Application of geostatistical seismic inversion in reservoir characterization of Sapphire gas field, offshore Nile Delta, Egypt

2019 ◽  
Vol 38 (6) ◽  
pp. 474-479
Author(s):  
Mohamed G. El-Behiry ◽  
Said M. Dahroug ◽  
Mohamed Elattar

Seismic reservoir characterization becomes challenging when reservoir thickness goes beyond the limits of seismic resolution. Geostatistical inversion techniques are being considered to overcome the resolution limitations of conventional inversion methods and to provide an intuitive understanding of subsurface uncertainty. Geostatistical inversion was applied on a highly compartmentalized area of Sapphire gas field, offshore Nile Delta, Egypt, with the aim of understanding the distribution of thin sands and their impact on reservoir connectivity. The integration of high-resolution well data with seismic partial-angle-stack volumes into geostatistical inversion has resulted in multiple elastic property realizations at the desired resolution. The multitude of inverted elastic properties are analyzed to improve reservoir characterization and reflect the inversion nonuniqueness. These property realizations are then classified into facies probability cubes and ranked based on pay sand volumes to quantify the volumetric uncertainty in static reservoir modeling. Stochastic connectivity analysis was also applied on facies models to assess the possible connected volumes. Sand connectivity analysis showed that the connected pay sand volume derived from the posterior mean of property realizations, which is analogous to deterministic inversion, is much smaller than the volumes generated by any high-frequency realization. This observation supports the role of thin interbed reservoirs in facilitating connectivity between the main sand units.

2001 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 131
Author(s):  
A.G. Sena ◽  
T.M. Smith

The successful exploration for new reservoirs in mature areas, as well as the optimal development of existing fields, requires the integration of unconventional geological and geophysical techniques. In particular, the calibration of 3D seismic data to well log information is crucial to obtain a quantitative understanding of reservoir properties. The advent of new technology for prestack seismic data analysis and 3D visualisation has resulted in improved fluid and lithology predictions prior to expensive drilling. Increased reservoir resolution has been achieved by combining seismic inversion with AVO analysis to minimise exploration risk.In this paper we present an integrated and systematic approach to prospect evaluation in an oil/gas field. We will show how petrophysical analysis of well log data can be used as a feasibility tool to determine the fluid and lithology discrimination capabilities of AVO and inversion techniques. Then, a description of effective AVO and prestack inversion tools for reservoir property quantification will be discussed. Finally, the incorporation of the geological interpretation and the use of 3D visualisation will be presented as a key integration tool for the discovery of new plays.


2001 ◽  
Vol 4 (05) ◽  
pp. 406-414 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maghsood Abbaszadeh ◽  
Chip Corbett ◽  
Rolf Broetz ◽  
James Wang ◽  
Fangjian Xue ◽  
...  

