Seismic

Keywords plate tectonics, sedimentary basins, source rocks, maturation, migration, reservoir rocks, traps, seismic, gravity survey, magnetic survey, geochemistry, mudlogs, field studies. 

Exploration activities are potentially damaging to the environment. The cutting down of trees in preparation for an onshore seismic survey may result in severe soil erosion in years to come. Offshore, fragile ecological systems such as reefs can be permanently damaged by spills of crude or mud chemicals. Responsible companies will therefore carry out an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) prior to activity planning and draw up contingency plans should an accident occur. In Section 4.0 a more detailed description of health, safety and environmental considerations will be provided. 

Both survey methods are mainly employed to define large scale structures such as basins. Based on the resulting maps, seismic surveys are then carried out. 

It is fair to say that advances in seismic surveys over the last decade have changed the way fields are developed and managed. From being a predominantly exploration focused tool, seismic has progressed to become one of the most cost effective methods for optimising field production. In many cases, seismic has allowed operators to extend the life of mature fields by several years. 

It is expected that seismic iwill become even more important in determining field development strategies throughout the total field life. Indeed, many mature fields have several vintages of seismic, both 2D and 3D. 

Of course the typical seismic trace has many hundreds of reflections in it, all the way down from the surface to the deepest times measured. These days, engineers and geologists prefer to see the seismic in terms of the acoustic impedance rather than reflection data and this can be obtained by inversion from the seismic volume. Aseismic volume is made up of hundreds of thousands of traces. 

After often a lengthy period (several months) of acquisition and processing, the data may be loaded onto a seismic workstation for interpretation. These workstations are UNIX based, dual screen systems (sections on one side, maps on the other, typically) where all the trace data is stored on fast access disk, and where the picked horizons and faults can be digitised from the screen Into a database. Of vital Importance is access to all existing well data in the area for establishing the well - seismic tie. 2D data will be interpreted line by intersecting line, and 3D as a volume. 

To derive a reservoir geological model various methods and techniques are employed mainly the analysis of core material, wireline logs, high resolution seismic and outcrop studies. These data gathering techniques are further discussed in Sections 5.3 and 2.2. 

Since faults are zones of inherent weakness they may be reactivated over geologic time. Usually, faulting occurs well after the sediments have been deposited. An exception to this is a growth feu/f (also termed a syn-sedimentary fault), shown in Figure 5.7. They are extensional structures and can frequently be observed on seismic sections through deltaic sequences. The fault plane is curved and in a three dimensional view has the shape of a spoon. This type of plane is called listric. Growth faults can be visualised as submarine landslides caused by rapid deposition of large quantities of water-saturated... 

The purpose of this exercise is to identify what parameters need to be further investigated if the current range of uncertainty in reserves is too great to commit to a development. In this example, the engineer may recommend more appraisal wells or better definition seismic to reduce the uncertainty in the reservoir area and the net-to-gross ratio, plus a more detailed study of the development mechanism to refine the understanding of the recovery factor. Afluid properties study to reduce uncertainty in (linked to the shrinkage... 

Keywords reducing uncertainty, cost-effective information, ranking sources of uncertainty, re-processing seismic, interference tests, aquifer behaviour, % uncertainty, decision tree analysis, value of information, fiscal regime, suspended wells, phased development. 

Take an example of estimating gross rock volume, based on seismic data and the results of two wells in a structure (Fig. 7.2). The following cross-section has been generated, and a base case GRV has been calculated. 

The general list of factors influencing the uncertainty in the gross rock volume included the shape of structure, dip of flanks, position of bounding faults, position of internal faults, and depth of fluid contacts (in this case the OWC). In the above example, the owe is penetrated by two wells, and the dip of the structure can be determined from the measurements made in the wells which in turn will allow calibration of fhe 3D seismic. 

Seismic surveys are traditionally an exploration and appraisal tool. However, 3-D seismic is now being used more widely as a development tool, i.e. applied for assisting in selecting well locations, and even in identifying remaining oil in a mature field. This was discussed in Section 2.0. Seismic data acquired at the appraisal stage of the field life is therefore likely to find further use during the development period. 

Appraisal activity should be based upon the information required. The first step is therefore to determine what uncertainties appraisal is trying to reduce, and then what information is required to tie down those uncertainties. For example, if fluid contacts are a major source of uncertainty, drilling wells to penetrate the contacts is an appropriate tool seismic data or well testing may not be. Other examples of appraisal tools are ... 

At the development planning stage, a reservoir mode/will have been constructed and used to determine the optimum method of recovering the hydrocarbons from the reservoir. The criteria for the optimum solution will most likely have been based on profitability and safety. The model Is Initially based upon a limited data set (perhaps a seismic survey, and say five exploration and appraisal wells) and will therefore be an approximation of the true description of the field. As development drilling and production commence, further data is collected and used to update both the geological model (the description of the structure, environment of deposition, diagenesis and fluid distribution) and the reservoir model (the description of the reservoir under dynamic conditions). 

If the original field development plan was not based on a 3-D seismic survey (which would be a commonly used tool for new fields nowadays), then it would now be normal practice to shoot a 3-D survey for development purposes. The survey would help to provide definition of the reservoir structure and continuity (faulting and the extension of reservoir sands), which is used to better locate the development wells. In some cases time-lapse 3-D seismic 4D surveys carried out a number of years apart, see Section 2) is used to track the displacement of fluids in the reservoir. 

The most challenging of these applications has been the location and characterisation of anomalies in thick concrete structures using seismic methods and the detection of reinforcing steel and pre-stressing cables in congested structures using radar. 

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