Key Basin Modeling Study Performed In Iran’s Southern Waters

The Pearl of Persian Gulf is the largest research project ever implemented by an Iranian company in the upstream segment of Iran’s oil and gas sector. The primary objective of the basin modeling study was to analyze the formation and evolution of sedimentary basins in order to determine the burial history of the hydrocarbon reservoirs in the Persian Gulf and the Oman Sea.

Basin modeling is a term broadly covering a group of geological disciplines, which, in this case, seismic Interpretation, Structural modeling, Seismic inversion and Facies analysis were all performed by Dana Energy’s Geoscientists.

The Iranian Offshore Oil Company (IOOC) along with the Research Institute of Petroleum Industry (RIPI), both subsidiaries of the National Iranian Oil Company, awarded the tender to Dana Energy more than four years ago. The project was finished early this year and the technical reports were all submitted to the client.

The study has been performed within an area of 117,000 square kilometer in Iran’s southern waters, covering more than 200 oil and gas wells. Dana Energy as the first company to perform such a large scale project had close collaboration with two international companies, Well Services of Iran (schlumberger methods) and Petrosar (Beicip Franlab representative). The data collected were precisely interpreted and the outcome was a series of data that would feed other contractors already set to continue the work.

Dana Energy experts performed seismic interpretation and applied advance technology for inversion and depth conversion to obtain acoustic impedance data in depth for integrated facies analysis and modeling. This was achieved by generation of Pseudo 3D seismic data using advanced in-house method in the company. Interpretation of salt bodies in Persian Gulf, mud diapers in Oman Sea and interpretation of deep horizons including basement, using seismic and non-seismic data were amongst other achievements in this project.

Due to effective and precise data management during this project, IOOC as an asset has a comprehensive database on the characteristics of nearly 70 oil and gas fields and structures in the region. The result of this study would help IOOC identify leads and prospects in the Persian Gulf and the Oman Sea.

Meanwhile, the project encouraged other clients and has paved the ground for the implementation of similar studies such as Zagros basin.