Reservoir compartmentalization assessment by using FTIR spectroscopy

Reservoir geochemistry has traditionally used the gas chromatographic fingerprinting method and star diagrams to provide evidence of petroleum reservoir compartmentalization. Recently alternative techniques such as Fourier Transform Infra Red (FTIR) spectroscopy have been postulated to aid the evaluation of reservoir compartmentalization, and to characterize the geochemical evolution of oils from individual reservoirs. FTIR spectroscopy was applied successfully in the Tarragona Basin, Offshore N.E. Spain, validating the method to identify oils from different reservoirs. Moreover the method was successfully applied to provide evidence of compositional differences in oils from a faulted reservoir (El Furrial field, Venezuela), in which GC fingerprints failed to differentiate the oils. FTIR spectroscopy therefore, proves to be a complementary tool for reservoir compartmentalization studies.