.

SecbtyofPetreteum Engineers

SPE 24752
Effects of Properties in Seismic Data on Reservoir Characterization and
Consequent Fluid-Flow Predictions When Integrated With Well Logs
lJ,G. Araktingi* and W.M, Bashore, Chevron (Xi Field Research Co.
SPE Memkrer

f-l
W

Copyright 1992, Society of Pelrolaum Engineers Inc.

Th18psper ws$ prepsred Ior presentation at the 67th Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition of the Society of Petroleum Engineers held In Washington, 00, October 4-7,1992,
This paper was selected for presentation by an SPE Program Committee following review of Information contained In an abslracf submitted by fhe author(e). Contents of the paper,
se presented, have not been reviewed by the Society of Pefroleum Englneere end are eubJeotto correction by the suthor(s). The malerisl, as preeerdad, does not necasssrily reflect
any p@tlon of the S@ety of Petroleum Engineers, ha office:% or members. Papers presented al SPE mwtings are sub@I to publication ravlew by Editorial Comrnlttess of the society
of Pefro!wm Engineers. Permissionto copy is restricted to an abstract of not morethan SMfworda. Illuslreliorssmay not be cc@ed.The abstract shoutd contain conspbuous acknowledgment
of where and by whom the paper is presenled. Write Librarian, SPE, P.C).Box 833836, Richardson, TX 76363+336 U.S.A. Telex, 730989 SPEDAL.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION

A reservoir model was generated to quantitj the cnhancoments in

reservoir description resulting from the corporation of seismicaUyderived informadon with well-baseddata and to study how the quaIity
of the seismic data affeots those reservoir deaoriptions. The rescxvoir
spatial
model was created.fmm 56 well logs with a pdetmined
correlationusing geostadstiealtechniques. A regular grid of mtccs was
extrmcd hm this model and transformed into 3D seismic surveys
which were then invertedto produce acousticimpedanoelogs. Several
seismic data parameterssuch as fiequsmcybandwid~ waveformphase
estimation error, and correlation coefficient between seisnde and well
data were varied to study their relative importance on reservoir
descriptionand subsequentflowresults. l%esediffexingseismicdatasets
were fhally integrated with the original wel$-log data again udng
geoatatiadcalmethods,

In recent years, recognitionof the importentimpaot reservoir heterogeneity has on fluid dwplscementprocesseshoa led to the use of deti
geologicallyrealisti~ quantitativememoir models as input to fluidflow
simulators. Such large models require the assignmentof petrophysical
and flow properties to each location represented in the nuntcriealfluid
flow sinndstion. Unfortundy, for moat reservoir suoh dsta cre only
mmilableat few diacmte sample locadom, namely wells. Ropcrty
values csn be assigned to the remahdog grid cells by Mcrpoladng the
available well data or by generadng steehaadc realeach of
which is a possible representationof the reservoir given the available
data. Both of these methods have sexious &awbaoka, Smooth
intqidona
of properties UC kI10W21 to prOdU~ biased MCOVCIY
JXCdCti02Ui in fluid displacement dCtlhtiOrtS)2
(h the Oth
hisI@
@dtsatic
realization conditioned by my
few data tend to genctate
mcovi+rycurves that cover a vcxylarge rsnge of values, as will be seen
later in the results section., Such problems may be alleviated by
integrating information fmm 2D and 3D seismic dam whi& are
availableon a much deruw areal coveragethan we~ extendingthe use
of such data beyond its traditional application in m@ng Iarge-soale
subsurfacestructures. Seismic trem inversion to pseudo-logsprovi~
acousticdata which em be used as soft information Whi~ in tunL can
then bs used to infer the variation of perrophysical properdes in the
interwellregion.

C!omparadve fluid displacemems wem performed on ail reservoir

rcalizadons using an all-pwpoae flow simulator to quan~ the flow
behavior differelus. The resultaj based on breakthroughdme and oil
recovezy predictions, show that eves mmginal inercaseain fkequerwy
bandwidth (e.g., increases of 10 Hz in the upper fkquency) provide
significant enhancementsto the reservoir model. Also, estimation of
wmreform phaeetowithin Wof
thetroa wdttaiashowntobe
sufficii to cqmtre much of the interwellheterogeneitycontributedby
M seismic data and thus does not signifieandyaffz fluid-flowresults.
Finally, OVm fOI~lStiO12 CLWffiCie21tS U iOW U 0.4, WhiCh illitildly
was considered
quite low, sufficient positive contribution from the
seismic data still werrsnts integrathtgit with the well-log data.

