Basin Analysis Exploration Seismic Interpretation Field Rehabilitation Reservoir Simulation Bidding Assistance

Basin analysis techniques are widely used by upstream companies in order to reduce the risks associated to various exploration stages. Constraining the timing/depth, when/where source rocks from a sedimentary basin expel hydrocarbon fluids has a crucial impact in choosing the most favorable prospects further drilling. At larger scale, basin analysis offers the possibility to derive a comprehensive history of basin filling, subsidence rates, history of heat flow variation, and depositional facies assemblage; used in conjunction with advanced seismic/well data interpretation, basin analysis represents the best way out towards making predictions about location of source/ reservoir/seal facies and play concept generation. In addition, basin analysis represents a pre-requisite in assessing quantitatively the risks involved in exploring a petroleum basin. We are highly skilled in a large variety of basin analysis techniques including basin modeling in either extensional or contractional settings. We provide studies using 1-D modeling numerical tools such as the Beicip/IFP’s Genex software; at basin scale (or basin sector), various maps can be derived from wells and/or pseudo-wells modeling in order to unravel the spatial and temporal distribution of source sequence maturation as well as the relationships between trap formation and hydrocarbon expulsion (including amounts and phase type). Particularly suitable for sag basins/passive margins/simpler extensional settings, we can switch from 1-D modeling to 2-D modeling if more complicate extensional histories are documented at basin scale. Concerning the fold-and-thrust belts and the inner, deformed parts of foredeep basins, the first major step after building the geological cross-sections is represented by their palinspastic reconstruction (or balancing). As the complexity of contractional structural settings generally precludes a non-equivocal interpretation, we apply structural balancing in order to test different scenarios (and eventually choosing the most reliable one) and use further the pre-deformational state as input in 2-D basin modeling approaches. When using forward 2-D modeling, we aim at constraining the entire history of source rocks maturation coupled with the erosion affecting the growing orogenic wedge and trap formation.