Shallow to deeply penetrating bioturbation by organisms on carbonate shelves can alter the original depositional texture of carbonate sediments, rearrange and modify the primary porosity and permeability patterns, and effectively increase the overall flow properties in multiple intervals. To explore the impact of bioturbation on reservoir quality and its spatial and vertical patterns, this study examined sedimentologically, ichnologically, and geostatistically ubiquitous bioturbated strata throughout outcrops of the Middle Jurassic Tuwaiq Mountain Formation and Upper Jurassic Hanifa Formation in central Saudi Arabia. Each lithofacies within the studied intervals had an ichnofabric index (ii) range from nonbioturbated (ii1) to beds completely homogenized by bioturbation (ii6). Most important was the occurrence of laterally extensive (>5 km) Glossifungites Ichnofacies, which represent firmgrounds with ii2 to ii5. These Glossifungites Ichnofacies are composed of complex and deep, three-dimensional Thalassinoides burrow networks (TBN) in mud-dominated lithofacies. These TBN have pore systems that consist of (1) open and partially open macropores (size of several centimeters), and (2) interparticle and moldic pores within the burrow filling, which consists of peloids, skeletal grains, and coated grains in a grain-dominated packstone texture. The TBN pore system, which typically penetrates the entire extent of the mud-dominated bioturbated beds, provides permeability pathways in an otherwise less permeable medium. Outcrop data and three-dimensional models suggest that these permeable pathways can contribute to overall reservoir flow in three ways: (1) TBN beds contribute to the overall reservoir flow as a single flow unit if bound above and below by impermeable beds (e.g., lateral flow in vertical well). (2) TBN breach the bed boundaries and, thus, connect above and below into more porous, more permeable grainy beds, providing overall reservoir connectivity for the carbonate reservoir and contributing to vertical and lateral flow. (3) TBN beds connect otherwise laterally compartmentalized reservoirs and contribute to vertical flow. Controls on the lateral and vertical variability of the TBN in the study area can be attributed to changes in water chemistry of the depositional environments, which are likely linked to global and local controls. This spatial and temporal relationship impacts the lateral and vertical distribution of flow properties of TBN strata in bioturbated reservoirs. Understanding such relationships is critical for secondary and tertiary recovery of oil by water flooding because such relationships can provide a prediction about the trend of vertical and lateral flow properties.

Abstract Stacked mass transport deposits interbedded with turbidite sandstone reservoirs were characterized in detail from image logs at Thunder Horse, a conventional asset located in the Boarshead mini-basin, lower Mississippi Canyon, Gulf of Mexico. Image logs visualize the borehole wall, allowing bedding boundary information and some sedimentary fabric to be identified. From bedding boundaries, dip azimuths and magnitudes can be calculated, and depositional processes can be inferred from patterns in the dips. Dips in the primary sandstone reservoirs show little variation (< 20°) in structural tilt, indicating continuous deposition by high density turbidity currents prior to major structural deformation and are thus the best proxy for regional structural dip. In contrast, dips in 80% of all mudrocks in this canyon show widely varying dip magnitude and azimuth over small and large scales and are interpreted as having been deposited by slumps, slides, and folds, building up to form mass transport complexes. Only very rarely do we observe mudrock dips that are conformable to the regional dip and strike. Unconformable bedding contacts at the tops of the sandstone reservoirs in northern Thunder Horse suggest scouring and erosion by overlying mass transport deposits, whereas basal sandstone contacts are in conformance with structural dip, suggesting amalgamation. On seismic data, albeit low-resolution due to the overhanging salt canopy, the mass transport complexes appear to build up into a gradual mound. Core was acquired in the upper 60 m of the mass transport complex, revealing convoluted and folded bedding capped by highly bioturbated marl, which is thought to represent a Glossifungites hiatal surface resulting from the mass transport complexes building up a topographic high, forcing subsequent debris and turbidite flows to travel around rather than over that location. The topographic high ponded the overlying reservoir behind it, preferentially thickening the sandstone reservoir behind the mound. Thus, mass transport complexes were found to both erode and augment sandstone reservoirs. Biostratigraphic dating of the two reservoirs brackets their deposition as occurring in <400,000 years during the Serravalian, Middle Miocene, probably as a result of the Harang shelf failure. As a case study this type of integrated, high resolution data (core, image logs, seismic) has wide applicability to other deepwater, subsalt reservoirs, as improved structural and depositional interpretations inform reservoir performance and impact future well plans. Further, recognition of mass transport complexes as agents of reservoir compartmentalization and sandstone ponding allow for more accurate reserve estimation.