SAFARI - Sedimentary Architecture of Field Analogues for Reservoir Information

SAFARI is an on-going research project at NORCE and the University of Aberdeen supported by a consortium of currently 15 Oil Companies, the Research Council of Norway and the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate.

The goal of the SAFARI project is to develop a fully searchable repository of geological outcrop data from clastic sedimentary systems for reservoir modelling, exploration and to improve our understanding of sequence stratigraphy. SAFARI includes data collected by the original SAFARI project in the late 1980s and early 1990s, data collected more recently by the VOG Group in Bergen and Aberdeen, data from published literature and data from partner organisations.

SAFARI Phase 3

The first two phases of SAFARI involved building of a unique database of sedimentological information which allows sponsors to find appropriate analogue data from outcrops and modern systems. The database is built around a set of standardized nomenclature (schema) and currently contains data from the original SAFARI project (from the early 1990s, Dreyer et al. 1993); ongoing PhD and masters students; published literature and, previous VOG group studies. The schema provides a systematic, relational context for architectural elements. The web-portal safaridb.com allows the storing, querying and viewing of geometric data from outcrop and modern systems.

Phase 3 scopes

The theme for SAFARI 3 is populating the database with large volumes of new data. These data will come from a variety of sources including outcrops, seismic and production data, all within the umbrella of the unified standardised schema. The standardised schema means that data from the different sources are comparable and searchable. Specifically work is focussed on:

1. Build up a comprehensive library of virtual outcrops (70+) which can be accessed by sponsors via the web portal

2. To add geometric data from very shallow seismic (<0.5s) which provides high quality 3D information on body geometries

3. Add oil field production data which can be used to link depositional environment with a series of production measures (such as initial and maximum well rates, cumulative production, etc.)

The SAFARI database can be access through the webportal: SafariDB.com