This Hedberg conference focuses on the state of knowledge of microbial carbonate buildups and reservoirs, identify areas that require investigation, and identify strategies designed to advance our knowledge of microbial reservoirs to facilitate exploration for and development of the hydrocarbon resources associated with these reservoirs.
Application to Petroleum Exploration and Development
The knowledge gained from this Conference should assist in the formulation of enhanced strategies in exploration for microbial carbonate buildups and associated potential reservoir facies and to facilitate the development of the discovered reservoirs. An increased understanding of the processes controlling microbial buildups, facies, and reservoirs is crucial to reduce risks and costs associated with the exploration for and development of these carbonates. This increased knowledge will serve to improve the current geologic models related to microbial depositional settings, sequence stratigraphy, and petrophysics and reservoir characteristics. Specifically, these models include: establishing a sequence stratigraphic framework to predict the probable occurrence, distribution, orientation, and thickness of microbial buildups and favorable microbial facies, categorizing the depositional settings supporting the formation of microbial buildups and the depositional processes that affect microbial textures, growth forms and fabrics, and classifying reservoir porosity by identifying reservoir architecture (building blocks), pore systems, and the primary and secondary agents that control reservoir connectivity and quality.