Vortex: [Latin vortex, vortic-, variant of vertex, from vertere, to turn.

]
Vortex is a whirling motion of fluid forming a cavity in the center, a whirlpool, an eddy, a whirlwind.
(Chamber’s Twentieth Century Dictionary)
Nature tends to organize her through vortices, spiraling flows. For thousands of years, the various
yoga traditions, meditation traditions, and martial art schools across Asia have held that the human
body has a series of energy vortices in and around it. Yogic meditation is on the relationship of the
various vortices of the human body and the environment. In acupuncture, there are meridians
through which the chi flows.
Sedimentary structures are also formed by the vortices. Boersma and Terwindt (1981) described
“full vortex structures” formed because of vortices on lee side of dunes/ripples (migration of
mega-ripples) in tidal deposits especially in tidal sand bars.
According to Chamber’s Twentieth Century Dictionary, vortex is also, a pursuit, way of life, situation
etc that engulfs one irresistibly or remorselessly, taking up all one’s attention and energies.
For us, the opening of the APG Chapter is also a situation that engulfs all geoscientists, taking
up all, one’s attention and energies, and the souvenir will be the culmination of reflection of the
knowledge brought together. Optimization of mind and machine is possible from such convergence
and explorationists may gain insights to take up newer challenges. As such, the title “Vortex”
is in line with the theme of the Inaugural Ceremony of APG Duliajan Chapter - “Challenges in
Geoscience's: Optimizing Mind and Machine”.

Editorial Board

P. Dutta
G.K. Duarah
D.K. Baruah
T. Borgohain
C.B. Prasad
T. Ashwini Kumar
(Clock wise from left)

Disclaimer: Neither the Editorial Board nor Oil India Limited endorses any views expressed by the individual contributors in this souvenir

Published by Geology & Reservoir Department, Oil India Limited, Duliajan, Assam
Designed and produced by Exclusive Advertising Pvt. Ltd., Guwahati
I
n the world today, where there is a pressing need
for accelerated enterprise performance, knowledge
remains the most powerful tool to reckon with. Post
liberalization, India opened up both opportunities and
challenges before the industries, especially in strategic sector
like hydrocarbon exploration and production. At the same time,
we are facing stiff competition for exploration and production blocks
because of many new players entering the upstream sector; it is opening
up opportunities for venturing out from our traditional geographical
boundaries. Companies now are finding it difficult to replace their reserves
through exploration of only conventional hydrocarbon. As such exploration for
non-conventional hydrocarbon resources like shale gas, oil shale, oil sand, CBM,
basin centric gas accumulations (BCGA), gas from tight reservoirs, UCG, gas hydrates
etc. and their know-how is becoming increasingly important.
The situation now demands proper knowledge management among the geoscientists. The
scientific societies worldwide are giving the best platforms for acquisition and dissemination of
knowledge and encouraging innovations. The inception of APG chapter in Oil India Limited,
Duliajan is a step forward in realising this. The chapter would foster the inquisitive spirit of
geoscientists and aim at promotion of geo-scientific interaction in the region through symposia,
seminars, workshops, publication of journals, books etc. This forum is also expected to bring
in better cohesion between industry and academia.
The idea of the souvenir emanated from exploring and showcasing our geoscientific
understanding and bringing it up in an organized form at the inauguration of the APG,
Duliajan Chapter. Over the years, our geoscientists have done various studies and a number
of these have been published and presented in various journals, bulletins and conferences,
both national and international. However, the need for a local technical journal has become
imperative for increased participation of geoscientists in this region. This souvenir is the first
issue of the Journal of Association of Petroleum Geologists, Duliajan Chapter and extends a
new platform primarily for technical publication.
We are delighted that “Vortex” received a good number of technical papers that have
attempted to throw light on some recent studies and on our understanding of exploration
and development of hydrocarbons. We look forward to receive insightful, innovative and in-
depth research papers in the near future as well. Hope you all find this publication interesting
and value adding.
N.M. Borah
Chairman & Managing Director

I am very happy to learn that Duliajan Chapter of Association

of Petroleum Geologists (APG) is being opened and the
inaugural function and a seminar is being organized on 20th
August, 2010. The Theme of the seminar ‘Challenges in
Geoscience – Optimizing Mind and Machine’ is indeed very
appropriate and will give an opportunity for the geoscientists to
exchange their views and update them on latest developments.
This important step of opening of the Duliajan chapter is of
immense importance for Geoscientists in OIL. It will be the
right forum to highlight the latest developments and share new
ideas and experiences on effective exploration and to discuss
about strategies for development of the industry.
I wish the Duliajan Chapter of APG all the best and hope that
all members will contribute towards building it into a centre of
excellence and learning.

(N.M. Borah)
 Association of Petroleum Geologists
3rd Floor, S&T Building, KDMIPE, ONGC,
9, Kaulagarh Road, Dehradum - 248195

D.K. Pande
Patron, APG, India & Director (Exploration)
Oil and Natural gas Corporation Ltd.

It is a matter of pride and privilege for me to announce the opening

of the Duliajan Chapter of Association of Petroleum Geologists
(APG), India. This chapter is seventh after Vadodara, Mumbai,
Jorhat, Chennai, Kolkata and Delhi. I firmly believe that the Duliajan
Chapter will add a new dimension to APG with the geoscientists of
OIL India Limited contributing towards the objectives and aims of
the Association in a big way for the advancement of the petroleum
geosciences.
I am optimistic that Duliajan Chapter will provide a platform to the
geoscientists of the region for frequent deliberations & dissemination
of knowledge and enable them to meet the challenges in the Industry
which has increasingly become capital intensive and technology
dependent. Frequent deliberations will pave way for generation of
new ideas in the field of not only conventional but also unconventional
energy resource.
The new chapter is making a beginning in a very befitting manner
by organizing a seminar on a very apt theme “Challenges in
Geoscience – Optimizing Mind and Machine”. With the
runaway demand of oil and gas in the country, the geoscientists have
a greater responsibility to mitigate the pressure on the economy of
the country- which is heavily dependent upon the imported crude.
The ever increasing demand-supply gap in oil & gas can only be
addressed by a new paradigm and an urge to think differently.
I wish the Duliajan Chapter of APG a grand success.

(D.K. Pande)
 Directorate General of Hydrocarbons
(Under Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas)
C-139, Sector-63, Noida - 201301

S.K. Srivastava
Director General

I am very happy to learn that the Association of Petroleum

Geologists (APG) has accorded approval for the opening of
Duliajan Chapter of APG in OIL, Duliajan. The oil township of
Duliajan has been the hub of activities related to oil exploration
and production in India for half a century and it is in the
fitness of things that an APG chapter in Duliajan has come
into existence. I am very glad that your effort in making this a
reality has borne fruit.
The APG has been in the forefront of disseminating and
sharing scientific and technical knowledge on development in
the field of oil and gas E&P. I am confident that by having
a chapter of this repute organization in Duliajan, a long-felt
need for such a forum will be fulfilled and that there will be
regular and effective interaction between geoscientists not only
within Duliajan but from other spheres as well. It will further
generate bonhomie and fellow-feeling amongst geoscientists
from various organizations.
I convey my heartiest congratulations to you and the other
office bearers of the APG chapter in Duliajan for arranging
an inaugural function-cum-seminar on this memorable and
auspicious occasion. It gives me great pleasure to wish the
function all success. I look forward to my association with
Duliajan chapter of APG in future.

(S.K. Srivastava)
 Association of Petroleum Geologists
3rd Floor, S&T Building, KDMIPE, ONGC,
9, Kaulagarh Road, Dehradum - 248195

PK Bhowmick
President

It is a matter of great pleasure that Association of Petroleum

Geologists, Duliajan Chapter is organizing a seminar on the
theme, “Challenges in Geoscience - Optimizing Mind
and Machine”. The theme rightly propagates the need of hour
to explore the challenges and re-visit the concept/ paradigms in
practice for early breakthrough, albeit with greater confidence
level.
I am sure the seminar will be a unique opportunity for mutual
interaction of all geoscientists in the business of hydrocarbon
exploration and exploitation. A lot of challenges are posed to
explorationists for exploration in the vast unexplored areas
of our country. These can be met by absorbing emerging
technologies and mutual cooperation. I am sure there will
be positive interaction on technologies, their application and
framing proactive strategies towards energy security.
I wish APG Duliajan Chapter all the success in their endeavours
and wish the exploration fraternity to develop and infuse the
new emerging paradigms for the fast changing hydrocarbon
industry.

(P.K. Bhowmick)
T.K. Ananth Kumar
Director (Finance)

It is indeed a very happy & memorable occasion that the

Association of Petroleum Geologists (APG) has opened its
Duliajan Chapter which is also affiliated to American Association
of Petroleum Geologists, AAPG.
The Association of Petroleum Geologists of India has always
brought together Petroleum Geologists on one platform to
discuss & deliberate educational and scientific programs
related to geosciences. Keeping in view the requirement of the
technology intensive industry like E&P, the platform provided
by APG has always focused on synergizing the knowledge
base of geologists across the continents.
The opening seminar-cum-function of the APG, Duliajan
Chapter is indeed a good platform to re-connect with fellow
geo-scientists and share their experiences, knowledge and add
value to the geoscientist community. I am sure the members
of the fraternity will put in their best to make the event a
memorable one.
On this occasion, I would like to convey my greetings to OIL’s
geo-scientist community in this endeavor and wish them
success.

(T.K. Ananth Kumar)

B.N. Talukdar
Director, E & D

I am glad to learn that the Association of Petroleum Geologists

(APG) has accorded approval to form its Duliajan Chapter and
the same is going to be chartered on 20th August 2010 and on
this occasion a seminar is also being organized.
The Association of Petroleum Geologists, an affiliate of the
American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
provides a unique platform to geoscientists and leading think-
tanks for churning and interbreeding of ideas from different
petroliferous provinces. The Association since its inception has
been promoting scientific deliberations through conference
and exhibition, field trips and discussion forum focused on
specific areas of hydrocarbon exploration.
OIL’s Geoscientists have been associated with APG at national
and AAPG at international level. This chapter at Duliajan will
act as a forum amongst OIL geoscientists & allied disciplines
to exchange their ideas, sharing of geoscientific work being
undertaken so that innovation takes a deep root.
I wish Duliajan Chapter of APG a great success and a great
future that would not only be recognized by the APG but also
by the AAPG. Let the seminar being held on 20th August, 2010
with the theme “Challenges in Geoscience – Optimizing
Mind and Machine” be a grand success.

(B.N. Talukdar)
N.K. Agarwal
Resident Chief Executive

It gives me profound joy in learning that Association of Petroleum

Geologists (APG) has fulfilled the long aspiration of OIL’s geologists
posted in Duliajan for formation of the Duliajan Chapter of APG,
which will be formally inaugurated on 20th August, 2010 at Field’s
Headquarters, Duliajan.
In a world order greatly influenced by the forces of globalization, it is
needless to emphasize the ardent need for assimilation of knowledge
and new skills, which has become the mantra for success in the new
knowledge economy. And in this context, knowledge bodies – that
is the way I would like to define association like APG – play a pivotal
role in enabling professionals to augment their knowledge domain
and create a synergy through the process of meaningful interaction,
knowledge sharing and networking.
I am therefore very happy to see that OIL’s geologists and the
geoscientist fraternity at large can make an excellent use of such
a potent platform like APG and strive to explore newer horizon of
mutually beneficial, intellectually stimulating interfaces, which in the
long run benefits the individual members and also the organization
they represent.
I take this opportunity, to wish Shri PN Baruah, the first Chairman of
the Duliajan Chapter of APG and all the members a very rewarding
experience in their newly formed chapter.

(N.K. Agarwal)
 Secretary’s Desk
(“This is one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind’- Neil
Armstrong)

Petroleum industry is facing major challenges and Petroleum Geologists and

Geoscientists as a whole all over the world are striving to fulfill world’s ever growing
energy demands. Big commercial discoveries are diminishing and production from
ageing fields is in the decline. The days of easy oil are gone. Challenges are increasing
in E&D of oil & gas fields. Exploration targets are becoming smaller, thinner, deeper,
more complex and more difficult. Exchange of ideas and sharing of knowledge
and experience are required to keep abreast of latest development in the field
of continuously developing E&P industry. A common platform for all petroleum
geologists, geoscientists to promote scientific research, technology development,
to share ideas, experience and knowledge amongst industry professionals and
academicians help in resolving some of the common geoscientific issues.

Formation of AAPG
Founded in 1917, the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) is currently the world's largest professional geological society.
Since its foundation, the AAPG has been a pillar of the world-wide scientific community. The original purpose of AAPG, to foster scientific
research, to advance the science of geology, to promote technology, and to inspire high professional conduct, still guides the Association
today. Currently the society has over 30,000 members in over 116 countries around the world. AAPG provides publications, conferences,
and educational opportunities to geoscientists and disseminates the most current geological information available to the general public.

Association of Petroleum Geologists (APG)

The idea of creating a common platform for all petroleum geologists of the country was mooted in 1998 during an informal discussion
with the Vice Chairman, AAPG International liaison committee. Shri Y.B. Sinha Director (E), ONGC, other eminent geologists and host of
younger colleagues took up the daunting task to bring all the petroleum geologists of the country together. The APG was formed with the
objectives of advancement of the science of Petroleum Geology and Promotion of technology in exploration for finding and producing
these materials in economically and environmentally sound manners. It is registered under the registration no.63 (section 21, 1860) on
19th May 2000 and affiliated with the AAPG, USA. The association has its regional chapters at Vadodara, Mumbai, Jorhat, Chennai, Delhi
and Kolkata besides the Student Chapters in IIT, Roorkee, Kurushetra, BHU, and Dehradun. The association had its First Conference &
Exhibition on “Strategic Challenges and Paradigm Shift in Hydrocarbon Exploration with Special Reference to Frontier Basins” on September
28-29th, 2002 at Mussoorie, India.

Aims and Objectives of APG

• Advancement of the science of geology especially as it relates to petroleum, natural gas, other subsurface fluids and mineral
resources.
• Identification & Promotion of technology in exploration for finding and producing these materials in an economically and environmentally
sound manner.
• Fostering the spirits of scientific research through its members.
• Disseminating information relating to the geology and associated technology of petroleum, natural gas, other subsurface fluids and
mineral resources.
• Inspiring and maintaining high standards of professional conduct on the part of its members.
• Providing the public with means to recognize adequately trained and professionally responsible geologists; and advancement of the
professional well being of members.

Activities of APG
• To bring together Petroleum Geologists on one platform to discuss projects related to the geosciences.
• To offer a platform to Petroleum Geologists for techno economic & scientific discussions
• To deliberate and plan ways and means to supports worth-while educational and scientific programs.
• To organize Seminars, Discussion Panels on exploitation and exploration of Hydrocarbon Exploitation in India & abroad.
• Fostering the spirits of scientific research through its members.
• To make a network of Petroleum Geologists all over the World and to build a strong community.
• To help the other countries of the World for advancement of the science of geology especially as it relates to petroleum, natural gas,
other subsurface fluids and mineral resources.

Duliajan Chapter of APG

The oil township of Duliajan (District-Dibrugarh, Assam-786602) has been the hub of all the major E&P activities for Oil India Limited (OIL)
for half a century. From time to time geoscientists from OIL had participated as delegates/speakers in various conferences and seminars
in-country and abroad.
The idea of opening Duliajan Chapters of SPG/SPE/APG was originated way back in late 2006 in the discussions/deliberations amongst the
geoscientists of TEAM E&D in BP office and it became part of the action plan formulated by the TEAM E&D. Since some of our geoscientists
became part of the SPE’s Nazira Chapter and Duliajan Chapter of SPG was opened last year it was now our turn to open Duliajan Chapter
of APG. The topic reappeared in some informal discussions amongst the geoscientists of G&R Department who felt that it is very much
necessary to have a common platform to exchange ideas and experiences with the geoscientists of other parts of the country and the
world. The idea was deliberated in our departmental Friday meetings and responsibility of contacting APG was entrusted on one of our
young and dynamic colleague who left no stone unturned to obtain the approval from APG to open a Duliajan Chapter. Of course, there
was full support and guidance from our GM (G&R) Shri P N. Baruah and other senior colleagues.
APG’s approval for opening the Duliajan Chapter has been obtained vide letter dated 12.04.2010. Now the question came up - How
the Formal/ Official opening of the chapter will be done? It was thoroughly deliberated in the departmental Friday meetings and it was
decided to organize a one day technical seminar at Duliajan in the month of August 2010 to commemorate the occasion with a technical
session of invited lectures by eminent professionals in the field of Geosciences/Hydrocarbon E&D. It was also decided to invite senior
office bearers of APG, Professors and students of Geosciences department of Universities, people in higher management of OIL, as well as
other industry professionals and experts. On this momentous occasion it was also decided to publish a souvenir. An organizing committee
was formed under the able chairmanship of our General Manager and an agenda was formulated.
The Plan was briefed to our CMD Shri N M Borah, in his visit to G&R department on 31st May 2010. He encouraged us with his kind
words and assured us that he is always there to help us in our endeavor to create the right forum to highlight latest developments and
share new ideas and experience. He wished the Duliajan Chapter of APG success and in building Duliajan to a ‘Centre of Learning’. We
have also briefed our Director–E&D, Shri B N Talukdar and his support and guidance was always there. He has taken the responsibility
of not only inviting Dr. D. K. Pande, Director-Exploration, ONGCL and Patron, APG, as Chief Guest, he also assured us that Dr. Pande will
definitely be there in Duliajan to grace the occasion. It was decided to invite Shri S K Srivastava, DG, DGH and other eminent and acclaimed
Geoscientists of yesteryears who had done pioneering and path breaking works in OIL. We have also included Professors and students of
Geosciences department of the universities in the invitees’ list to maintain cordial relationship with the academia.
The theme of the seminar has been kept “Challenges in Geo-science: Optimizing Mind and Machine” keeping in mind the challenges
geoscientists are facing worldwide to fulfill growing energy demand. New ideas and innovative thinking is needed to find Oil and to
implement the same, strong technology support is required. Our geoscientists need to be well-equipped both in terms of knowledge
(mind) and technology (machine). As there is ongoing technology advancement in knowledge front, exchange of ideas and experience is
required to keep our geoscientists abreast of latest development in the field of continuously developing E&P industry.
We are hopeful that APG Duliajan Chapter will be able to attract not only the geoscientists from the industry and the academia towards
it; it will also bring together other professionals associated with the industry. We are highly optimistic that this platform will provide
geoscientists working in this sphere an opportunity to develop a close relationship with industry professionals and academia experts,
through interaction and mutual sharing of experiences in order to gain collective knowledge/wisdom in the field of geoscience and
technological advancement in the E&P Industry, which will definitely help in resolving certain common geoscientific issues towards
achievement of our common goal i.e. finding hydrocarbon for the nation.
We would like to thank the office bearers of APG for granting approval to open a Duliajan Chapter. We are thankful to OIL Management
for granting permission to organize a one day technical seminar and inaugural session for opening of APG, Duliajan Chapter and providing
necessary support. We are grateful to everybody associated with the noble cause of opening “Duliajan Chapter of APG” and for making
this momentous occasion a grand success. We are hopeful that “Association of Petroleum Geologists, Duliajan Chapter” will go a long way
in serving the nation and the mankind as a whole.
Long Live APG, Long Live APG Duliajan Chapter.
N R Hazarika
Chief Geologist
Secretary, Association of Petroleum Geologists
Duliajan Chapter
Title Authors Page
OIL’s Quest for Hydrocarbon in Assam-Arakan Pankaj N. Baruah 14
Province

Reservoir Fairway Analysis of a Barail Interval of Trailukya Borgohain 16

Deohal Area in Upper Assam Basin using High Pankaj N. Baruah
Resolution Sequence Stratigraphy and Seismic Pankaj K. Kakoty
Attributes

Reservoir rock characteristics of the Barail Group G B Gilfellon 22

with special emphasis on the clay minerals in the P Saharia
Santi area of the Jorajan oil field.

Down the Memory Lane Reba Devi 34

Depositional environment and prospects Sasanka Sekhar Deb 35
identification in Palaeocene/Eocene formations Indrajit Barua
of Basement High and adjoining areas in Upper B.P. Sarma
Assam Basin for future exploration

Pre-Stack Amplitude Analysis to Minimize K.L. Mandal 39

Exploration Risk in Upper Assam Basin - A Case Rahul Dasgupta
Study

Who finds Oil? D.K.Deka 43

Heavy Oil–A Challenge to Produce the Pallav Borgohain 44
Unproducible

ABSOLUTE OPEN FLOW POTENTIAL VARIATION Yomdo S 46

with reservoir pressure and porosity – Kumar M
permeability in various sand groups by the use Dutta S
of back pressure equation

Oil Thief Sasanka Sekhar Deb 49

Geochemical Prospecting for Oil and Gas - A Case T. Satish Kumar 50
study from Northeast India G.B. Gilfellon
G.K. Sharma

Success of Secondary Cementation and its Effect Jayant Kumar Singh 54

on Production & Development of the Field in
Sapkaint Area, Upper Assam: A Case Study

UNDER BALANCED DRILLING-A Feasibility Study Dipjyoti Deka 56

On OIL’s Operational Areas

An Interaction with Mr. W. Norman Kent Trailukya Borgohain 58

Remembrance of Baghjan Discovery K. Buragohain 60
Nature Unleashes Her Fury - Some of the Worst Saqueba Samin 61
Natural Disasters of the Millennium
OIL’s Quest for Hydrocarbon in
Assam-Arakan Province
Pankaj N. Baruah
Preamble
The Assam-Arakan basin is a polycyclic Tertiary basin located in the
northeastern part of India which covers an area of about 116,000
sq km. The basin is the oldest recognized major onshore category-I
petroliferous basin and can broadly be divided into two parts –
the Assam Shelf & the Fold & Thrust belt. The sedimentary cover
ranges from about 3.5 km in the shelf part to more than 10 km in
the basinal part.
Tectonically, the Basin is situated in the far northeast of India,
within the bend of the Assam Syntaxis (?) which is a major orogenic
feature in the Eastern Himalayan Belt. The basin has evolved from
passive margin setting during Paleocene/ Eocene to an active
margin setting during Miocene to Recent. It has thrusted margins
on three sides; to the south the Naga Hills thrust belt; to the east
and north the Main Frontal Thrust of the Himalayas, which was
active from Mid Miocene to present-day. The geological map of
the region is given in Figure-1.
The major share of hydrocarbon production in the Northeast
comes from the Assam Shelf Basin. Over 65% of the total oil and
gas produced from the Basin is from the oil and gas fields under Oil
India Limited’s (OIL) areas of operation. The Basin today comprises
ageing major oil fields discovered in 1950s to 1970s as well as
developing fields and recently discovered oil and gas fields.
Figure-1: Geological map of Assam Arakan Basin
Milestones
In 1889 the successful completion of Digboi well No. 1, as an oil
producer put our country on the world oil map. For over half a
century since then, simultaneously with the development of the
Digboi oilfield, exploration was intensified in other parts of the
Northeast. Major success was achieved in 1953 when the first
well drilled on the Nahorkatiya structure encountered several
hydrocarbon bearing sandstone reservoirs and on testing, presence
of commercial oil was established. A series of commercially
successful producers and discoveries followed in quick succession.
Another major discovery was the Moran oil field in 1956.
Following active development of Nahorkatiya and Moran oil fields,
the seventies was a period of extensive geophysical surveys in
Assam and Arunachal Pradesh with accelerated development
14
activities. It was during
this period that the
Jorajan (1971), Kharsang
(1976) and Kumchai
(1979) oil fields were
discovered by Oil India
Limited. The eighties
were marked, among
others, by significant
oil finds in the Shalmari
(1986) and Hapjan (1987)
areas. However, all these prospects were confined to relatively
shallow clastic reservoirs (Post-Eocene to Miocene) only with the
exception of the Early Eocene Tengakhat (1973) discovery.
A breakthrough came in the year 1990 when for the first time
commercial oil was discovered in the Early Eocene clastic
reservoirs of Dikom structure located over the Central Basement
High. Prior to this discovery, the thin Lower Eocene sands were not
paid due attention. Since then, through systematic and integrated
approach, a number of oil/gas field was discovered in the Dikom
– Tengakhat - Kathaloni (1990) & Chabua (1996) structures. All
these fields are located on the Central Basement High which runs
in ENE – WSW direction from Jorhat in the west to Pasighat in the
East encompassing parts of Brahmaputra River towards east of
Dibrugarh (Figure-2).
Figure-2: Map showing Central Basement High
The commercial discovery over the Central Basement High within
late Paleocene-Early Eocene thin sand was possible specially due to
paradigm shift in thinking, integrated approach of exploration i.e.
geochemistry, new geological model, high resolution seismic and
emphasis on directly observable hydrocarbon during drilling. The
combined contribution of oil from this new type of play today is as
high as 60% of OIL’s present total production. Prior to 1990, most
of the production was coming from shallow, thick clastic reservoirs
confined to Late Eocene - Oligocene and Miocene formations.
OIL has established an in-place reserve of around 1200 MMSCM
(2P) of O + OEG in its oil and gas fields, of which around 22% has
been recovered so far.
Within OIL’s operational areas, the earlier plays of Late Eocene to
Miocene were thick and continuous in nature and were deposited
in deltaic to fluvial environments. By 1990s the major old fields of
Nahorkatiya, Moran and Jorajan were in advanced stage of depletion
and challenges were to arrest the rate of decline and to maximize
recovery from these ageing fields producing for 30 to 40 years.
The Early Eocene sands are deep, very thin and discontinuous
(Figure-3). Mapping of individual sands, petrophysical analysis of
thin beds and modeling of these reservoirs are a big challenge
for geoscientific community as these occur at a relatively deeper
depth of 3500 to 4000 m and are difficult to resolve seismically.
Figure-3: Hydrocarbon and sand distribution in Early Eocene Formation
Presently most of the easily accessible Basinal areas (about 60 %)
within OIL’s operational areas are covered by close grid 2D seismic
barring the Brahmaputra river bed and adjoining riverine areas,
logistically difficult areas near the foot hills of Naga Thrust belt,
Eastern Himalayas etc. OIL has so far acquired over 25000 LKM
of 2D seismic and about 6500 sq.km of 3D seismic in Assam and
Arunachal Pradesh. identified around 290 prospects and probed
about 50% of these with a success rate of around 67% which
includes most of the large, medium and small fields. Figure-4
shows some of the structures identified and drilled within OIL’s
operational area.
Figure-4: Drilled and Identified Structures in OIL’s Operational Areas
As the traditional areas in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh got
matured in terms of exploration and development and the
remaining poorly explored areas are located in logistically difficult
and geologically complex areas, continued exploration and
development is a major challenge in the Northeast (Figure-5). To
overcome these challenges a multi-pronged approach and broad
exploration and development strategy has been adopted by OIL.
Way Forward
The frontier regions of the Northeast like the frontal foothill areas
of Arunachal Himalayas including the Pasighat area, Manabum fold
belt and Naga Thrust-Fold belt remains poorly explored. Aggressive
exploration efforts of frontier areas has already being taken up for
extensive seismic surveys through in-house and contract services.
The areas are beset with difficult surface logistics like boulder
beds, uneven topography, riverine terrain, swampy area etc.
Studies conducted show that frontal sub-thrust plays have a
greater potential in terms of new play in the logistically difficult
and geologically complex area. However, the imaging of sub thrust
formations in Naga thrust-fold belt is a major challenge as highly
Figure 5: Frontier and Traditional areas under OIL’s Operational Areas
dipping younger formations are overlain by older formations. For
proper delineation of prospects, residual statics and depth domain
seismic data processing have been attempted. Furthermore, in
order to enhance the imaging of the seismic data for the thrust
belt study construction of velocity-depth model is being conducted
using travel time inversion techniques. The velocity-depth modeling
with its main use in pre-stack imaging processes is expected to
provide solution to imaging issues which are associated with thrust
belt exploration.
The Brahmaputra river is a surface geomorphologic feature
dividing the Upper Assam Basin into two parts. Exploration in the
Brahmaputra River bed and its adjoining areas is quite challenging
due to its logistics and sensitive environmental issues. Geologically,
the Central Basement High extends partly below the Brahmaputra
river. Since this feature is areally large, OIL is planning to cover this
area soon without disturbing sensitive Eco-system.
The depleting major oil fields discovered in 1950s, 60s and 70s,
have been systematically covered with 3D seismic since 1997.
Identification of additional subtle and new deeper Early Eocene
prospects below these major ageing fields of Nahorkatiya, Moran,
Jorajan, Shalmari etc. been attempted. However, the delineation
of individual thin sands (2-5m) at relatively deeper depth of 3500-
4500m is a major challenge. OIL, is approaching the problem
by integrating depositional models, well to seismic correlation,
mapping of surface and volume based seismic anomalies along
with geostatistical modeling for identifying deeper prospects.
As part of the initiatives to add to the existing reserves and enhance
production by better management of existing reservoirs, OIL is
actively implementing suitable EOR/IOR processes. Production
enhancement measures include optimizing artificial lift, increasing
well stimulation, reactivating idle wells, changing completion
strategy, de-bottlenecking facilities, upgrading facilities etc. Infill,
step-out drilling, recompletion, deepening of wells, workover and
second generation wells are being used for increasing recovery
from ageing fields. The improvement in oil recovery factor over
primary depletion recovery for most of the reservoirs has been in
the order of 10 –20%.
In today’s scenario of world energy backed by cutting-edge
technology, OIL is actively planning to spread its wings to explore
the non-conventional hydrocarbon resources viz., heavy oil, CBM,
shale gas, basin centric gas, oil shale, oil sand etc. With already
initiated strategic move, OIL is aspiring to be the fore-runner in
exploration of these resources and augment its total hydrocarbon
kitty substantially.
As explorationists, we derive strategy from the challenges, problems
inspire us to look things differently and we strengthen ourselves
through our constant pursuit for solutions.
15
PUBLISHED IN AAPG ANNUAL CONVENTION AND EXHIBITION 2010, NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA, USA

