Dynamic Reservoir Characterization: Multicomponent 4D

by Steven Roche and Thomas Davis

Duration: Two days

Intended Audience: All levels

Prerequisites (Knowledge/Experience/Education Required): The course is applicable to all levels and more importantly geologists and petroleum engineers.

Summary:
Purpose of the course is to provide real case studies of multicomponent seismic applications towards an actual dynamic reservoir problem. Course participants will view real data and learn from the experiences gained within the Reservoir Characterization Project at Colorado School of Mines. Topics include geology, reservoir characteristics, rock physics review specific to the problem, multicomponent overview, and details of multicomponent (9-C) seismic data acquisition & processing. Main part of the course will be the integration of the geological, reservoir engineering and geophysical data into an interpretation consistent with all data.

Course Outline:
Completion and production processes cause dynamic changes in reservoir properties including pressure, saturation and permeability. The most accurate geophysical tool for monitoring these changes is time-lapse multicomponent seismology, specifically in delineating the spatial distribution of the changes. Studies over the past fifteen years by the Reservoir Characterization Project (RCP) document the power of multicomponent seismology to observe and quantify these dynamic changes. RCP's studies illustrate that more accurate quantitative measurements of reservoir properties can occur through the time-lapse multicomponent seismic monitoring and that these measurements must be introduced into dynamic reservoir characterization for more accurate prediction of reservoir performance.

This course covers time-lapse (4-D), multicomponent (9-C), 3-D seismic monitoring studies performed within RCP at Vacuum Field, New Mexico, Weyburn Field, Saskatchewan, Rulison Field, Colorado, Postle Field, Oklahoma and Delhi Field, Mississippi. Both Vacuum and Weyburn Fields are mature carbonate reservoirs undergoing tertiary recovery using CO₂ injection. Postle and Delhi Fields are clastic sandstone reservoirs, also undergoing tertiary CO₂ injection. Rulison Field is a tight gas sandstone reservoir within a basin-centered gas play. Results show that pressure and fluid changes associated with the reservoir processes result in rock property changes detected using surface 9-C seismic data over time (dynamic reservoir characterization).

Many time-lapse projects being reported in the literature today are focused on reservoirs where compressibility is the primary time-lapse signature. This study focuses on carbonate and clastic rocks where changes in rigidity, detected using measurements of shear wave anisotropy, are the primary observations to infer reservoir processes. All projects, with the exception of the Delhi Field study, are full 9-C data volumes, utilizing both vertical and horizontal vibrators as P- and S-wave sources recorded by multicomponent geophones.

Geoscientists curious about multicomponent applications in both static and dynamic reservoir characterization will benefit from attending. Emphasis is on real data examples but also provides a general theoretical background to relate the data observations and conclusions to current research efforts. This course offers a head start up the multicomponent learning curve by presenting case studies of dynamic reservoir characterization projects from field records through multidisciplinary integration.

Instructor Biographies:
Steven Roche
Thomas Davis