Design of a horizontal well using 3C-3D seismic data at the Ross Lake, Saskatchewan heavy oilfield

Pooyan Karami, Robert R. Stewart, Chuandong (Richard) Xu

The Ross Lake oil field, operated by Husky Energy Inc. is located in south-western Saskatchewan, Canada. The reservoir is associated with a Cretaceous sand channel in the Dimmock Creek member of the Cantuar formation of Manville group. Four vertical wells and one horizontal well were drilled within the sand body. A 3C-3D seismic survey helped us to design a new horizontal well in the pool. Combining PP and PS time thickness maps for the target horizon, results a Vp/Vs map which suggests thick sandy bodies eastward from the drilled horizontal well. We designed two different wells with different well paths through these bodies. The whole recoverable oil is estimated about 610,000 bbl. A small sand bar in the eastern part of the anomaly is evaluated to be prospective with about 140,000 bbl. Drilling costs may be modest compared to recoverable reserves, thus a 775m horizontal well is recommended.