Reservoir Fairway Analysis of a Barail Interval of Deohal

Area in Upper Assam Basin using High Resolution
Sequence Stratigraphy and Seismic Attributes
Trailukya Borgohain, Pankaj N. Baruah, Pankaj K. Kakoty

Abstract Orogenic Belt. The basin has thrusted margins on three sides; to
the south the Naga Thrust Belt, to the east Mishmi Thrust and to
The heterogeneity of Oligocene Barail 3 reservoir in Deohal area the north Main Boundary Thrust of the Himalayas showing a bend
of Upper Assam is a challenge for delineation and optimum around the Assam Syntexis. The basin has evolved from passive
development for oil and gas. The effective porosity varies between margin setting during Paleocene/Eocene to an active margin setting
6% and 23%, and, net to gross fraction varies from 0.15 to 0.97 during Miocene to Recent. The stratigraphic succession along with
in the reservoir. One well on the northern part of the area was mappable seismic markers is presented in Figure-2.
abandoned because of the absence of this reservoir. An integrated
analytical approach is undertaken for understanding of the
reservoir heterogeneity and sand body architecture using high
resolution stratigraphy based on 3D seismic and well data.
The gross thickness of Barail 1/3 (Upper Barail) is about 160-180m
in Deohal area. Barail 3 is the bottommost and thickest reservoir
of the sequence. The log motifs for the Barail 1/3 interval indicate
a fining and thinning upward trend on both larger and smaller
scale. High resolution stratigraphic correlation across wells has
helped in understanding the sand body stacking pattern and
juxtaposition. Integrated seismic amplitude which is physically
related to logarithm of acoustic impedance contrasts have been
extracted from the zone of interest in the Deohal area. Analysis
of integrated seismic attribute revealed prominent channel Figure-1: Location Map of Study Area
belts. Cross-plots of integrated seismic amplitude vs. reservoir
properties from drilled wells indicate fairly positive correlation
(R2=0.5739 to 0.7478). Spectral decomposition analysis of 3D
seismic data has further enhanced the channel belt geometry in
18, 24 and 30 Hz frequency cubes. The absence of Barail 3 in the
abandoned well may be correlated to its location beyond limit of
the observed channel belt. Two major channel belts have been
identified around the area. The observed braided pattern in the
channel belts is possibly the result of composite seismic response
of multi-storeyed channels. In regional context it appears that the
channel belts may be part of a distributary channel system. The
widths of the channels were estimated from the seismic attribute
maps. The width/thickness (W/T) ratios of the individual channel
bodies in the Deohal area range between 8 and 32. For composite
channel belt W/T ratio ranges between 68 and 84. These channels
may be classified as broad ribbons and narrow sheets.
Guided reservoir property maps and depositional model generated Figure-2: Stratigraphy of Upper Assam Basin
based on the integrated analysis is expected to optimise placement
of delineation and development wells in the area. The greater Deohal area covers the established Oligocene (Barail)
as well as the Palaeocene/Lower Eocene oil and gas bearing Deohal,
Keywords: reservoir heterogeneity, sequence stratigraphy, seismic Lohali and East Deohal structures. A total of nine wells have so
attribute, channel belt. far been drilled within the area based on structural interpretation
of 2D seismic data. Within the Oligocene, the Lohali, Deohal and
Introduction East Deohal may be regarded as a composite faulted anticlinal
structure compartmentalised by two north south trending faults
The Deohal Area is located in the east central part of Upper Assam and bounded by a common major east west trending fault to
Foreland Basin and is about 40 km. east of Dibrugarh (Figure-1). the south (Figure-3). Barail 3 (encountered at a depth range of
The Upper Assam Foreland Basin is situated in the eastern part of approximately 2400-2550 m) is the main target reservoir within
NE India within the curve of the Assam Syntaxis of the Himalayan

16

Figure-3: Top Barail 3 (34mfs) Depth Contour Map
Barail Group in the area. Out of the drilled wells, DH7 on the
northern part of the area was abandoned because of the absence
of this reservoir prior to which the reservoir was thought to be
present extensively. In order to augment further exploration /
extension and development in the area, the lateral extent or
heterogeneous nature of the reservoir needs to be understood.
This study focuses on a) architecture of the Barail 1 – 3 interval, b)
establishing a correlation for this interval which may be extended
to the neighbouring areas, and c) application of seismic guidance
in reservoir mapping/prediction for Barail 3 with the help of
integration of newly acquired 3D seismic and well data.
In Deohal area Barail 3 reservoir exhibit effective porosity which
varies from 6% to 23% in the drilled wells. The net-to-gross ratios
vary from 0.12 to more than 0.97. The integrated seismic amplitude
maps generated for the interval indicate presence of a nearly east-
west running channel belt from East Deohal in the east to Lohali
in the west. The same trend is also observed in attribute maps
generated by spectral decomposition and increased resolution
offered by its algorithms allowed for better characterization. The
W/T ratios of the individual and composite channel bodies as
identified from attribute maps in the study area ranges between
8 and 84 and may be classified as broad ribbons and narrow
sheets (refer Gibling (2006)). Seismic guided reservoir property
maps were generated since the attribute vs. reservoir properties
derived from well showed fair correlation for Barail 3 interval.
The reservoir distribution model from the integrated approach is
expected to provide increased confidence in future delineation
and development drilling well placement.
Depositional Regime
The sediments of Upper Assam are primarily of Tertiary age and
rests on a Precambrian Basement (Figure-2). The deposition
started with transgression during Paleocene (Langpar Formation)
in a marshy lagoonal, essentially marginal to restricted marine
setting which became more marine to east and north east. This
was followed by an unconformity (of upto 10 ma) and probably
represents the first collisional effects of the Himalayas in north
western India. During the Early Mid-Eocene the transgression
continued and marginal to fully marine conditions prevailed over
the basin. Mixed clastics (Lakadong and Narpuh), carbonates
(Prang Limestone) and open marine (Kopili) shales deposited
during this time. The basin reached a point of maximum flooding
during Lower Kopili deposition (Mid Eocene) and thereafter, the
system started to shoal. The deltaic system of the Upper Kopili and
Barail becomes predominant in the Middle to Late Eocene with
southward/south-eastward progradation.
The main phase of clastic deposition took place in the Late Eocene
to Early Oligocene (Lower Barail) when swampy delta plain
conditions prevailed with local marine incursions. The presence of
tidal bedding in Barail outcrops exposed over wide areas suggest
that the Barail delta was a tide dominated one like the modern
Ganges delta (Ranga Rao, 1983). The progradation during this time
was probably result of a major relative sea level fall. The Upper Barail
sedimentation, also a continuation of the deltaic system, exhibits a
drying upward trend. The Upper Barail was punctuated by marine
incursions and characterised by extensive coals in Upper Assam plain
and the thrust belt areas. Few sand ranges were deposited in the
interval in floodplain/delta plain setting as a number of distributary
channels incised the delta plain. These are isolated/local sand
bodies to sheet sands deposited in a mobile channel system and are
correlatable on a local to sub-regional level.
Increased sediment input and relative sea level fall created more
arid settings and end of marine influence in Late Oligocene and
Early Miocene. The basin experienced extensive development of
fluvial channel system during this period through deposition of
Tipam sandstones. During the Late Miocene fluvial arenaceous
sedimentation was initiated. The humid monsoon climatic systems
were predominant during Late Miocene with the deposition of
Girujan Clay Formation. The collision and anticlockwise rotation of
the Eastern Himalayas as well as the Naga-Patkai range in south
Assam diverted the north south flowing Brahmaputra river system
east of Shillong massif to flow in an east-west direction north of
Shillong massif. Thick arenaceous fluvial sedimentation succeeded
since Late Miocene through Pliocene to present day.
Methodology
The study is based on seismic 3D data of 100 sq. km. and data of
9 (nine) drilled wells. The basic stratigraphic framework has been
obtained from previous studies carried out by OIL.
The Barail 1/3 interval has been divided into finer zones and
sand/sand groups based mainly on high resolution well to well
correlation. The zones/sand/sand groups were named after
commonly used terms viz. Barail-1, Barail-2 (subdivided into
Barail-2 and Barail-2A), Barail-3. Two stratigraphic cross sections
were prepared based on detailed well to well correlation. Two coal/
carbonaceous horizons (CCBB3 and CCAB4) one below Barail 3 and
another above Barail 4 were observed to be locally correlatable
and were used for correlation purpose and understanding of the
sand body architecture.
Channel deposits proportion (NTG) calculated for each well in the
Barail 1-3 interval for individual correlatable zones represent the net
reservoir thickness of the zone interval divided by gross thickness of
the zone interval. Additionally, average effective porosities and net
reservoir thickness were integrated. The seismic surface near Top
Barail 3 was interpreted after detailed well to seismic correlation.
This represents the maximum flooding just above the Barail 3
reservoir in the area. Both surface based and volume based seismic
attribute analysis was carried out with respect to this surface with
various volume windows and the best output was observed from
20 ms widow. Out of the attributes the integrated seismic attribute,
which is also an expression of acoustic impedance, were found to
be useful giving fairly meaningful observations. Three dimensional
visualization facilitated analysis of variations observed in horizon
slices. Spectral decomposition provides means of utilizing
seismic data and algorithms for imaging and mapping temporal
bed thickness and geologic discontinuities over large 3D seismic
17
surveys. In the present study, Spectral decomposition of the 3D
seismic data was carried out using TFCWT method and volumes
for different frequencies from 10 Hz to 60 Hz were analysed. Time
Frequency Continuous Wavelet Transform (TFCWT), which uses a
moving window approach but without averaging the neighbouring
frequencies, provides high-frequency resolution at low frequencies
and high temporal resolution at high frequencies. Once the
channel geometries became evident in attribute maps width and
thicknesses of the channels were estimated. The understanding
from the seismic attributes, reservoir properties and correlation
and possible width and thicknesses were integrated to arrive at
channel characterization. Reservoir distribution for the area during
Barail 3 deposition was finally interpreted based on integrated
analysis.
Barail 1-3 (Upper Barail) Sequence, Facies Assemblage and
Architecture
The Upper Barail (Barail 1-3) sequences in the Deohal area have
a gross thickness of 160-180 m in the drilled wells. On large scale
the overall log motif for the Barail 1/3 interval indicate a fining
upward trend which is also observed in individual sand units
(Figure-4). The Barail 1-3 is interpreted as upper delta plain
environment where fluvial system acted as the main conduits for
Figure-4: Facies and Zonation in a well in Deohal
sediment transportation. Two main assemblages are identified
– channel sandstone bodies (Facies 1) and surrounding delta/
floodplain deposits including levee mud, coal and carbonaceous
shales and crevasse splay deposits (Facies 2). In the whole Barail
1-3 interval the floodplain proportion varies between 60 to 75%.
Channel sandbodies (Facies 1) show a large variability of measured
vertical thicknesses ranging between 3 m to 31 m in sequence.
The thickest interval of Barail 3 sandstones are 11 to 32 m and
exhibit both lateral as well as vertical stacking and is interpreted as
multi-storey sand body. Fluvial floodplain deposits (Facies 2) occur
as bank deposits flanking fluvial streams as well as mud plugs in
abandoned channels. Barail-2 & Barail-1 deposition is characterised
by dominance of floodplain muddy system occasionally frequented
by highly sinuous meandering channels where floodplain deposits
are laterally extensive and the sands occur as isolated bodies
within mudstone.
The average reservoir properties of Barail 1, Barail 2, Barail 2A
and Barail 3 are based on a new zonation scheme. The average
net reservoir thickness in Barail 1 ranges between 1.5 m to 3.0 m,
with relatively thicker sections of 10 to 11 m encountered in LH5
18
and DH3 wells. Net to gross fractions ranges between 0.09 to 0.73.
Effective porosity ranges between 11% and 20% in this interval.
The Barail 2 net reservoir thicknesses, net to gross and effective
porosities are in the ranges 0 to 15m, 0 to 0.87 and 17% to 20%
respectively. The net reservoir thickness, net to gross fraction and
effective porosity in Barail 2A ranges are 0.6 – 17.5 m, 0.05 – 0.97
and 10-25% respectively. The Barail 3 sands are relatively thick and
net reservoir thickness ranges from 11m to 31m. The observed net
to gross fraction ranges from 0.15 to 0.97 and effective porosity is
6% to 23%.
In general the thick sandstone bodies of Barail 3 and Barail 4 are
fairly correlatable. The Barail 4 sand in the area is overlain by a coal
and carbonaceous layer and could be correlated in all the wells in
the area (Figure-5). This layer has been used as a marker horizon
for stratigraphic correlation in the area. Another correlatable coal
carbonaceous shale horizon was also identified in few of the wells
below Barail 3. This horizon was also probably deposited regionally
which was subsequently scoured/incised by Barail 3 channel at
places (e.g., around DH1, DH6 and DH2).
Deposition of Barail-3 in the area started with an incision/scouring
of the earlier deposited flood plain in which a persistent coal
bed deposited. This is evident from the correlation panel of the
wells DH2, DH6 and DH1 (Barail-3 scoured out the correlatable
coal horizon). The initial meandering channel started stacking
sandstones both vertically and laterally. Thus an increased amount
of sediment supply gave rise to laterally persistent sheet sands
deposited by lateral accretion and avulsion.
The basinal slope and the bank stability provided by the floodplain
deposits is expected to guide the channel pattern of the area
during Upper Barail deposition. The complete absence of the
reservoir facies in the northernmost well of DH7 within the Barail-
1/3 section was indicative of a restriction to deposition (interfluve)
of the fluvial channel bodies. The NW-SE stratigraphic cross section
given in Figures 5 is indicative of lateral heterogeneity which is
resulted from depositional controls on the system. The seismic
Figure-5: NW-SE Stratigraphic Correlation through Wells DH7, DH8, DH6,
DH2 and DH4. DH7 (Across the Channel Belt). Note coal/carbonaceous
layer scoured by Barail 3.
attribute maps, spectral decomposition as well as 3D attribute
visualization indicate that Deohal area is characterised by a east-
west trending channel belt during Barail-3 depositions, whereas
shallower Barail-2 & 1 indicate a roughly northsouth fluvial flow
trend. The overall slope is interpreted to be east to west from
Makum areas towards Deohal areas. This is corroborated by the
observation that the Barail 3 is thinning towards the north east in
Makum areas and lack of development of intervening shale and
coal carbonaceous layers between Barail 3 and Barail 4 in Makum
areas.
Seismic Attributes and Spectral Decomposition Within the Barail 2, well defined NW-SE to NS trending meandering
channel pattern with abandoned channels and point bar build-ups
Studies were prominent in seismic amplitude map (Figure-9). The horizon
Three dimensional seismic data occasionally can reveal the slice for Barail 2 is given in Figures-10.
geometry of fluvial channel sandstone bodies in great detail
(Brown,1996) and larger features such as valley system, commonly
can be reconstructed in sufficient detail to map separate reservoirs
(Wood & Hopkins,1992) (Ryseth et al,1998), however with good
acoustic contrast between fluvial sandstone and associated fine
grained sediments(Miall,1996). A representative seismic section
in of the area in NW-SE direction is given in Figures 6(a). The
reflection strength of the same profile is given in Figures 6(b). The
Figure-9: Barail 2-Integrated Seismic Amplitude
observable variation in reflectivity in seismic is also reflected by
change in facies in seismo-geological section (Figure 6(c)). Low
continuity and variable amplitude facies are characteristics of
fluvial, delta plain and coastal plain successions, which comprise
sands of variable size, shape and orientation, scattered in shales.
(Emery and Myers, 1996). The observed discontinuity in strong
reflection and absence of Barail 3 reservoir around well DH7 as
shown in the Figure-6 implies a positive correlation between Figure-10: Barail 2-Horizon Slice in Amplitude Display
seismic attribute and facies.
Spectral decomposition technique was also applied to the 3D
dataset for further confirmation and fine tuning of the observations
made in full spectrum attribute analysis. Spectral decomposition
have shown to enhance interpretation of stratigraphic features
in Tertiary, poorly lithified rocks (Peyton, 1998). In the present
study, Spectral decomposition of the 3D seismic data was carried
out using TFCWT method and volumes for different frequencies
from 10 Hz to 60 Hz were analysed. The dominant frequency of
Figure-6: NW-SE Cross Section (AA’ ) – (a) VI Display, (b) Reflection Strength the data is found to be around 18 Hz where the Barail 3 shows
and (c) Lithological Cross-section. Note discontinuity in reflection within clearly describable bed juxtaposition. At the Barail 3 depth range
Barail 3 in Seismic Section and absence of Barail 3 in Well DH7. the seismic resolution is estimated at 20m. Horizon slices for
Previous studies carried out in nearby areas had shown that various frequencies (18 Hz, 24 Hz, 30 Hz and 50 Hz) are presented
there is sufficient acoustic impedance contrasts within the Barail in Figures 11(a), 11(b), 11(c) and 11(d). It may be observed that
reservoirs. As integrated seismic amplitude attribute is physically the channel features are clearly observed in low frequency slices
related to logarithm of acoustic impedance contrasts (log AIC) of 18, 24 and 30 Hz. The horizon slice of 50 Hz the features are
initial attempt was made to do an integrated seismic attribute less prominent, however, some additional features in areas not
analysis on different volume windows. The volume window of resolved/ observed in lower frequencies have been picked up here
20 ms (integrated seismic amplitude) gave fairly recognizable towards north-east of Deohal (Figure-11(d)).
contrasting features for Barail-3 interval (Figure-7). Investigations
with 3D visualization gave flexibility to investigate horizon slices
near zone of interest. The features observed in the volume attribute
extraction were again reinforced by the results of 3D visualization.
Figure 8 is a horizon slice for Barail 3.

Figure-11: Barail 3 Horizon Slice in a) 18 Hz, b) 24 Hz, c) 30 Hz and d) 50

Hz Frequencies
Figure-7: Barail 3-Integrated Seismic Amplitude. Note location of the dry
well outside the infered channel belt
The attribute map of Barail 2 in spectral decomposition also
conforms to observations in full spectrum amplitudes. No
meaningful observations could be derived for Barail 1 from the
seismic attributes which may be due to the resolution of seismic
data, thickness and isolated nature of Barail 1 sands.

Figure-8: Barail 3-Horizon Slice in VA Display

19
Guided Reservoir Properties, Channel Parameters deposit proportions (NTG), effective porosity and net reservoir
thickness respectively showed fair positive correlation (R2=0.6133
and Reservoir Distribution for integrated seismic amplitude vs. NTG, R2=0.7478 for integrated
seismic amplitude vs effective porosity and R2=0.5739 for integrated
seismic amplitude vs net reservoir thickness) (Figure-12). The
relationships observed between integrated seismic amplitude and
reservoir properties were utilized for generation of seismic guided
reservoir properties maps for Barail 3 interval (Figure-13).
After identification of the major features in Deohal area, width
to thickness ratios for prominent channels were estimated. The
possible width was obtained from the seismic attribute maps after
tracing probable channels and thicknesses were taken from the
existing well data. The width and thicknesses of various locations
are plotted in Figure-14 and given in table below:

Figure-14: W/T Ratios of individual and composite channels in Deohal

Area and meandering, delta distributary and braided river data envelopes
proposed by Gibling (2006)

Table – 1: Barail 3 Channel Parameters

Figure-12: Integrated Seismic Amplitude vs a) Net to gross (NTG)(CDP), b) Effec-
tive Porosity and c) Net Reservoir Thickness from well data.
Width
Thickness
Channel (Channel W/T
(m)
Belt) (m)
Barail 3 (composite channel Deohal) 1500 - 2600 20-31 68-84
Barail 3 (individual channel W-LH5) 300 23 13
Barail 3 (individual channel W-DH1) 1000 31 32
Barail 3 (individual channel W-DH4) 300 11 27
Barail 3 (individual channel W-DH5) 200 24 8
The W/T ratios of the individual and composite channel bodies as
identified from attribute maps in the study area ranges between 8
and 84 and may be classified as broad ribbons and narrow sheets
(as per the classification of Gibling (2006)). The width-thickness
cross-plot indicates that the individual as well as the composite
channels lie at the transition of meandering, delta distributary and
braided river data envelopes of Gibling.
Based on integration of seismic attributes and well reservoir
properties the reservoir distribution has been interpreted (Figure
15). Two major channel belts one running NE-SW direction from
East Matimekhana to West Lohali and the other running almost east
to west from Makum to Deohal – Lohali is interpreted. Although
Figure-13: Seismic guided Reservoir Property Maps - a)Net to gross (NTG), b) the channel running east to west through Deohal area could be
Effective Porosity and c) Net Reservoir Thickness. Note higher values along the
identified with confidence from integrated seismic amplitude, the
inferred channel belt. Square boxes are future wells.
channels identified in western part in West Lohali was interpreted
The cross-plots of integrated seismic amplitude vs. channel based on integration of patterns in horizon slices from spectral

20
decomposition. The observed channels are interpreted as part of a
bigger basin scale delta distributary system.
Figure15: Reservoir Distribution in Lohali, Deohal, West Makum Areas.
Conclusion
The Oligocene Barail 1/3 (Upper Barail) section is about 160-
180m in Deohal area of Upper Assam. The log motifs for the Barail
1/3 interval indicate a fining and thinning upward trend on both
larger and smaller scale. The target reservoir of Barail 3 reservoir
in Deohal area is the thickest sandy interval, however, exhibits
heterogeneity and needs to be understood for delineation and
optimum field development and extension. The effective porosity
varies between 6% and 23%, and, net to gross fraction varies from
0.15 to 0.97 in the reservoir. The well DH7 on the northern part of
the area was abandoned because of the absence of this reservoir
prior to which the reservoir was thought to be present extensively.
An integrated analytical approach is undertaken for understanding
of the sand body architecture using high resolution stratigraphy
based on 3D seismic and well data.
A detailed study of various units of the Barail 1 / 3 intervals
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21
Reservoir rock characteristics of the Barail Group with
special emphasis on the clay minerals in the Santi area of
the Jorajan oil field.
G B Gilfellon & P Saharia

Abstract field lies in the Upper Assam valley in a northeast-southwest trend.

It is about 60 kilometers southeast of the Himalayan foothills,
The shape, size and sorting of minerals has a direct bearing on about 100 kilometers southwest of the Misimi Hills, and a few
the porosity and permeability of reservoir sandstones. The type kilometers northwest of the Naga Hills thrust zone. The area is
of pores within the reservoir sandstones and their causes of located, geologically, in the early Tertiary shelf and shelf edge of
formation are of significant importance and are directly related to the Assam-Arakan Basin. The location map of study area which
the production behavior of hydrocarbons. In this work, an effort
falls under OIL operational area is given below in Figure.1
has been made to study the reservoir rocks of the Barail Group
in the Santi area of the Jorajan oilfield within the operational
boundary of Oil India Limited in Upper Assam. Primary emphasis
was given to the clay mineral types as they could cause significant
formation damage if not handled properly.
Conventional and sidewall core samples from different reservoir
sandstones were collected and studied with the help of the
Scanning Electron Microscope with emphasis on reservoir content
and quality. Primary pores observed within the Barail reservoir
sandstones of the study area are mainly angular to subangular
in nature. Secondary pores are found to have multiple origins.
However, two important phenomena, viz. dissolution and
microfracturing, are the root causes for the development of these
secondary pores. The important clays in the area are kaolinite,
illite, chlorite, smectite and mixed-layer clays. Kaolinite is highly
dispersive in nature. It occurs in clusters of books, verms and in
blocky form. Clusters of kaolinite tend to clog pore spaces. Illite
occurs in mainly massive, flaky form and is also highly dispersive Fig. 1 Location map showing study area under OIL operational areas in
in nature. Fibrous illite is only occasionally observed in the Upper Assam.
area. Illite tends to coat mineral surfaces and has pore-bridging
morphologies. Chlorite occurs in clusters of rosettes consisting of
a number of platelets and clogs pore spaces. Smectite tends to Barail Lithounits
swell quite significantly when it comes in contact with fresh water. The Barail Group under OIL’s operational areas is locally divided
Prior knowledge of these clay minerals could aid significantly into an upper ‘Argillaceous Unit’ and a lower ‘Arenaceous Unit’.
in designing Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR), workover and well
The Barail 1st, 2nd and 3rd sands lie within the Argillaceous Unit along
stimulation programmes.
with what are locally called ‘Extra Sands’. The unit consists of fine
to medium-textured sandstones, dark mudstones, carbonaceous
Rationale shales and coal seams. The unit also contains rich oil and gas
source rocks. The sandstones of the Barail Argillaceous unit were
The Jaintia and Disang Groups are conformably overlain by about
a 1200m thick succession of alternating hard sandstones and deposited mainly as channel bars and channel fills. (Patil et al.,
shales. This succession has been named as the Barail Group after 1993). The lower part of the Barail Group is locally designated as
the Barail Range striking along the south-eastern margin of the the Barail Arenaceous unit in which lies the Barail fourth + fifth
Shillong plateau. In this work an effort has been made to study sand with rich oil and gas deposits. The Barail Arenaceous Unit was
the reservoir rock content and quality of the Barail Group in the deposited as blanket sands in a delta front environment (Patil et
Santi area of the Jorajan oilfield within the operational boundary al., 1993).
of Oil India Limited in Upper Assam. The Santi area was specifically
chosen because it contains all the hydrocarbon-bearing sands of Methodology
the Barail Group. These include the First, Second, Third and the
Extra sands within the Argillaceous Unit of the Barail Group, and The study is based mainly on scanning electron microscopy (SEM)
the Fourth+Fifth Sand at the top of the Arenaceous Unit. of conventional core samples and sidewall core samples recovered
from various depths in different wells of the Santi area. SEM studies
were carried out with the help of the state-of-the-art S-3600N
Location SEM, ex Hitachi. The SEM was used because it distinctly reveals
The study area is located in the state of Assam, India. Oilfield 3D images of the clay and other minerals including cementing
operations are being conducted by Oil India Limited (“OIL”). The materials, nature of primary and secondary pores, microfractures,

