the basin, the Tournaisian
sandstones are geographically restricted. To the south and east, the sands
grade into non-reservoir muddy facies, while to the north and west they have
been eroded by the Hercynian Unconformity.
3.3.1
d
W
F
3.5
4.1
4.2
Petrophysical Model
The following sections describe the basic petrophysical interpretation applied
to all the wells. The methodology included calculation of the volume of shale,
porosity, water saturation, and two different approaches for permeability. Due
to similar methodologies and the calibration of both sets of calculations to core
data, the basic model for volume of shale, porosity, and water saturation
yielded results equivalent to those of the 2005 RDP. The F1 and F2 sands
contain minerals that could not be accounted
for
using the
basic
interpretation: siderite, with a high grain density that strongly affects .
computed density porosity; and grain-coating and pore-lining chlorite, which
reduces formation resistivity and increases computed water saturation. These
methods and results differ from the 2005 RDP, which did not account for the
impacts of siderite and chlorite. The corrections for siderite and chlorite have the
effect of increasing oil-in-place for the F1 and F2 sands.
4.2.2
Porosity
Total porosity (Phit) in the 2014 RDP model uses an iterative solution that
minimizes the error between measured and calculated RHOB4. This solution
does not solve for porosity explicitly, but derives it in an iterative fashion until
the computed value of RHOB from the model matches the measured log
RHOB. Using this method, RHOB is computed using grain density, porosity,
and fluid density. Fluid density is computed using a water saturation obtained
with Archie's equation.
Some wells exhibit abnormally small values of RHOB due to borehole
washouts in the shale intervals. To correct for this, the value of Phit is limited
to a value based on the Vsh curve.
The value of Phit obtained as described earlier is then reduced using the
factor 0.96875 to account for the final overburden correction as described in
Section 4.2
4.2.4
Permeability
The two approaches to calculate log permeability included:
Regression permeability
Figure C-2 to Figure C-8 show crossplots comparing the TAG-I and
F sands core permeability/ porosity trends for the various zones. An
in-depth analysis of the core porosity versus permeability data
between zones and various facies was based on undamaged core
plugs and points where log Vsh was less than 40%. This analysis
derived porosity-permeability transforms for use in predicting
permeability in uncored log intervals. These transforms were
developed in advance of the final core overburden corrections. The
transforms were reapplied using a procedure that accounts for the
final overburden corrections to 4,000 psi:
1. Divide by 0.96875 to undo the second porosity correction.
2. Apply the porosity-permeability transforms.
3. Apply the core overburden corrections for permeability to the
computed permeability logs.
4. Penalize points with high volumes of shale.
The procedure results in air permeability of 4,000 psi net
overburden pressure.
4.2.4.2
4.3
and composition. These categories were combined into a total of three facies that could be
used for geologic model construction: sand, low-porosity sand, and clay-rich
rocks.
After combining the core description data into the three categories, a clustering
algorithm in the Geolog program Facimage was trained using the core data.
This allowed Facimage to predict these three facies based on the input logs for
Vshale, NPHI, and RHOB. The models were derived separately for the TAG-I
and the F sands. Figure C-12 to Figure C-13 shows an example for the TAG-I
interval and the F1 and Lower F1b intervals.
4.4
5.1
TAG-I
F1, F2
Structural Framework
The geomodel was subdivided into sector models for the reservoir simulation.
The full-field TAG-I model was divided into four sector models: TRMLC-TAG-I,
TRKMD-TAG-I, TRMLN-TAG-I, and TRMLNW-TAG-I. Similarly, the F-sand fullfield model was divided into four sector models: F1-TRMLW, F1-TRMLNW, F1TRMLN, and F2-TRMLNW.
key pillars were modeled into faults during the pillar gridding process. These
faults form the basis of the model grid. To simplify numerical reservoir
simulation, faults in the 2014 model are linear and zigzag and the grid was
rotated 35 degrees. After fault pillars were edited and connected, the pillar grid
was created with the goal of generating an orthogonal grid suitable for
simulation
Figure 5-3 Make horizon and zones of the 2014 TAG-I model geocellular models
5.3
Figure 5-14
For the F1/F2 sands, four J-function curves were developed to represent the
different hydraulic units. Similarly, previous F1 and F2 models used a single JFunction curve. See Figure 5-15 and Figure 5-16.
Figure 5-15
composite
Figure 5-16
5.3.2
Oil-Water Contacts
The oil-water contacts in the 2014 greater MLN model remained the same as
those in the 2005 model except for TRMLC TAG-I, and TRMLNW TAG-I
(Table 5-3).
Table 5-3 Oil-water contacts in TRMLN ELA Block
405a
Oil Water Contacts (TVDSS)
Field
2005
2014
TRMLN TAG-I
-3101
-3101
TRMLN F1
-3301
-3301
TRMLNW F1
-3270
-3270
-3351.5
-3351.5
TRMLW F1
-3278
-3278
TRKMD TAG-I
-3087
-3087
TRMLC TAG-I
-3069
-3063
TRMLNW F2
Region
Eastern
Central
Western
6.1.
Note
TRMLNW-3 (A-sand) & TRMLNW-5 (B-sand)
TRMLNW-8 (B-sand) & TRMLNW-10 (C-sand)
TRMLNW-2 (B-sand) & TRMLNW-6 (A-sand)
Petrophysical Evaluations
6.1.1.
Fluid Contacts
Reservoir contacts were evaluated on the basis of log and pressure
data. Figure G-10 and Figure G-11 in Appendix G show individual
pressure plots. Table 8-2 summarises contact estimates:
Table 8-2 TRMLSE Contact Depths
Member Name
Area
TAG-I
4/6
URKF
1/3
4/6
URKF (Main)
Contact Depth
(m TVDSS)
-2675
Contact Source
ODT
TRMLSE-4
-2966
RCI + LOG
TRMLSE-34/6
-2970
RCI
5/7
-2970
RCI
TRMLSE-7
TRMLSE-1 / 2 &
-2986
RCI+LOG
TRMLSE-3
TREMN3
TREMN-3
TRMLSE-3
-2992
RCI+LOGS
TRMLSE-3
4/6
-2986
RCI+LOG
TRMLSE-4
5/7
-2986
RCI+LOG
TRMLSE-7
Figure 8-1
TRMLSE TAG-I
Hydrocarbon Contact
8.3.3.3
Fluid Type
Porosity (%)
Vshale (%)
TAG-I
Gas-Condensate
40
URKF
7.5
URKF Main
Figure C-2
Multi-well porosity-permeability crossplots of valid data showing differences in
trends between TAG-I
and F sands
T
a
b
l
e
C
5
A
v
e
r
a
g
e
r
e
s
e
r
v
o
ir
p
roperties
Reservoir
Property
TAG-I
Range
Average
46 - 84
64
2 - 47
24
Net-to-gross (%)
4 - 68
37
10 - 15
12.0
0 - 27
11.8
10 - 15
12.4
.01 - 1862
36
14 - 52
24
Table C-8
Reservoir
F1
LF1b
F2
Property
Range
Average
Range
Average
Range
Average
11 - 21
15
14 - 22
19
1 - 23
12
5 - 18
10
2 - 18
11
0 - 21
11
Net-to-gross (%)
35 - 96
67
13 - 90
56
0 - 98
74
13 - 25
19.3
7 - 12
9.5
8 - 22
18.4
0 - 19
9.1
0 - 10
0 - 13
7.1
13 - 26
19.3
8 - 20
11.5
8 - 22
17.5
.01-1211
108
.01 - 16
1.4
.01 -657
83
24 - 49
36