Development Challenges in a Heavy Oil Field, Subject to Water Production: A Case Study of Diamond Field in Central Africa
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
The Diamond field from onshore in Gabon was brought into production by Perenco in 2000, but its development has mainly focused on deep light oil reservoirs. This study reassesses the potential of the shallow Senonian and Turonian reservoirs, which have remained underexploited due to technical challenges, including the presence of heavy oil (18-22 API) and significant water production. The results of structural modelling and petrophysical analysis (CMR) estimate a total oil in place (STOIIP) volume of 48 Mmstbo for the base case, rising to 718 Mmstbo in the high scenario. The analysis identifies 12 potential productive intervals, including six (6) in the light oil zone and six (6) in the heavy oil zone. Although the current recovery factor for the EM1 & LC2 zone is only 5.5%, as illustrated by the RK-3 well's historical production of 500,000 barrels in July 2010, the study shows that recovery rates of up to 40% are possible. Confirmation of these volumes, representing possible contingent resources of 287 Mmstb, now requires a dedicated appraisal phase to reduce structural uncertainties.
Downloads
Article Details
Section
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
How to Cite
References
Ahmed, T. (2018) “Reservoir Engineering Handbook”. 5th Edition - December 19, 2018. Latest edition. Imprint: Gulf Professional Publishing. Hardback ISBN: 9780128136492. eBook ISBN: 9780128136508 https://shop.elsevier.com/books/reservoir-engineering-handbook/ahmed/978-0-12-813649-2
Liu, H., Jiang, Y. (2025). Reservoirs and Cap Rocks. In: Petroleum Geology. Springer, Singapore. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-96-7086-4_3
Liu, H. H. (2016). Generalisation of Darcy’s Law: Non-Darcian Liquid Flow in Low-Permeability Media. In Fluid Flow in the Subsurface: History, Generalisation and Applications of Physical Laws (pp. 1-43). Cham: Springer International Publishing. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-43449-0_1
Kamayou, V.M., Ehirim, C.N. and Ikiensikimama, S.S. (2021). Estimating Volume of Shale in a Clastic Niger Delta Reservoir from Well Logs: A Comparative Study. International Journal of Geosciences, 12, 949-959. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4236/ijg.2021.1210049
Bordbar, A., Faroughi, S., & Faroughi, S. A. (2018). A pseudo-TOF-based streamline tracing for the streamline simulation method in heterogeneous hydrocarbon reservoirs. American Journal of Engineering Research, 7(4), 23-31. file:///C:/Users/ASUS/Downloads/D07042331.pdf
da Cunha Teixeira, J., do Nascimento Guimarães, L. J., & de Carvalho, D. K. E. (2021). Streamline-based simulation in highly heterogeneous and anisotropic petroleum reservoirs using a non-orthodox MPFA method and an adaptive timestep strategy with unstructured meshes. Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, 201, 108369. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.petrol.2021.108369
Bhattacharyya, K., & Singh, V. P. (2019). Reservoir sedimentation: assessment and environmental controls. CRC Press 1st Edition. eBook ISBN9781351027502. Pages342 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1201/9781351027502
Madumere, N. (2021). The impact of stakeholder management on the oil and gas industry in Africa: A case study of oil companies and African host communities. African Journal on Conflict Resolution, 21(2), 8-32. Published Online:12 Apr2022 https://hdl.handle.net/10520/ejc-accordr_v21_n2_a2
Vakili, M., Koutník, P., & Kohout, J. (2024). Addressing hydrogen sulfide corrosion in oil and gas industries: a sustainable perspective. Sustainability, 16(4), 1661. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su16041661
Lawson, I. D., & Balogun, A. O. (2023). Reservoir characterisation using petrophysical evaluation of the W-field, onshore Niger delta. Asian Journal of Physical and Chemical Sciences, 11(2), 9-23. DOI: https://doi.org/10.9734/ajopacs/2023/v11i2197
Harry, T. A., Etim, C. E., & Agbasi, O. E. (2022). Petrophysical Evaluation of H-field, Niger Delta Basin for Petroleum Plays and Prospects. Materials and Geoenvironment, 69(2), 119-129. https://reference-global.com/article/10.2478/rmzmag-2021-0020?tab=download
Soro, D. D. (2017). Hydrogeological characterization and modeling of an aquifer in a fractured basement environment: the case of the Sanon experimental site (Central Plateau region of Burkina Faso) (Doctoral thesis, Pierre and Marie Curie University-Paris VI; International Institute for Water and Environmental Engineering). Page 304 HAL Id: tel-01653089 https://theses.hal.science/tel-01653089v1
Adagunodo, T. A., Sunmonu, L. A., & Adabanija, M. A. (2017). Reservoir characterization and seal integrity of Jemir field in Niger Delta, Nigeria. Journal of African Earth Sciences, 129, 779-791. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2017.02.015
Adagunodo, T. A., Bayowa, O. G., Alatise, O. E., Oshonaiye, A. O., Adewoyin, O. O., & Opadele, V. O. (2022). Characterization of reservoirs and depositional study of JP Field, shallow offshore of Niger Delta Basin, Nigeria. Scientific African, 15, e01064. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sciaf.2021.e01064
Sahu, A. K., & Talukdar, P. (2025). Optimizing Field Development with Petrel-14: A Case Study of the Penobscot Field in Nova Scotia, Canada. This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License DOI: https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7288712/v1
Justine, B. G., Leroy, M. N. L., Theodore, T., & Jordan, E. E. (2024). Combining Deterministic and Probabilistic Approaches in an Improved Volumetric Model to Reduce Geological Uncertainties for Accurate Hydrocarbon Reserve Estimation: Case Study in the Rio Del Rey Basin, Cameroon. Geofluids, 2024(1), 3020626. Volume 2024, Article ID 3020626, 24 pages DOI: https://doi.org/10.1155/2024/3020626
Dedy Kristanto et al (2023) Dedy Kristanto, Hariyadi, Emanuel Jiwandono Saputro. Uncertainty Analysis of Reservoir Static Modelling: A Case Study of KMJ Oil Field. International Journal of Oil, Gas and Coal Engineering. Vol. 11, No. 1, 2023, pp. 9-16.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ogce.20231101.12 https://www.sciencepublishinggroup.com/article/10.11648/j.ogce.20231101.12
Rashid, M., & Hamd-Allah, S. M. (2023). Uncertainty assessment of reservoir modelling for an oilfield in the south of Iraq. Journal of Petroleum Research and Studies, 13(4), 50-65. DOI : http://doi.org/10.52716/jprs.v13i4.739
Varges, P. R., Rodrigues, E. C., Moraes, L. C., de Souza Mendes, P. R., & Naccache, M. F. (2022). Flow instabilities in fluid displacement through enlarged regions in annular ducts. Journal Of Non-Newtonian Fluid Mechanics, 305, 104834. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnnfm.2022.104834Get rights and content
Belkhir, S. A. (2025). Investigation and prediction of excessive water production in bottom water-drive naturally fractured reservoirs using machine learning and deep learning. Dissertations from 2025 https://scholarworks.uaeu.ac.ae/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2328&context=all_theses