22

Fig.2 Field photograph of an opencast coal mine in Eastern Assam show-
ing the Tikak Parbat Formation of the Barail Group with persistent coal
seams.
etc. as they occur within the reservoir rocks. However, primary
emphasis was given to the clay mineral types as they could cause
significant formation damage. These include authigenic and detrital
dispersive clays such as kaolinite, illite, chlorite and a mixture of
these, and swelling clays such as smectite.
Porosity and Mineralogy of Barail Reservoir
Sandstones
The shape, size and sorting of minerals has a direct bearing on the
porosity and permeability of reservoir sandstone. An attempt has
been made here to show the types of pores within the reservoir
sandstones and their causes of formation. Besides the common
minerals within the sandstones, the types of cementing materials
including the clay minerals have been dealt with in the study.
Primary pores observed within the Barail reservoir sandstones are
mainly angular to subangular in nature (Fig.3).
Fig.3 SEM micrograph of a sandstone sample recovered from a Well of the
study area showing an open pore.
Secondary pores are found to have multiple origins. However,
two important phenomena, viz.microfracturing (Fig.4,A) and
dissolution (Fig. 4,B) are the root causes for the development of
these secondary pores. Minerals such as quartz, feldspar, calcite,
etc. are observed to have undergone intense dissolution in
some areas. Microfracturing across sandstone bodies and within
minerals are found to be basically due to overburden weight and
tectonic movements such as faulting.
Fig.4 SEM micrographs of a sandstone sample showing A. microfractures,
and B. quartz particle, which has been subjected to partial dissolution.
Cementing Materials
Quartz overgrowths (Fig.5,A) are frequently seen within the
reservoir sandstones of the Barail Group. They are formed when
quartz cement is added to a quartz particle in crystallographic
continuity. Quartz overgrowths are observed to have developed in
open primary and secondary pore spaces, thus reducing porosity
and permeability.They are an important cementing material within
the reservoir sandstones.
Pyrite (Fig.5,B) could be considered as a cementing material within
the reservoir sandstones of the Barail Group. When pyrite crystals
occur in clusters they are observed to partly or wholly occupy pore
spaces as in most of the sandstones of the area.
Fig. 5 SEM micrograph showing A. quartz overgrowths and B. pyrite crystals
within a sandstone sample.
Calcite cement, haematite and plagioclase crystals are also
occasionally seen within the Barail reservoir sandstones of the
study area.
Kaolinite is one of the most abundant clay minerals in the Barail
reservoir sandstones in the study area (Fig.6). It occurs in pore
throats and on mineral surfaces in the form of clusters of books
and verms. It is a highly dispersive, non-swelling clay mineral. The
books and verms of kaolinite are rather fragile and tend to break-
off during high fluid flow velocities thus blocking pore throats
(Fertl, 1987). According to Kia et al., (1987), for the same ionic
strength kaolinite particles have a lower mobility in mixed-salt
solutions with higher calcium concentrations. Formation damage
is eliminated when the Ca++ ions provide a full coverage of the
kaolinite particles within the sandstones.
23

Fig.6 SEM micrograph showing kaolinite books and verms.
Illite occurs in a typical authigenic, filamentous form, and has
pore-lining and pore-bridging morphologies. It occurs as flake-like
platelets oriented parallel to one another, and also forms a mat on
detrital quartz particles (Fig.7). This form of illite is more commonly
seen within the reservoir sandstones. Illite is formed by alteration
of micas or alkali feldspars under alkaline conditions. The formation
of illite results in the development of numerous micropores, while
permeability is greatly reduced. Fibres of illite tend to cluster
when exposed to fresh water, thus reducing permeability. Illite
is also dispersive in nature. Two to five percent of fibrous illite
can block permeabilities to non-commercial status with migration
of fines (Fertl, 1987). Illitic clays are troublesome when using HF
acid due to the potassium ion in its structure. When dissolved the
potassium ion is readily available to react with HF-alumino silicate
reaction products, forming the insoluble potassium fluosilicate.
Illite is unstable in HCl from about 132 oC (Coulter and Jennings,
1997). According to Fertl (1987) most well bore area problems can
be overcome by using a mixture of dilute hydrofluoric (HF) and
hydrochloric (HCl) acids.
Fig. 7 SEM micrograph of sandstone sample showing massive, particle-
coating illite mats.
Chlorite is an acid-sensitive, dispersive clay (Fig.8). As chlorite is
dispersive it causes a reduction in permeability. It is a clay mineral
which typically has iron in its structure. It is, therefore, highly
essential to take additional care when planning an acidization job
in a reservoir sandstone with abundant chlorite. Acid tends to
dissolve chlorite thus liberating iron which precipitates as large
crystals of ferric hydroxide. These ferric hydroxide crystals tend to
clog pore throats. For this purpose, the use of an iron chelating
24
agent such as acetic acid is recommended along with an oxygen
scavenger in order to prevent formation damage problems (Fertl,
1987). The oxygen scavenger tends to buy time to allow the iron
chelating agent to become effective (Fertl, 1987).
Fig. 8 SEM micrograph of a sandstone sample showing clusters of chlorite
platelets
Smectite is not a common clay mineral within the Barail reservoir
sandstones, although it is found to occur as mixed-layer clays
mainly with illite (Fig.9). It generally appears in the form of a
honeycomb-like structure. It is formed by alteration of basic
rocks. Smectite and mixed-layer smectite-illite clays have pore-
lining and pore-bridging morphologies. These clays are highly
water-sensitive and expand in fresh water reducing pore volumes
significantly. Sodium-rich smectite can swell 600 to 1000 times
its original volume (Fertl, 1987). Fertl (1987) recommends oil-
based, potassium or ammonium chloride well bore fluids in order
to produce from hydrocarbon-bearing sandstones with significant
smectite.
Fig. 9 SEM micrograph of sandstone sample showing mixed-layer, illite-
smectite clays
Conclusion
Formation damage is defined as “a reduction in permeability
around a well bore, which is a consequence of drilling, completion,
injection, or attempted stimulation on production of that well.”
The additional resistance to flow due to this damage is known as
the skin effect/skin factor, which can be calculated form pressure
build up curves. If the reservoir rock consists of shaly sandstones,
the clay particles which come in contact with mud filtrate (water
in case of water base mud) tend to swell thereby reducing
permeability resulting in formation damage around the vicinity of
wellbore. Invasion of solid particles may also be a significant cause
of formation damage. Migrating fines can be a variety of different
materials, including clays (typical size less than 4 μm) and silts
(silicates or aluminosilicates with sizes ranging from 4 to 64 μm)
which can also clog pore spaces and reduce permeability. Prior
knowledge of these clay minerals could help in designing Enhanced
Oil Recovery (EOR), workover and well stimulation programmes.
Overall the SEM studies used in finding the above facts reveal that
the mineralogy of all the reservoir sands within the Barail Group is
similar to a large extent. Hence, it could be inferred that the source
or the provenance of the sandstones might be same. Primary
emphasis was on clay mineral types as they play a significant role
in the production behavior of hydrocarbons. The important clays
in the area are kaolinite, illite, chlorite, smectite and mixed-layer
clays. Kaolinite and illite are found at almost all depths. Chlorite
occurs in certain areas. Smectite occurs in mainly mixed-layer
form in certain areas. Kaolinite is highly dispersive in nature. It
occurs in clusters of books, verms and in blocky form. Clusters of
kaolinite tend to clog pore spaces. Illite occurs in mainly massive,
flaky form and is also highly dispersive in nature. Fibrous illite is
only occasionally observed in the area. Illite tends to coat mineral
surfaces and has pore-bridging morphologies. Chlorite occurs in
clusters of rosettes consisting of a number of platelets and clogs
pore spaces. Smectite tends to swell quite significantly when it
comes in contact with fresh water.

References
Patil, M., Samantray, A.K., and Murthy, G.N., 1993: Sand Geometry,
Depositional Environment and Exploratory Significance of an
Intermediate Unit within Barail Sequence of Upper Assam Shelf. Proc.
Second Seminar on Petroliferous Basins of India, Vol. I. S.K. Biswas et
al., (eds), Indian Petroleum Publishers, Dehradun, 248001, India.
Fertl, W.H., 1987: Log-derived evaluation of shaly clastic reservoirs.
Trans. Soc. Petrol. Engineers, 283:175-194.
Kia, S.F., Scott Fogler, H., Reed, M.G., and Vaidya, R.N., 1987: Effects of
Salt Composition on Clay Release in Berea Sandstones, SPE, Vol.283,
277-283pp.
Coulter, G.R., and Jennings, A.R., 1997: A Contemporary Approach
to Matrix Acidizing. Annual Technical Conference & Exhibition, San
Antonio, Texas, 5-8th October, 1997.SPE 38594.
Gilfellon G.B., 2009 SEM Petrology, Thin Section Petrography,
Geochemistry and Sedimentology of the Barail Group in the Eastern
Part of Upper Assam. Sedimentological Note No-1 OIL-Duliajan.