Re_

and illustradonaat end of paper.

913

Seismio data are considered soft because they differ in severalvery

importantaspeetsticsmwell-logdata and com measurements. Pirsh the
vertical reaoludonof the two types of data is vaady different. Wdi-log
fihhofa
datapwi~f orallpmodcal ~apointvalueev~
meter while seismic data gives a rock pmparty averagedova a vay
largevolunw usuallyon theorderof tans of cubic meters. The sise of
that volume is determinedby the fmqwncy bandwiddt of the recorded
seismic signal andrhatype ofrsxkbcing traversed bytheaigd

,.

EFFECT OF PROPER71ES IN SEISMIC DATA ON RESERVOIR

CHARACTERIZATION AND CONSEQUENT FLLW)=FLOW PREDICTIONS
WHEN INTEGRATED WITH WELL LOGS

Secon4 acoustic velocities, obtained after &convolving and inverting

the seismic trscm, are assumed to be inversely correlated with sonic
logs. That correlationis then used to obtain indhect measurementsof
porosity from seismic data Such correlation however, is far horn
perfeck and the correlationcoefficientmay range from near one all the
way down to zero, This disparity in the quality of the two data types
needs to be taken into account in the integrationprocess, and methods
that respectthis differenceneed to be used, FinalIy,calctiating seismic
velocities from seismic amplitudes requires the estimation of the
wavef~ and more critically its phase component. Misestimationof
this phase component could lead to potentially inaccurate reservoir
descriptions, Thus, the effect of these three factors fkequencybsndwidth, correlation level between seismic and well-log dst% and
waveformphase esdrnslion on oil recoveryperformancepredictions
is the object of this study. The results should provide criteria for these
parameters and establish how well seismic dsta will enhance reservoir
models used for productionpurposes.

in the sehrtictracesmust be germaneto the problem

properties inherent
at hand. In the case of carbonate resuvoirx, such as the me which
provided the basic data for this study,velocity and density tend m be
negatively correlated with porosity. That is, as porosity incre~
the
acoustic properties of the rock decrease, and seismic detection of high
porosity zones Womes possible.

The original prosity model was generated using core and neutnm
poroaitiesfrom S6 wells. A baaemapof the area showingonly ten out
of the 56 wells is presentedin Figure 2, l%eaeten wells were used h
in the fluid flow simulations. A realization using the Squendd
Indicator Simulation techniqueconditioned by the 56 wells was used
to generatea 3D, one million cell (1OMOOX1OO)
quantitativereamoir
model of porosity. This stochastic iechniquo permits different @al
correlationsto be imposedon sapuate !hreshoklsof the porosity rartge
(0.00 - 0.37). Seven such thresholds were chosen (0.05, 0,10,0.13,
0,18,0.220,25, 0,30) with the respctive anisotropicvariogranw

Gsnwatlon of Sslsmi&Baaad Models

The followingdiscussionpresents a methodologyfor creating synthetic

3D seismic data from highly complex reservoir models that enabIe an
investigationof the effectsof incorporatingsehxnic-bastxlinformation
into reaewoir descriptions and subsequent fluid flow predictions. In
particular, it is possible m study the effect in the level of eorrekuion
Mween seismically sensitive properties (velocity-density) and the
resenfoir proprtiea of interest (porosity-permeability). Two other
effects are also easily modeled using this approach seismic resolution
and errors associatedwith waveform estimation. The degree.to which
seismic-basedinformationhas an impact on reservoir descriptions and
@ictions is greatly tied to the amount and quality such
w~
n provides,
additional MXmatle
Summarizedin Figure 1 is the process flowfor gemzadng the appropiate seismicdata sets and correspondingvelocitymodels used to test the
effects of seismicparmneuxson reservoir forecasts. This medmdology
for creating synthetic 3D seisdc data from highly complex reservoir
models using s@21 cmrelation techniquespermits sensitivitytests that
would have puecluded with previous models generated tiom
linearly interpolatedWINlogs. Such detailedaenaitivi~ analysesusing
a geologic model speoific to the area of interest may pro. e vital to
economic decisions of squiring, processin~ and irtteqxeting seismic
data for improved cluwaoterisationbeyond that interpreted from wellbased dataalone.

