RESERVOIR CHARACTERIZATION OF BAHARIYA FORMATION (MELEIHA FIELD), WESTERN DESERT – EGYPT

Reservoir characterization is gaining more ground as a means for better understanding of rock

properties. Characterization combines all available data from seismic, well logs, cores, to

describe the petrophysical properties of formations in the wells. Geostatistical techniques then

used to distribute these properties spatially in the three dimensions. This distribution is

normally constrained by the available regional stratigraphic models of the field to get a more

systematic and often logical picture of the reservoir strata. Meleiha West field is one of the

main four oil fields located in Meleiha concession, Western Desert , Egypt. Bahariya

formation is the producing formation. Bahariya formation hosts more than 50 percent of oil

reserves in Western Desert. It is a highly heterogeneous formation where the properties

change in a marked way both vertically and laterally at short distances. The technology of

geostatistical reservoir characterization was applied to Bahariya formation in Meleiha field. A

database was established for the field and cluster analysis was used to characterize the

formation. Facies and related petrophysical parameters stochastically distributed within the

reservoir volume. Dynamic modeling applied after up scaling of the geological information to

superiority of stochastic approach to model heterogeneities in reservoir. This paper

discusses the effect of applying this technique on the optimization of field

development and recovery enhancement.