PRIORITY - Project for improved oil recovery and productivity

The Lower Cretaceous reservoirs of the Danish Central Craben form a widespread hydrocarbon play. Most of the wells penetrating the Lower Cretaceous carbonates have reported shows and the potential volume of oil and gas accumulated in the Lower Cretaceous limestone is significant. The main objective of the PRIORITY research programme was to provide an improved scientific basis for improved exploitation of the low productivity Lower Cretaceous carbonate reservoirs of Barremian and Aptian age. Five key research objectives were defined: Identification and prediction of zones and areas with high oil saturation. Prediction of fracture zones. Description and prediction of the integaction between the wells and the surrounding rocks. Development of more efficient recovery methods. Development and testing of innovative methods within the scope of the project. The research has been carried out under two headings: Reservoir characterisation and recovery processer. Rock mechanics studies have supplemented the geological model and increased knowledge about production aspects. Since the production from Lower Cretaceous reservoirs currently is limited to the Valdemar area, the research was focussed on this development. An improved understanding of the Lower Cretaceous reservoir succession and an improved knowledge to the distribution of hydrocarbons and secondary productions zones (fractures) in the Lower Cretaceous reservoir succession are achieved by assessments from seismic, image and conventional log, petrophysical and geochemical data focussing on the Valdemar area. The experience from the Valdemar area has been directed towards Lower Cretaceous carbonates in general and regional aspects have been taken into account. The scope of the work performed under the headline 'Recovery processes' within the PRIORITY programme was to study topics related to hydrocarbon production from Lower Cretaceous carbonates. In this work specific recovery processes as well as a number of general phenomena related to flow in Lower Cretaceous carbonates are studied. The results of the work will contribute to a better understanding of flow processes in Lower Cretaceous carbonates. This knowledge provides an improved background for decisions connected to the development and exploitation of the reservoirs of interest. The multi-disciplinary research project has created a beneficial co-operation between the research institutions and has given rise to results outside the reach of the individual institutions. PRIORITY has shown that co-ordination and scientific integration between different organisations and technical disciplines is a key success factor for large research programmes. The main results and conclusions obtained within the PRIORITY programme are available in a large number of reports