Iranian Journal of Oil and Gas Science and Technology

Abstract Reservoir characterization has a leading role in the reservoir geophysics and reservoir management. Since the interests of the reservoir geophysics and reservoir managements are the elastic properties and reservoir properties of the subsurface rock for their purposes, a robust method is required for converting seismic data into elastic properties. Accordingly, by employing a rock physics model and using the inverted seismic data, one can describe the reservoir for purposes such as improvement in the production of the reservoir. In the present study, we employ one of the methods for converting the seismic data into the elastic properties. This method of inversion is known as simultaneous inversion, which is grouped in amplitude-variation-with-offset (AVO) inversion category. In this method, unlike the other methods of AVO inversion, the pre-stack seismic data are directly inverted into the elastic properties of the rock and an excellent lithology and fluid indicator (V_P/V_S) are provided. Then, this indicator is tested on one of the oilfields of the Persian Gulf. Moreover, by means of this method, one can locate the fluids contact and the lithological interlayers; also, by the inversion results, which are the cubes of the seismic properties of the rock, one can generate sections of the elastic properties of the rock such as Poisson’s ratio and Young modulus which are useful for geomechanical analysis. Therefore, this kind of method is a quick way for the prior analysis of the studied area.

Abstract Seismic modeling aids the geophysicists to have a better understanding of the subsurface image before the seismic acquisition, processing, and interpretation. In this regard, seismic survey modeling is employed to make a model close to the real structure and to obtain very realistic synthetic seismic data. The objective of this study is to analyze the resolution and illumination of the fault by designing appropriate 3D seismic survey parameters. The ray-based seismic modeling was built using 2D seismic data, geological reports, and the well logs in one of the oil fields in the southwest of Iran. A pre-stack depth migration simulator was used to evaluate the survey geometry on the resulting seismic image. The results proved that a survey designer could improve the image of the target in a seismic section by applying the ray-based analyses, with respect to illumination and resolution studies.

Abstract The aim of seismic inversion is mapping all of the subsurface structures from seismic data. Due to the band-limited nature of the seismic data, it is difficult to find a unique solution for seismic inversion. Deterministic methods of seismic inversion are based on try and error techniques and provide a smooth map of elastic properties, while stochastic methods produce high-resolution maps of elastic properties with the same probability. The current paper studies a stochastic method of seismic inversion which was applied to one of the Persian Gulf oilfields. Joint posterior distribution of elastic properties was calculated using Bayesian principle; then a sequential Gaussian simulation technique was performed to decompose the global probability function of elastic properties into some local probability functions at each trace location. The sampling of the local probability functions was performed, and two hundred realizations of the elastic properties were generated. The results of the stochastic inversion were found to be capable of modeling heterogeneities of the reservoir. The generated realizations provided the possibility to uncertainties assessment by calculating the variance of the elastic properties. It was found out that the uncertainty increased in locations far away from the well. Moreover, stochastic inversion, unlike deterministic one, was found to be capable of detecting thin beds (3.5 to 5.7 m) embedded within the reservoir.