Quantitative Seismic Interpretation

Exploration and characterization of conventional and unconventional reservoirs using seismic technologies are among the main activities of upstream technology groups and business units of oil and gas operators. However, these activities frequently encounter difficulties in quantitative seismic interpretation due to remaining confusion and new challenges in the fast developing field of seismic petrophysics. Seismic Petrophysics in Quantitative Interpretation shows how seismic interpretation can be made simple and robust by integration of the rock physics principles with seismic and petrophysical attributes bearing on the properties of both conventional (thickness, net/gross, lithology, porosity, permeability, and saturation) and unconventional (thickness, lithology, organic richness, thermal maturity) reservoirs. Practical solutions to existing interpretation problems in rock physics-based amplitude versus offset (AVO) analysis and inversion are addressed in the book to streamline the workflows in subsurface characterization. Although the book is aimed at oil and gas industry professionals and academics concerned with utilization of seismic data in petroleum exploration and production, it could also prove helpful for geotechnical and completion engineers and drillers seeking to better understand how seismic and sonic data can be more thoroughly utilized.

Quantitative Seismic Interpretation demonstrates how rock physics can be applied to predict reservoir parameters, such as lithologies and pore fluids, from seismically derived attributes. The authors provide an integrated methodology and practical tools for quantitative interpretation, uncertainty assessment, and characterization of subsurface reservoirs using well-log and seismic data. They illustrate the advantages of these new methodologies, while providing advice about limitations of the methods and traditional pitfalls. This book is aimed at graduate students, academics and industry professionals working in the areas of petroleum geoscience and exploration seismology. It will also interest environmental geophysicists seeking a quantitative subsurface characterization from shallow seismic data. The book includes problem sets and a case-study, for which seismic and well-log data, and MATLAB® codes are provided on a website (http://www.cambridge.org/9780521151351). These resources will allow readers to gain a hands-on understanding of the methodologies.

Exploration and characterization of conventional and unconventional reservoirs using seismic technologies are among the main activities of upstream technology groups and business units of oil and gas operators. However, these activities frequently encounter difficulties in quantitative seismic interpretation due to remaining confusion and new challenges in the fast developing field of seismic petrophysics. Seismic Petrophysics in Quantitative Interpretation shows how seismic interpretation can be made simple and robust by integration of the rock physics principles with seismic and petrophysical attributes bearing on the properties of both conventional (thickness, net/gross, lithology, porosity, permeability, and saturation) and unconventional (thickness, lithology, organic richness, thermal maturity) reservoirs. Practical solutions to existing interpretation problems in rock physics-based amplitude versus offset (AVO) analysis and inversion are addressed in the book to streamline the workflows in subsurface characterization. Although the book is aimed at oil and gas industry professionals and academics concerned with utilization of seismic data in petroleum exploration and production, it could also prove helpful for geotechnical and completion engineers and drillers seeking to better understand how seismic and sonic data can be more thoroughly utilized.

A graduate-level guide to the application of rock physics in quantitative seismic interpretation.

Elementary, conceptual, and easy to read, this book describes the methods and techniques used to estimate rock properties from seismic data, based on a sound understanding of the elastic properties of materials and rocks and how the amplitudes of seismic reflections change with those properties. By examining the recorded seismic amplitudes in some detail, we can deduce properties beyond the basic geological structure of the subsurface. We can, using AVO and other amplitude techniques, characterize rocks and the reservoirs inside them with some degree of qualitative, and even quantitative, detail. Mathematics is not ignored, but is kept to a minimum. Intended for geophysicists, seismic acquisition specialists, processors, and interpreters, even those with little previous exposure to ‘quantitative interpretation’, ‘interpretive processing’ or ‘advanced seismic analysis’, this book also would be appropriate for geologists, engineers, and technicians who are familiar with the concepts but need a methodical review as well as managers and businesspeople who would like to obtain an understanding of these concepts.

3-D seismic data have become the key tool used in the petroleum industry to understand the subsurface. In addition to providing excellent structural images, the dense sampling of a 3-D survey makes it possible to map reservoir quality and the distribution of oil and gas. Topics covered in this book include basic structural interpretation and map-making; the use of 3-D visualisation methods; interpretation of seismic amplitudes, including their relation to rock and fluid properties; and the generation and use of AVO and acoustic impedance datasets. This new paperback edition includes an extra appendix presenting new material on novel acquisition design, pore pressure prediction from seismic velocity, elastic impedance inversion, and time lapse seismics. Written by professional geophysicists with many years' experience in the oil industry, the book is indispensable for geoscientists using 3-D seismic data, including graduate students and new entrants into the petroleum industry.

This book introduces practical seismic analysis techniques and evaluation of interpretation confidence, for graduate students and industry professionals - independent of commercial software products.

An accessible guide to using the rock physics-based forward modeling approach for seismic subsurface mapping, for researchers and petroleum geologists.