Análogos de reservorio y viajes de campo mediante afloramientos virtuales integrados: desafíos y perspectivas futuras

Abstract

The use of virtual outcrops in the oil industry is growing fast. These models, also known as Digital Outcrop Models (DOMs) or Virtual Outcrop Models (VOMs) are 3D photorealistic digital models of an outcrop or ground surface. Data for those models is mostly obtained using a photogrammetric method (i.e., Structure from Motion–Multi-View Stereo) with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) combined with Differential GPS. This approach is beginning to be applied not only for educational aspects such as virtual field trips, but also to enhance traditional field techniques to determine quantitative parameters of natural systems, improving the modelling of geological reservoirs. One of the main advantages of virtual outcrops is that they allow us to obtain quantitative geological data of subseismic resolution (e.g., geometry and connectivity of geobodies, type and scale of heterogeneities, and patterns, intensity and degree of connectivity of fracture networks) in a similar way to traditional methods usually applied in the field, (e.g., geological mapping, sedimentological log, dip-azimuth and dip measurements, scanlines, among others). This allows geoscientists to better understand and model the detailed subsurface reservoir architecture in order to predict fluid storage and transmissivity. Based on different experiences performed with Virtual Outcrop data, this paper aims to show the potential and limitations of Virtual Outcrops in the petroleum industry, both for professional training (virtual field trips) and as hydrocarbon reservoir analogues. The results show that virtual outcrops are a tool with huge potential for geological understanding and statistically reliable data collection when it is coupled together with traditional field observations.