Duration: 5 Days
Target Audience: Geologists, Stratigraphers, Reservoir Engineers, Geoscience Graduates
Delivery Mode: Classroom / Virtual with Seismic, Core, and Well Log Interpretation Labs
Level: Intermediate to Advanced

Course Overview

This course introduces applied sequence stratigraphy concepts and their use in characterizing sedimentary basins, defining reservoir architecture, and enhancing exploration success. It blends theoretical principles with hands-on exercises involving seismic lines, well logs, cores, and outcrop analogs. Emphasis is placed on both carbonate and siliciclastic depositional systems.

Participants will learn to interpret sequence boundaries, systems tracts, and stratigraphic stacking patterns to support reservoir prediction, correlation, and field development.

Day-by-Day Training Outline

Day 1 – Fundamentals of Sequence Stratigraphy

• Stratigraphy evolution: litho-, bio-, chrono- vs. sequence
• Key surfaces: sequence boundary, flooding surface, MFS, MRS
• Accommodation space and relative sea-level change
• Systems tracts (LST, TST, HST, FSST): definitions and stacking
• Differences in siliciclastic vs. carbonate responses
• Exercise: Annotate sequence boundaries on core photos and gamma ray logs

Day 2 – Siliciclastic Systems: Interpretation & Case Studies

• Fluvial to deltaic to deepwater settings
• Parasequence stacking and shoreline trajectory concepts
• Incised valleys, lowstand wedges, and turbidites
• Siliciclastic sequence models in rift and passive margin basins
• Exercise: Interpret systems tracts from gamma ray and SP logs
• Exercise: Deepwater fan sequence from offshore case (e.g., Nile Delta)

Day 3 – Carbonate Systems: Architecture & Response to Sea-Level

• Carbonate depositional systems (platforms, ramps, reefs)
• Facies belts and high-frequency cycles
• Hardgrounds, exposure surfaces, and diagenetic overprint
• Tectonic and eustatic controls on carbonate stacking patterns
• Exercise: Identify shallowing-upward cycles in carbonate cores
• Exercise: Compare reef and ramp stacking in outcrop analogs

Day 4 – Integration with Seismic & Subsurface Data

• Seismic sequence stratigraphy: reflection terminations, onlap/offlap
• Well-to-seismic tie and chronostratigraphic correlation
• Building Wheeler diagrams and depositional models
• Sequence stratigraphy in exploration mapping
• Exercise: Sequence pick on seismic sections
• Exercise: Construct simplified Wheeler diagram

Day 5 – Applied Workflows & Field Development Case

• Sequence stratigraphy in reservoir zonation and modeling
• Integrating core, logs, and seismic for field-scale interpretation
• Predicting reservoir quality distribution using systems tracts
• Case examples: Carbonates (Middle East), Clastics (West Africa)
• Capstone Workshop: Full interpretation from core-log-seismic
• Group presentations of depositional and systems tract models

Expected Learning Outcomes

• Interpret sequence boundaries and systems tracts across depositional settings
• Distinguish stratigraphic stacking patterns and their implications for reservoir continuity
• Integrate core, log, and seismic data into sequence frameworks
• Apply sequence stratigraphy to exploration risk reduction and development planning

Customizable Add-ons
Tailored content for local geology (e.g. Nile Delta, Western Desert)
Lab visit or simulation hands-on demo
Integration with economics or production courses






Special Customization for Regional NOCs

- Includes legal and fiscal case examples from MENA (Egypt, Libya, Iraq, Algeria)
- Arabic-English bilingual delivery available
- Tailored licensing round simulation exercises
- Optional site visits to local oilfields or regulatory agencies

Trainer Profile

- Senior reservoir and exploration engineers from IOCs and NOCs
- Former advisors to government ministries
- Experts in petroleum contracts and economic modeling

Certification

Participants will receive a Certificate of Completion and a performance report including assessment outcomes and instructor feedback.