Ranking license areas to identify the most promising candidates for pilot field development

Abstract

Companies actively engaged in geological exploration typically adhere to an established internal standard for ranking license areas during project planning. This ranking process involves a probabilistic evaluation of geological parameters, reserves, and risks — factors that influence the formation and preservation of hydrocarbon accumulations. However, the success of field development also depends on the reliability of resource estimates, reservoir characteristics, and reservoir fluid properties.

This necessitates an additional ranking specifically aimed at selecting the most suitable areas and fields for pilot production. Such selection ensures that exploration is completed on time to plan and initiate pilot operations, meet project deadlines, maximize efficiency, and achieve the company's targets to put into commercial development.

Traditional geological ranking methods are not entirely suitable for this purpose, as they primarily rely on statistical evaluations of risks, reserves, and resources. To properly assess the potential for pilot production, it is essential to analyze the extent and quality of reservoir characterization and testing while also considering possible operational risks. This paper presents a new approach to the supplementary ranking of license areas for pilot production.

The proposed methodology takes into account the degree of geological and geophysical study as well as the quality of field data obtained during the exploration phase.