Abstract - Structurally complex reservoirs form a distinct class of reservoir, in which fault arrays and fracture networks in particular exert an over-riding control on petroleum trapping and production behaviour. With modern exploration and production portfolios being increasingly held in geologically complex settings, there is an increasing technical challenge to find new prospects and to extract remaining hydrocarbons from these more structurally complex reservoirs. Improved analytical and modeling techniques will enhance our ability to locate connected hydrocarbon volumes and unswept sections of reservoir, and ultimately will help optimise field development, production rates and ultimate recovery. This volume reviews our understanding and ability to model and predict the complex distribution and behaviour of faults, fracture networks and their fluid compartmentalizing effects and storage-transmissivity characteristics, in predicting the dynamic fluid flow and geomechanical behaviour of structurally complex reservoirs. This introduction paper provides an overview of the research status on structurally complex reservoirs and aims to create a context for the collection of papers presented in this volume and, in doing so, an entry point for the reader into the subject. We have focused on the recent progress and outstanding issues in the areas of structural complexity and fault geometry; the detection and prediction of faults and fractures; the compartmentalizing effects of fault systems and complex siliciclastic reservoirs; and the critical controls that affect fractured reservoirs.
In: Structurally Complex Reservoirs. (Edited by Jolley, S.J., Barr, D., Walsh, J.J. & Knipe, R.J.). Geological Society of London, Special Publication 292, 1-24.