Scale-dependent gas hydrate saturation estimates in sand reservoirs in the Ulleung Basin, East Sea of Korea

Marine and Petroleum Geology
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Abstract

Through the use of 2-D and 3-D seismic data, several gas hydrate prospects were identified in the Ulleung Basin, East Sea of Korea and thirteen drill sites were established and logging-while-drilling (LWD) data were acquired from each site in 2010. Sites UBGH2–6 and UBGH2–10 were selected to test a series of high amplitude seismic reflections, possibly from sand reservoirs. LWD logs from the UBGH2–6 well indicate that there are three significant sand reservoirs with varying thickness. Two upper sand reservoirs are water saturated and the lower thinly bedded sand reservoir contains gas hydrate with an average saturation of 13%, as estimated from the P-wave velocity. The well logs at the UBGH2–6 well clearly demonstrated the effect of scale-dependency on gas hydrate saturation estimates. Gas hydrate saturations estimated from the high resolution LWD acquired ring resistivity (vertical resolution of about 5–8 cm) reaches about 90% with an average saturation of 28%, whereas gas hydrate saturations estimated from the low resolution A40L resistivity (vertical resolution of about 120 cm) reaches about 25% with an average saturation of 11%. However, in the UBGH2–10 well, gas hydrate occupies a 5-m thick sand reservoir near 135 mbsf with a maximum saturation of about 60%. In the UBGH2–10 well, the average and a maximum saturation estimated from various well logging tools are comparable, because the bed thickness is larger than the vertical resolution of the various logging tools. High resolution wireline log data further document the role of scale-dependency on gas hydrate calculations.

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Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title Scale-dependent gas hydrate saturation estimates in sand reservoirs in the Ulleung Basin, East Sea of Korea
Series title Marine and Petroleum Geology
DOI 10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2012.09.004
Volume 47
Year Published 2013
Language English
Publisher Elsevier
Contributing office(s) Central Energy Resources Science Center
Description 9 p.
Larger Work Type Article
Larger Work Subtype Journal Article
Larger Work Title Marine and Petroleum Geology
First page 195
Last page 203
Country Korea
Other Geospatial East Sea Of Korea;Ulleung Basin
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