Statistical Characterisation of Fluvial Sand Bodies: Implications for Complex Reservoir Models

Summary The three-dimensional geometry of fluvial channel sand bodies has received considerably less attention than their internal sedimentology, despite the importance of sandstone body geometry for subsurface reservoir modelling. The aspect ratio (width/thickness, W:T) of fluvial channels is widely used to characterize their geometry. However, this does not provide a full characterization of fluvial sand body shape, since one W:T ratio can correspond to many different channel geometries. The resultant over- or underestimation of the cross-sectional area of a sand body can have significant implications for reservoir models and hydrocarbon volume predictions. There is thus a clear need for the generation of versatile, quantitative, and statistically robust models for sand body shape. The main aim of this research is to develop a new statistically-based approach that will provide quantitative data, derived from outcrop analogues, to fully constrain stochastic fluvial reservoir models. Here, we describe the construction of a new shape database and conduct a preliminary qualitative analysis in order to understand measurement and other uncertainties, and to explore the catalogue of shape configurations. A future quantitative analysis will develop a predictive model to enable forecasting of reservoir channel sand body geometries and shapes that can be built into existing reservoir models.