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25
Abstracts of papers presented / published in National /
International conferences / journals
Evaluation of prospectivity of the Kopili formation in
eastern part of Upper Assam basin
Reba Devi, Y.S.Rathore
Abstract
Exploratory efforts in the eastern part of the Assam Shelf have
established hydrocarbon in reservoirs ranging in age from the
Paleocene-Lower Eocene to Miocene. The younger Oligocene-
Miocene petroleum system is well explored and the older
Paleocene-Lower Eocene petroleum system is undergoing
focused exploration and development. Additionally, commercial
hydrocarbons have been established within the Kopili formation
(Middle to Upper Eocene) in the south-western part of the basin.
The paper focuses on the depositional architecture and
paleogeography of the Kopili formation and the influence of these
factors on petroleum geology. The Kopili formation consists of
sediments deposited in a wave dominated delta front setting and
has been subdivided into the Lower and Upper Members. The
Lower Member consists of mainly argillaceous sediments, which
were deposited in a predominantly transgressive setting and the
MFS is represented at the Lower-Upper Member boundary. The
sediment supply for the Lower Kopilis was from the west and
northwest whereas the dominant sediment supply direction was
from the north and northeast for the Upper Kopili Member, which
consists of mainly arenaceous sediments. The reconstruction of
depositional history and paleogeography with drilled well data
indicates that the Assam shelf underwent a change in basin polarity
from southeast to southwest within Middle Eocene.
Since both the Lower and Upper Kopili members have distinct
depositional settings, the hydrodynamics, migration and
entrapment conditions have been discussed separately in light
of the regional depositional model. Paleogeography has been
reconstructed for both the Upper and Lower Kopili Members.
Based on the regional depositional model, the Lower Kopili
Member has been prioritized for exploration in specific areas for
future exploration.
Presented in 1st APG Conference and Exhibition at Mussoorie,
Uttaranchal- 2002
Stress regime in part of Upper Assam basin: borehole
breakout data analysis and its comparison with
earthquake focal mechanism
B Bharali, SK Srivastava
Abstract
The Upper Assam Basin is situated in a unique geotectonic
framework in the Northeast India. It is bounded by the Main
Boundary Fault in the north, Naga-Disang Thrust System in the
southeast and Mishmi Thrust in the northeast. Petroleum bearing
Tertiary sedimentary sequence is preserved in the basin, which has
been producing commercial hydrocarbon over a century. The basin
is affected by three phases of tectonic deformation during inter-
26
plate convergence between Indian and Eurasian plates. Maximum
horizontal stress direction determined from bore hole break-out
analysis varies considerably in various parts of the basin reflects
its complex tectonic setup. However, its predominant northeast-
southwest direction seems to be the reflection of speculated
direction of the movement of Indian plate. Earthquake focal
mechanism study also indicates similar trends of compression
direction.
Published in Journal of India Geophysical Union, (2000), Vol. 4, No.1
A Brief review of Vindhyan subsurface stratigraphy
of the Western part of Ganga basin with special
reference to Oil India Limited’s exploratory activities
G.K. Sharma
Abstract
Oil India limited (OIL) started its hydrocarbon activities in Gaga
Basin during 1990. So far, OIL has acquired around 500 Ground Line
Kilometer (GLK) 2D seismic data in its Kashipur PEL area falling in
states of Uttaranchal and Uttar Pradesh. OIL also carried out High
Resolution Aeromagnetic Survey (HRAS), Remote Sensing Studies
through satellite imageries and Geo-microbiological studies of soil
samples in its operational areas.
Based on integration of all geoscientific data, OIL drilled its first
well Bilaspur-1 in Ganga Basin during 1998-99. The well has been
completed within Lower Vindhyans and drilled down to 4816m.
The encountered formations are – Alluvium, Siwaliks, Kaimurs of
Upper Vindhyan and Semris of Lower Vindhyan.
Bilaspur-1 is the first well in western part of Ganga Basin,
to encounter Lower Vindhyan. The stratigraphic sequence
encountered in the well has been thrown new light regarding
Vindhyan Stratigraphy, mainly towards the western part of the
basin.
A correlation scheme has been prepared integrating the findings
of Bilaspur-1 with other neighboring wells drilled by ONGC. It is
envisaged that the information pertaining to Vindhyan stratigraphy
presented in the paper may help in formulating future thrust areas
for hydrocarbon exploration in the basin.
Indian Journal of Petroleum Geology, Vol. 10, No. 1, July 2001, Pg.
53-65
Hydrocarbon prospects of the poorly explored
Brahmaputra river bed and north bank area, Upper
Assam basin- India
N.M Borah, S. Rath, Reba Devi
Abstract
In Upper Assam Basin a number of oil and gas fields have been
discovered associated with deltaic Oligocene-Miocene rollover,
thrust related anticlines and near shore Eocene clastics over mega
basement uplift, confined to South Bank of river Brahmaputra
during last ten decades. The Brahmaputra river bed, its North Bank
and adjoining areas constituting more than one third of the basin
are under explored due to surface logistics and poor development
of Oligocene cap rocks. Recently acquired seismic data and
exploratory drilling evidence enable in connecting these areas with
Himalayan foothills to the north and Naga-Patkai hills to the south,
over a distance of about 80 Km separated by river Brahmaputra.
Seismic sequence stratigraphy suggests that hydrocarbon bearing
Sylhet formations are thinning in a northwesterly direction of the
basin. The younger Oligocene argillaceous formation, which acts
as regional cap rock in petroliferous South Bank area, is likely to
be present only in the eastern part. Two main hydrocarbon plays
viz. Paleocene-Eocene, in the immediate vicinity of the mega
basement uplift and its north-easterly continuation under the
river beds and Oligocene-Miocene plays in the eastern part are
expected to have very good regional potential for hydrocarbon
exploration. This paper discusses geology, structure, stratigraphy
and isopach of major sequences with special reference to the two
plays in this matured petroleum province.
Presented in Petro-Tech-2001,New Delhi
Resolving Development Strategy by Integrating
Geophysical, Geological and Pressure Transient Test
Data: A Case Study of Heterogeneous Lower Eocene
Sand of Upper Assam Basin, India
Tshering Lama, Jayanta Phukan, Pankaj Kumar Neog and
Satchidananda Rath
Abstract
A multi-disciplinary approach had been adopted to resolve the
exploitation and development strategy for Deohal and its extension
oilfield having mainly the deep Eocene clastic reservoirs which is
geologically complex, over pressurized stack of thin sands [by 30-40
Kg/cm2 (assuming 0.1 Kg/cm2/m hydrostatic gradient] interbedded
with shale/ carbonaceous shale. An accurate delineation of individual
sand in such reservoirs is beyond the resolution of seismic as these
occur at a depth of 3600 to >4000 m and its thickness vary from 2 to
4 m only. The Lithostratigraphic correlation based on well log is often
unreliable/ difficult due to thin and extreme heterogeneous nature
of the sediments. Moreover, areal extent of reservoir as a single unit
is difficult to ascertain. The petrophysical properties viz. porosity and
permeability substantially deteriorate with increase in depth i.e. below
4000 m.
Initially 3D seismic data was showing a broad faulted anticline
with fault 500 m to 800 m away from the crestal part. Analyses of
pressure transient data showed barrier nearby and reinterpretation
of 3D seismic data confirmed the presence of minor faults having
limited extension.
The Paper presents how transient well test data in conjunction
with static 3D seismic data, wireline log and dynamic pressure-
production data have helped to workout development strategy
for a geologically complex and heterogeneous Lower Eocene thin
sand reservoir in one of the oilfields in Upper Assam Basin, India.
Presented in SPE Asia Pacific Oil and Gas Conference and
Exhibition, Jakarta, Indonesia, 2003
Source rock potential of sedimentary sequence in north
bank of river Brahmaputra of upper Assam Basin
Sasanka Sekhar Deb, G.B. Gilfellon
Abstract
The thick sedimentary column of shallow marine to fluvial deltaic
deposition in the northern part of Upper Assam basin ranges in
age from Late Cretaceous / early Cenozoic to recent time. Although
exploration for hydrocarbons commenced long back, it was only
recently that the area has undergone aggressive exploration
activities. Though no commercial success has been established
till date, indications of the presence of hydrocarbons have been
observed in a few wells. Source rock analyses of the sediments
indicate that the Kopili Formation has good source potential
whereas the Sylhet Formation has fair to good source potential. The
source rocks contain mainly Type III and Type II, predominantly land
plant derived organic matter alongwith amorphous material. The
analyses results also suggest the source rocks to be predominantly
gas prone and generally immature.
The sedimentary sequence of the North Bank of the Brahmaputra
river is broadly divided into two major lithofacies units. The lower
(1000m) part consists of predominantly shale facies and contains
the bulk of the source rock in the area. In contrast, the upper part
(4000m) consists predominantly of sandstone facies with poor to
no hydrocarbon generating potential.
The thickness of the Sylhet and Kopili formations increases towards
southeast direction. Owing to very low well density over a large
part of the basin and limited data, a definite trend of source rock
distribution could not be established. However, from available
data, the TOC content of organic matter trend indicates possibility
of presence of a generating center towards the eastern side of the
study area.
Temperature plays a significant rule in source rock maturation.
Immaturity of source materials in the sediments of the study area
could be as a result of a low temperature gradient.
Source rock studies suggest that Kopili and Sylhet formations have
fair to good source potential. Studies also indicate that the source
rocks are predominantly gas prone and mainly immature.
Presented in SECONE,09 conference in Guwahati
Carbon Oxygen Ratio and Sigma measurements from
Pulsed Neutron Device Aids Reservoir Management
in Upper Assam Basin, India
Kumar Praveer, N.Baruah, K.C.Kalita, S.Rath and B.N. Talukdar
Abstract
Search for new hydrocarbon bearing horizons and increasing
recovery in a developed field is becoming increasingly difficult.
Cased hole pulsed neutron device plays an important role in
improving production from depleting reservoir, hydrocarbon
typing, identifying bypassed zones and formation evaluation in
fresh water regime. Reservoir Monitoring Tool (RMT) is a through
tubing pulsed neutron device which uses carbon oxygen ratio and
sigma measurement to evaluate saturations, identify fluid type
(gas/oil/water) behind casing and oxygen activation technique to
detect water flow within and behind the casing. The device can
also be utilized to get formation porosity behind casing and to
get an idea about the lithology, from the elemental yields of the
27
formation, derived from the recorded gamma spectrum.
This paper deals with examples of use of this technology in
Miocene, Oligocene and Lower Eocene sandstone reservoirs in
fields of Oil India Limited, upper Assam Basin. The results show
that the technology has been helpful in identifying hydrocarbon
bearing zones (which were difficult to interpret from conventional
logs due to low resistivity contrast between water and hydrocarbon
bearing intervals), identifying fluid type, computing porosities,
deciding perforation intervals in depleted reservoir for cost
effective completions and identifying lithology.
Adopting this new technology has paid off by identifying bypassed
hydrocarbon bearing zones, understanding the reservoir & its
production behavior and produce extra barrels of oil which under
normal circumstances and in absence of this technology could
possibly have been lost.
Published In:
“India Oil and Gas Review Symposium & International Exhibition”
– IORS-2003, organized by Oil Asia Journal with Technical
sponsorship of ONGC, at Mumbai from 8-9 September’2003
Resolving Development Strategy by Integrating
Geophysical, Geological and Pressure Transient Test
Data: A Case Study of Heterogeneous Lower Eocene
Sand of Upper Assam Basin, India
Tshering Lama, Jayanta Phukan, Pankaj Kumar Neog and
Satchidananda Rath
Abstract
A multi-disciplinary approach had been adopted to resolve the
exploitation and development strategy for Deohal and its extension
oilfield having mainly the deep Eocene clastic reservoirs which is
geologically complex, over pressurized stack of thin sands [by 30-40
Kg/cm2 (assuming 0.1 Kg/cm2/m hydrostatic gradient] interbedded
with shale/ carbonaceous shale. An accurate delineation of
individual sand in such reservoirs is beyond the resolution of seismic
as these occur at a depth of 3600 to >4000 m and its thickness
vary from 2 to 4 m only. The Lithostratigraphic correlation based
on well log is often unreliable/ difficult due to thin and extreme
heterogeneous nature of the sediments. Moreover, areal extent of
reservoir as a single unit is difficult to ascertain. The petrophysical
properties viz. porosity and permeability substantially deteriorate
with increase in depth i.e. below 4000 m.
Initially 3D seismic data was showing a broad faulted anticline
with fault 500 m to 800 m away from the crestal part. Analyses of
pressure transient data showed barrier nearby and reinterpretation
of 3D seismic data confirmed the presence of minor faults having
limited extension.
The Paper presents how transient well test data in conjunction
with static 3D seismic data, wireline log and dynamic pressure-
production data have helped to workout development strategy
for a geologically complex and heterogeneous Lower Eocene thin
sand reservoir in one of the oilfields in Upper Assam Basin, India.
Presented in SPE Asia Pacific Oil and Gas Conference and
Exhibition, Jakarta, Indonesia, 2003
28
Carbon Isotopic Characteristics and Habitat of
Natural Gases in Parts of Upper Assam and Arunachal
Pradesh, India
T. Borgohain and S. Rath
Abstract
Oil and natural gas accumulations in the Tertiary succession of Upper
Assam and Arunachal Pradesh are found in Lakadong Member
of Sylhet Formation, Barail group, Tipam, Girujan and Namsang
Formations. The natural gases in the basin are mainly condensate
associated and oil associated gas. The gases are mainly methane
rich (85%-98.3% methane) with C2+ varying between 0.21 to
14.7%). Carbon dioxide and nitrogen are present in minor amount.
Carbon isotope ratios of analysed samples indicate a thermogenic
origin within the oil window. The δ13C1 values of the samples
from these gases ranges between –37.9 ‰ to –48.0‰ (PDB) , the
samples from Lakadong reservoirs being the most heavy (around
-38.0 ‰). The δ13C values for ethane in the analysed samples are
in the range of –25.5‰ to –30.7‰ (PDB). Maturities calculated
from isotopic composition suggest generation of Lakadong and
Barail gases from a source of moderate to advanced maturity. The
isotopic signatures from Upper Tipam gases and Girujan gas from
Naharkatiya indicate bacterial degradation.
Published in Petrotech-2003
Depositional model of the reservoirs of thick sand
group of lakadong + therria formation of dikom horst
block and its future development
K. C. Kalita, B. Borgohain, R. Borgohain and B. N. Talukdar
Abstract
The Palaeocene – Lower Eocene reservoir of the Lakadong + Therria
Formation of Dikom Horst Block falls within OIL’s operational
area of the “Central Basement High” of Upper Assam Valley and
is a multilayered reservoir. It has been divided into three major
groups viz, the lowermost Thin Sand Group, the overlying Thick
Sand Group and the uppermost Heterogeneous Sand Group based
on varying lithological and reservoir properties. The Thick Sand
Group, which consists of relatively thicker, cleaner and highly
permeable sand bodies is the main producing horizon and has
been further subdivided into Layers I, II, III and IV, separated by
shale layers. Identification and mapping of individual layers and
facies distribution in them has important implications for future
field development plan for placement of development wells. The
present paper attempts to work out a depositional model for these
layers through integration of log, core and available reservoir and
well data. The depositional model for the layers within the Thick
Sand Group has been identified to be barrier bars within a sand
rich strand plain environment.
Published in 29th Annual Convention of ‘Association of Exploration
Geoscientists’ and Seminar on Exploration Geophysics, at
Guwahati, 2004.
Facies Distribution Based on Seismic Attribute &
Petrophysical Data For Deeper Reservoirs- A Case
History From Upper Assam Basin
S.Rath, P.K.Sharma and Mrs. Reba Devi
Abstract
The seismic attribute studies for drawing meaningful interpretation
for thin sand reservoirs with limited well control at deeper depths
have always been a tough challenge for geoscientific community
worldwide. This is mainly due to the inherent limitation of the high
frequency content of seismic data. But the composite responses
of a group of reservoirs at deeper depth, with depositional and
reservoir distribution model based on well data, log motifs etc.
along with some new tools for seismic attribute analysis may help
at times in making some broad assessment about the reservoir
facies distribution. The present paper deals with such a case
history where recently Oil India Limited has discovered a number
of good Paleocene-Eocene reservoirs with relatively thick sands
(about 10m) against the traditional thin sand reservoirs (about
2-5m) at a depth of around 3900m. A basin wide geological model
of broad reservoir distribution pattern at different stratigraphic
levels based on mapping of maximum flooding surfaces, sequence
boundaries etc. have been prepared. This model has been coupled
with geo-statistical analysis of both surface & volume based seismic
attributes, well data etc. to delineate the reservoir distribution
pattern. This has helped in discriminating different reservoir facies
in a spatial domain and guided in the placement of the future
exploratory/extension locations to delineate the Palaeocene-
Eocene prospects with a minimal risk.
Presented in 2nd APG Conference at Khajuraho, Madhya Pradesh-
2004) Awarded as Best Poster Paper
Stress anisotropy: a possible cause of well bore
instability in deep eocene wells of Upper Assam basin
B Bharali, JK Borgohain, BN Talukdar
Abstract
The Upper Assam basin is the earliest explored petroliferous basin
of India. The main exploration thrust is now in the deep seated
clastic reservoirs of Paleocene to Eocene age which underlie the
Oligocene Miocene clastic reservoirs. The oil bearing sandstone
reservoirs of Lakadong, Therria and Langpar formation are
encountered from a depth around 3500m along the basement
ridge to a depth of about 4600m in the deeper part of basin. A
common drilling problem encountered generally in the deep (>4000
m depth) wells is the excessive well-bore enlargement around the
shale section above and within the oil bearing formations. This
frequently leads to bad well-bore conditions resulting in poor to
impossible logging condition, poor cementation and as a result
unsuccessful completion of the wells. This problem is attributed
to shale instability which is caused by high difference between
formation lateral stress and borehole lateral stress.
In a recent study, stress anisotropy pattern around the well-
bore has been analyzed using available four- / six-arm caliper
and borehole image logs. Dominant stress anisotropy within the
Eocene section has been observed with orientation of maximum
horizontal stress axis (SHMAX) in the NE-SW direction. This direction
of SHMAX is in conformity with the present tectonic set-up of the
basin. The finding of the study established a direct relationship
between well-bore instability and the observed direction of SHMAX.
Published in Proceedings of 6th International Petroleum
Conference and Exhibition - Petrotech - 2005.
Optimization of development plan by 3d simulation
study using geo-statistical modeling and fine scale
layering to capture coning behaviour – a case study
S. Yomdo, G. Das and B. N. Talukdar
Abstract
A comprehensive multi-disciplinary integrated study of Makum-
North Hapjan Field was carried out after about 10 years of
production in order to review the performance and redevelop the
field using horizontal wells. From preliminary analytical studies, it
was found that high water / gas production in the wells was mainly
due to coning. Subsequently, geostatistical methods were used to
generate a fine scale 3D geo-cellular model, which was taken for
reservoir simulation without upscaling so as to preserve the fine
scale heterogeneities. Satisfactory modeling of the predominant
coning phenomenon was possible due to fine layering in the
simulation model. Thin shale layers present in the reservoir were
found to be helpful in arresting vertical movement of gas & water,
which was used to the fullest advantage in proposing new vertical
& horizontal locations in the reservoir.
Published in the Proceedings of Petrotech 2005
Successful drilling and completion of OIL’s first
horizontal well in a clastic reservoir to combat gas /
water coning
S. Yomdo* and B. N. Talukdar
Abstract
One of the major reservoirs of OIL (Oil India Limited), Makum –
North Hapjan field located in remote north-east corner of onshore
Upper Assam, India, was discovered in 1993. The field covers an
area of around 20 square kilometres and so far, a total of 38 wells of
average 2660 m depth have been drilled in this field at average 300-
400 metres well spacing. All the wells drilled in this field so far are
producing around 2200 m3/day oil from the same reservoir (current
recovery ~ 12% of STOOIP), which presently accounts for about 17%
of the company’s total oil production. Hydrocarbon accumulations
are mainly confined to Barail Arenaceous Sandstone formation
of late Oligocene-Miocene age, which were deposited in a fluvio
- deltaic environment. The reservoir is saturated with an active
bottom aquifer, having gross hydrocarbon pay of about 60m.
A comprehensive multi-disciplinary integrated study was carried out
during 2003-04 to review the performance of the field and optimize
production, and also to examine the feasibility of horizontal well
completion as a suitable option. Subsequently, a fine scale 3D geo-
cellular model was generated and taken for reservoir simulation
without upscaling, so as to preserve the fine scale heterogeneities
in the reservoir model and to model the predominant gas / water
coning phenomenon. The discontinuous shale bands present within
the oil zone could be mapped and incorporated in the model. The
model was calibrated by satisfactorily matching the GOR, water
cut, water/gas arrival time and the flowing / static pressure
data at field as well as well scale. Coning behaviour could be
matched mainly due to fine layering of the model. Of the different
exploitation schemes studied, a techno-economically optimized
development plan involving re-completions / drilling of out-step
peripheral wells and optimal positioning of the infill vertical and
29
horizontal wells was recommended. An important observation
was that a horizontal well gives more recovery over conventional
well at the same water cut. Sensitivity runs were also carried out
to optimize the performance of the horizontal wells with regards
to length and orientation in addition to the withdrawal rates for
both vertical and horizontal wells.
Based on the recommendations of the Study, 10 of the suggested
out-step / infill wells and three horizontal wells have since been
drilled and completed successfully. It is pertinent to mention here
that this has been the first successful drilling and completion of
a horizontal well not only in OIL, but also in the entire Assam –
Arakan basin in north-east India. Increased initial productivity
from the horizontal wells (3 times that of a conventional well
at the same pressure drawdown) through proper placement
(with respect to distance from the gas-oil contact and oil-water
contact) of the horizontal wells has encouraged investigation of
further scope for maximizing recovery from the reservoir through
optimized placement of horizontal wells.
The geological model of the reservoir has since been re-visited
and suitable updation incorporating latest available data following
completion of new wells has been carried out, followed by detailed
reservoir simulation study, in order to further augment production
from the field through appropriate placement of additional infill
vertical and horizontal wells.
Published in the Proceedings of Petrotech 2005
Rejuvenation of a mature oilfield involving polymer
flooding by successful tapping of undrained / unswept
oil – a case study
S. Yomdo and B. N. Talukdar, SPE, Oil India Limited
Abstract
Zaloni Barail Second Sand (Well 27 Block) reservoir in Zaloni oilfield
was discovered in 1957. For pressure maintenance, peripheral
water injection was initiated by injecting water into the acquifer
in 1973. Polymer flood project was undertaken in this reservoir in
December 1975, which was a relatively new concept at that point
of time, especially taking into account the depth of occurance
(around 2650 metres) of hydrocarbon accumulation.
The current recovery from the reservoir is estimated to be around
42% of oil originally-in-place. In order to increase ultimate oil
recovery, comprehemsive multi-disciplinary integrated studies
were carried out in 2003 to re-define opportunities. Subsequently,
an infill well drilled in this reservoir in July 2004 produced around
45 m3/day almost clean oil. Positive result obtained from the
successful tapping of undrained / unswept oil in the reservoir, thus
extending its producing life, has encouraged drilling of additional
infill wells not only in this reservoir, but also in select undrained
areas nearby.
Presented at SPE International Improved oil Recovery Conference
in Kuala Lampur, Malayasia, 2005
Hydrocarbon prospect of the sub-thrust formations associated
with the Naga thrust in and around Digboi oil-field
S.Rath, R.Sharma and N.R.Hazarika
Abstract
The oil seepages found along the Naga fold belt and the discovery
of Digboi oil-field in 1889 in supra thrust Tipam formation
30
associated with the Naga Thrust led to the accelerated exploration
for hydrocarbon in the Thrust sheet areas. Subsequently, geological
mapping of the area and drilling of wells in Digboi, Kharsang,
Kusijan, Kumchai, Kherem and number of GIB’s in the eastern part
have established the oil & gas accumulation in reservoirs ranging
in age from Oligocene to late Miocene in the area. Kusijan oil/
gas-field located towards west of Digboi established production
of oil and gas from sub-thrust Barail formation of Oligocene age
associated with the Naga thrust.
Yet a vast prognosticated resources of hydrocarbon remains
unexplored in the Thrust Belt area due to complex geological
setting, difficult logistics and poor seismic response in the thrust
zones/ below thrust. Sub thrust formations associated with the
Naga Thrust in the area facing the foreland have potential as a
new play for future hydrocarbon exploration in the area. The paper
focuses on hydrocarbon potential of the sub-thrust formations
associated with the Naga thrust, in and around Digboi oil-field and
challenges associated with it.
Presented in APG 2002, Mussorie.
Mapping of Sub-thrust Structures : An Intergrated
Approach
S.K.Basha ,N.R.Hazarika and S.Rath
Abstract
Exploration for hydrocarbon in the Thrust belt lying along the
southern margin of the shelf region of Upper Assam Basin started
in the last part of the nineteenth century. Discovery of oil & gas
from sub-thrust Barail formation of Oligocene age associated with
the Naga thrust in Kusijan field located towards west of Digboi
in early sixties had established the hydrocarbon potential of
sub-thrust play.Exploration in thrust belt is associated with both
surface and subsurface challenges. Till date major part of this belt
is relatively poorly explored due to complex geological setting,
difficult logistics, lack of infrastructure facilities for carrying out
survey in such rugged terrains and poor seismic response below
thrust. Moreover, available seismic data quality in the area is also
poor, specially adjacent to thrust making imaging of structure
below the thrust difficult.
Drilling evidence in Kusijan structure, which is a well-defined
sub-thrust time high associated with the Naga thrust, has shown
that in depth, the position of the high has shifted in the up-dip
direction. To overcome the pitfall in interpretation, two seismic
lines passing through a time high in near by Digboi area have been
reprocessed and depth sections have been generated by applying
Velocity Modelling and Post Stack Depth Migration(PSDM).The
time and depth migrated sections have been interpreted and the
shift of the structural high has been observed.
This paper highlights on the findings and observations of the study
carried out for the structure identified below the Naga thrust in
the frontal thrust zone .
Presented in AEG, 2003, Hyderabad.
Langpar and Lakadong+Therria Sediments:
Depositional Setting , Prospectivity and Road Map
for Future Exploration.
Sasanka Sekhar Deb, Indrajit Barua
Introduction:
Palaeocene- Eocene sediments ( Lakadong +Therria and Langpar
Formations) of the Upper Assam Basin have been considered as the
most prospective sediments from the hydrocarbon potential point
of view. More than fifteen structures have been explored in the
Basement High and its adjoining areas so far, with the establishing
of successful commercial production (Fig.1). These sediments
consist of thin multistacked clastic reservoirs which have good
reservoir quality and are prolific producers but have a variable
lateral extent. One reason for the variation in lateral extent could
be the depositional setting of these sediments apart from multiple
tectonic activities prevailing during deposition of these sediments.
Different schools of thought have been formulated/generated by
different consultants/geoscientists from time to time regarding the
depositional environment of these sediments based on their study
on localized basis. An attempt has been made in the current study
to understand the depositional environment of the main potential
reservoir zones based on sand shale ratio data, core data and log
responses in the light of sequence stratigraphic concepts.
Findings of above study can explain structural pattern & reservoir
characteristics of existing fields very well. Hence this method could
be a powerful tool for prediction of sand development and reservoir
characterization for Langpar and Lakadong+ Therria sediments in
Upper Assam basin. So, this study can be use as a stepping stone
for future exploration in Palaeocene/Eocene sediments.
There existence of adequate charge potential in the area to the
north and northeast of Baghjan could lead to encountering of
large accumulation of hydrocarbon and a systematic exploration
programme could lead to a major breakthrough in the exploration
for hydrocarbon in India.
Best poster on SECONE,09 conference, Guwahati
Environment of deposition and sand development
pattern from image log, a case study from North
Chandmari area of Upper Assam Basin
B. Bharali, N. Barua, U. C. Das, B. N. Talukdar
Abstract
In the last few years, High resolution electrical borehole imaging tool
have shown great promise to study geology of an area in terms of
depositional environment. The XRMI (Extended Range Micro Imaging)
tool of M/s Halliburton has been introduced recently in the oilfields
of OIL in Upper Assam Basin. Due to its high borehole wall coverage
and very high vertical resolution, fine scale sedimentary features
can be picked up more confidently. This information, combined
with gamma-ray and SP log signature, can be used to reconstruct
depositional environment with certain degree of confidence. Such
understanding in turn helps in extrapolating the reservoir facies to
the undeveloped or unexplored areas of the basin.
North Chandmari is a new hydrocarbon bearing structure discovered
recently by OIL in its areas of operations in Upper Assam Basin.
A thick column of oil bearing sand has been identified within the
Langpar formation of Lower Eocene age which made the structure
most significant from the point of hydrocarbon exploration.
Detailed study of borehole image log combined with GR log and
drill cuttings evidences has been carried out in order to understand
reservoir facies and sand geometry for development planning.
Analysis indicates that in the study area Langpar formation has
been deposited in a fluvio- deltaic environment.
Published in the Proceedings of 6th International Conference and
Exposition on Exploration Geophysics. (KOLKATA-2006)
The trend of fracture pressure gradient in parts of
Upper Assam Basin: A calculation based on wireline
log data
B. Bharali, B. N. Talukdar
Abstract
The upper Assam Basin is a matured petroliferous basin where
commercial hydrocarbon is being established from clastic reservoirs
of Tertiary sequence. The present exploration thrust in the basin
is towards the deeper reservoirs (depth > 4000m). For successful
planning of such deep wells, fracture pressure is an essential
parameter. Variation of fracture pressure in different formations
in parts of the basin has been studied using information available
from wireline log data. It has been observed that within the
same formation fracture pressure is largely controlled by its pore
pressure and depth of burial. The over pressured shale sequence
of Kopili Formation of Eocene Age shows high fracture pressure
throughout the area. Fracture pressure decreases again within
the underlying hydrocarbon bearing Lakadong Member, Therria
Formation and Narpuh Formations due to lesser pore pressure.
Published in the Proceedings of 3rd International conference of
APG, Goa, 2006)
31
Modelling fluvial sandstone architecture in a mature
oilfield of Upper Assam Basin using old geophysical logs
I.Barua, K.C.Kalita, S.S.Deb, R.Borgohain, B.N.Talukdar
Abstract
Discovered in the mid 1950s, Zaloni oilfield in Upper Assam Basin
is today a mature oilfield being managed by Oil India Limited with
the hydrocarbon being primarily confined to clastic reservoirs in
the Barail formations of the Oligocene age. These fluvial reservoirs
consist of a series of multi-storey and multi-lateral channel
sandstones with associated overbank sediments. In the absence of
reliable markers on the reservoir scale, a sand to sand correlation
scheme had been followed. This “layer cake” approach led in many
cases to the bridging of structurally equivalent but unconnected
sand bodies with different fluid types and pressure production
characteristics or the necessity for imposing barriers which did not
always conform to geologic reality. This became readily apparent
when attempting to model the sandstone architecture in 3D
during a recent study carried out to identify remaining potential,
if any, in the Zaloni field. Therefore as a prelude to the study,
for the identification of the hydrodynamic flow units within the
reservoir zones, a geologic reservoir model had to be generated.
Conventional core data being very limited in the field the only
recourse was to utilize the available suite of wireline logs.
Most of the wells in the Zaloni oilfield have old, incomplete
wireline logging suites and the ability to use the old logs was
critical to the correlation and characterization of the reservoir
interval in this mature field. In light of the limited data it was not
possible to generate meaningful distributions for porosity as well
as permeability and the only option was to model the lithofacies
for reservoir characterization. The available data was utilized for
modeling of the fluvial sandstone architecture at the Barail level
of the field. The approach has culminated in the identification of
unswept oil in the field and in the first phase of operations has
yielded an additional production of around 600 BOPD from this
mature field.
Published in: “6th International Conference and Exposition on
Exploration Geophysics” organized by Society of Petroleum
Geophysicist, India held at Kolkata during 9th to 11th January,2006.
Redefining Hydrocarbon Prospectivity Brought New
Discovery – A Case Study from Moran-Thowra Area
of Upper Assam
B. R. Bharali, T. Borgohain, P. K.Kakoty and J. K. Borgohain
Abstract
Moran oilfield, in the central part of Upper Assam, is the second
oil discovery made by Oil India Limited in the Assam shelf in the
year 1956. Major oil production from this field is from reservoirs
of Barail Formation of Late Eocene to Oligocene (B4, B5 and B6).
A total of about 113 million bbls of oil has already been produced
from the Moran North and South Structures since its discovery
based mainly on earlier interpretation of 2D seismic.
Two wells were drilled based on 2D seismic in the Thowra
structure towards west-south-west of Moran and encountered no
hydrocarbon prospects. Although structural interpretation based
on 3D seismic data also showed a prominent drillable prospect in
Thowra area, because of discouraging results of the drilled wells, a
32
detailed integrated study was carried out for prospect evaluation.
Reservoir distribution revealed the correlatable reservoir facies
to be well developed with a divide of non-reservoir facies in
the intervening area between Moran in the east and Thowra in
the west. Seismic attribute maps also showed similar anomaly
and characteristics in both Thowra and Moran area. Potential
migration based on paleostructure maps reveal the areas to be
on a migration/accumulation pathway. Based on these a third well
was drilled and the Thowra structure proved to be hydrocarbon
bearing.
Published in APG Conference, Goa, 2006
Automated Stacking Velocity Computation in Thrust
Belt Areas – A Case Study from Upper Assam
P. Jaiswal, Rice University, Houston, USA
S. Choudhuri, T. Bhattacharjee, T. Borgohain & R Dasgupta
Summary
Estimation of velocity during processing of seismic data in thrust
belt areas are difficult as the CMP gathers may not show consistent
coherency function from one gather to another. The lack of
coherency is mainly due to steeply dipping reflectors, strong
lateral variation in velocity and rough topography. In such cases,
either the velocity picking should be made at finer intervals or an
independent guide for velocity picking should be made available.
In this paper, effort is made to estimate velocity-depth model using
travel-time inversion to be used for processing of seismic data
from thrust belts. In this study, the seismic first arrivals are picked
in shot domain at a regular interval after making corrections for
polarity of the data. The elevation and other co-ordinate details
were also the input. With all these and a broad velocity function
/ model as input, travel time inversion of the first arrivals were
carried out using the algorithm of Zelt and Smith (1992 hereafter
referred as ZS 92) for obtaining a velocity-depth model along
the seismic profile. Repeated runs of travel-time inversion were
performed until the results were within the permissible limits.
The quality of inversion was checked by the following procedure:
i. Average and rms velocity functions were derived using the
velocity-depth from the inversion;
ii. The seismic data was processed using the same velocity.
The inversion was carried out on first breaks and thus, the accuracy
of the velocity-depth model was within limits upto a depth of about
1.5 km. Considerable improvement was observed to such depths in
the seismic section, processed using the inverted velocities even in
the sub-thrust area. Thus, this technique is quite useful in deriving
accurate velocity-depth model of geologically complex areas.
Published in 6th International Conference & Exposition on
Petroleum Geophysics, SPG, Kolkata, 2006
Potential Subtle Stratigraphic Traps in Moran Area,
Upper Assam Basin-a Case Study
B. R. Bharali and T. Borgohain
Abstract
The depositional regimes in certain sections of the stratigraphic
column in Upper Assam Basin are favourable for stratigraphic traps.
The isolated channel sands within the Barail Argillaceous section
are one such target for these kinds of subtle traps. The seismic
signatures towards south of Moran main oilfield indicates the
presence of an anomalous feature within Barail Argillaceous section
in the area. Integrated study along with other geologic evidence
suggests this feature to be a sand body formed by a distributory
channel and is encased within the coal-shale sequence of Upper
Barail. The deliberate search for such stratigraphic traps will add a
new dimension to hydrocarbon exploration in the basin.
Published in 22nd National Convention of Chemical Engineers,
September, 2006, New Delhi
Hydrocarbon prospects of palaeocene – Lower Eocene
sequence in parts of Upper Assam
B. Bharali, S. Rath and B. Das
Abstract
In the shelf zone of Upper Assam Basin until the late 80’s the
commercial oil production within OIL’s operational areas were
confined to late Eocene-Oligocene and Miocene reservoirs.
Discovery of commercial oil within Palaeocene-Lower Eocene
sequence located around the central basement high in Dikom-
Kathaloni are has opened a new vista for oil exploration. The central
basement high, which is the continuation of exposed Precambrian
basement of Mikir Hills passes through this area along NE – SW
trend and takes a northerly swing beyond Tengakhat. The proto-
ridge came into existence during Oligocene period.
The Palaeocene-Lower Eocene oil and gas reservoirs are confined
to Lakadong + Therria members and were deposited in a near shore
environment. Micropalaeontolical and seismic data suggest that
the deposition took place in a shallow near uniform platform during
Lower Eocene time with regional basin dip towards south-east.
Rich source rock occurs in the form of thin bed and fine laminae
of carbonaceous shale and coal. Organic matter is predominantly
of type-II. Over the central basement high, the source rocks are
immature to marginally mature and the kitchen was located
further south-east where the equivalent sediments are buried
in deeper depth. The presence of heavy, viscous oil encountered
Fact File
Two great American cities destined to merge
The San Andreas Fault, which runs north-south, is slipping at a rate of about 2 inches (5 centimeters) per year,
causing Los Angeles to move towards San Francisco. Scientists forecast LA will be a suburb of the City by the Bay
in about 15 million years.
Largest gas field
The world's largest gas field is Qatar's offshore North Field, estimated to have 25 trillion cubic metres (9.0 ×
1014cubic feet) of gas in place—enough to last more than 200 years at optimum production levels.
below the normal oil reservoirs in the central basement high areas,
are possibly in situ and were expelled at the early mature stage.
Structural mapping, palaeo-environment and source rock studies
has immensely helped in formulating exploration strategies both
in the south-eastern flank and north-western flank of basement
ridge for Palaeocene-Lower Eocene hydrocarbon prospect.
Published in Proc. Reg. Sem. on Dev. of Geol. Res. in N.E. India,
Gauhati University, Guwahati, 1998, pp. 207-217
Palynostratigraphy of the subsurface sediments of
Upper Assam Basin, India
Madhav Kumar, Jagannath Prasad Mandal, Sisir Kumar Dutta,
Diganta Bhuyan, Bharati Das & Bibekananda Saikia
Abstract
The palynoflora and palynodebris content have been studied of a
3800 m deep well situated the oil producing Tinali area in the Upper
Assam basin of the Brahmaputra Valley, India. The well penetrated
through Dhekiajuli Formation, Namsang Formation, Tipam, Surma
and Barail Groups (Oligocene-Pleistocene). Microfloral change
from Barail Group to Surma Group is distinct and indicates a more
rich deltaic swamp vegetation during deposition of Barail Group
than overlying sediments. The fluviatile Neogene sediments
are poor in microfossils and indicative of comparatively drier
conditions. Three informal zones have been proposed based on
occurrence or abundance of palynofossils. Amorphous organic
matter is dominant in the Barail Group and is gradually replaced
by biodegraded terrestrial and black debris in the post-Barail
sediments. Reworked Palaeozoic and Mesozoic palynofossils occur
throughout the sequence. Moreover, reworked Palaeocene and
Eocene palynotaxa are recovered from the post-Barail sediments.
This phenomenon is related with the Himalayan orogenic
movements. © Éditions scientifiques et médicales Elsevier SAS.
Published in GEOBIOS, 34, 3: 241-251. Villeurbanne, le
31.07.2001, European Palaeontological Association
33
Down the Memory Lane
Reba Devi
Going back almost 27 years to my journey as an Oil Indian, I still
remember the day 22nd July 1983. I was received at Dibrugarh
airport by a Company car to transport me to Duliajan for joining
the Company Oil India Limited as a Geologist. By the time I
reached OIL’s guest house, it was almost dark. Out of anxiety, I
had a sleepless night as the next day I was about to begin my first
day as a job holder. Next morning, I got up early and prepared
myself to go to Office before 7O’ clock. It was a Saturday and
every well wisher advised me not to join on a Saturday as it was
not considered an auspicious day to begin my career. However,
without any hesitation, I came to office on that special Saturday,
23rd July 1983, to join OIL’s family as a geologist. While entering
the Geological Department, my heart was pounding very fast as if I
was entering another planet. I found the Department very silent as
if there was no one around. I was confused and did not know where
to go. Suddenly, I saw a man wearing a full white dress and with a
tea set entering a room. I slowly followed the man and found out
that the room was that of the then Chief Geologist. Those days,
there used to be only one Chief Geologist and he was the Head of
the Department. The Chief Geologist was non other than Dr. S.N.
Viswanath. I knocked and asked for permission to enter his room.
A fatherly figure and a very soft spoken gentleman that he was, he
welcomed me with a smiling face and informed me that I was the
first lady to join in the Department as a Geologist. Later on, I also
learnt that I was the first technically qualified (?) lady to join the
Company. The Chief Geologist then introduced me to the then one
and only Deputy Chief Geologist Mr. JMB Baruah, a perfect gentle
man with a strong personality. That time, Geology and Geophysics
Departments operated as a single Department under one roof.
Few days later, I was allotted Bungalow DX-19 which was first
inspected by the CG and only then was I allowed to enter the
house. I was so touched by his conscientiousness and caring
attitude towards me that I will always treasure and cherish those
memories. I was thrilled to see the surroundings of the OIL
Township with different lanes painted with vivid colour of flowers
like ‘Sonaru’, ‘Krishnachura’, ‘Modar’ and many more. I entered the
bungalow only with a suitcase because those days, bungalows used
to be fully furnished. Staying alone in a fully furnished bungalow
with free gas, electricity water and what not, it was a feeling as
if I had landed in paradise. Like these days, nowhere could I see
garbage lying by the side of road nor were any livestock or stray
dogs seen on the road. If any cow was found loitering within the
township, then it was immediately picked up and put in a cow’s
jail called ‘Goru Phatek’ which was near the present day St.Xavier
School. The roads and sides were clean and very well maintained.
Sadly, this is not the case these days. Those days OIL Colony was
fully secured and no outsiders were allowed inside the OIL Colony.
Therefore, rickshaws or outside non OIL vehicles were not allowed
to enter the township. Those days, car loan was granted only
after completion of five years service. Therefore, sometimes it
was very frustrating when we had to walk to & fro to the market
from our Bungalows. But whatever it was, our safety was never
compromised.
Then started my real job. Initially, I was assigned well-site duty.
My first Well as an independent well site geologist, was NHK345.
I still remember the day I had to go to well NHK-345 at midnight
2 O’clock for a logging job. Since the well was at Nagajan under
Jorajan Oilfield, while going to wellsite I had to cross the Jorajan
Jungle which was considered unsafe at that time especially during
nighttime. Even during evening hours, people felt scared to cross
that area. But I was ready to go there for the job because I felt that
34
it could be an opportunity to prove to the Management that lady
geologists are also equally capable to work in an oil company as
a well site geologist. The driver of the car Puran was at first very
much reluctant to take me to the well site at such an odd hour. But
the poor fellow had no choice but drive me to the site. While we
were nearing the Jorajan jungle, out of fear, Puran asked to hide
me under the seat. However, we reached well site safely. At the
well-site, everyone there was surprised to see me on well site duty
at that strange hour. I saw that everyone at the well-site was very
helpful. Again, just few days after joining, one Saturday, at around
10:45 morning, one of my senior colleagues asked me and one of
my colleague to do log interpretation for the well Bogapani-4 and
submit it to then Deputy Chief Geologist by 8 O’clock the next day
morning. As we all know, on Saturdays, the office working hour
was till 11:00 AM only and we were still uninitiated to the subject.
Moreover, those days, everything was done manually. Sitting in my
senior colleague’s bungalow, we worked till night 1:0 O’clock. The
next morning, when we submitted the report to then Deputy Chief
Geologist, he looked surprised and told us that he had never asked
for any interpretation result. This incident upset us very much but
we felt helpless and could not do anything. Afterward I realized
that we lost nothing other than a spoiled Saturday night. On the
contrary, we gained a lot of knowledge on well logs. If only during
those days we had similar facilities that we have to-day, we could
have done the job within a couple of hours. Life, it appears, is very
easy today-thanks to state-of-the art technology.
In 1984, my bonding with the Company became stronger when I
got married to another Oil Indian, Mr. Bipul Sarma. I still remember
one incident which happened just 15 days after my marriage. My
marriage took place during my probation period and therefore, I
had to join office just 7 days after my marriage. My well-site duties
were still on. One Sunday, I with my husband went to Namrup to
visit one of my close relatives and return at around 10:00 P.M,
just after dinner. We were riding a second hand (may be third/
fourth hand) Java motor cycle that belonged to my husband. I was
dressed as a newly wed with all fineries as it had only been a few
days since our marriage was solemnized. When we reached our
bungalow DX-19, I saw that our then Superintending Geologist
(Drilling Operation section) was standing in front of our bungalow
(that time neither PNT phone nor mobile was available). He told
me to go immediately to office to analyze the drill cutting samples
and report to him immediately as some important samples were
expected. I was confused because I knew that in the morning,
before I left, the drilling was within shallow zone and no important
zone was expected for next two to three days. Out of nervousness,
I went to see the samples without changing and wearing the same
dress and jewelry. At the office, I found no important drill cuttings
and therefore, in a very sour mood, I reported to him at 12 mid
night.
Today, when I sit for seismic interpretation at the Workstation, I
remember my initial association with seismic interpretation 23
years ago. Those days, seismic interpretation was done manually
in paper prints. Sometimes seismic sections were 2 to 3 m long.
We used to spread it on the floor and marked reflectors by
crawling from one end to the other end. Thanks to technological
advancement, life has been made easy and comfortable. Now
sitting in front of a machine, one can do almost everything at a
click of the mouse. Machines may have lessened the demand for
physical labor but mental labor remains the same, if not more.
These are some of my small but beautiful memories in OIL’s family
which make me very happy when I recall them. After 27 years of my
association with OIL, I can now say very proudly that yes, I am one
of those lucky ones that belong to OIL INDIA LIMITED where there
is no dearth of love, affection, regards and cordial relationships
amongst colleagues as well as seniors.
Depositional High trend running along the central part of the Basin is an important
structural feature from the hydrocarbon entrapment point of view
environment and in the Basin. The sediment thickness increases on either side of the
‘high’ .In this paper primary focus is on the depositional pattern of
prospects identification the hydrocarbon rich Palaeocene- Eocene sediments of Basement
High and nearby area of the Basin.
in Palaeocene/Eocene The study area covers around 4000 sq.km with more than 175
formations of Basement wells drilled up to Eocene/Palaeocene section (Fig.1). The main
hydrocarbon potential is confined to the Langpar and Lower part
High and adjoining areas of Sylhet Formation (Lakadong and Therria unit). Generalized
stratigraphic succession of the Basin is presented in Text table
in Upper Assam Basin for Age Group Formation
future exploration Pleistocene Alluvium

Sasanka Sekhar Deb, Indrajit Barua, B.P. Sarma Pliocene Dihing Group Dhekiajuli Formation

T Dupitila Group Namsang Formation

Introduction
E Miocene Girujan Formation
Identification of loci for hydrocarbon entrapment based R Tipam Group
Tipam Formation
on depositional environment is a well known technique in T
hydrocarbon exploration. Environment has direct impact on I Oligocene Argillaceous Unit
Barail Group
shape, size and type of trap available in a particular area. Eocene- A Arenaceous Unit
Palaeocene sediments [Lakadong+ Therria (Lk+Th) and Langpar R Kopili Formation
formation] in Basement High area of the Upper Assam Basin were Y Eocene Jaintia Group
deposited in shallow marine to fluvial condition and considered as Sylhet Formation
most potential sediments for hydrocarbon accumulation point of Palaeocene Langpar Formation
view. More than 15 geological structures have been successfully Cretaceous Dergaon Formation
explored in the Basement High and its adjoining area so far, along
with commercial production of hydrocarbon (Fig1). However, Pre Cambrian Basement
reservoir quality, extent and productivity vary from place to Text Table-1: Generalized Stratigraphic Succession of Upper Assam Basin
place. The primary reason could be the depositional setting of the
More than fifteen structures have been explored in the study area
reservoir units. An attempt has been made to identify trap type in
so far, with the establishment of successful commercial production.
the present study, likely to be available in OIL’s operational area as
These sediments consist of thin multistacked clastic reservoirs which
a guide for future exploration.
have good to very good reservoir quality and variable production
potential. One reason for the
Study area variation in reservoir quality
could be the depositional
The Upper Assam Basin is a well known petroliferous sedimentary
setting. An attempt has
basin of India. Exploration for hydrocarbon started way back in 1866
been made in the current
and commercial oil was first discovered in 1889 in Digboi. The Basin
study to understand the
is bounded in the north by the Eastern Himalayas, in the east by
depositional environment of
the Mishmi Massif, in the south by the Naga-Patkai Hills and in the
the main potential reservoir
west by the Mikir Hills and Shillong Plateau . A thick pile of sediment
zones based on sand shale
ranging in age from Cretaceous to Pleistocene has been deposited in
ratio data, core data and
the Basin. Commercial hydrocarbon production from Palaeocene to
log responses in the light
Mio-pliocene sediments have been established till date. A Basement
of sequence stratigraphic
concepts.

