Reservoir Characterization and an Integrated Approach of Reservoir Modeling for Miano Gas Field, Middle Indus Basin

The hydrocarbon-bearing formation of Miano gas field belongs to the Early Cretaceous and it is bounded by two shale intervals, which are considered as maximum flooding surfaces (MFS). The hydrocarbon-bearing interval includes two reservoir units: a tight gas reservoir and its overlying conventional reservoir. Core samples, borehole logs, and well production performance revealed that the two reservoirs present reversed trends in reservoir quality through the gas field without obvious barriers. The average shale volume of the tight gas reservoir changes from 24.3% to 12.2% and the average permeability changes from 32.65 mD to 0.02 mD from the south to north. However, the average effective porosity of the overlaying conventional reservoir increases from 20% to 26% and the average permeability increases from 10 mD to 300 mD. The reversed trends in the two reservoirs lead to challenges in production forecast and development well proposals in the tight gas reservoir. Therefore, reservoir characterization and a predictive reservoir model are essential for further exploitation of Miano gas field. The geological genesis analysis integrating cores, borehole logs, and three-dimensional (3D) seismic data reveals that the producing interval of the tight gas reservoir is tidal-influenced shore facies deposition with intergranular pore space reduced by mineral cementation during burial diagenesis, while the overlaying conventional reservoir is fluvial-influenced deltaic deposition with abundant, well-connected intergranular macropores, which leads to a better reservoir quality. A reservoir model containing both the tight gas reservoir and the conventional reservoir is constructed considering the reservoir nature understanding, and the accuracy of the model is confirmed by reservoir surveillance activities with the simulation model. The study will be critical to the further reservoir development and hydrocarbon production in Miano gas field.