The ALBION Project: An Observatory in the Heart of a Carbonate Reservoir
Résumé
Abstract The ALBION project applies a new and disruptive methodology of reservoir characterisation to the carbonate Urgonian Formation (South-East France) considered as the very best analogue of Mid Cretaceous reservoirs from Middle East. Thanks to numerous field sections and outcrops descriptions, to tens of wells drilled in the reservoir, to kilometres of cores, to monitoring of groundwater dynamics such as decades of hydraulic observations at pretty much the only natural outlet of a major groundwater reservoir (Fontaine-de-Vaucluse spring) and to a unique underground laboratory (LSBB, about four kilometers in the heart of the reservoir), a multi-scale model is being built for reservoir purpose. Different observation sites with wells whose spacing ranges from 2 to 20 meters contribute to the assessment of together the matrix, the fractures and the karst flow behaviours. Through the building of an observatory in the heart of a reservoir, the ALBION project is delivering advanced concepts and methodologies to apply to industrial projects in Middle East carbonate fields.