Hazards of Variability in Reservoir Characteristics for South Caspian Oil Fields

Abstract

The oil fields of Azerbaijan, both onshore and offshore, have been in production for over 130 years. During that period records of varying quality have been kept concerning the attributes of individual boreholes, oil and gas production, and reservoirs. Many of the very early records are either extremely incomplete or lost, while those records prior to the second World War are dominantly cumulative summaries of yearly oil/gas production. During and since the second World War, however, extremely detailed records have been kept of hydrocarbon production and of reservoir formation properties. Indeed, many of the original field record books are still available and, what is more, so are many of the individuals who either kept the field data or added to the field data. Some of those individuals are still working in the area. Thus the ability exists not only to obtain the original field data but also to question individuals about specific entries. In addition, there are often discrepancies between the actual field data records, and the political formal reports sent to controlling authorities of the time.