Summary This paper presents the development of an integrated, multidiscipline reservoir model for dynamic flow simulation and performance prediction of a geologically complex, naturally fractured volcanic reservoir in the Shang 741 Block of the Shengli field in China. A static geological model integrates lithological information, petrophysics, fracture analysis, and stochastic fracture network modeling with Formation MicroImage (FMI) log data and advanced 3D seismic interpretations. Effective fracture permeability, fracture-matrix interaction, reservoir compartmentalization, and flow transmissibility of conductive faults are obtained by matching various dynamic data. As a result of synergy and multiple iterations among various disciplines, a history-matched dynamic reservoir-simulation model capable of future performance prediction for optimum asset management is constructed. Introduction The multidisciplinary approach of closely related teamwork across the disciplines of geology, geophysics, petrophysics, and reservoir engineering is now the accepted approach in the industry for reservoir management and field development.1–6Fig. 1 shows components of integrated reservoir characterization and the contribution of each discipline to the process. The strength of integrated reservoir modeling, however, can be particularly dramatized with some reservoirs that contain extreme forms of heterogeneity and unusual structural features. The Shang 741 Block of the Shengli fractured volcanic reservoirs is one such example. The Shang 741 Block contains a series of vertically separated fractured volcanic reservoirs with different characteristics. Matrix porosity and permeability are both low in most horizons; thus, natural fractures are the main flow pathways for fluids. FMI logs delineate the orientation and density of the fracture distribution. Lithology variations, extensive compartmentalization, and looping of reservoir body units are recognized from the geologic depositional model and seismic data. Tying acoustic well data to 3D seismic data through synthetic seismograms combined with FMI information controls time and depth structure maps for a reliable geological model. Reservoir modeling (RM) software provides a platform to integrate lithology correlations with seismically based structural features and petrophysical properties to yield a framework for a dual-porosity Eclipse** reservoir flow-simulation model. Fractures delineated and characterized from well data are stochastically distributed in the reservoir for each horizon with a fractal-based, fracture-mapping algorithm.7 Simulation of effective gridblock fracture permeability and matrix-fracture transfer function parameters are upscaled into coarse-scale simulation gridblocks. These upscaled values are verified and calibrated by available pressure-transient effective permeabilities for consistency. In this paper, a dual-porosity reservoir-simulation model is constructed from a static geological and geophysical (G&G) model in a stepwise fashion through successive incorporation of dynamic information from pressure-transient tests, static reservoir pressure, water breakthrough behavior, and well-production performance data. Compartmentalization incorporates effects of multiple oil/ water contacts (OWC) for proper modeling of regional pressure-trend behavior. Fault conductivity or thin channel transmissibility, verified by seismic and well tests, is augmented for better modeling of water movement in the reservoir. As a result of synergy among various G&G disciplines and incorporation of dynamic reservoir engineering data, a representative and production-data calibrated model is constructed for this reservoir. The paper shows that this is possible only through multiple iterations across the disciplines and through integrated project teams. The model also serves as a reservoir-management tool in production monitoring, in evaluating the effects of implementing pressure-maintenance injection programs, and in better understanding the impact of various uncertainties on the ultimate recovery of the field. Database The data sources available for this study include:Geological interpretations and geological framework model, including geological markers.Three-dimensional seismic survey data with 529 lines by 583 common depth points (CDPs) at 25-m bin size that covers a 200-km2 area.Three vertical seismic profile (VSP) surveys and their detailed interpretations.Petrophysical analysis on 13 nearly vertical wells that penetrate the reservoir horizons.FMI logs and analysis for fracture delineation.Pressure/volume/temperature (PVT) samples and analyses.Conventional and special core analysis for matrix and fracture relative permeability, matrix capillary-pressure characteristics, and rock compaction.Two single-well, pressure-buildup tests.Three interference tests.Spot static-pressure measurements.Production data, including flowing bottomhole and tubing pressure, oil, water, and gas flow rates.Extensive information from 13 drilled wells in the field. Reservoir Characterization Geology. Shang 741 fractured reservoirs are located within the large Shengli field in the Bohai basin, China (Fig. 2). These volcanic reservoirs, primarily of the Oligocene Shahejie and Dongying formations, are composed of fractured basalt, extrusive tuff, and fractured diabase of intrusive origin (Fig. 3). The Shang 741 consists of a stack of separated fractured reservoirs, which communicate with each other only through drilled wellbores. These are divided into the H1, H2, H3, Lower H3, H3 1, and H4 fractured reservoir units. Fig. 4 shows the stacking order of these reservoirs along with geological markers, lithology type, and facies relationships.


Geophysics ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 75 (6) ◽  
pp. O57-O67 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daria Tetyukhina ◽  
Lucas J. van Vliet ◽  
Stefan M. Luthi ◽  
Kees Wapenaar

Fluvio-deltaic sedimentary systems are of great interest for explorationists because they can form prolific hydrocarbon plays. However, they are also among the most complex and heterogeneous ones encountered in the subsurface, and potential reservoir units are often close to or below seismic resolution. For seismic inversion, it is therefore important to integrate the seismic data with higher resolution constraints obtained from well logs, whereby not only the acoustic properties are used but also the detailed layering characteristics. We have applied two inversion approaches for poststack, time-migrated seismic data to a clinoform sequence in the North Sea. Both methods are recursive trace-based techniques that use well data as a priori constraints but differ in the way they incorporate structural information. One method uses a discrete layer model from the well that is propagated laterally along the clinoform layers, which are modeled as sigmoids. The second method uses a constant sampling rate from the well data and uses horizontal and vertical regularization parameters for lateral propagation. The first method has a low level of parameterization embedded in a geologic framework and is computationally fast. The second method has a much higher degree of parameterization but is flexible enough to detect deviations in the geologic settings of the reservoir; however, there is no explicit geologic significance and the method is computationally much less efficient. Forward seismic modeling of the two inversion results indicates a good match of both methods with the actual seismic data.