Approach
Based on sequence
stratigraphic concepts the
entire Lk+Th reservoirs
section have been divided
in four subgroups and top
part of Langpar formation
identified as one subgroup
(Fig 2). Palaeogeological
Fig: 1 Location map Fig.: 2 Sand Group identification

35
maps have been prepared based on sand shale ratio to get a clear
picture on depositional pattern of these sediments (Fig 7-10). A
wide variation of depositional environment of these sediments
in the different structures have been observed from these maps.
Tentative position of the palaeoshore line has also been identified
to have a better idea about the type of deposition. Based on
depositional setting, four main depositional types have been
identified to give systematic approach for better understanding of
the play type pattern.
Type of Deposition
Fluvial deposits: Deposition which takes place along a river course
in the continental part of a basin is known as fluvial deposits. Mainly
three types of fluvial deposits are found in a channel course viz.,
Alluvial Fan deposits, Braided deposits and Meandering deposits.
Alluvial fans are typically lobate in plan view and wedge/lenticular
in cross section (Fig.3). These deposits consist commonly of coarse-
grained, matrix-rich conglomerates, extremely poorly sorted
deposits with rarely developed sedimentary structures and mainly
of debris-flow origin. This type of deposits are generally observed in
upstream channel part near the foot hill area /transition from very
high gradient to low gradient of channel.
Fig.- 3 Aerial view of an alluvial fan.
Fig. 4 The morphological elements of a meandering-river system
In braided deposits, not very clear cut demarcation can be made
with alluvial fan deposits but in general they are less coarser
than alluvial fan deposits and some times contain sedimentary
structure. Braided rivers are characterized by large bedforms
called bars. Bars are normally oriented with their long axis roughly
parallel to current flow. Coarsest material is concentrated along
the central axis and bottom of the bars, and grain size tends to
decrease upwards and downstream. Gamma-ray wireline log
signature is blocky in nature.
Meandering deposits are characterized by fining upward grain size
trend. It has five different type of deposition within the meandering
36
stream system: i) main channel ii) point bars iii) natural levees
iv) the floodbasin and v) oxbow lakes meander cutoffs. Each of
these subenvironments of the system generates deposits with
characteristic grain sizes and sedimentary structures (Fig 4). Sand
shale ratio is very high compared to sea ward deposits.
Delta deposits: Deposition take place in the mouth of a river
where flow runs into standing sea/lake water (Fig.5). A delta
is a fan shaped deposit of sediments at the exit of a river into a
larger body of water (Fig.6). Normally medium to fine grained
well sorted sandstone deposits are encountered with subangular
to subrounded in texture. Sand shale ratio is relatively very high
compared to sea ward deposits.
Fig:5 The modern tide-dominated delta.
Fig:6 Deltaic systems of the Upper Cretaceous Maverick Basin, South Texas
Delta front deposits: Sediments deposited seaward of the
shoreline on a delta is known as delta front deposits (Fig.6),
where the coarsest marine sediments are found. This area can be
reworked by waves etc. Delta front deposits represent the most
dynamic part of a delta system. High variability of interaction
between fluvial and marine processes within the delta front area
suggests a complex architecture of delta front deposits. Sand shale
ratio is on the lower side.
Pro-delta deposits: Fine grained silt/sand to clay deposition takes
place further seaward of the delta front deposits (Fig.6). These
muddy build ups are referred as the Prodelta Zone. Sand shale
ratio is much lower than the delta front deposits.
Depositional environment and play type
Four main sub-groups have been studied in detail for depositional
environment vis-a-vis trap geometry. All the groups have different
geological setting as evident from the palaeogeological maps.
The deposition of the Group-I sediments took place in a fluvial
environment and the direction of channel flow was from north-
northeast (Fig 7). Accordingly, there is a strong possibility of
encountering more fluvial braided and alluvial fan deposits
towards north- northeast direction. On the other hand, near the
possible shore line deltaic and further south-southwest delta front
& prodelta sediments should have been deposited.
The Group-II sediments show variation of environment from delta
front to fluvial deposits (Fig 8). Extension of fluvial deposition
can be expected till the low relief of high mountain/foothill area
in north-northeastern direction. Deltaic sediments of the same
channels could be deposited near shore line area. But in the
southwest of the study area and further southwest, possibility of
deposition of delta front and prodelta deposits with average to
poor quality reservoir is highly probable.
Fig. 7 Palaeogeological map of SG-I
Fig.8 Palaeogeological map of SG-II
The overlying zone (Group-III) were deposited in shallow marine
environment in the study area (Fig 9).The position of the shore
line should be in the north/northeast of Baghjan area. A deltaic/
fluvial deposition should have taken place in the upstream channel
direction. On the contrary, small deltafront /prodelta deposition is
expected in the southwest direction.
Fig : 9 Palaeogeological map of SG-III
Fig : 10 Palaeogeological map of SG-IV
The Group IV sediments were deposited in near shore environment
in south western part and fluvial environment in north eastern part
(Fig 10). Beyond the deltaic deposition, an obvious delta front and
prodelta deposition towards seaward direction is expected. But
in the upstream channel direction, fluvial meandering & braided
deposition should have been taken place till it encountered alluvial
fan deposits beyond Baghjan area.
One interesting point in regard to the uppermost sediments of
Lk+Th is that the calcareous nature of the reservoir zone changes
towards the northern part of the study area. If the same trend
continue then possibility of encountering fluvial deposits towards
further north is highly possible. But in shallow marine part delta
front and prodelta deposition could have been a possibility.
Due to data limitation depositional environment of north-west and
southeast of Basement High area can not be evaluated with confidence.
Discussion and Conclusion
It is evident from the above that the depositional setting and
corresponding reservoir quality of Palaeocene /Eocene sediments
of the study area can be identified based on the above study.
Accordingly, the results of the study can be used as a guide for
future exploration.
For Group-I fluvial deposits of mainly meandering origin were
deposited throughout the study area. Therefore, braided and
alluvial fan deposits are expected in N-NE of the study area. On
the other hand, beyond Kathaloni and Bhogpara areas (located
37
towards SW of the study area) possibility of encountering deltaic
deposits with very good reservoir characteristics and further sea
ward delta front deposits of small size structure with good to fair
quality reservoir rock is a distinct possibility (Fig11).
Fig 12 illustrates the depositional setting of Group-II sediments. It
is evident from the figure that fluvial deposits of upstream channel
characteristic should be present beyond Baghjan area towards N/
NE direction. It is inferred that a possible deltaic deposition should
be taken place near the shoreline area. Beyond this area possibility
of encountering delta front and prodelta deposits are expected in
S/SW/SE direction.
Fig : 11 Facies distribution map of SG-I
Fig : 12 Facies distribution map of SG-II
Delta front and Pro-delta deposits dominate the Group-III
sediments, good sediment accumulation with good reservoirs
quality can be expected near the shore line area and further in
the upstream direction. With similar depositional pattern, more
braided and alluvial fan deposits are expected in the N/NE of
Baghjan area (Fig13).
In case of Group IV sediments, deltaic to fluvial (meandering
+ braided ) deposition took place in the entire study area .So,
possibility of encountering fluvial (alluvial fan) deposits of large
size in the upstream direction and in the down stream direction
from the birdfoot delta area, a relatively smaller delta front and
prodelta deposits with variable reservoir quality depositions are
expected. Large unexplored area within the study area where
fluvial channel deposits align along channel course is highly
probable (Fig14).
The overlying sediments of Lk+Th above the Group-IV also show
changes in depositional pattern from shallow marine quiet
environment to fluvial, almost similar in trend to the underlying
sediments of Group-II.
38
Fig : 13 Facies distribution map of SG-III
Fig : 14 Facies distribution map of SG- IV
The study suggests that there has been an increase in fluvial
influence towards north-northeast direction for all groups
including the calcareous group. So possibility of the existence
of large continental deposits having very good reservoir quality
beyond Baghjan area is very high. Large part of area between
Matimekhana/Khagorijan and Baghjan/Barekuri structures remain
unexplored that hold prospects for all groups. In the western part
of the study area small deltafront /prodelta deposits with good
to fair reservoir quality traps is expected ,except for the Group -I
sediments.
Acknowledgement
The authors would like to express their thanks to the Management
of Oil India Limited for permission to publish this paper.
References
O. Catuneanu:Principles of sequence stratigraphy
Kalita K.C, Borgohain B, et.al “ Depositional model of reservoirs of thick
sand group of Lakadong+Therria formation of Dikom horst block and its
future development’’
Deb S. S, Barua I : Depositional environment, reservoir characteristics and
extent of sediments of langpar & lakadong+therria in chabua area of upper
assam basin. SPG Hyderabad 2010
Bharali B, Talukdar B.N: The trend of fracture pressure gradient in parts of
upper Assam Basin: a calculation based on wireline log data.
Deb S. S, Barua I : Langpar and Lakadong+Therria Sediments: Depositional
Setting , Prospectivity and Road Map for Future Exploration.SECONE’09
conference, Guwahati.
Sam Boggs,Jr: Principles of Sedimentology and Stratigraphy
Pre-Stack Amplitude Analysis to Minimize Exploration
Risk in Upper Assam Basin - A Case Study
K.L.Mandal, Rahul Dasgupta
Summary
Seismic attributes are widely used in the industry as Direct
Hydrocarbon Indicator (DHI) for assessing hydrocarbon
prospectivity of pre-drilled locations. Among all the seismic
attributes, amplitude is most commonly used in interpretation.
Vital information related to hydrocarbon presence remains
preserved in amplitudes of pre-stacked seismic data. Judicious
interpretation workflow incorporating amplitude analysis of pre-
stacked seismic data may improve success of hydrocarbon strikes
considerably. An example of such approach is presented as a case
study from operation areas of Oil India Limited (OIL) in Upper
Assam Basin.
In the study area, exploration activities have been carried out since
first commercial hydrocarbon discovery in historic Digboi field.
Hydrocarbons have been found so far mainly in structural traps.
Drilling of wells primarily based on structural interpretation is not
getting success every time. In some places, seismic amplitudes in
post-stack data associated with structural ‘High’ have a correlation
with hydrocarbon accumulation in the structures. Petrophysical
analysis and amplitude response modeling have been carried out
to infer the relations of seismic amplitude with respect to presence
of hydrocarbon. An interpretation workflow is suggested based on
basic amplitude interpretation in a quick-look way that may give
reasonably fair idea about hydrocarbon presence in the pre-drilled
structures when advanced amplitude interpretation is not possible
immediately.
Introduction
Seismic attributes are commonly used in interpretation to predict
possibility of hydrocarbons in pre-drilled prospects. Such attributes
are based on amplitude, phase and frequency of seismic data.
Among all the seismic attributes, amplitude is most commonly
used in interpretation. In post-stack data, anomalous amplitudes
like ‘Bright spot’ & ‘Dim spots’ are considered as seismic attributes
for hydrocarbon detection. The ‘Bright spot’ and ‘Dim spot’ may
not be always due to hydrocarbon presence in the formation.
These anomalies may be caused by some other combination of
velocity-density values in the formation without hydrocarbons
presence (porus Carbonates, shale, coal and low impedance sand
etc.) also.
Vital information related to hydrocarbon presence remains
preserved in amplitudes of pre-stacked seismic data. Therefore,
inner view of the ‘Bright spot’ and ‘Dim spot’ due to hydrocarbon
presence can be investigated properly through AVO (Amplitude
Variation with Offset) analysis of the pre-stack data (CDP gathers).
It yields good results specially for Clastic rocks (sand & shale
formation). In AVO analysis technique, there are three classes of
responses which are most commonly used and these are Class-I
sand type (high impedance sand, very consolidated), Class-II sand
type (near zero impedance contrast sand, acoustic impedance of
gas sand is about equal to that of encasing shales, moderately
consolidated sand) and Class-III sand type (unconsolidated &
low impedance sand, high porosity, usually tertiary or younger in
age).
The AVO technique works well in a condition, when there is a
considerable velocity difference between P-wave and S-wave.
Generally, this happens within depth range of 2500m or so. It
does better if the reservoir sand is sufficiently thick (resolvable by
the seismic). One of the drawbacks of AVO technique is that the
presence of even small amount of gas in wet sand can generate
same kind of responses of 80 percent gas. However during
the interpretation, judicious workflow with logical boundary
conditions can predict hydrocarbon presence in formation with
reasonable certainty. A case study in this regard is presented from
Upper Assam Basin.
The Upper Assam Basin is a poly-cyclic basin. The formations
comprise of predominantly sand & shale alterations of Eocene
to Recent age. Hydrocarbon productions are from Oligocene-
Miocene (Barail, Tipam & Girujan group) and Eocene (Lakadong,
Therria & Langper group) formations. So far, success rate of
hydrocarbon strikes is quite high. But there are some failures.
In some cases, wells drilled at structurally favourable positions
could not strike hydrocarbons. In places, like Makum-Hapjan,
Jaloni-Deohal-Modhuting–Kathalguri area, amplitude anomalies
(‘Bright spot’) in post stack data have a fair match with structural
trend & hydrocarbon occurrences in Oligocene-Miocene group of
formations (Tipam and Barail group). On the other hand, in nearby
block like Chabua-Dikom area, similar type of amplitude anomalies
occurs in Barail & Tipam formations but no hydrocarbons have been
encountered. Even wells drilled in some of the structures within
hydrocarbon producing blocks/area did not strike hydrocarbon.
All these indicate that drilling a location proposed on basis of
structural closure (‘High’) and amplitude anomalies seen in post
stacked data cannot be always successful in finding hydrocarbons.
There are some extra information still left that to be investigated
to ensure higher degree of success.
Towards this aim, a study was carried out to establish relationships
of seismic amplitude to hydrocarbon indication in the formations
and to adopt an easy & feasible interpretation workflow for
studying prospectivity of pre-drilled structures.
Methodology
The mere presence of high amplitude over structural ‘High’ may
not always be related to hydrocarbon presence in the reservoir.
Therefore, to reduce the uncertainty in inferring geologic
information of the reservoir, such as fluid type, lithology & porosity
etc., it was decided to understand such anomalous amplitudes by
AVO analysis both in producing sands and non-producing sands
of the target formations. The following workflow was adopted
before going for routine AVO analysis:
• Analysis of petrophysical properties: Analysis of full-wave
sonic & other log data in various wells to study behavior of
39
 P-wave, S-wave and densities in case of producing wells as
well as in dry wells.
• Validation of AVO behavior in the seismic data at the wells
in regard to hydrocarbon presence and fine tuning of data
processing work flow: Creation of synthetic CDP gathers
(NMO corrected) using well log data for producing sands and
non-producing sands (of the target formations). Thereby,
comparison of these synthetic gathers to that of field data to
see whether the field data shows similar responses or not. A
good match between field data and synthetic gathers ensures
that the field data are correctly processed and can yield true
geologic information. Reviewing of processing workflow until Fig.1: Showing AVO response modelling using Full wave Sonic & density at
a good match is obtained. Makum-20 (Producing well from Barail level). Behaviour of P-wave, S-wave
• To investigate the sand thickness & depth upto which AVO & Density and the Amplitude response at Barail 4th sand level are being
seen within the box. P-wave decreases in producing sand whereas S-wave
study is viable: To investigate maximum thickness of sands of
increases. Class-III sand type AVO response is observed.
the target formations that can be detected in AVO responses.
The S-wave velocity is independent of fluid type present in
the formation. But, same type of AVO responses can occur for
various combinations of S-wave velocities. Therefore, to reduce
uncertainties in finding the most probable geologic conditions of
the reservoir (like fluid type, porosity & lithology etc.) from AVO
responses, the normal trend S-wave in regional scale has been
studied.
After analysis of full-wave sonic data of the wells from various
places like Deohal, Makum-Hapjan, Madhuting, Nahorkatiya &
Moran, the followings have been observed in Barail, Tipam and
Girujan group of formations (Oligocene – Miocene age):
• S-wave velocity of sands is slightly higher than the overlaying Fig.2: Showing AVO response modelling using Full- wave Sonic & density
at NHK-557 (Dry well at Barail level). Behaviour of P-wave, S-wave &
shales for hydrocarbon and as well as water bearing zones.
Density and the Amplitude response at Barail 4th sand level are being seen
• P-wave velocity in hydrocarbon bearing sands decreases in within the box. P-wave & S-wave show same. In observed AVO response,
comparison to that of overlaying shales. Whereas, in water amplitude decreases with offset.
bearing sands it follows similar trend of S-wave. In this region, at around 3000m depth, seismic wavelength (λ) is
• Density of sand (clean sand) is lower than that of overlaying about 175m or so (dominant freq. is 20 Hz) and velocity is 3500m
shales. or so. So, the sand thickness has to be at least λ/8 (≈20m) or so for
being resolved in depth domain. Therefore, for this region, AVO
analysis would yield good results if sands are at least 20m thick.

AVO modeling indicate that we should see Class-III type (negative

reflection coefficient, amplitude increases with offset) AVO
response (‘Bright Spot’) in the seismic data in and around the
hydrocarbon producing wells (Fig.1) and Class-IV type AVO
(negative reflection coefficient, amplitude decreases with offset)
in case of dry wells (Fig.2).
In the Eocene formation, situation is slightly different. The sands are
more consolidated. P-wave velocity of hydrocarbon bearing sand
is higher than the overlaying shales. S-wave in sands is higher than
that of shales. Density of sand is about same as shales, sometimes Fig.3: Showing Makum-20, producing well at Barail level (seen as
it is higher. The formations are deeper and sands are relatively highlighted portion in stack section). Corresponding pre-stack data (CDP
thinner. Detail investigation will be carried out in next phase of gathers) around the well is shown in a separate box (broken line polygon).
this study to find the expected AVO responses & the limitations for Note that there Class-III type AVO response (Amplitude increases with
inferring geologic conditions through amplitude interpretation. offset) for producing zone.

40
However, in course of AVO response modeling in various wells for
Barail & Tipam formation, it has been observed that sands with
minimum thickness of 15m or so can also be identified in AVO
responses at around 3000m depth. But it works better if the depth
range is within 2500m or so. Relatively thin hydrocarbon bearing
sands require detailed AVO modeling and inversion for being
detected when the formations are deeper.
Here, some of the pre-stack data (CDP gathers) from producing
wells and as well as dry wells are presented as examples to display
the AVO effects due to hydrocarbon presence in reservoir sands
where the sands are 10m thick or more and the depths are within
3000m (Fig.3, Fig.4, Fig.5, Fig.6).
All these wells have been drilled in structurally favourable
positions. It is observed that at the producing wells, the pre-stack
data (CDP gathers) shows a particular amplitude variation trend
(Class-III type response: negative reflection coefficient, amplitude
increases with offset) at the reservoir zone. Whereas, at dry wells
no such signatures in CDP gather are occurring. This indicates that
hydrocarbon bearing sands can be identifiable in the pre-stack
data through AVO analysis prior to drilling and hence can minimize
the exploration risk.
Fig.4: Showing Bazaloni-1, producing well at Barail level (seen as highlighted
portion in stack section). Corresponding pre-stack data (CDP gathers)
around the well is shown in a separate box (broken line polygon). Note
that there Class-III type AVO response (Amplitude increases with offset)
for producing zone.
Proposed Interpretation workflow
Implementation
An interpretation workflow is adopted to predict hydrocarbon
presence in structures prior to drilling and this includes:
• Finding out structural closure (‘High’) in the map.
• Carrying out AVO analysis of pre-stack seismic data of the
target zone (reservoir sand) along the profiles passing through
the structures
• Finding out hydrocarbon related AVO responses such as Class-
III/Class-II/Class-I etc. to conclude the possible presence of
hydrocarbons in the structure.
Fig.5: Showing NHK-557, a dry well at Barail level (seen as highlighted
portion in stack section). Corresponding pre-stack data (CDP gathers)
around the well is shown in a separate box (broken line polygon). Note that
AVO response observed (Amplitude decreases with offset) is opposite to
Class-III type which is seen in producing well.
Fig.6: Showing Kasomari-1, a dry well at Barail level (seen as highlighted
portion in stack section). Corresponding pre-stack data (CDP gathers)
around the well is shown in a separate box (broken line polygon). Note that
AVO response observed (Amplitude decreases with offset) is opposite to
Class-III type that is seen in producing well.
The above workflow is based on certain premises of thought that
includes:
• Sands in structural ‘High’ may be filled with either hydrocarbon
or water.
• If the sands are hydrocarbon bearing, there is always a good
chance that lighter hydrocarbon (gas or high GOR oil) tends to
accumulate in crest part of the structure and the water uses
to be in the flank. Lighter hydrocarbon is a compressible fluid,
whereas water is not.
& • Gas-cap or gas-charged oil exhibits some degree of
compressibility and therefore, P-wave is expected to be
slower for these kinds of fluid. S-wave does not get affected
by type of the fluid present in the formation. So, in presence
of gas-cap or high GOR oil, P-wave and S-wave behavior in the
formations do not have same trend; rather P-wave and S-wave
behave oppositely. In case of water presence in formation,
both P-wave and S-wave would behave in similar trend.
• Therefore, AVO response indicating hydrocarbon presence
would be seen in the pre-stacked data (CDP gathers) over
the crest part of the structure. Whereas, at the flank area or
beyond, there would not be such AVO response.
41
• If the structure is water bearing, there would be no
hydrocarbon related AVO responses in the CDP gathers over
the crest of the structure.
Here, an example of doing investigation on hydrocarbon
prospectivity in a pre-drilled structure is presented. Proposed
drilling location, LOC.408 is indentified at a structural ‘High’
in a block (Block-B) which is separated by a major fault from
adjacent block (Block-A). Block-A has numbers of producing wells
and positions of these producing wells are associated with high
amplitude anomaly zone (Fig.7).
Fig.7: Showing LOC.408 in Block-B. LOC.408 is at the structural ‘High’.
LOC.408 is proposed for Barail prospect. Pre-stack amplitude analysis is
done on data of nearby seismic profile B-193
In other side block (Block-C), though there are similar type of
amplitudes in post-stack data as in Block-A, there is no hydrocarbon
encountered in the drilled wells.
Fig.8: Showing proposed well LOC.408 projected on nearby seismic profile
B- 193. The Class-III type AVO response observed in the pres-stack data at
Barail level in shown inside the box (broken line box)
Therefore, the hydrocarbon prospectivity of LOC.408 is to be
investigated prior to drilling. A seismic profile passing nearby the
LOC.408 is selected to see inside views of the amplitude anomaly
in pre-stack data through AVO analysis. We should see Class-III
type AVO response in the data in case of hydrocarbon presence.
42
Therefore, most simple & commonly used AVO analysis method
(Intercept - Gradient analysis and cross-plot) is applied. Analysis
of the data (Fig.8) indicates that there is a good possibility of
hydrocarbon presence in LOC.408.
Conclusion:
• In Oligocene-Miocene formations (Barail, Tipam & Girujans
group), extraction of geologic information from seismic
through AVO analysis is quite feasible. Field seismic data
contains AVO information that may be successfully utilized to
forecast presence of hydrocarbons in pre-drilled structure.
• Structural ‘High’ and ‘Bright spot’ type amplitude seen in post-
stack data may not help always in minimizing the chances of
dry wells.
• The suggested interpretation work flow is for a very basic
amplitude interpretation in a quick-look way that may give
reasonably fair idea about hydrocarbon presence in pre-drilled
structure when more advanced amplitude interpretation
(detailed AVO modeling & joint pre-stack inversion) is not
possible immediately.
• This methodology is useful specially for exploratory type of
wells in sand-shale formations to minimize exploration risk.
• The findings in the study will be very helpful in building up
further confidence in interpreting seismic data of Barail, Tipam
and Girujan formations, where depth are within 3000m or so
and the sands are at least 15m thick.
• The suggested interpretation workflow is even applicable
for locating of by-passed/un-swept oil in old fields like
Nahorkatiya, Jorajan, Hapjan-Kathalguri etc. where the sands
are shallow and have sufficient thickness.
Acknowledgement
Authors are thankful to OIL INDIA LIMITED for granting permission
to publish this work. Special thanks to Shri T. Borgohain for his
inputs & suggestions in this work.
References
Fred J. Hilterman, ‘Seismic Amplitude Interpretation’, 2001 Distinguished
Instructor Short Course Series, No-4, SEG.
Brian H. Russell, ‘AVO and Inversion’, A course presented to SPG, Mumbai,
India, January 5-6, 2002
Fact File
Growing rocks
Iron-manganese crusts grow on mountains
under the sea. The crusts precipitate material
slowly from seawater, growing about 1
millimeter every million years. Our fingernails
grow about the same amount every two
weeks.
Who finds Oil?
D.K. Deka
“Where oil is first found is in the minds of men” --- Wallace Pratt.
The discovery of commercial oil in a well drilled in Titusville,
Pennsylvania by Colonel E.L. Drake in the year 1859 marked an
epoch in the modern petroleum history. This was the beginning
of the never ending journey for oil search which continues today.
More and more oil fields have since been discovered through out
the globe, and today petroleum forms the lifeline of the modern
civilization.
Despite the advancement in the technology and enrichment in
knowledge and experience, oil search still is an uncertain and
eluding business. It requires some inherent human qualities to
be an effective oil finder besides the competency in the science
and technology. The great oil finders therefore, have long stressed
developing such qualities like positive thinking, visualization,
creativity, motivation, flexibility etc. among the oil finders. Due
to these human qualities successful oil finders have separate
identities among the crowds of the other oil finders. Oil searching
is sometimes said to be a gambling and depends upon a bit of luck.
But the effective oil finders create the luck through their skills and
intelligence. Luck is what others call an oil finder’s skill.
It is true that successful oil finders are always positive thinking
people. There is a saying “Negative thinkers do not find oil”.
Wallace Pratt (1885- 1981), a pioneer U.S petroleum geologist
who was known as the ‘Grand Old Man of Exploration’ and one of
the founders of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists
(AAPG) said “Where no one any longer believes that more oil is
left to be found, no more oil fields will be discovered, but so long
as a single oil finder remains with a mental vision of a new oil field
to cherish, along with freedom and incentive to explore, just so
long new oil fields may continue to be discovered”. Half glass full
—attitude of the positive thinking people leads the success in the
uncertainties of finding of oil.
Creativity is another important ingredient in oil exploration.
All discoveries begin with a creative idea, a random thought
that enters someone’s head. It is defined in exploration as the
ability to look at the same data that everyone else has but to
see something different. It involves looking at data from several
different perspectives, thinking out of the “Box” and honoring the
established facts. Professor Parke Atherton Dickey (1910—1995),
Fact File
Minerals known to exist
There are roughly 4,000 known minerals, although only about 200 are of major importance. Approximately 50-
100 new minerals are described each year.
an eminent petroleum geologist and Head of the Earth Science
Department, Tulsa University, in his paper on ‘Oil Found With Ideas’
said “We usually find oil in a new place with old ideas. Sometimes,
we find oil in an old place with new idea, but we seldom find much
oil in old place with an old idea. Several times in the past we have
thought that we were running out of oil, when actually we were
running out of ideas”. The discovery of commercially producible
natural gas from shale formation in the late nineteen is a recent
example of creative thinking. It is observed that sometimes
discoveries were not made as much by those whose ideas were
innately mature but by those who had confidence to follow
through with their new creative ideas.
We all know that geology which has its greatest application in
petroleum exploration is a visual science. Visualization simply
means the power of vivid imagination controlled by facts. It
involves developing of creativeness through visual thinking.
Wallace Pratt once said in his paper “One indispensable attribute
of the oil finder is vision. If it is in the mind of the geologist or
oil finder that new fields first take form, then discovery must wait
on our mental visualization---our imagination”. To make insightful
observation and visualize more imaginative concept is a virtue for
an effective oil finder.
Motivation in exploration comes from the thrill of discovery and
deep satisfaction of finding something valuable for the betterment
of the mankind. The great petroleum geologist who were effective
at finding oil were deeply self motivated and had a great desire to
find new oil which droves them to constantly seek the victory both
for themselves and for the people around them.
Flexibility, sometimes also called adaptability is a quality of
authentic openness to others about one’s ideas and actions.
Effective oil finder openly admits their mistake if the concept
or ideas goes wrong and without loosing their focus are flexible
enough in adopting new ideas or challenges. ‘Failure is the pillar of
success’ outlook of an effective oil finder drives him to improve his
performance for meeting the challenge.
Therefore, successful exploration results when technology and
intelligence along with the human qualities are applied to the task
of finding oil and gas.
43
 -------------Unconformity------------------
Heavy Oil–A Challenge to Upper unit has thin pebble
bed containing granite, basalt,

Produce the Unproducible dolerite, chert and quartzite

embedded in a red clayey matrix

Permo-Triassic
Lower unit has red yellow and grey

Mesozoic
(With reference to OIL’s Heavy oil field in Bap-Badhaura calcareous clay stone with inter beds
Fm of light grey siltstone and occasional
Baghewala of Bikaner-Nagaur Basin)
sandstone conglomerate containing
Pallav Borgohain pebbles and grains of dolomite, chert,
quartz, and sandstone cemented in
pink to brown sandy matrix
The world’s heavy oil and oil sand reserves are equal to remaining
conventional oil reserves. Producing heavy oil reserves at Upper part comprises dolostone/

Upper Cambrian
economically viable cost is a recognized industry imperative. Heavy dolomite (occasionally anhydritic with
oil and oil sand production relies on many of the same drilling, Upper Carbonate minor inter beds of grey claystones.
Fm Lower part comprises of inter-bedded
evaluation, completion, production and intervention technologies
dolostone, reddish brown, grey
and techniques applied to production of conventional reserves. claystone and siltstones.
But the E&P operator developing a heavy oil field has some

Paleozoic
Sandstone , sandstone with gypsum
unique technical challenges to address, such as high temperatures Nagaur Fm
veins. Silt stone , claystone,

Lower Cambrian
associated with thermal recovery, lifting of high viscosity crude, -------------Gradational Contract---------
formation integrity, sand control, produced water and solid
Dolomite/ Limestone. Clay, Anhydrite

Marwar Supergroup
management etc. HEG
and Potash Salts.
OIL discovered heavy oil in well BGW # 1 in 1991 on Baghewala
Bilara Fm Dolomite,Dolomitic limestone,cherty
structure in Bikaner-Nagaur Basin. This discovery was first of its limestone and stromatolites limestone
kind in the country in very older rocks of Infra-Cambrian age.
Infracambrian Jodhpur Fm Light brown to buff and grey colored
Proterozoic

Initial production testing in Baghewala structure gave in-flow of

heavy oil. However, OIL’s attempts to produce heavy oil by using coarse-medium grained sandstone
,gritty to pebbly with interbeds of light
conventional technique are yet to be successful.
grey dolomite.
Structural Setting of Baghewala Field: ----------------Unconformity-------------
Baghewala structure is a well developed elongated faulted anticline Malani
Precambrian

and trend along NE-SW with an areal extent of about 20 sqkm. The volcanic Suite Malani Rhyolite , Volcanoclastics.
structure is well developed in all stratigraphic levels within Infra- Ajabgarh slate and phyllite
Delhi
Cambrian to Lower Palaeozoic. (refer Figure-1 & Table-1). Supergroup

Figure-1
Geology & Oil Occurrences of Baghewala Field in
Bikaner-Nagaur Basin:
Presence of heavy oil was found in mainly Proterozoic and Paleozoic
deposits. The potential reservoirs in Baghewala Field are Jodhpur
(about 1080-1240 m depth), Lower Bilara (about 1020-1180 m
depth) and Upper Carbonate reservoirs (about 470-600 m depth).
Jodhpur Sandstone Reservoir: Jodhpur Sandstone reservoir has
been interpreted as transgresive deposits, including tidal flats/
Table-1:Generalised Stratigraphy of Bikaner - Nagaur Basin channels and incised fluvial channels. The oil accumulation in
Jodhpur Formation can be seen in several cores. The Fluvial/tidal
Group/ influenced-channel facies exhibit better reservoir characteristics in
Age Lithology
Formation
general (refer Figure-2).
Quaternary

Recent
Aeolian sand, alluvium, kankar, grit, Figure-2
Pleistocene gravel and clay

––Unconformity––
Marh Fm Poorly sorted ferruginous sandstone
with clay with plant remains and
Lower Palana Fm siltstone.
Tertiary

Paleocene Carboneceous shales , lignite, grey

Lower Eocene and yellow sandstone with occasional
limestone (rich in marine fossils at
Palana) and clay.

