Progress in fault seal and petroleum migration evaluation

—Looking back on the research at University of Liverpool and University College Dublin—

Abstract

The method incorporating fault properties into petroleum migration models, which employs shale gouge ratio (SGR) as the fault sealing capacity indicator and ray-tracing as the migration algorithm, has provided a means to quantify the role of faults in petroleum migration. Recent applications of the method, however, reveal extremely large uncertainties in fault properties and difficulty in predicting petroleum migration across or through faults. More robust approaches are needed to make reliable predictions.

The limitations of the SGR ray-tracing method, of which the author was involved in the development as part of an overseas education program more than a decade ago, demonstrate that any new findings or developments inevitably lose strength with time. It is, therefore, essential to consistently study and improve the technical expertise after returning home. Real value of overseas education should lie in motivating us to study further.