A Strategic Company Approach towards Understanding Sealing Mechanisms and their Impact on the E&P Value Chain

Summary Wintershall Dea has kicked off a strategic initiative towards a better handling and fit-for-purpose application of the various seal related topics, including fault seal as well as top, base and intraformational seals. The project targets at establishing a holistic view to seal risk as basis for more informed discussion between the technical community and management. An improved understanding of fault sealing aspects will impact projects throughout the E&P lifecycle. Anchoring fault seal analysis with all its components and tasks such as de-risking exploration prospects, clarification of maximum sustainable hydrocarbon column heights or compartmentalization will create value at relatively low costs as it is involving merely standard data sets.