2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. T523-T530
Author(s):  
Ehsan Zabihi Naeini ◽  
Mark Sams

Broadband reprocessed seismic data from the North West Shelf of Australia were inverted using wavelets estimated with a conventional approach. The inversion method applied was a facies-based inversion, in which the low-frequency model is a product of the inversion process itself, constrained by facies-dependent input trends, the resultant facies distribution, and the match to the seismic. The results identified the presence of a gas reservoir that had recently been confirmed through drilling. The reservoir is thin, with up to 15 ms of maximum thickness. The bandwidth of the seismic data is approximately 5–70 Hz, and the well data used to extract the wavelet used in the inversion are only 400 ms long. As such, there was little control on the lowest frequencies of the wavelet. Different wavelets were subsequently estimated using a variety of new techniques that attempt to address the limitations of short well-log segments and low-frequency seismic. The revised inversion showed greater gas-sand continuity and an extension of the reservoir at one flank. Noise-free synthetic examples indicate that thin-bed delineation can depend on the accuracy of the low-frequency content of the wavelets used for inversion. Underestimation of the low-frequency contents can result in missing thin beds, whereas underestimation of high frequencies can introduce false thin beds. Therefore, it is very important to correctly capture the full frequency content of the seismic data in terms of the amplitude and phase spectra of the estimated wavelets, which subsequently leads to a more accurate thin-bed reservoir characterization through inversion.


2020 ◽  
Vol 39 (5) ◽  
pp. 346-352
Author(s):  
Mohamed G. El-Behiry ◽  
Mohamed S. Al Araby ◽  
Ramy Z. Ragab

Seismic wavelets are dynamic components that result in a seismic trace when convolved with reflectivity series. The seismic wavelet is described by three components: amplitude, frequency, and phase. Amplitude and frequency are considered static because they mainly affect the appearance of a seismic event. Phase can have a large effect on seismic appearance by changing the way it describes the subsurface. Knowing the wavelet properties of certain seismic data facilitates the process of interpretation by providing an understanding of the appearance of regional geologic markers and hydrocarbon-bearing formation behavior. The process through which seismic data wavelets are understood is called seismic well tie. Seismic well tie is the first step in calibrating seismic data in terms of polarity and phase. It ensures that the seismic data are descriptive to regional markers, well markers, and discoveries (if they exist). The step connects well data to seismic data to ensure that the seismic correctly describes well results at the well location. It then extends the understanding of seismic behavior to the rest of the area covered by the seismic data. Good seismic well tie will greatly reduce uncertainties accompanying seismic interpretation. One important outcome of the seismic well tie process is understanding the phase of seismic data, which affects how seismic data will reflect a known geologic marker or hydrocarbon-bearing zone. This understanding can be useful in quantifying discoveries attached to seismic anomalies and extending knowledge from the well location to the rest of the area covered by seismic data.


2021 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 151a1-151a7
Author(s):  
Adel Othman ◽  
Ahmed Ali ◽  
Mohamed Fathi ◽  
Farouk Metwally

In a complex reservoir with a significant degree of heterogeneity, it is a challenge to characterize the reservoir using different seismic attributes based on available data within certain time constraints. Prestack seismic inversion and amplitude variation with offset are among the techniques that give excellent results, particularly for gas-bearing clastic reservoir delineation because of the remarkable contrast between the latter and the surrounding rocks. Challenges arise when a shortage of seismic or well data presents an obstacle in applying these techniques. A further challenge arises if it is necessary to predict water saturation (Sw) using the seismic data because of the independent nonlinear relationship between Sw and seismic attributes and inversion products. Prediction of Sw is necessary not only for characterizing pay from nonpay reservoirs but also for economic reasons. Therefore, extended elastic impedance has been performed to produce a 3D volume of Sw over the reservoir interval. Then, a 3D sweetness volume and spectral decomposition volumes were used to grasp the geometry of the sand bodies that have been charged with gas in addition to their connectivity. This could help illustrate the different stages in the evolution of the Saffron channel system and the sand bodies distribution, both vertically and spatially, and consequently increase production and decrease development risk.


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