CHARACTERIZATION, DISTRIBUTION OF PERMEABILITY, AND PREDICTIVE PERFORMANCE FOR RESERVOIRS ENCOUNTERED BY HORIZONTAL BOREHOLES

THE PHASE I STUDY WILL INVESTIGATE THE CHARACTER AND DISTRIBUTION OF PERMEABILITY THROUGH A RESERVOIR-QUALITY SANDSTONE BODY AS IT IS ENCOUNTERED IN A HORIZONTAL BOREHOLE. EXTENSIVE, CONTINUOUS HORIZONTALLY ORIENTED CORESWILL BE OBTAINED FROM TWO CORE HOLES, EACH EXTENDING UP TO 250 FEET INTO A FLUVIAL SANDSTONE COMPLEX OF THE DAKOTA FORMATION (CRETACEOUS) THAT IS WELL- EXPOSED ALONG THE EAST FLANK OF THE SPLIT MOUNTAIN ANTICLINE NEAR VERNAL, UTAH. THE SEDIMENTOLOGICAL FEATURES AND RELATED PERMEABILITY CHARACTER AND DISTRIBUTION WILL BE ANALYZED. THROUGH THIS ANALYSIS, BETTER APPROACHES WILL BE DEVELOPED TO MODELING THE THREE-DIMENSIONAL DISTRIBUTION OF PERMEABILITY AND FLUIDMOVEMENT POTENTIAL OF COMPLEX SANDSTONE RESERVOIRS TO STUDY HYDROCARBON PRODUCTION WHERE THESE STRUCTURES ARE TAPPED BY HORIZONTAL BOREHOLES. THIS GELLOGICAL/ENGINEERING STUDY IS NEEDED TO KEEP PACE WITH THE RAPIDLY ADVANCING TECHNOLOGYOF HORIZONTAL DRILLING AND THE PRODUCTION OF HYDROCARBONS FROM HORIZONTAL DRAINHOLES. THIS INVESTIGATION AND POSSIBLEEXPANDED PHASE II STUDY WOULD SERVE AS "LANDMARK" INVESTIGATION OF RESERVOIRS.