Petroleum potential assessment using an optimized fuzzy outranking approach: A case study of the Red River petroleum system, Williston Basin

Abstract

This paper presents a new approach, called optimized fuzzy Preference Ranking Organization METHod for Enrichment Evaluation (PROMETHEE), based on combining fuzzy logic, an outranking method and the cuckoo search optimization algorithm to assess petroleum potential in a spatial framework. The approach brings together flexibility and simplicity to solve petroleum exploration problem under uncertainty using experts’ knowledge and the information associated with the discovered oil pools simultaneously. The characteristics of the essential elements of the petroleum system are used as key criteria in the model. To exemplify the approach, a case study was undertaken in the Red River petroleum system of the Canadian portion of the Williston Basin. Eight datasets related to the selected criteria were integrated by the optimized fuzzy PROMETHEE to create a map that makes it possible to identify the areas of highest petroleum potential. All discovered oil pools in the Red River petroleum system were used in the verification process. The results indicated that the proposed approach can deal effectively with incomplete data and imprecise information, and can be efficiently used in petroleum exploration, thereby reducing the cost and risk of exploration.