SPE 24762

cutoff

Rx

1st

400 m

100 m

50

2nd

400 m

150 m

50

3rd

350 m

200 m

30

4th

300 m

250 m

20

5th

250 m

250 m

6th

400 m

150 m

7th

400 m

100 m

RX= major range, ~ = minor range, O= anisotropyangle

Them 9025 traces were picked from the realisation on an even spacing
end transformed into seismic data according to the methodology
described in the following sections. Finally, the seismic data set was
decimated down to 143 traces, also on a regular patte~ as shown m
Figure 2 to be used for integration with the well dats as WM be
discussedin the section on log results,

Poro81ty-Veloclty Transforms

Because good-quality density logs ere not available in this Q

the
input models for generating Synthetio seismic data rely solely tm
transformingthe porosity cuba to velocity using Gardnersrelationship
(p=a@) betweenvelocity and density,with a fJ=O.2Spower coefficiutt
included in all subsequentreflectivity calculations. The field data fix
converting the porosity model to velocity are shown in Figure3. lb
capture the spread of variabilityin veloeity at any given porosity vahK4
itisnecessary tousemorethanjusta
Unearfitasatransferrm
The
-e
to be describedpermits not only this chid transform w be

Bass Porosity Nbchl

A fundamentalthesisof integratingsecondaryor soft data with primary

orharddeta using g--al

xwhtitiey
araeorrelatedto
some de-,
the higher the degree of eondatiom the ~eater the
contrbtkm b soft datarnakes to the output modeL For seismic-based
data to &of use to the reservoir engineer or geoscientis~ the earth

9M
. .

~.
b.!

..

*,

. .

SPE 24752

U. G. ARAKTINGI and W. M. BASHORE

% but also the ability to change the level of correlation(as measured

by a Pearson-productrnomenLR) whUestill maintaining the general
shape of the cloud.
The porosity axis is breed into classes, and a velocity histogram or
probabilitydensity function(pdf) is generatedfor each class. The class
size is kept smaU to provide greater detail in describing the cloud, yet
each bm should contain enough velocity points to make it statistically
significant. Our minimumcutoff was 30 veiucityvalues. These dwcretc
pdfs are then summed or integrat* into cumulative-densityfunctions
(cdtJ The cdf for a given porosity class yields the probability that the
velocity will be less than a certain value. By randomly generating a
number between O and 1 end using the cdfi as look-up tables, a
stochastic simulation can be performed on an input set of porosity
values to produce an output set of velocity values which has a correlation cloud similar to the cloud originaUydefining the transform,
Although this procedure will produce the desired level of cosrelatiou it
will not mainti a spstial-statisticfd structure simUar to the input
porosity model. In fack spatial correlation ierigths wiU be extremely
smaUbecause this simulation scheme does not concern itself with the
relationshipof neighboringvalues when generatingthe output velocity
field, Moreover, seismic processing algorithms are quite effective at
eliminating random noise and would reduce any simulated velocity
model to the average velocity field. LJnfrptunateIy,eU the work to
capture the transform variability is then k
To overcome this
limitati~ a second step is added to the simulationprocess,
Instead of tranafonqing aUtraces in the porosity model, the number is
decimateddown to an adequatespacing that did not alias the vsriogrsm
range, For our study, the output velocity traces were liited to 143
kation$or about12% of the ultimate number of ceUa used in the
resesvoirsimulations. The decimationis done with et least three traces
faUingwithin a correlationlength. These velocity traces are then kriged
with the same variogram as used in the generation of the porosity
mode~ thus, preiervimg spatial statistics, %riationa in multiple
reaUsationsof this simulationprocess increasewith decreasinglevels of
correlation between porosity and velocity (i.e., greater spread in the
cdfk), Figure 4 displays a comparisonof four realizations for layer 24,
taken fkomthe 48 layer flow simulationmodel which will be discussed
in the section on flow results, to the originalporosity dwtribution. The
correlation coefficient is about 0,6 which closely matches the actual
field data. Only a single realization ~~ kept for each level of
correlation (R = 0.2, 0,4, 0.6, 0.8) throughout the processing, data
integretiomand reservoir simulation.
The gawration of cdfs for tmmsformapplicationhas the added benefit
of easily changing the &gree of varitillity without altering its overaU
shape. To obtain a higherlevel of correlation it is only necessary to
linearly compress the cdf about the 05 probabilityvalue. Likewise,to
increase the variability, the cdf is linearly stretched about this same
point. Tho skewnessor shape of the underlyingpdf is preserved while
the range aboutits rttedsn is changed appropriately. Velocitymodels
for layer 24 with the four levels of ccqrelationto the input porosity
model are givrst m Figure 5.