44
Bilara Reservoir: Bilara reservior has two defined intervals: the
lower one has good reservoir characteristics. Conventional cores
have been recovered in two wells, and its lithology consists mainly
of dolomitic/ anhydritic sandstones and sandy dolomites. They
represent the upper part of the transgressive pulse of the first
4th order sequence in the Baghewala´s area. The following HST
characterizes the Upper Bilara as a carbonatic (dolomitic) unit,
with poor reservoir properties (refer Figure-3).
Upper Carbonate Group: Upper Carbonate Group has been
subdivided into fourteen genetic units (UC1 to UC14), Upper
Carbonate genetic units, from UC12 to UC14 are more representative
of “still-stand” conditions in which accommodation rate is close to
1:1; in these case, stacking of intertidal to supratidal environments
are to be expected, with several to many opportunities of being
subaerially exposed and to have enhanced secondary porosities
(refer Figure-5)

Figure-5
Figure-3
Characteristics of Baghewala Heavy oil
Hanserian Evaporite Group: The Hanseran Group is defined Baghewala-A Baghewala-B
in two parts: lower part is an evaporitic, restricted sea during a Specific Gravity @60°F 0.9679 0.9229
LST, producing a thick halite rich interval, and the upper part is API Gravity @ 60°F 14.7° 21.8°
the beginning of the 3rd order sequence TST that culminates in a Pour Point ° C 27° 21°
MFS just in the middle of Nagaur Formation. Hanseran Group has a Viscosity at 50°C 26600 cp 21530 cp
heterolithic character, and has been subdivided in two formation- Water content, % Vol. 0.7 0.7
rank informal sub-units: the lower one has no recovered cores Salt content, % wt. NIL NIL
and it is supposed to be of “halite high-content”, as interpreted Sulphur total, % wt. 3 0.91
by petrophysical properties. Upper Hanserian is predominantly
Wax content %wt 4.6 1.62
siliciclastic and anhydritic. The related environments point to
Resin content %wt 12.5 14.48
a low-energy, clastic rim retrograding the restricted, lowstand
Asphaltene, % wt. 7 4.06
isolated sea (refer Figure-4).
BHT, ° C 42 60
OIL’s Approach to experimental production of heavy oil: Oil
India has made an attempt to produce heavy oil from Bitumen
bearing Upper Carbonate reservoir in joint collaboration with M/s.
PVDSA, Venezuela by drilling a vertical Pilot well with Cyclic Steam
Injection. However, the project could not be completed due to
surface and subsurface completion failures and leakage of steam
as very high temperatures associated with Cyclic Steam Injection.
Presently Oil India is in the process of engaging internationally
Figure-4 reputed consultant for drilling, completion & steam injection of
another high angle deviated well (Pilot-2) down to Jodhpur &
HANSERAN EVAPORITE GROUP has no oil staining in the cores of Bilara reservoir for experimental production of heavy oil by Cyclic
Steam injection.
BGW-1. On the other hand, being the Lower half an almost pure
evaporite, it could be serve as a local seal and source for the Conclusion: It is worthwhile to mention that, 25 MMT OIIP (heavy
anhydrite occluding the original pores in the siliciclastics of the oil) is present in Jodhpur Sandstone & Bilara dolostone reservoirs
upper part. and 53 MMT Bitumen is present in Upper Carbonate reservoir of
Baghewala field. More over, exploratory efforts are on to discover
Nagaur Group: Nagaur Formation is part of the prograding wedge oil/gas from OIL operated NELP blocks in and around Baghewala
of the second third order sequence, its parasequences or genetic area. To continue future exploration in the region and to exploit
units are typically coarsening upward styles, and depending the huge reserves, which are locked up for long time in Baghewala,
upon the maximum depth of the MFS, they could represent from a suitable technology is needed to exploit those reserves. Recently
prodeltaic lobes and plains, to high frequency lowstand incised cold production of heavy oil is successfully established by OIL in
valleys/channels and related deposits. Top of Nagaur Formation limited scale.
is clearly defined considering the sudden change to carbonate
In view of presence of reserves present in the area, it is necessary to
deposition, while the highstand begins to stabilise and regional
put all our best efforts and a economically viable and environment
topography is plain enough to avoid rapid entrance of clastics to friendly technology to put in place for exploitation of the heavy oil.
the inner neritic and coastal environments. No oil shows have If these attempts become successful, OIL will become the pioneer
been reported from Nagaur Group so far. of heavy oil production in the country.

45
ABSOLUTE OPEN FLOW POTENTIAL VARIATION with
reservoir pressure and porosity – permeability in various
sand groups by the use of back pressure equation
Yomdo S , Kumar M , Dutta S
Abstract
Absolute Open Flow Potential can be defined as the maximum
flow rate a well could theoretically deliver with zero pressure at
the middle of the perforations. The term is commonly abbreviated
as AOFP or OFP.
AOFP is directly dependent on Reservoir Pressure (Pr) and indirectly
on gas properties, such as viscosity, compressibility factor, and
reservoir properties, such as permeability, temperature, formation
thickness, external boundary radius, and wellbore radius.
AOFP can be measured by three methods:
Back Pressure Equation, Quadratic Equation and Pseudo Pressure.
Amongst the three methods, Back Pressure Equation is most
widely used method for calculating AOFP. Pseudo Pressure method
is considered to be more accurate where there is substantial
variation in wellbore pressure. Here the Back Pressure Equation is
used for AOFP calculation.
Methodology
AOFP is determined by following methods.
• Back Pressure Equation
• Quadratic Equation
• Pseudo Pressure
Back Pressure Equation:
This equation gives a correlation between gas flow rate, reservoir
pressure and wellbore flowing pressure.
The equation can be written as:
Log(Pr2-Pwf2) = (1/n) Log(Q) - (1/n) LogC
A log-log plot of Log(Pr2-Pwf2) versus Log(Q) should give a straight
line whose slope is 1/n. C = performance constant for the well. This
factor depends on gas properties, such as viscosity, compressibility
factor, and reservoir properties, such as permeability, temperature,
formation thickness, external boundary radius, and wellbore radius.
n represents ‘exponent’, the range of values for the exponent ‘n’ in
the above equation varies between 0.5 and 1.0, (approaching 1.0
for laminar flow and 0.5 for turbulent flow condition).
Quadratic Equation:
This is a quadratic equation in terms of flow rate, and can be
presented as:
46
Deliverability Equation :
Pr2 - Pwf2 = a* Q2 + b Q
{Pr2 - Pwf2}/Q = a* Q + b
It can be seen that a plot of Pr2 - Pwf2/Q vs Q should give a straight
line slope of which is given by a. AOFP (Qmax) is obtained by above
equation by substituting Pwf=0.
Pseudo Pressure:
In order to incorporate the changes that occur in gas properties
with pressure, pseudopressure or real gas potential concept as
originally defined by Al-Hussainy and Ramey (1966) is defined as:
Where pb is an arbitrary base pressure, and the p’s in parentheses
indicate that ψ, μg, and z are all functions of pressure.
In Back pressure equation, C and n values obtained assumed to be
constants are in reality functions of such properties as viscosity,
temperature, gas compressibility factor, reservoir permeability,
net pay thickness, wellbore damage, wellbore radius, drainage
radius, skin value, turbulence, and tortuosity of pores. If these
factors do not change appreciably during the producing period of
the field, the same inflow performance plot may be used for the
life of the well. In practice, the gas properties usually change with
pressure and so do n and C. Pseudo pressure corresponding to
each pressure is obtained which is denoted by m(p).
m(Pr) – m(Pwf) = a.Q2+b.Q
a.Q2+b.Q + m(Pwf) - m (pr) =0
A plot of m(pr)-m(pwf)/Q vs Q is plotted. Slope and intercept is
found as a and b, respectively. AOFP (Qmax) is obtained by the
above equation by substituting Pwf=0.
AOFP Analysis
Eighteen wells where AOFPT was carried out have been selected
for the analysis. (viz, WELL-1, WELL-2, WELL-3, WELL-4, WELL-5,
WELL-6, WELL-7, WELL-8, WELL-9, WELL-10, WELL-11, WELL-12,
WELL-13, WELL-14 WELL-15, WELL-16, WELL-17 and WELL-18).
AOFP variation with Reservoir Pressure, Porosity and Permeability
is tabulated in Annexure-I.
With the help of tabulated results and plots, an attempt was made
to characterize the variation in AOFP with porosity, permeability
and reservoir pressure of various sand groups of the gas wells. A
summary of results has been tabulated in Table-1 given below.
 Well De- 0.1 MMSCMD and only WELL-8 shows much higher value (3.68
Perme- Reservoir MMSCMD). Otherwise the values are consistent with reservoir
Sand AOFP liverability Porosity
ability Pressure permeability.
Group MMSCMD (0.30xAOFP) (%)
(mD) (ksc)
(MMSCMD) LK+Th Sand Group: AOFP value in LK+TH sand group in Well
Girujan 0.04-0.21 0.01-0.06 0.4-12.0 19-23 72-117 WELL-15 is 0.23 MMSCMD which is consistent with variation of
Tipam 0.81-2.78 0.24-0.83 13-282.5 18 179-225 reservoir permeability.
Barail 0.07-3.68 0.02-1.10 0.6-75 15-25 247-387 Langpar Sand Group: AOFP value in Langpar sand group varies
LK+TH 0.23 0.07 0.5 20 395 from 0.42 to 2.71 MMSCMD which is consistent with variation of
Langpar 0.42-2.72 0.13-0.82 38-87 12 387-422 reservoir permeability.
Table-1: AOFP Variation with Various Parameters Porosity Analysis: A plot of AOFP & Deliverability has been
Using the interpretation results of each well, three correlations analyzed against Porosity, which is presented in Figure-2.
were made among (a) AOFP and permeability; (b) AOFP and
porosity; (c) AOFP, permeability and reservoir pressure for different
sand groups. (Well Deliverability has been considered as 30 % of
AOFP).
From Table-1 above, following conclusions can be drawn w.r.t.
AOFP variation.
If flow rate is more, then turbulence may occur leading to reduction
of the exponent (n) at value less than 1, which will reduce AOFP.
Flow rate can be increased without making the flow turbulent by
increasing wellbore radius and perforated Interval. Sands with
higher initial Reservoir Pressure (Pr) tends to increase AOFP, since
AOFP is directly proportional to Pr (AOFP α Pr). AOFP is directly
proportional to gas permeability (AOFP α Kg) as compressibility Figure-2: AOFP variation with Porosity
& viscosity doesn’t vary much in a range of pressure. External From Figure-2, following conclusions can be drawn:
Boundary Radius is dependent on extent of the reservoir. A
Girujan Sand Group: AOFP value in Girujan sand Group varies from
combination of above parameter may increase or decrease AOFP.
0.04 to 0.21 MMSCMD which is consistent with porosity variation
From the above data, it can be concluded that a combination of
(since permeability is less).
High Reservoir Pressure (Pr) and Low Gas Permeability (Kg) and
Vice-Versa may reduce the value of AOFP. Tipam Sand Group: AOFP value in Tipam sand group is consistent
with Reservoir Porosity. Hence the well deliverability is also less.
Interpretation Barail Sand Group: AOFP values in Barail sand Group are less as
Permeability Analysis: A plot of AOFP & Deliverability has been compared to the porosity values (exception in WELL-8), which may
analyzed against gas Permeability derived from well test results, be due to less permeability in the wells.
which is presented in Figure-1. LK+Th Sand Group: AOFP value in LK+TH sand group in Well
WELL-15 is 0.23 MMSCMD which is consistent with variation of
Reservoir Porosity.
Langpar Sand Group: AOFP value in Langpar sand group varies
from 0.42 to 2.71 MMSCMD which is consistent with variation
of Reservoir Porosity.
Reservoir Pressure Analysis: A plot of AOFP & Deliverability has
been analyzed against Reservoir Pressure, which is presented in
Figure-3.

Figure-1: AOFP Variation with Permeability

From Figure-1, following conclusions can be drawn:
Girujan Sand Group: AOFP value in Girujan sand Group varies
from 0.04 to 0.21 MMSCMD which is consistent with variation of
permeability.
Tipam Sand Group: AOFP value in Tipam sand group is consistent
with reservoir permeability. Higher value of AOFP (2.77 MMSCMD)
in WELL-18 compared to other two wells may be attributed towards
high value of permeability (282.5 mD).
Barail Sand Group: In Nine (9) out of Ten (10) wells, AOFP is below
Figure-3: AOFP variation with Reservoir Pressure

47
From Figure-3 following conclusions can be drawn.
Girujan Sand Group: AOFP value in Girujan sand Group varies
from 0.04 to 0.21 MMSCMD & permeability value varies between
0.4 to 12 mD. A combination of high reservoir pressure and low
permeability tends to reduce AOFP.
Tipam Sand Group: AOFP value in Tipam sand group is consistent
with reservoir pressure and permeability. Higher value of AOFP
(2.77 MMSCMD) in WELL-18 compared to other two wells may be
attributed towards high value of permeability (282.5 mD).
Barail Sand Group: In Nine (9) out of Ten (10) wells, AOFP is below
0.1 MMSCMD and only WELL-8 shows much higher value (3.68
MMSCMD). Otherwise the values are consistent with reservoir
pressure and permeability.
LK+Th Sand Group: AOFP value in LK+TH sand group in well
WELL-15 is 0.23 MMSCMD which is consistent with low value of
permeability & high reservoir pressure.
Langpar Sand Group: AOFP value in Langpar sand group varies
from 0.42 to MMSCMD which is consistent with permeability &
reservoir pressure.
Conclusion
Maximum deliverability will occur when the reservoir pressure
(Pr) is a maximum and the sandface pressure (Pwf) is a minimum.
For a given sandface pressure, deliverability will decrease as the
reservoir pressure is reduced through depletion. The reservoir
characteristics of each well are different; therefore, each well must
be tested to determine its unique ability to produce.
The controlling surface pressure will depend on operating pressure
of pipeline to which the gas is delivered & pressure losses in
the gathering system and well-bore. If gas is delivered to high
pipeline pressure, without compressing it above pipeline pressure,
deliverability will reduce due to higher surface pressure.
Methods of analyzing gas well/reservoir performance in current
use in OIL are generally based on equations for the flow of ideal
gases under small pressure gradients used by Back pressure
Equation. This equation fails to describe the behavior of low
permeability gas reservoirs producing under high draw-down. In
such cases, real gas pseudo-pressure should be used which do not
require the assumption of small pressure gradients everywhere
in the flow system. As explained above, gas properties changes
with larger variation in pressure. Real gas pseudo-pressure can
be conveniently used for quicker and more realistic gas well test
analysis.

Annexure-I
AOFP-Back
Sand pressure Deliverability Permeability Porosity
Well No Date Equation Pr (Psi) Pr (ksc)
Major (md) (%)
MMScmd
Well 1A 01-11-1982 Barail 0.0716 0.0215 0.6 22 5164 361
Well 1B 01-11-1982 Barail 0.0886 0.0266 1 22 5541 387
Well 2 18-07-2005 Barail 0.0824 0.0247 1.46 18 4454 311
Well 3 21-11-1981 Barail 0.1501 0.045 2.5 20 4922 344
Well 4A 07-08-1977 Barail 0.2549 0.0765 1 15 4604 322
Well 4B 04-04-1988 Barail 0.2736 0.0821 1.66 20 4397 307
Well 5 09-08-1978 Barail 0.2888 0.0866 7 15 4660 326
Well 6 23-05-2009 Barail 0.3087 0.0926 75 18 3981 278
Well 7 23-05-2009 Barail 0.3922 0.1177 25 25 4073 285
Well 8 17-11-1976 Barail 3.6812 1.1044 28 20 3525 247
Well 9A 23-06-1984 Girujan 0.2124 0.0637 2.6 22 1678 117
Well 9B 08-08-2008 Girujan 0.0394 0.0118 0.406 22 1353 95
Well 10 01-08-2008 Girujan 0.0422 0.0127 11.96 20 1031 72
Well 11 08-08-2008 Girujan 0.077 0.023 3.12 19 1362 95
Well 12 01-08-2008 Girujan 0.1529 0.0459 4.8 23 1388 97
Well 13 01-09-2006 Langpar 0.4199 0.126 38 18 5527 387
Well 14 01-05-2003 Langpar 2.7196 0.8159 87 12 6042 422
Well 15 01-01-1982 LK+TH 0.2322 0.0697 0.5 20 - 395
Well 16 11-12-1979 Tipam 0.807 0.2421 20 18 2837 198
Well 17 05-07-1977 Tipam 0.8212 0.2464 13 20 3216 225
Well 18 23-05-2009 Tipam 2.777 0.8331 282.5 18 2555 179

48
Oil Thief
Sasanka Sekhar Deb
It was morning 7:20 AM, Biplab was 20 minutes late for office. On
reaching the office, he saw his immediate boss in a foul mood. He
presumed the reason for his boss’ foul mood was his late coming
that morning and felt a little awkward to face him. However,
the boss wished him back normally to his good morning wish.
Therefore, the reason for his boss’s bad mood was certainly not for
his late arrival. Once seated in his office room, he started thinking
‘’What possibly could have gone wrong?”. The reason could have
been due to technical or operational reason only. Meanwhile,
he saw Ranjan & Koushik (Junior) scurrying about with bunch
of papers and files in their hands which was a bit unusual in the
morning. Biplab decided to check the well report first then enquire
the reason for his boss’s mood later.
Kring, kring..............the telephone rang. On picking up the phone,
his boss’s was on the line and called him, ‘’Biplab come with
Jorajan well no-XYZ, log, file etc. to my room immediately’’. Now
he could sense the reason for the situation this morning. There
was a logging job yesterday in that well and something undesired
must have happened there. Then, he called Ranjan and Koushik
who were in the adjacent room and told them ‘‘Come immediately
to my room with all logs and data of Jorajan well XYZ !’’. However,
Ranjan and Koushik told him that they have been searching those
files for the last 15 minutes but could not find them. Biplab told
them ‘’Everything was here till yesterday afternoon. Where is the
working file of Jorajan well XYZ”? “The working file is missing sir”,
replied Koushik. Biplab thought “How can it vanish like that during
the night from my table?” These were common occurrences
during the last few years. Whenever any critical situation arises,
everybody wants to have first hand information about the well. As
a result, the working file becomes the first casualty.
Then, Biplab realized that the working file had to be with any one
of his bosses. Since his immediate boss was searching the file it
might be with Top boss, the GM. He went to the GM’s room to
enquire about the file. There Biplab saw that he was busy with
some papers. “Good morning Sir’’ may I come in?” asked Biplab.
“Good morning Biplab. Please come in” replied GM. He asked
Biplab “what happen to Jorajan well No-XYZ, 10m oil pay zone is
missing in the log recorded yesterday.” “Let me check the entire
data sir” replied Biplab. He thought that he was being lucky this
morning because it appeared that the GM already knew about
the case of the missing 10m pay sand. Had he been asked simply
about status of Jorajan-XYZ, then Biplab would have been in a very
awkward situation.
Biplab told the GM “Sir, actually I am looking for the working file of
Jorajan well XYZ. I thought that it might be with you”. “May be, it
is there in my side table. Last night I had gone through these data”
replied the General Manager. Then, Biplab saw the file in the GM’s
side table. Therefore, with GM’s permission he picked up the file
and went to his room. Biplab called Koushik and Ranjan to his room
along with all documents of well Jorajan XYZ. He knew that many
a time, mistakes were committed in the very basic information of
a well. He went to his immediate boss’s room. His boss asked him,
“Have you collected all the information for Jorajan well XYZ”? “Yes
sir” replied Biplab.
Biplab and his boss checked all the data thoroughly but were
unable to make a match with earlier logs. The 10m oil pay zone
observed in logs taken earlier was missing in the current log.
Everyone was clueless as to what happened to the 10m pay zone.
Therefore, they decided to carry out a repeat logging job as was
no other way to ascertain what happened to the 10m pay sand. In
the meeting, the GM informed about what happened. Every body
in the meeting started telling “How it could be possible”. “Who
has stolen the oil zone”? Few members were even laughing with a
doubtful expression directed towards my top boss. Therefore, my
top boss requested in the meeting to repeat the logging job in the
well Jorajan XYZ and meanwhile, we would analyze the reason for
such happening.
Next morning, a new set of log was made available, but still the
10m oil zone was missing. The meeting that followed was in
complete chaos. Few members even suggested going for detailed
enquiry into the entire episode. After a lot of deliberation, it
was decided to carry out the job again using the services of an
international company. By now it was apparent that the members
doubted the efficiency of our in-house logging capabilities. The
logs of international company were also made available in the
next morning. However, there was no significant improvement
in data quality. The missing oil zone still refused to appear in the
logs. Everyone in the meeting had lost the hope of ever seeing the
missing oil zone in that particular well. The common question in
everyone’s mind was “Who is the oil thief”. Pressure mounted on
Biplab and his immediate boss to submit a detailed report citing the
possible reasons for the missing oil zone. Biplab started searching
old files to collect some clues for preparing the final report. During
this time, he found a familiar symbol in an old map which gave him
a ray of hope. As he started searching other files also, the reason
for the case of missing oil zone became clearer. He now realized
where the possible mistake laid and talked to his immediate boss
regarding his findings.
Both of them went to GM’s room with enough data to support
their findings. It so happened that there was another well about
50 m away from the well in the same plinth. Therefore, it was a
possible that the wrong well was logged assuming it to be the
well XYZ. The GM informed the new findings to the concerned
department. However, his counterpart was not at all convinced and
was not ready to accept his suggestion. After repeated requests he
agreed to log the second well, which, according to him, was a futile
exercise. After few days, when the new set of log from the second
well was available, all doubts were erased. The actual well logged
earlier was not the target well number XYZ. This way the case of
the elusive oil zone was solved.
‘’Sometimes, small human error can have great implications.’’
49

Geochemical Prospecting for
Oil and Gas - A Case study
from Northeast India
T.Satish Kumar, G.B. Gilfellon and G.K.Sharma
Abstract
This paper presents surface geochemical prospecting as an
exploration tool, which uses adsorbed soil gas technique as a
direct method to explore the hydrocarbons. These techniques are
premise that light hydrocarbons (C1 – C4) migrate upward vertically
along micro-fractures, joints and bedding planes from subsurface
petroleum accumulations and get adsorbed in the near surface
soil matrix. These near surface anomalies provide clues on the
nature and composition of sub-surface petroleum occurrences
and help to demarcate the anomalous hydrocarbon zones in the
basins. Anomalous concentrations of light hydrocarbons detected
at the surface are always real seeps, since active flux is necessary
to overcome near surface interfering effects.
Mizoram is a geologically complex area with repeated folding
and thrusting coupled with steep sub-surface dips of the strata
and located in the Northeastern part of India. Therefore, seismic
interpretation alone may not be able to reduce the risks of
exploration. Surface geochemical studies is carried out in order to
raise the confidence level of seismic interpretation and to reduce
the risks of hydrocarbon exploration. Soil core samples were
collected and have been analyzed for light hydrocarbon gases (C1-
C4) by using the technique of adsorbed gas analysis. The results
reveal that the light hydrocarbon gases are genetically related and
might have been generated from a thermogenic source because
of the presence of C2 & C3 components. The stable carbon isotope
signatures of individual hydrocarbon components indicate the
gas generated from thermogenic source. Based on geochemical
studies (light hydrocarbon and isotopic studies), shows NNE, NNW,
Westpart of Serchhip area and southern part of Aizwal in study
area, prospect zones for future hydrocarbon exploration.
This paper describes the applications of SGP studies in different
exploration stages and a case study on Mizoram. Mizoram is a
geologically complex area, which is situated in Northeast India.
Geophysical exploration methods can identify suitable structures
for hydrocarbon accumulation but may not actually provide the
information whether the structures are hydrocarbon bearing
or not. Therefore, SGP methods (both direct and indirect) can
successfully detect the surface anomalies of hydrocarbons,
which give the evidence of their occurrence in the subsurface.
This method can be integrated with geological and geophysical
methods to evaluate the hydrocarbon prospect of an area and to
prioritize the drilling locations, thereby reducing drilling risks and
achieving higher success in petroleum exploration.
Basics of surface soil gas surveys
The soil gas survey is to collect and measure minute concentrations
(microseeps) of light hydrocarbons (methane-C1, ethane-C2,
propane-C3, and butane-C4) found in the void spaces of near-
surface soils that overlie subsurface petroleum reservoirs. These
gases are the lightest and most volatile constituents in crude oil,
condensate, and natural gas reservoirs, and because of these
characteristics are the most important components to quantify
and map. A most important requirement for mapping these
natural seeps is that the laboratory analytical instruments must
have the capability to detect very low concentrations, in the parts
per billion (ppb) ranges, for C1-C4.
Soil gas surveys may be used at any stage of exploration in a
petroleum basin – whether in the frontier stage of an unexplored
basin or in the development stage of a mature basin. An excellent
summary that illustrates the variety of different stages in the
application of soil gas geochemistry has been discussed by
Boleneus,1994 (Figure.1).

