Fieldwork risk assessment
| Exploring for Oil and Gas Traps | |
| |
| Series | Treatise in Petroleum Geology |
|---|---|
| Part | Predicting the occurrence of oil and gas traps |
| Chapter | Value of geological fieldwork |
| Author | Denise M. Stone |
| Link | Web page |
| Store | AAPG Store |
As used here, risk is exposure to an undesirable outcome or chance at loss. In the case of exploration, it is exposure to the occurrence of an all-too-common dry hole where no hydrocarbons are found and the well is plugged and abandoned. Fieldwork does not necessarily lower exploration risk, but it may improve how risk is defined.
Determining risk
The first step is to determine which risks are associated with each critical element. For reservoir rock, the main risk might be thickness and porosity preservation. For source rock, the main risk might be organic richness and thermal maturity.
Ranking risk
Next, rank the risks in order of greatest to least concern. In one basin, the risks might rank as follows:
- Reservoir porosity
- Source rock maturity
- Reservoir thickness
The highest ranked risks are the key risks—the ones to be most concerned about.
Reducing risk
The final step is to determine the information needed to reduce or further assess key risks. This step promotes free thinking and lets us visualize success. For example, if you had the choice of any field data to address the issue of reservoir porosity, what would they be? Designing a method to address the questions you have about the key risks is the most important step of any field project. Once this is done, the objectives of the field program fall into place.
See also
External links
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