915

Synthetic 3D Selsmlc Data

The creationof syntheticseismicdata hum

each velocitymodel is quite

straightforvmd The tracea are converted from depth to time and then
resampled at a regular intaval in dm.q velocity is wnvezted to
reflection coefficients; and a waveform is convolved to produce the
output seismic data volume? It is the M step which allows the study
of resolutioneffects ikomseismic-basedinformation, As the @uency
content or bandwidth of the waveform filter is reduce4 more vertical
averagingis performed,thus reducing the thicknessof resolution.w A
commonheuristicgives a qusrter wavelengthof the dominanthpwncy
as the hwel of resolution. It is interesting to note that spadeI averaging
or exaggerationof long wavelengthtrends also occum, Examinadonof
Figure 6, showingresUzationa cmiitioned on seismic data with difbmnt
bandwidths,reveals that as the bandwidth narrows, not only does the
range of velocityvalues increase,but an increasein apparentconnectivity is also clearly present. Becauseof the correlationbetween porosity
and velocity, this enhanced continuity of low and high velocity trends
will have a profound effect on fluid flow,especiaUyin areas with less
well control to constrain the soft dates contributions. he lower part
of Figure 6 shows flowrecoverydata which will be discussedin a istca
section. Frequency ranges of 10-250 Hertz (W), 10-12SH& and
10-62.5 Hz, are compared with the wide-band case. The latter two
frequencybands span the range of commonly observedbandwidthsfor
reservoimlessthan2000 metersdeep, with ~uency contentdecreasing
as a function of depth.
It is important to note that the filtering process has the effect of
lowering the final correlation level between the porosity logs and the
inverted seismic trues hem what the original correlation was before
generatingthe syntheticdata, For exampl%an R=0,6 transformis used
tocreete aveloc@mo
delwhichia cOnveatedto ae&rnic3Ddateaet
with a 10-12S Hz bandwidth. The resultant velocity modal afta
inversion correlates to the porosity logs at R=O.24. Nonetheless,if the
porosity logs are UkewisebsndUmitedto 1O-U2S~ these logs would
correlate to the output velocitymodel near the R=0,6 level. Becauseof
this, the seisrnk inversionsWiUprovide substantialadditional information in the interwell regions *pite the decreasedlevel of correlation,
To use spatial-statistical procedures for integrating seismio-bssed
informationwith well logs, it is necessary to reverse the convolutional
model and obtain log mce.s from the seisrniodata~io This imwraion
procedure requires that the inherent waveform be estimated and
removed By distorting the phase component of the waveform end
assuming sero phasG compadaons of the output models to tlte true
waveform case may shed light on how csrefidly,or to whet cotddeswe
leve~ the geophysicistmust strive to reduce estimationemrs. Rgure 7
contains five models for layer 24 where phase rotations of 40, -~,
+20, end -40, respectively,may be compared with tim @ual zerophase case in Figure 5. For this particular study, the models do not
signiiicsntiy dtifer between %?@with even the +40 r@adon showing
only minor diffemmes.
M waveformestimation step in the inversion process can be tedknss
with much uncertainty attached to the estimations. Expdenee sinxvs
that variation ranges of 400 are quiti common andtobeexpectediti

EFFECT OF PROPER?IES IN SEISfWC DATA ON RESERVOIR

CHARACTERIZATION AND CONSEQUENT FLUID+LOW PREDICTIONS
W+EN INTIWRATEO WITH WELL LOGS

many inversion studies. It is reassuring to know that of the three

psrametms tested in this study, absolutephase estimation Iuwthe least
effect on rescxvoir cheractedzaticn end fluid flow. II& is not too
surprhhg, however, bwause given the narrow bandwidthsof conventional seismicdatajconstantphaseshifts are well approximatedby small
time shifta. Differencesafta spectral extrapolationare minor because
much of the phase error is incorporated as minor time-shifts sdor
minor reflectivityamplitudeestimates.