Introduction
Surface geochemical prospecting (SGP) has been used in
hydrocarbon exploration as a pathfinder to guide more expensive
exploration methods (Horvitz, 1969; Eventov, 2000) ever since
its introduction by the pioneer works of Laubmeyer (1933) and
Sokolov (1933). SGP is the search for chemically identifiable
surface or near-surface occurrences of hydrocarbons and their
alteration products, which serve as clues to the location of
undiscovered oil and gas accumulation. This method is based on
the concept of micro/macro seepages of volatile and semi-volatile
hydrocarbons to the surface from hydrocarbon accumulations at
depth. Microseepages are invisible and can be recognized by the
presence of anomalous concentrations of light hydrocarbons in
the near surface soils/sediments. These near surface anomalies
provide clues on the nature and composition of sub-surface
petroleum occurrences and help to demarcate the anomalous
hydrocarbon zones in the basins (Jones and Drodz, 1983; Klusman, Fig.1 Applications for surface geochemical surveys in different stages
1993; Tedesco, 1995). (Boleneus David, 1994)

50
Soil gas surveys may be classified as reconnaissance, detailed, mainly geosynclinal molasse sediments of Neogene age comprising
regional, or local. Regional surface geochemical soil gas surveys a poorly fossiliferous succession of alternating shales, mudstones,
may be conducted at any stage in basin exploration – frontier, siltstones and sandstones (Ganguly, 1983). The sediments are
semi-mature, or mature. Local soil gas surveys have been used folded into a series of N-S trending longitudinal plunging anticlines
in the exploitation or development stages of a play or field. Soil and synclines.
gas surveys have also been documented to be beneficial during
The succession in Mizoram has been lithostratigraphically
the secondary recovery efforts in a particular field much like the
subdivided into Barail, Surma and Tipam groups. The Barails are
current employment of 3-D and 4-D seismic surveys for these
predominantly shales and siltstones with bands of weathered,
purposes. Reconnaissance surveys are typically employed in the
medium grained yellowish sandstones. The Surma group, which
frontier or semi-mature exploration stages of a basin. There is less
overlies the Barail group with a clearly defined unconformity is
justification for a reconnaissance survey in a mature basin. Because
mainly argillaceous in nature and comprises shale, mudstone,
reconnaissance soil gas surveys are the least costly exploration
siltstone and sandstone in varying proportions. This Group
technique, they should be applied in series fashion with the more
is subdivided into a lower Bhuban subgroup, which is mainly
costly exploration techniques (gravity, magnetic, reconnaissance
arenaceous and an upper Bokabil subgroup, which is argillaceous
2-D seismic) following later. Detailed soil gas surveys are used
in nature. The Tipam Group conformably overlies the Bokabils and
in later exploration stages to acquire additional exploration
comprises sandstones with clay bands.
information in areas of interest delineated by a reconnaissance
survey. Detailed soil gas surveys are typically applied in a parallel Numerous surface and subsurface manifestations of natural gas,
fashion with other exploration methods (wildcat wells, detailed occurrence of commercial gas fields in the neighboring areas of
2-D seismic grids, 3-D seismic). Bangladesh and a favorable geological history indicate the existence
of conditions conducive to petroleum generation. On the basis of
An additional benefit of soil gas surveys is the capability to
geological and geochemical studies, it has been surmised that
differentiate (using compositional ratios) between oil-prone or
there are good prospects for striking gas in the relatively shallower
gas-prone fairways in a particular concession or basin or whether
horizons and both oil and gas in the deeper horizons in several
certain areas are thermally over-mature or immature. The concept
structures (Ganguly, 1983).
and application of compositional ratios has been discussed in
detail by Jones and Drozd (1983) and Jones et al. (2000). Methods and Results
A total of 780 soil core samples were collected in the depth range
A Case Study – Mizoram of 2.0 & 2.5 meters from the dry holes along the seismic shot points
Geology of the Mizoram at 50m intervals. Samples were subjected to Gas Chromatograph
(GC) and Compound Specific Isotopic analysis the results of which
Mizoram is a part of Assam Arakan basin (Figure.2) and an area are described below:
of folded sediments and is characterized by westerly convex and
sinuous structural ridges and valleys. The geomorphology of the Light Hydrocarbon studies:
region is typified by a succession of hill ranges and valleys. The Light gaseous hydrocarbons were extracted from the soil samples
sediments in the region range in age from Upper Cretaceous to using a gas extraction system (Horvitz 1981). Chemical compositions
Recent and acquire a thickness of about 10 km. The region exposes of methane (C1), ethane (C2), propane (C3), i-butane (iC4), n-butane
(nC4) have been measured by GC using flame ionization detector
(GC-FID). The detection limit of GC-FID is reported to be ±1 ppb.
The adsorbed soil gas analysis shows high to moderate
concentrations of C1, C2, C3, moderate to low concentration of iC4
and nC4 (Table-1).The C1 is characterized by 100% of samples and
C2, C3, C4 and C2+ are characteristic of 98%, 94%, 57% and 98% of
samples, respectively. Histograms show poly-modal distribution
with positive skewness, which is a normal geochemical signature
in surface geochemical prospect.
Table.1: Statistics for individual Soil Gas Constituents (in ppb).
C1 C2 C3 iC4 nC4 ∑C4 ∑C2+
Mean 195.68 29.03 13.28 1.94 0.42 2.36 44.72
Median 179.83 24.23 10.73 1.12 0.00 1.14 38.47
Std. Dev. 105.25 19.48 10.00 4.32 1.66 5.17 30.75
Skewness 0.72 0.85 0.85 8.09 7.49 6.55 0.84
Range 581.77 103.57 53.45 71.82 23.36 75.50 182.15
Minimum 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Maximum 581.77 103.57 53.45 71.82 23.36 75.50 182.15
Pearson correlation coefficients are prepared to identify the
Fig.2: Tectonic Map of Assam- Arakan Basin with the study area, Mizoram.

51
geochemical behavior between two compounds. The inter- Carbon Isotopic studies:
correlations were quantified as correlation coefficients and these
Isotopic composition of gases extracted from the adsorbed soil
are presented in Table-2. Pearson correlation coefficient shows
gas C1, C2 & C3 were measured using GC-C-IRMS. δ13C values are
that good correlation exists among methane, ethane, propane. It is
reported in the δ notation in parts per thousand deviations,
indicating that i) these hydrocarbons are genetically related; ii) are
relative to PDB standard. Carbon isotope studies (13C/12C) have
not affected by secondary alteration during their migration from
contributed widely in identification of organic source materials.
subsurface to subsequent adsorption on to the surface soil, and iii)
These studies are also useful in understanding the influence of
might have been generated from a thermogenic source because of
migration, recognition of bacterial degradation. The presence of
the presence of C2 & C3 components.
specific compounds (δ13C1, δ13C2 and δ13C3) and particular molecular
Table.2: Pearson correlation coefficient between C1 - ∑C2+ (C1, C2, C3 and C4) distribution patterns are employed in source
C1 C2 C3 C4 C2+ identification of hydrocarbons. In this study area, carbon isotope
of methane is shown on the thermogenic field in the Bernard
C1 1.00
diagram (Figure.4). Generally, carbon isotopes of methane, ethane
C2 0.88 1.00 and propane show δ13C1 < δ13C2 < δ13C3 a trend in natural gas. The
C3 0.85 0.92 1.00 present studies show a deviation from this trend and the presence
C4 0.28 0.28 0.20 1.00 of propane isotopically lighter than methane suggests that the soil
0.88 0.98 0.94 0.42 1.00 gases have suffered partial oxidation which has led to isotopically
C2+
heavier methane (Satish,2009). Carbon isotopic ratios of methane,
The hydrocarbon composition trend C1>C2>C3>C4 in the study area ethane and propane indicate the thermogenic source of light
indicates the petroliferous nature of microseeps. The various ratios hydrocarbons in this study area. Prominent signatures of carbon
(C1/C2, C1/C3, C2/C3 & C1/C4) are within the threshold value in large isotopes have been observed in the western part as compared to
percentages in the study area and suggest that the soil gases are the northern part of Serchhip in the study area.
derived by microseepage from subsurface oil pools. Composition
of soil gas hydrocarbons interpretation guidelines indicates that
a majority of the samples are in the oil and condensate zones.
Pixler (1969) defined the compositional signatures displayed by
methane to ethane (C1/C2); methane to propane ratios (C1/C3) to
determine the geochemical signature (oil, oil/gas, gas). Based on
the Pixler plots a majority of samples belongs to the condensate
& oil zones.
The magnitudes and compositions of the near-surface soil gases
were used to delineate the anomalous seepage and in some cases
to constrain the source or sources of the light hydrocarbons. The
anomaly maps are prepared by using mean and standard deviation.
Anomaly distribution maps show the promising prospect areas
near to Serchhip and Aizwal for future hydrocarbon exploration Fig.4: Carbon isotope ratios of methane and molecular ratios indicate
(Figure-3). This anomaly indicates that light hydrocarbons seepages thermogenic gases (Bernard, 1978)
are probably fault related.
Conclusions
Surface geochemical prospecting can be used at any stage in basin
and to reduce the risks of hydrocarbon exploration. Based on the
geochemical signatures in the Mizoram area, there are reports
of active gas seeps at various places. Correlation between light
hydrocarbons is indicating that i) these hydrocarbons are genetically
related; ii) are not affected by secondary alteration during their
migration from subsurface to subsequent adsorption on to the
surface soil and iii) might have been generated from a thermogenic
source because of the presence of higher hydrocarbons (C2+)
components. Statistical and correlations are showing that most of
the samples belong to condensate and oil zone. Carbon isotopic
studies are also indicating that the soil gases are generated from
the thermogenic source. This studies are suggested that the
prospect area is in the western part compared to the northern part
of Serchhip in the study area for future hydrocarbon exploration.

Acknowledgement
The authors are grateful to the management of Oil India Limited
Fig.3: Anomaly distribution map of C2+ for permission to submit this paper for publication.

52
References
Bernard, B. B., Brooks, J. M., and Sackett, W. M., 1978. Light hydrocarbons
in recent 227 Texas continental shelf and slope sediments: Journal of
Geophysical Research, v. 228 83, p. 4053– 4061.
Boleneus, David, 1994, Guidelines for surface geochemical surveying, Oil &
Gas Jour., June 6, v. 92, p. 59-64.
Eventov, L., 2000, The nature and interpretation of geophysical and
geochemical anomalies over oil and gas fields: The Leading Edge, v. 19, p.
488-490.
Ganguly, S. (1983), Geology and Hydrocarbon Prospects of Tripura-Cachar-
Mizoram Region, Petroliferous Basins of India, p. 105-109.
Horvitz, L. (1939) On geochemical prospecting. Geophysics, v. 4, p. 210-
228.
Jones, V.T. and Drozd, R.J. (1983) Predictions of Oil or Gas Potential By Near
Surface Geochemistry. AAPG Bull., v.67, no. 6, p.932-952.
Klusman, R. W. (1993) Soil Gas and Related Methods for Natural Resource
Exploration. John Wiley & Sons, England, p. 473.
Laubmeyer, G. (1933) A new geophysical prospecting method: Zeistshrift
for Petroleum, v. 29, no. 18, p. 1-4.
Sokolov, V. A. (1933) The gas survey as a method of prospecting for oil and
gas formations: Technika, NGRI No. 1.
Satish Kumar,T. (2009) Soil geochemical studies for hydrocarbon exploration
in western part of Tapi graben, Deccan Syneclise. PhD thesis.
Tedesco, S.A. (1995) Surface Geochemistry in Hydrocarbon Exploration.
Chapman & Hall, New York, 206 p.

Fact File

Longest Pipeline
The United States of America has the largest oil pipeline system in the world, with nearly 200,000 miles of
pipeline.

Highest gas production

In 2009 the US surpassed Russia to become the number one gas producer in the world.

Largest producers of methane gas in animal kingdom

Termites are the number one producer of methane gas in the animal kingdom.

Crude oil Reserve

Saudi Arabia has proven crude oil reserve of 264.6 billion barrel which is 19.8% of world’s share. India’s share at
5.8 billion barrel is 0.4% of world’s total proven reserve.

Consumption of crude oil

India consumed 3.8% of total world crude oil consumption during 2009.

53
Success of Secondary Cementation and its Effect on Production
& Development of the Field in Sapkaint Area, Upper Assam:
A Case Study
Jayant Kumar Singh

Abstract
Well No. A-1 in Sapkaint area of Upper Assam Basin had been
drilled to probe the hydrocarbon prospect within Tipam (Miocene
age) and Barail (Oligocene age) Formations as primary and
secondary targets, respectively. The well was completed as an
oil producer in June 2007. Initial poor isolation behind the casing
and then production of oil at high rate in this well led to isolation
failure behind the casing against the perforated zone. This resulted
in increased in water production and finally, the well produced
only formation water. Poor isolation behind the casing against
producing zone had been diagnosed using cement evaluation log
in assistance with production log. Therefore, isolation was repaired
using cement squeeze method and the well was recompleted as
clean oil producer within 3350-m Lower Tipam sand. The case
study of the well No. A-1 and the benefits of the cement squeeze
method for repairing isolation failure have been presented in this
paper.
Introduction
The well no. A-1 was drilled as a deviated well from the cluster
plinth of well no. A-2 to probe hydrocarbon prospect within Tipam
and Barail Formation respectively in Sapkaint structure (Figure-1).
The well had penetrated the normal succession of sedimentary
beds. The well was initially completed in the 3350-m Lower Tipam
Sand (Miocene age), which was overall fine to medium grained
sandstone (perforation ranges 3351 – 3357 m & 3363 – 3369 m).
During testing, the well initially displaced/produced oil in slugs
at the rate around 17 klpd. Production behaviour of the well
gradually improved with increase in flow rate as well as oil content
to a maximum level of 72 klpd oil with 4 klpd of water through 5
mm bean with FTHP of 49 kg/cm2 (700 psi). A production logging
survey (Figure-2) indicated that the major contribution to flow was
Figure-2 (Production downlog @ 12 m/min)
from the lower set of perforations, and only the top 1 m of the
upper set of perforations was contributing to flow. Further, initial
CBL-VDL log indicated that there was poor bonding against the
lower set of perforations as well as below the perforations, down
to the oil-water contact. There was also indication of possible
channelling behind the casing.
The well was shut-in in the last part of November 2007 due to
choking of flow line from flow-arm bean to steam jacket. Prior
to shut-in, the well was producing 52 klpd oil with 4 klpd water.
When the well was reopened the next day after clearing of
restrictions, it failed to flow. It was then enlivened by NPU and
the well was diverted to production tank, where it self-flowed
sluggishly with 100% water (salinity – 5400 ppm, bicarbonate –
183 ppm, pH – 7.0). Subsequently, the well produced only water
despite prolonged and vigorous unloading with NPU. Finally, the
well was shut-in due to continuous water production. Prior to shut
in, the well was producing only water. (salinity – 5900 ppm, HCO3
– 183 ppm, pH – 6.5). Subsequently, the well had been taken for
workover in May 2008.

Workover operations and remedy

To know the cement bonding of the well, a Cement evaluation
log (Figure-3) was recorded which indicated poor isolation

Figure-1 Figure-3 (CBL-VDL log before cement squeeze)

54
against the producing sand ranges. The well was perforated in the
range 3373.5 – 3375.5 m using 4” HSC gun for cement squeeze
purpose. Open ended tubing was run-in down to 3350 m and a
cumulative 88 bbls was flowed back with NPU. The well was then
reverse circulated and 300 m of water column was placed against
the open perforations. The OE tubing was further run-in down to
3575 m and high viscous pill was placed in the range 3575 – 3383
m. Subsequently, 120 gals (weight 115 pounds per cubic feet) of
cement slurry was squeezed against the open perforations. The
open ended tubing was pulled back to 3336 m and the well was
shut in with 1500 psi pressure. After waiting on cement, pressure
test was carried out at surface pressure of 500 psi for ½ hour and
found pressure holding. Excess cement was drilled down to 3388 m
and well was circulated with high viscous pill. Thereafter followed Figure-5 (Well Completion Diagram)
by a rotovert trip another cement evaluation log (figure-4) was
recorded which indicated improvement in cement bonding against Results
the sand ranges (a well completion diagram, Figure-5, has been The well was completed with hydraulic packer with GLVs with
incorporated to understand the operations). packer depth at 3217 m. Then the well was perforated within same
3350-m Lower Tipam Sand in the range 3357-3363 m & 3363-3369
m. After unloading 125 bbls of well fluid with gas lift assistance, oil
appeared in the flow. Chemical sample analysis showed oil: 99%
(API gravity: 32.4°) and water: 1%. Since then the well is on regular
production (clean oil) till date.

Conclusion
A gain in oil production had been observed after isolation repair
using cement squeeze method. Significant amount of oil production
from this well will recover well cost and finally become profitable
to Oil India Limited. Enlivening of this well as oil producer after
remedy had saved cost of a well which would have been drilled
as a replacement well to probe unswept oil within Lower Tipam
sand. Also, gain in oil production from this discovery well will
help in further development of the field which would have been
understood as limited reservoir in case of water production. This
Figure-4 (CBL-VDL log after cement squeeze)
method can be used in wells in Upper Assam Basin, which have
similar production behaviour as well in other part of the world
with similar kind of geological setting.

Fact File
Most prolific reservoir
Arab-D carbonate (Upper Jurassic age) of Ghawar oilfield is the most prolific reservoir in the world producing
5 million barrel of 30-31° API oil per day. The reservoir is more than 60 m thick, porosity more than 15% and
permeability of several darcies. The vertical seal is more than 30 m thick Arab C-D anhydrite.

Swatch of no Ground
Swatch of no Ground is a trough-shaped 5 to 7 km wide marine valley or canyon that cross the continental shelf
and situated on the south of the Ganges-Brahmaputra delta. The Swatch of no Ground is believed to continue
seaward for almost 2,000 km down the Bay of bengal in the form of fan valleys with levees.

55
UNDER BALANCED DRILLING-A Feasibility Study On
OIL’s Operational Areas
Dipjyoti Deka

The difficulties experienced while using conventional overbalanced different types of reservoir fluids and wells of different hole sizes.
drilling (OBD) methods have encouraged operators to seek for However, these criteria are not inherent limitations. Rather, it is
newer techniques. One such widely used technique now a days the formation pressures, stability, production potential and other
is ‘under balanced drilling’ (UBD). In 1994, the Alberta Energy factors, when evaluated from a technical and economic standpoint,
Utilities Board Interim Directive defined UBD operations as follows: that determine whether a candidate is a good prospect.
‘When the hydrostatic head of a drilling fluid is intentionally
There are four main techniques to achieve underbalance, including
designed to be lower than the pressure in the formations being
using lightweight drilling fluids, gas injection down the drill pipe,
drilled, the operation is considered underbalanced drilling’. This
gas injection through a parasite string and foam injection. A
method, if applied properly and in the appropriate circumstances,
less common underbalanced application, nitrogen foam is less
also benefit the reservoir by minimizing reservoir damage as
damaging to reserves that exhibit water sensitivities.
compared to conventional overbalanced techniques. In UBD, as
the well is being drilled, formation fluid flows into the well bore Advantages:
and up to the surface. This is the opposite of the usual situation,
where the well bore is kept at a pressure above the formation to 1) It eliminates formation damage by maintaining an underbalanced
prevent formation fluid entering the well. In such a conventional state until the well becomes productive, thereby preventing mud
‘overbalanced’ well, the invasion of fluid is considered a kick, and invasion into the formation.
if the well is not shut-in it can lead to a blowout, a dangerous 2) It increase Rate of Penetration (ROP). With less pressure at
situation. In underbalanced drilling, however, there is a ‘rotating the bottom of the wellbore, it is easier for the drill bit to cut and
head’ at the surface - essentially a seal that diverts produced fluids remove rock.
to a separator while allowing the drill string to continue rotating.
3) Large amounts of mud may be lost before a proper mud cake
Another term MPD (managed pressure drilling) is used to forms. If the well is drilled underbalanced, mud will not enter the
include techniques that were fully underbalanced with influx to formation and the problem of lost circulation can be avoided.
the surface, as well as methods called ‘low-head’ and ‘at-balance’ 4) Differential sticking occurs when the drill pipe is pressed against
drilling in which the bottom-hole pressure is kept marginally above the wellbore wall so that part of the circumference of the pipe
or approximately equal to the reservoir pressure. More recently, becomes stuck to the wall requiring thousands of pounds of force
the IADC has defined MPD as ‘an adaptive drilling process used to to remove and may even prove impossible. Since the reservoir
precisely control the annular profile throughout the wellbore. The pressure is greater than the wellbore pressure in UBD, the pipe is
objectives are to ascertain the down hole pressure-environment pushed away from the walls, eliminating differential sticking.
limits and to manage the annular-pressure profile accordingly’.
5) Additionally, underbalanced drilling extends the life of the drill
Some debate still remains in the industry as to what bit because the drilling gases cool the bit quickly while removing
constitutes UBD and MPD. However, this article proposes that the cuttings.
differentiation between UBD and MPD be made based on whether
the target bottom hole circulating pressure is intentionally
maintained below the pore pressure throughout the open hole
section (UBD), or equal to or marginally above pore pressure for
all or most of the open hole section (MPD). An added proviso is
that the objective of MPD is to preclude influx from the formation
during the drilling operation, while the opposite occurs with UBD.
Each technique has its place, and the best applicable solution will
depend on the problems anticipated. MPD cannot match UBD in
terms of minimizing formation damage, allowing characterization
of the reservoir or identifying productive zones that were not
evident when using OBD. However, when the objective is to mitigate
drilling problems, MPD can often be as effective as UBD, with the
added advantage of being more economically viable. MPD is also
preferable where wellbore instability is a concern, where there are
safety concerns due to high H2S release rates or where there are
regulations prohibiting flaring or production while drilling. Both
techniques have been applied in many formations containing Fig.1: Conventional OB Drilling

56

Fig.2: UB Drilling
Disadvantages
1) It is usually more expensive than conventional drilling.
2) When combustible and corrosive gasses are injected into the
drilling mud to lower its density, many safety issues come into
consideration.
3) UBD requires the underbalanced condition to be continuously
maintained during operations - which can be difficult when the
drillstring needs to be removed to change a bit, or if the flow must
stop in order to allow mud pulse telemetry to be sent.
4) Information such as bottom hole pressure as well as information
for geosteering if it is a deviated is frequently needed from the
bottom of the well.
5) When gas is injected into drilling mud, standard mud pulse
telemetry becomes impossible. “Killing” the well (making it
overbalanced) may be necessary to send information, inducing
formation damage.
In spite of its many benefits, UBD has not been embraced by the
industry as widely or as readily as might have been expected. This
reluctance has been due in part to additional equipment rental
costs compared with conventional drilling, and in some cases
regulations limit flaring or production while drilling. Moreover,
there can be resistance to new technologies as they require
additional effort to learn and implement, and there is a perceived
risk of failure when implementing new technologies compared
with using more familiar methods.
Under Balanced Drilling in OIL
As a part of upgradation and advancement in drilling technologies,
UBD technique was decided to be introduced and a feasibility
study on the producing reservoirs of Nahorkatiya, Jaipur, Dikom-
Madarkhat and Makum-Hapjan Area of Upper Assam Basin was
taken up with M/s Weatherford. Of the selected reservoirs/
sands following were delineated for screening which are again
categorized into three groups:
GROUP RESERVOIR/SAND BLOCK
NHK 11D+ 18
Group-1 NHK Barail 3rd Sand NHK 17+ 128D
NHK 79D+180D
NHK 383
Jaipur Tipam Lower Sand
Group-2 NHK 260D
Jaipur Tipam Upper Sand NHK 265D
Dikom-Madarkhat Lk+Th Sand NHK 438
Group-3
Makum-North Hapjan Barail 4th +5th Sand MKM 1
A ‘Suitable Underbalance Reservoir Study’ (SURE) was carried out
under Phase-I using Reservoir Screening Tool. Various data of the
different wells were collected to run their software which in turn
gives the proper screening of suitability of the reservoirs. Data
collected from OIL included biostratigraphic, borehole stability,
capillary pressure, side wall core, formation tops, drive index,
economics, palynological correlations, drilling data, workover
data, XRD data etc.
On the basis of Phase-I study, Group-1 and Group-2 were found
to be poor candidates for UBD due to moderate risk of borehole
stability and high susceptibility to damage. Hence the reservoirs
under these two groups were overruled for horizontal UB drilling.
On the other hand, Group-3 was ranked as the most suitable
reservoirs for application of UBD and out of the two reservoirs in
this group, Barail 4th+ 5th Sand reservoir of Makum-North Hapjan
was considered to be the most favourable. This is because of the
following reasons:
1. Thick and fairly homogeneous nature of the sand.
2. Suitable formation pressure.
3. Horizontal wells are already planned to be drilled in this
reservoir.
Based on the above, it was decided to carry out a second phase of
study in the Barail 4th + 5th Sand reservoir of Makum-North Hapjan.
The purpose of this phase of study was Reservoir Damage Analysis
(RDA) to provide insight about additional formation damage
mechanism and impact on reservoir productivity which were not
included in Phase-I. Also to design underbalance operations for
drilling ‘S’- bend, horizontal wells and horizontal re-entry. M/s
Weatherford collected geological, reservoir, production and drilling
data and integrated them to come to a conclusion regarding how
to proceed in different phases of drilling of underbalance well in
this reservoir.
Study results showed that this reservoir is not favourable for
vertical or ‘S’-Bend wells due to its long open hole section but is
good for horizontal UB drilling using proper gasified fluid system
(eg. Crude oil, N2 gas). However some additional surface as well as
subsurface equipments would be required.
It is thus concluded that a properly drilled UB well would give
marginal gain in production (~ 6%) with respect to a properly
drilled OB well but there would not be significant improvement
in the economic value for production in this reservoir. However,
adopting UBD in horizontal wells would help to reduce formation
damage and thereby improve production.
Reference
OIL’s internal reports.
57
Face to Face took until 1889, twenty plus years, to discover Digboi, the first
commercial accumulation.

An interaction with • Many companies worldwide are having difficulty in replacing

reserves, particularly through exploration. What could be the
Mr. W. Norman Kent probable solution?
There are as many answers as there are companies with
Trailukya Borgohain
difficulties. However, companies with strong exploration
philosophies are more successful than those without. A
W. Norman Kent has a BS in Geology from the University of Arizona
strong exploration philosophy requires an appreciation of the
and an MSc in Geology from Northern Arizona University. He has
necessary risks and the effort required. It also includes an
more than thirty five years experience in exploration petroleum
understanding that people find oil, and the people that are
geology with projects in the United States, Canada, Newfoundland,
more successful are a mix of an organized detective and a
Morocco, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Turkey, India and China. He has
creative tinkerer, inventor and problem solver.
contributed to significant discoveries in Alaska and India. His
publications include articles on structural geology and hydrocarbon There are no work flows or template methods for scheduling
exploration in the AAPG Bulletin, GeoArabia, the Journal of Marine discoveries, and most corporations have an inability to
and Petroleum Geology and the Oil and understand this simple fact.
Gas Journal. He is the owner and principle
• Do you think we have more
interpreter for Kent GeoScience Associates,
a geological consultancy that provides “A strong exploration hydrocarbon resources in ultra deep
reservoirs and ultra-deep water and
exploration assistance to petroleum philosophy requires producible in the future?
companies working in areas with complex
geology and difficult data acquisition. His
an appreciati on of the
I do not know, and after thirty five
technical papers “Application of a ramp/ necessary risks and years I have found this is easier to say, and
flat fault model to interpretation of the the effort required” I admit it more often. I do not work in the
Naga thrust and possible implications for deep water environment, so I cannot offer
petroleum exploration along the Naga thrust - W. Norman Kent even a guess that part of the question.
front” and “Structural evolution in response On the ultra deep reservoir part to the
to fold and thrust belt tectonics in northern question, there are certainly chemical
Assam, A key to hydrocarbon exploration in criteria that set the maximum depth limit for hydrocarbon
the Jaipur anticline area” published in AAPG Bulletin and Journal occurrences. However, I think that the oil industry is now
of Marine and Petroleum Geology respectively signify his in-depth considerably behind the mineral industry in understanding
study of the Assam-Arakan Petroleum province. Mr. Kent speaks subsurface organic and inorganic chemistry and how they are
to Trailukya Borgohain of editorial board of “Vortex” about issues interrelated.
related to hydrocarbon exploration, petroleum systems, major
changes taking place in the industry, future of exploration etc. • Do you think non-conventional hydrocarbon exploration need
Here is the excerpt of the interview: to be focused more in the coming years?

