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Stratigraphic and Tectonic Controls on the Distribution and Architecture of Fluvial Oil and Gas Reservoirs
14.5 Conclusions
The potential for future discoveries of SH- and CBtype fields in clastic wedges would seem to be greatest in the collision-related basins of southeast Asia,
where clastic terrigenous sediment supply during
the Cenozoic was very high and fl uvial conditions
were widespread. Some giant discoveries may be
expected.
Considerable potential remains for discovery of
smaller fields in mature areas, where detailed subsurface information provides the basis for calibration of seismic-refl ection data. Seismic mapping
of channels, sedimentological techniques for interpreting fl uvial channel-and-bar geometries, and
geostatistical techniques for predicting their scale
are essential. Developments along the U.S. Gulf
Coast, in the North American Western Interior basin, and in inland Australia are at this stage.
Much of the best work now being carried out on
the integration of geological and engineering skills
for enhanced production purposes is being applied
to fluvial oil fields, such as those in the North Sea
basin, where the expense of offshore operations requires the use of the most sophisticated prediction
and modeling tools. Such work is bringing petroleum geologists back to the field to collect ever more
detailed data on the characteristics of outrop analogs, and is providing scope for specialized numerical modeling of sand body geometries.