The project will be carried out by the Institute of Geosciences and will enable multiscale analysis of data from pre-salt reservoirs in the Santos basin
A cooperation agreement signed at the beginning of October between Unicamp and the oil company Shell will support a research and development (R&D) project at the frontier of knowledge in the area of oil and gas exploration in the pre-salt Santos basin. The project will be carried out by Unicamp's Geosciences Institute (IG) for the next three years. Along with the R&D project, equipment will be obtained that will allow geomechanical measurements to be carried out under conditions of pressure from the pre-salt rocks, totaling an investment of R$ 15 million and 600 thousand – one of the highest ever carried out by the IG. The Unicamp Development Foundation (Funcamp) will be the administrative and financial manager.
According to the project coordinator, professor Emilson Pereira Leite, the agreement will enable multiscale analysis of data from pre-salt reservoirs, providing information that can reduce the risk of drilling dry wells. It will therefore contribute to improving oil extraction. Emilson will focus his research on seismic inversion using petrophysical and well data. Professor Gelvam André Hartmann will focus on petrophysics and the acquisition of data and information on a micro to centimeter scale. Professor Alessandro Batezelli will work on geological modeling using data collected by geophysicists.
Microanalysis on plugs taken from rock samples will allow obtaining information such as porosity, permeability, type of fluid and the behavior of minerals on a micrometric scale. Centimeter-scale well log data and metric-scale seismic data will also be analyzed. “The idea is to integrate this data at different scales to build predictive models that allow us to point out, in regions where there is only seismic data, the probability of hydrocarbons occurring in the analyzed area”, points out the project coordinator.
In the practical part, the methodologies will be tested with simulation data from different scenarios to check how the models behave. “There is a team that will work on the methodological part, with computational and mathematical methods, and another that will build models based on real data”, says Emilson. “These models will be able to indicate hydrocarbon accumulations more accurately. On a microscale, it will allow us to understand how the oil behaves inside the rock, which will allow Shell engineers to develop more efficient extraction methods”, adds Batezelli.
According to Gelvam Hartmann, there are already methods for working with transitions from one scale to another (micro to centimeter). “What differentiates this project from others is that we will use tools and methodologies to minimize uncertainties from one scale to another. The idea is that we use the data to calibrate the well information, and this to calibrate the seismic information. To do this, some tools will be used machine learning algorithm . Furthermore, the IG will receive equipment that will allow it to test pre-salt pressure conditions. This could open up possibilities of use for other projects”, highlights the professor. The equipment is unique at Unicamp and will be located in the IG Geophysics Laboratory, being operated in partnership with the Fracture Mechanics Laboratory of the Faculty of Civil Engineering, Architecture and Urbanism (FEC). The information collected will therefore allow calculations to be made regarding pre-salt reservoirs at different scales.
The researchers will also work with digital rock physics in which samples will be analyzed on microtomography machines to generate very high-resolution images. "Tests will be carried out that would be much more restrictive and take longer on physical samples. The three-dimensional image will allow analyzes with different fluid saturation scenarios to find out how the petrophysical properties behave. This is a recent trend in research in this area”, recalls Emilson.
The team will work with data from four pre-salt fields in the Santos basin, which will generate a large amount of information to be studied. In addition to the professors, the team is made up of two master's students, two doctoral students, three post-doctoral students and systems analyst Ricardo Passanezzi – all from IG. Two people must be hired via CLT: one for the computer programming area and another in the geophysics area, with experience in oil and gas. At Shell, there is a project manager and a professional from Houston, in the United States, who will monitor the technical part. As international collaborators, three professors from the United States will participate - Mrinal Sen and Kyle Spikes, from the Jackson School of Geosciences at the University of Texas and Carl Sondergeld, from the Mewbourne School of Petroleum and Geological Engineering at the University of Oklahoma - all with experience in the project themes and interested in understanding the pre-salt. It is also planned for these collaborators to participate in workshops at Unicamp and for the students and teachers involved in the project to travel to the United States.
The area of hydrocarbon exploration is one of the job possibilities for students graduating from IG. “The training of human resources in the oil and gas area is very important. This international relationship opens doors and is an experience that will add a lot to the students”, recalls Batezelli. The professor also mentions the important relationship University x company. “We need this closer relationship. This project moves in that direction. By obtaining more resources to invest in research, we improve the education system by training good researchers. Unicamp will gain a lot in this sense”, he concludes.