• How do you visualize future of exploration? The average API gravity of oil shipped to the world’s refineries
has been declining in recent years. Obviously, we will continue
Because resources have a power function distribution, that is, the to use more and lower quality reserves and will be required to
number of small accumulations is orders of magnitude greater add unconventional resources to meet the rising demand for
than number of the largest energy.
ones, major discoveries
in established areas will • You are involved in
continue to decline. The exploration in oil and gas for
number of frontier areas is about four decades. What
also diminishing. However, major changes / milestones
exploration has never been have you observed in
easy. From hindsight, we explorati on worldwide?
may think that it must have Describing the incredible rapid
a lot easier back when. advances in the understanding
One only has to look at of earth processes would yield
the Upper Assam Valley as a long and incomplete paper.
an example. Oil seep had A most significant milestone
been reported here since would be the discovery of sea
the 1820’s. So when the floor spreading and the hasty
industry took off in the late evolution of this discovery
1860’s, this was an obvious into Plate Tectonic Theory
place to look. Despite the with the subsequent broader
drilling of numerous wells, it understanding of the earth’s

58
 evolution that resulted. The Plate Tectonic Theory creates a
basement substratum for our understanding of where and
how ore mineral deposits and hydrocarbon accumulations
form.
If the question relates to the process of exploration, then the
advent of the personal computer has most drastically changed
the daily activity of the geoscientist. The arrival of this powerful
tool might be a “desktop index fossil” for the late 1980’s. Just as
the hand held calculator was the demise of the slide rule, this
machine caused the disappearance of secretaries, a revolution
in office procedures, and sometimes, I think, a diminished
ability for independent thought.
• What is your idea of petroleum systems? Can we apply similar
analogies of petroleum systems for diverse basins?
Evidence that I have seen has convinced me that Petroleum
systems like other natural systems have an active duration
or a “life span”. I cannot take credit for originating the idea.
I first encountered the idea while working on the relationship
between hydrothermal lead-zinc deposits and oil generation
and migration. This paper was on fluid inclusion data that
indicated the active migration period of the petroleum system
in the Illinois Basin. Subsequently, I found another key paper
which provides the duration of activity of a number of petroleum
systems worldwide. These two papers and evidence that I have
encountered in many parts of the world have convinced me that
petroleum systems are dynamic rather than static. Had I been
prepared for this interview I would have insured my ability to
provide that reference.
I believe that understanding the creation, evolution and
destruction of petroleum systems is essential to exploration.
These ideas are also vastly different from the currently popular
petroleum system or total petroleum system which envisions a
“critical point” in the timing of a petroleum system after which
processes become stagnant. The differences are between a
static system and a dynamic system model. One only has to
look at the Assam Valley to see an area with very dynamic
petroleum systems.
• Many countries are establishing camps in Antarctica. One
of the main reasons, people say, is potential hydrocarbon
resources. Do you think we will be able to exploit these
resources without disturbing the environment?
The Heisenberg uncertainty principle is the best model; very
generally stated, you can’t observe something without changing
it. The question is always, is the cost worth the reward. Our
children will have to answer this question in very generation
that humans exist.
• Your suggestions for the young geoscientists!
My suggestion is for the young people to volunteer for every
chance to go to a drilling well or to a seismic acquisition crew.
Spend time in the field and get to know the rocks. To quote one
of your guests from Geological Survey of India that I met here
recently, “you need to be a hammer geologist before trying
to be a computer geologist”. With this idea, I am in complete
agreement. One must remember that we are trying to solve
problems of rocks by using models of rocks, rather than solving
problems of computer models.
One final comment is that there are many new problems to
solve and discoveries to be made. The task has never been easy,
but the study of geology can be a rich and rewarding career.
• Lastly, do you think we have enough resources for the next
100 years?
This is a difficult question, How much will be “enough”. Our
present attitude seems to be that “there will always be more,
that is what more means”. If the world continues to consume
resources at an increasing rate, and if population continues to
grow unrestricted, then certainly there will not be sufficient
amounts of fresh water, hydrocarbons and other critical
resources for everyone to have basic necessities. However,
there is the opportunity to become better stewards of our
environment.

Humour
During the early telecast days of Indian Television, very often the programme stops midway and a message used
to pop up in our TV screen which read as follows :
1. In Hindi – Rukhawat Ke leyi khed hain.
2. In English – Sorry for the interruption.
Therefore, in line with the Hindi version above, a Geologist would have said something like this in case of a dry
well drilled.
In Hindi – Suhkawat Ke leyi khed hain.
In line with the English version above, a Geophysicist would have said something like this in case of a dry well
drilled.
In English - Sorry for the interpretation.

59
Remembrance of Baghjan Discovery
K. Buragohain
Expectation is always high from a newly drilled well but if it is an the operation was carried out. Next day early in the morning,
exploratory well then it becomes double, triple and so on. We, geologists gathered at SGDO’s room to study the logs. Meanwhile,
geologists are more concerned about the first hand information of both resistivity and density logging jobs were over and the logs
a drilling well–the fluorescence. Yes, it is the duty of a test geologist reached Duliajan. All the G&R officials became excited envisioning
to see and note the fluorescence carefully. But to see fluorescence a new discovery. The junior people had to wait for a long time to
in 2-3 m sands and that too from the depth of a 4-5 km below have a look at the logs of the sensational discovery.
surface is really a very difficult job.
This was the first day since Baghjan field has been drawing
It was in 1993 when the Baghjan-1 was drilled for Eocene prospect. attention of all Oilindians. Later on, drilling continued down to the
Decision was taken to look after this well from the Talap Camp Basement and all possible logs were recorded. One positive point
near Dumduma township. We heard that it was 22 km from was that there was no downhole problem encountered and drilling
Dumduma township towards north and very near to Dibru river. was completed smoothly till Basement. Nearly 30m was drilled
An environmentally disturbed area, I feared to work there as a test within Basement to explore any hydrocarbon in it. The then DGM
geologist. But I took the challenge and had faith on me that I would (G&R) B N Talukdar arranged a meeting in the lawn with sweets
be able to handle any kind of problem. Drilling was continued to share the joy with all G&R personnel that Baghjan field had
smoothly after cementation of 9.5/8” casing. On encountering been discovered with a high potential reservoir of hydrocarbon.
Lakadong+Therria (Lk+Th) formation, we got fluorescence, mostly That day I still remember as I happened to be the test geologist
bluish white except very few oil fluorescence was observed at that well.
towards bottom. Confusion prevailed whether this well would be a
On testing the bottommost sand within Langpar Formation, the
dry well or not. As a thumb role, in every exploratory well, we want
well produced gas @ 0.727 MMSCFD and light oil @ 4 klpd with
to probe down to top of the Basement to probe all the Tertiaries.
FTHP of 310 kg/cm². Due to presence of gas in this sand this sand
But after drilling Lk+Th and Langpar, we got some new sediment
was plugged back and the higher up Lk+Th sand was tested and
that were unique in character as they were not encountered in
this sand also produced gas and fluid @ 3.5 klpd with FTHP 300
any well so far drilled in Upper Assam Basin. Later, it was found in
kg/cm². As mentioned above, a special type of shale was observed
some of the wells around it. Basement formation was not easily
just above the Basement. These shales were dark coffee brown in
encountered and hence it was decided to take an Open Hole (OH)
color, very hard, compact and needle shaped in nature (thickness
survey.
5 mm, length 30-40 mm). There were no intervening sand or coal
It was HLSA (Halliburton Logging Services of Asia) who was bands within this massive shale band. It draws further study in
entrusted to carry out the OH survey on that very special day. At near future for further oil exploration. Further drilling in the area
around 7 PM, the well became ready and accordingly the DLL tool proved that this band was not continuous throughout the area.
was lowered slowly. Bibeka Saikia, the then SGDO accompanied
A thick sand about 15-20 m was observed in many wells without
me to attend the job. So, in that way I was somewhat relaxed. I
hydrocarbon within the Lk+Th Formation while exploring Eocene
remember we took few black peppers to have tea at night and
in Makum, Borhapjan and Hapjan areas. It was presumed that
the remaining amount we used in evening at our Duliajan office.
this sand might be hydrocarbon bearing and could not be
The part I still remember was during the month of January under
proved until Baghjan discovery. Later on, this sand was proved
dense fog, while encountering Lk+Th formation, the DLL tool - the
with hydrocarbon in many wells like Barekuri, South Chandmari
resistivity showed more than 2000 Ohm-m. We got surprised to
and Mechaki area. It is worthwhile to mention that Mechaki-2
see the behavior of the log. Silence continued for few moments
is the deepest oil well drilled (5610m) in Assam and probably is
and gradually the tool reached the bottom. We advised the logging
the deepest drilled onshore well in India. Both oil and gas were
engineer (Sreedhar Kadate) to continue the repeat log covering
successfully established in this well.
entire high resistivity part.
So far 10 wells have been drilled for further E&D of the field and
We did not discuss anything in the logging truck. The Logging
each well has established presence of hydrocarbons. But most of
engineer told that OIL was getting a big discovery. We got down
the wells are gas bearing. As of today, this field is producing nearly
from the truck and went to Geological Bunk House straightway
900 klpd of oil. The gas might be used for future gas requirement
and closed the door so that no third person could hear our
of OIL. Northern and Southern flanks of Baghjan field seem to be
discussion. We observed that there was more than 80 m pay with
more prolific from the occurrence of hydrocarbon point of view in
high resistivity. We were excited as we were the first two persons
near future. In this way, the Baghjan discovery was a historic event
to witness such a discovery. Immediately, we communicated to
in OIL’s journey in hydrocarbon exploration in Upper Assam Basin
g
B R Bharali and J K Borgohain p
under whose direct supervision, ,
and a memorable event in my career.

Fact File
Reserve life: Iraq and Canada have the highest estimated hydrocarbon reserve life (reserve to production
ratio) of 150 and 149 years respectively at present production level.

60
Nature Unleashes Her
Fury-Some of the Worst
Natural Disasters of the
Millennium
Saqueba Samin
The first decade of the new Millennium has seen a number of
unparalled disasters, whether natural or man-made. Below is a
chronological account of some of the major natural disasters with
a look into their root causes and their devastating effect on human
lives.
The 2001 Gujarat quake of magnitude 7.7 Mw on the Richter scale
which occurred on January 26 killed around 20,000 people, injured
another 167,000 and destroyed nearly 400,000 homes. This was
Fig.1 Travel-time map (1 hour contour intervals) of tsunamis generated by
the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake
an intraplate earthquake with the epicentre in Bhuj, Gujarat, so
the area was not well prepared. The event was the result of stored
energy in a collision margin with shock waves spreading as far as
700 km affecting 21 districts.
The 2001 El Salvador Earthquakes were two earthquakes occurring
a month apart. The first one on January 13 had a magnitude 7.9
Mw causing a major devastating landslide and the second on
February 13 measured 6.7 Mw. Death toll was over 1200, injuring
over 8800 and leaving 160,000 homes destroyed. The earthquakes
occurred within the Cocos-Caribbean subduction zone which
involved intraplate faulting in both the Cocos and Caribbean
plates, with the largest earthquake occurring in the lower (Cocos)
plate. The February 13 earthquake was a strong, shallow intraplate
earthquake, occurring within the crust of the overlying Caribbean
plate. This earthquake was a strike-slip faulting earthquake, which
likely occurred in response to the complicated stresses in the
Caribbean plate as it overrides the Cocos plate.
The 2003 European heat wave which occurred in the month of
August led to health crises in several countries and combined
with drought to create a crop shortfall in Southern Europe. More
than 40,000 Europeans died as a result of the heat wave of which
nearly 14,800 were from France. There were extensive forest fires
in Portugal. Five percent of the countryside and ten percent of the
forests (215,000 hectares) were destroyed while melting glaciers
in the Alps caused avalanches and flash floods in Switzerland.
The 2003 Bam earthquake was a major earthquake of magnitude
6.6 Mw that struck Bam and the surrounding Kerman province of
southeastern Iran on December 26. The death toll amounted to
26,271 with an additional 30,000 injured. This earthquake occurred
as a result of stresses generated by the motion of the Arabian plate
northward against the Eurasian plate at a rate of approximately
3 cm per year. Deformation of the Earth’s crust in response to the
plate motion takes place in a broad zone that spans the entire
width of Iran and extends into Turkmenistan. Earthquakes occur
as the result of both reverse faulting and strike-slip faulting within
the zone of deformation.
The 2004 Hurricane Jeanne was formed as Tropical Depression
Eleven from a tropical wave 110 km east-southeast of Guadeloupe
in the evening of September 13, and was upgraded to a hurricane
by September 20. It was the deadliest hurricane in the 2004
Atlantic hurricane season causing at least 3,006 deaths in Haiti and
bringing near-record flood levels in many regions. Final property
damage in the United States was estimated at $6.8 billion.
The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake was an undersea megathrust
earthquake that occurred on December 26, with an epicentre off
the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. The earthquake was caused
by subduction and triggered a series of devastating tsunamis along
the coasts of most landmasses bordering the Indian Ocean, killing
over 230,000 people in fourteen countries, and inundating coastal
communities with waves up to 30 meters high. With a magnitude
of 9.1 Mw, it is the second largest earthquake ever recorded on
a seismograph. The northern section of the Sunda megathrust,
which had been assumed dormant, ruptured and the rupture
having a length of 1600 km caused plate shifting of up to 20 m.
Splay faults or secondary “pop up faults” caused long narrow parts
of the sea floor to pop up in seconds elevating the height and
triggering devastating tsunami waves.
The 2005 Hurricane Katrina was one of the five deadliest hurricanes
in the history of the US. At least 1,836 people died with total
property damage of $81 billion. Hurricane Katrina which formed
as Tropical Depression Twelve over the southeastern Bahamas on
August 23 as the result of an interaction of a tropical wave and
the remains of Tropical Depression Ten rapidly intensified into a
Category 5 hurricane after entering the Gulf due to the storm’s
movement over the “unusually warm” waters of the Loop Current,
which increased wind speeds. The hurricane Katrina reached its
peak strength with maximum sustained winds of 175 mph and a
minimum central pressure of 902 mbar. It caused severe destruction
along the Gulf coast, much of it due to the storm surge.
The 2005 Kashmir Earthquake occurring on 8 October was a
major earthquake centered near Muzaffarabad, Pakistan with
magnitude 7.6 Mw and a death toll at 79,000 with over 106,000
injured. The area lies in the region of collision of the Eurasian
and Indian tectonic plates. The geological activity born out of this
61

Fig.2 Path of the 2005 Hurricane Katrina
collision, also responsible for the birth of the Himalayan mountain
range, is the cause of unstable seismicity in the region. There were
many secondary earthquakes in the region of which 28 occurred
with magnitudes greater than the original quake. Since then,
measurements from satellites have shown that mountain parts
directly above the epicenter have risen by a few meters, giving
ample proof that the rising of the Himalayas is still going on, and
that this earthquake was a consequence of that.
2005 Cyclone Nargis was a strong tropical cyclone that caused
the worst natural disaster in the recorded history of Burma with
138,000 fatalities and around 55,000 people reported missing.
Nargis developed on April 27 in the central area of Bay of Bengal
where an area of deep convection persisted near a low-level
circulation about 1150 km east-southeast of Chennai, India. With
good outflow and low wind shear, the system slowly organized as
its circulation consolidated and intensified into a deep depression.
Initially it tracked slowly northwestward and, encountering
favorable conditions, it quickly strengthened to attain peak winds
of at least 105 mph.
The 2008 Sichuan earthquake of magnitude 7.9 Mw occurring on
May 12 in Sichuan province of China killed at least 68,000 people
and left over 4.8 million homeless. The earthquake occurred along
the Longmenshan fault, a thrust structure along the border of the
Indo-Australian Plate and Eurasian Plate, as the result of motion on
a northeast striking reverse fault or thrust fault on the northwestern
margin of the Sichuan Basin. The earthquake reflects tectonic
stresses resulting from the convergence of crustal material slowly
moving from the high Tibetan Plateau, to the west, against strong
crust underlying the Sichuan Basin and southeastern China.
The 2009 flu pandemic is a global outbreak of a new strain of H1N1
influenza virus, often referred to as “swine flu”. First described in
April 2009, the virus appeared to be a new strain of H1N1 which
resulted when a previous triple reassortment of bird, pig, and
human flu viruses further combined with a Eurasian pig flu virus.
The outbreak began in the state of Veracruz, Mexico, with evidence
Fact File
Deadliest known earthquake: The world’s deadliest recorded earthquake occurred in 1557 in central China. It struck
a region where most people lived in caves carved from soft rock. The dwellings collapsed, killing an estimated 830,000 people
62
that there had been an ongoing epidemic for months before it was
officially recognized as such. Similar to other influenza viruses,
pandemic H1N1 is typically contracted by person to person
transmission through respiratory droplets. Currently, there are
14,286 confirmed deaths worldwide.
The 2010 Haiti earthquake was a catastrophic magnitude 7.0 Mw
earthquake occurring on 12 January where an estimated 230,000
people died, 300,000 injured and 1,000,000 made homeless. The
quake occurred in the vicinity of the northern boundary where the
Caribbean tectonic plate shifts eastwards by about 20 mm per year
in relation to the North American plate. It was caused by a rupture
of the Enriquillo-Plaintain Garden strike-slip fault, which had been
locked for 250 years, gathering stress.
The 2010 Chilean earthquake occurred off the coast of the Maule
Region of Chile on February 27 with magnitude 8.8 Mw. The
earthquake triggered a tsunami which devastated several coastal
towns with a death toll of over 500. Chile has been at a convergent
plate boundary that generates megathrust earthquakes since the
Paleozoic (500 million years ago). The earthquake took place along
the boundary between the Nazca and South American tectonic
plates, at a location where they converge at a rate of 80 mm a
year. This earthquake was characterized by a thrust-faulting focal
mechanism, caused by the subduction of the Nazca plate beneath
the South American plate.
The 2010 Yushu earthquake struck on April 13, and registered a
magnitude of 6.9 Mw. It originated in Yushu, Qinghai, China, with
2,698 dead, 270 missing, and 12,135 injured. Qinghai lies in the
northeastern part of the Tibetan Plateau, which formed due to the
ongoing collision of the Indian Plate with the Eurasian Plate. The
main deformation in this area is crustal shortening, but there is
also a component of left lateral strike-slip faulting on major east–
west trending structures. The earthquake occurred on the Yushu
fault which forms part of the Yushu-Garzê-Xianshuihe fault zone,
one of the most active fault zones in eastern Tibet.
The 2010 eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull are a sequence of volcanic
events at Eyjafjöll in Iceland causing enormous disruption to air
travel across western and northern Europe over an initial period of
six days in April with additional localised disruption continued into
May. Eyjafjallajökull is one of Iceland’s smaller ice caps covering
the caldera of a volcano 1,666 metres in height that has erupted
relatively frequently since the last ice age. The volcanic events
starting in March 2010 are considered to be a single eruption
divided into different phases. The first eruption phase ejected
olivine basaltic andesite lava several hundred metres into the air
as an effusive eruption with ash ejection rising to no more than
4 km into the atmosphere. On 14 April, however, the eruption
entered an explosive phase and ejected fine, glass-rich ash to over
8 km into the atmosphere resulting in an estimated 250 million
cubic metres of ejected tephra. Seismic data showed that the
frequency and intensity of earth tremors still exceeds the levels
observed before the eruption, therefore only when the activity
of the volcano has ceased for three months will it be regarded as
being dormant.
 APG DULIAJAN CHAPTER
The Association of Petroleum Geologists (affiliated to American Association of Petroleum Geologists; AAPG) has accorded
approval to open a Duliajan Chapter of APG especially for knowledge sharing and to keep abreast of the latest developments
in the field geoscientific activities. The chapter will comprise members of the geoscientific fraternity who will be engaged
in organizing several activities like conferences, seminars and workshops etc. from time to time, which will be attended by
geoscientists from both in country and abroad.
In a general meeting held on 05.07.2010 in Geology & Reservoir department, in the presence of geologists and reservoir
engineers and in order to oversee all activities of this association, a committee was formed at Geology & Reservoir Deptt, Oil
India Limited, Duliajan-786602, District-Dibrugarh, Assam, that comprised of the following members that were instrumental
in the realization of the chapter.

1. Chief Patron : Shri Nayan Mani Borah, Chairman and Managing Director
2. Patron : Shri Baikuntha Nath Talukdar, Director (E&D)
3. President : Shri Pankaj Narayan Baruah, General Manager (G&R)
4. Vice-President : Shri Romen Borgohain, Head-TU & E&PDB
5. Vice-President : Shri Bedanta Prasad Sarma, Head-E&D
6. Secretary : Shri Nirod Ranjan Hazarika, Chief Geologist
7. Joint Secretary : Shri Sasanka Sekhar Deb, Deputy Chief Geologist
8. Joint Secretary : Shri Binayananda Bharali, Suptdg. Geologist
9. Treasurer : Shri Khagen Chandra Kalita, Deputy Chief Geologist
10. Souvenir Convener : Shri Ghana Kanta Duarah, Deputy Chief Geologist

Executive Members
1. Smti Reba Devi, Chief Geologist
2. Shri Dilip Kumar Deka, Chief Geologist
3. Shri Gautam Kumar Sharma, Chief Geologist
4. Shri Ajayananda Borthakur, Chief Geologist
5. Dr. George Barnard Gilfellon, Chief Geologist
6. Shri Indrajit Baruah, Chief Geologist
7. Shri Pankaj Kumar Kakoty, Chief Geologist
8. Smti Bharoti Kalita, Deputy Chief Geologist
9. Shri Saloma Yomdo, Suptdg. Reservoir Engineer

63
 ACTIVE MEMBERS OF APG, DULIAJAN CHAPTER
Sl No Name
e Sl No Nam
me
1 N.. M. Bo
N ora
rah
h 29 Dipj
Di pjyo
jy ti Deka
2 B. N. Tal
Talukd
Ta lukd
kdar
dar
a 30 Arun
un
njyo
oti Kalita
3 Jayan
nta Kr Bo
nt Borg
rggoh
ohai
ain
ai n 31 Sttephaan Lamo
4 G ut
Gautaam Kum
umar
ar Sha
Sharm
rmaa 32 Tsheri
Tsheringg LLam
ma
5 Shak
Sh
hakkir
ir Ah
Ahm
hmed
med Cho
Choud
udhu
hury
ry 33 Sanj
njay
nj a Kumar
ay ar Dhiraaj
6 Amitav Bor
Bo do
d loi
loi 34 P an
Pr nja
jall Jyoti Sa
Saikia
7 Rahu
hull Ku
Kumar 35
5 Prom
mot
othes Baruah
h
8 Ashu
Ash tosh Narayan Pande
deyy 36 Ratul Dutt
tta
9 Ch
han
ndr
draa Bh
B us
usha
hann Pr
P assad
a 37 Pank
Pankaj Kumar Che
heti
tia
10 Dr. Satish
h Kum
Kumar
a 38 Dr Man
noj K.
K Sarmah
11 Mani
Manish
sh Kum
u ar 39 Pranjal Bhagawati
12 Ms Sulakshana Dutta 40 Jafrull Pervish Ahmed
13 Ms Mausumi Dutta 41 C. Laldinkima
14 Pradip Dutta 42 Abhiram Deo Sharma
15 Sourav Bhardwaj 43 Pranjal Sarmah
16 Kailas B. Ga
G ik
ikwa
wad
d 44 Raahu
hull Mo
Mohhan
17 P nk
Pankaj Lochan Gogoi 45 Bhaskar Jyoti Sarm
rmaa
18 Pranjal Saharia 46 Diga
Di gant
nta Changmai
19 D. P.
P. Dinesh Babu 47 Dr. Naba Jyoti Borbo
oraa
20 Homendra Mohan Gog
Gogoi
oi 48 Kaaus
ushi
hikk Gaurav Hazra
hi
21 Bhar
Bh a oti Kalita 49 Rongsenmeren Jonathan
22 Bija
Bi jayy Sh
Shar
arma
ma 50 Bojja Jaipal Reddy
23 Subodh Purohit
Su 51 Atul Verma
24
4 Dr. Rudrad
deb Bha
Bh ttac
acha
hary
ryya
ya 52 Pala
Palash
sh Gog
Go oii
25 Binoy Kumar Basuma
mata
tary
ry 53 Palash Kumar Sarrma
26 Jayant Singh 54 Dhiren Ku
umar Baruah
27 Achyut Kum
umar
ar Gog
Gogoi
oi 55 Ajit Kum
mar Sarma
28 Rajijb Chakraborty
Ra 56 T. Ashwini
A Kumar

Fact File
Oldest rocks on Earth
Since the ocean floor is being continually regenerated as the continental plates move across the Earth’s surface,
the oldest rocks on the ocean floor are less than 300 million years. In contrast, the oldest continental rocks are
4.5 billion years old.

64
 LIFE MEMBERS OF APG, DULIAJAN CHAPTER
Sl No
o Name Sll No Nam
me
1 P nkkaj
Pa a Nar
a ayan Barruah 21 P bi
Pabitr
tra Prati
Prati
Pratimm SSha
haarm
harm
rmaa
2 Satc
tchi
hidaana
n nd
da Ra
Rath
th 22
22 Promitab
Pro
Prom bha Bar
arua
uah
ua h
3 Rome
Ro m n Bo
B rgoh
rggoh
o ain 23 Salo
oma Yomdo
4 Samp
Sa mpad
ad
dKKum
mar Jen
Jen
e a 24
4 Mrridul
u Saikia
5 B dant
Be ntaa Pr
P as
asad
ad Sar
Sarma
m
ma 25
5 Khaniin Bur
Bur
u aggoh
hai
ain
n
6 Maan
naash Chatt
tter
e je
j e 26 Binayanand
ndaa Bh
Bhar
aral
ral
alii
7 Hamendra
ra Das
Das 2
27 Nababr
Naba
babr
b ot Gog
Gogoi
oi
8 Ms Reba Devi 28 Prad
Pra yut Bora
9 Rajib Sarma 29 Kuna
Kun l Kaanti Da
Daku
kua
10 Dilip Kumar Deka 30 Drr. Jy
Dr. Jyoti
otissh
oti sh Ba
Baru
ruah
h
11 Amarendra Sarma 31 Pallav Borgohain
12 Bhagawan Bharali 32 Nilamani Deka
13 Nirod Ranjan Hazarika 33 Adam Bannister Suting
14 Dr. Ge
Dr George B. Gilfellon 34 Kulesh Baruah
15
5 Pankaj Kum
Pa mar Kak
Kakot
kotyy 35 Jayanat Topno
16 Sasanka Se
S kh
harr Deb
Deb 36 Ms Saqueba
S Samin
17 Khagen Cha
Chand
ndra
nd ra K
Kal
alita 37 Ms Pur
P abi
b Pegu
18 Neelimoy Baruah
Ne 38 Ms Nit
Nituu Haza
Hazari
rika
ka
19 Bibekananda Saikia 39 Dr Dharmendra Go
Gogo
goii
go
20 Ghana Kanta Duarah

Humour
Two scientists working in a project were taking a walk along the countryside. They were discussing about the
wonders of ancient and traditional wisdom of the natives and rural people which sometimes defies scientific
logic. Just then, they saw an old man from a nearby village going home from his days work at the field. The
scientists decided to test his traditional wisdom. “Say, old man. Can you tell us what the weather would be like
in the next 3 days”? The old man looked towards the sky and told them. “Tomorrow, the whole day will cloudy
with little sunshine. The next day will be bright and sunny. However, there is a chance of very heavy downpour
on the third day”. The two scientists were awestruck at this prediction. Therefore, they enquired from the old
man from the village as to how he could make such a prediction. “Oh! That’s simple”, replied the old man. “I saw
it on TV this morning”.

65
 pth
bing in de
D v is u a li zation pro
3
Revealin
g subsurf
ace thou
gh 3D visua
lization

iation
Barail showing facies var
Correlation panel within
 Dip slope
on eastern (~25° towards eas
limb - Ke t)
ifang anti
cline

Vertical fractures
cutting across
bedding (Upper
Bhuban)
y Mizo
c art used b by a (east of Lungdar)
sh
– a pu uvers it on
n a Tawlailir e d ri ve r mane cables
girl o
A little r carrying goo
ds. Th
t w he e l axle by it down
s
fo the fron the driver can
people le attached to of hil ls
nd es
rear ha . On down slop
es
both sid
on it.

Photographs and illustrations: T. Borgohain

Keifang Formation
(Upper Bhuban?)
showing crossbedded
and rippled sandstone
draped by mud layers

Fault propagation fold with an incipient anticlinal

breakthrough and overturned beds (Middle Bhuban)
(east of Lungdar)

Imaging the subsurface of Mizoram in southern part of Assam - Arakan may be a challenge for geoscienti
eoscientists
sts. Yet it off
offers
ers unexplored avenues for structural
geologists and sedimentologists with outcrops along roads, river valleys and gorges.
68