6
Rocks and Fluids
Reservoir characterization includes the
in-depth understanding of rock and fluid
characteristics and how they interact.
Such knowledge is critical to exploration
for new reserves and in unlocking full
production potential.
The Need to Explore
Global demand for energy is expected to increase 40% by
2035, driven by growth in GDP and underpinned by an
increasing world population. New sources of energy will
play a vital role in meeting that demand, but hydrocarbon
resources will still be required to provide as much as 75%
of the needed supply. Of those resources, oil and gas will
make up the major part.
In the shorter term, as much as half of the conven-
tional oil production needed by the end of the current
decade has yet to be found. By 2035, this proportion will
likely have climbed to more than two-thirds. Natural gas
resources show a similar trend, with over 60% of produc-
tion in 2035 coming from fields not yet found or devel-
oped. The challenge for the oil and gas industry is clear:
exploration activity will have to increase in an era when
adding future reserves will be technologically more com-
plex and intense, at both higher cost and higher risk.
The search for new reserves is already taking the
industry to deeper waters and deeper prospects, often hid-
den below complex and seismically opaque geologic struc-
tures. But worldwide, two out of three of today’s frontier
exploration wells are not successful in meeting their
objectives. This low rate of success indicates that in spite
of its many advances, the industry fails to adequately char-
acterize the risk inherent in exploration. Schlumberger
believes that exploration risk can be reduced through
innovative technology and new workflows that enable
exploration teams to better characterize uncertainty and
meet the challenge of developing new supplies of oil and
natural gas.
Many Viewpoints, One Vision
Schlumberger is the leading provider of technology for oil
and gas exploration through the services and products of
the Reservoir Characterization Group, one of the three
groups that form the company’s complete technology port-
folio. By integrating technologies from geophysical serv-
ices through well testing, the Reservoir Characterization
Group unites the viewpoints of many disciplines to help
achieve the vision of exploration success. The group not
only acquires high-value, high-integrity exploration and
appraisal well data, but also uses them to further increase
the efficiency and effectiveness of its interpretation work-
flows to mitigate exploration and production (E&P) risk
and improve performance.
Not all reservoir characterization activity is directed
at exploration in new and difficult areas—another focus
is unconventional hydrocarbon deposits, and significant
effort is invested in understanding the complex carbon-
ate reservoirs that contain two-thirds of the world’s oil
reserves. However, regardless of the type of reservoir, two
characteristics dominate operations in exploration wells.
First, drilling risks are much higher. Second, the purpose
of the well is information: information to confirm the
play, information to evaluate the rocks and fluids encoun-
tered, and information about the size of any reservoir.
The insight and unique understanding that the
Reservoir Characterization Group brings to the
exploration phase of oil and gas production enables
Schlumberger to address key customer challenges. The
knowledge acquired during exploration activities is not of
finite application, but can be leveraged throughout the
