Characterization of a complex sand-rich gas hydrate reservoir system in the Indian marine continental margin with downhole log and seismic data

Abstract

Logging-while-drilling (LWD) and coring data were acquired in Areas A, B, C and E during the National Gas Hydrate Program Expedition 02 (NGHP-02). At Sites NGHP-02-16, −17, −20, −23 and −24 of Area B in the Indian Krishna-Godavari Basin, the gas hydrate-bearing sand-rich reservoirs directly in contact with an underlying water-saturated sediment were revealed near the seismic-inferred bottom simulating reflector (BSR) along a large anticlinal structure. Lithofacies analysis of cores show that the lower gas hydrate-bearing reservoir section at these sites is an interbedded unit with thin fine-sand layers alternating with clay-rich layers. We reanalyzed the LWD data including resistivity, compressional-wave and shear-wave acoustic velocities to assess and compare the spatial variation of sand-hosted gas hydrate and possible related free-gas accumulations. The presence of free gas-bearing sediments in direct contact with gas hydrate-bearing sediments was confirmed at Sites NGHP-02-20 and −24 along the northeastern flank of the anticline. The sand-rich reservoirs associated with the Area B anticlinal feature reveal different pore-filling constituents and variable boundary conditions, including gas hydrate/water contacts and gas hydrate/free gas contacts. We infer that the sedimentary depositional history at Sites NGHP-02-20 and −24, may have resulted in an upward shift of the base of gas hydrate stability zone, that could have led to in situ gas hydrate dissociation and the accumulation of free gas and coexistence interval below the log-inferred gas hydrate-bearing reservoir sections. This study demonstrates that reservoir heterogeneity and fluid migration were major factors affecting the distribution of gas hydrate and free gas in the identified sand-rich reservoirs.