Salamlc Data Inversion

Synthe$icseismic trac& are useful for creating the seismic expression

of a particular stratigraphic model to prexikt the characteristicsof
amplitude and phase within the reservoir, The variations in amplitude
end phase may be smociated with variations in reservoir facies buL
unfortunately,not neamerily in m intuitiveway. Seismic amplitudeis
a composite,not a discrete,measurement and the variationin amplitude
along a mapped horizon maybe the result of variation horn above srd
or below the zone of interest. Moreover,the amplitudesare correlated
to avsragai properties, and subsequentintegration will only produco a
twodimensiomd distribution. Because a volume is desired for improving the reservcirperformancepredictionsthroughsimulation converting
each se~c trace back to its underlyingimpedanceprofileyiehls a data
sel which bettez describes discrete variations at any depth point. This
process is called seismic inversion,
Estimatingthe waveformandremovingit throughdeconvolutionreturns
a narrow bandwidth reflectivity model. By pafortning spectral
exqdaticn based on an expected bbcky appwmwetc the output
pseudo tmsces,a sparse set of reflection coefficients is detexrninedthat
when canvolved w$ththe waveform will reproduce the input seismic
data}l<ia A spatial coherency filter is applied prior to inversion to
may have been introduced.
reduce sny high spatiaI-frequencynoise that
We use an FX deconvolutionscheme,
lhe,inversion prcceas is simply en integration of the sparsereflectivity
to impedance or velocity. Ijqdcally,a background model is included
in the inversion to recmw the low-ftequcncy(0-10 Hz) drift which is
not Pr-nt in the seismic band. Because the zone to be inverted was
sod@ only the averagevr@cityof 6S50 m/see &tied our background
model. After the pseudo-tracesare creatrki,they are convertedback to
depth for integration with the original log data. So as not to introduce
possibleconmminationby not having the velocity model exactly tie tie
well da% a single velocity model is used to convert depth to time and
time to depth for all of the velocity models generated

Flow R@sults

Ten wells (two water ir@ors

and eight oil producers) out of tie
original 56 wells used in generating rhe porosity model were retained
end integrated with the diffczentsynthetic seismic date seta described
previously to produce quantitative reservoir models cimsiiting of

SPE 24752

porosity grids. Tim grid dimensions are 35 ncdca in both the x and y
directions and 48 nodes irt the vertical directiomaddingup to a total of
58,800 cells. The average interval thiclomssof ~e area being studiqi
is 79 m resulting in cells that are approximately1,65 m thick Well-bg
and cmederived porosity from the ten wells was integrated with 143
seismic velocity traces. Of the many different me$hodsavailable to
integrate different data types, cdrxiging with the Merkov-Bayes
formalism was chosen. This approach respects the differences in
qualhy existing betweemdata types while providing the cepaMlityof
ass@ing separate spatial correlations to different ranges of the b
The identicalveriogrammodels chosen to generatethe originalporosity
model are re*
to model the spatial continuityof the well*
thus
eliminatingdtiercnccs in integrationtechniqueor spatial correlationas
potentialcxtusesfor changesin flowbehaviorbetweenresemoir modelk
Naturally, as the carelstion level bstween the seismic and weIl data
vtics, so do the spatial coffelations for the seismic and the crosscorrelationbetweenseismic and well-log data accmdingto the MarkovBayesapproximation.Conditionalsimulationsof porositygrids for each
syntheticseismicdata set were generatedusing the SequentialIndicamr
Simulationtechnique. These porosity grids were then transformedinto
permeability @da using a Iognonnal porosity-permeabilitylrmusf~
producingpermeabtity mapsthat are qualitativelysimilertotheporcsity
maw meaning a region of high porosity correspondsto a region of high
permeability. The permeabtity values ranged horn Omd to 1,800 md.
A black oil,simtdat.d was then used to simulatea watdood (mobility
ratio = 2) through each reservoir realization. Upscaling was not
performed on the property grids, and identical reladve permdWy
cumes were utilized for each fhdd flow displacuncn~ Approximately
60 such wateribods were conducted for each syntheticseismic data net
providiig dismbtion curves for different flow per~
m
probab@y .distributiona for cumulative field oil recovery and total
fractional flow of oil at 0.7 pore volumes injected wexe used to
dutinguish among the flow characteristics of the different reservoir
models.
As discussed earlier, the effects on flow behavior of varying three
properties within the seismic data were investigated correlation with
well information waveformphase estimatirm and frequencybaruiwidth
In addition, anotherset of stochasticrealizationsof the raervoir model
wm generatedconditionedby the informationfrom the ten wells alorm
This case was needed to determine whether acquiringseismb data and
combhdngwith the well data provides a benefitover ustig rkdy the data
from the wells. Randomly sampled flow results,for this sparse~
are prssented in Figure 8 in terms of cumulativetotal oil recovery end
total ffectional flow of oil as a function of pore volumes injectd ht
additi~ the results for the original reservoir description used to
generate the syntheticseismic daw in other wcrda b rsal reservoir,
and randomly sampled flow results through a model ob@ned by
integrating an average seismic data set (R=O.6, frequency, bandwidth=10-125HZ zero phase estimation error) are also showm The
flow predictionsobtaild with the ten wells abne clearly ov~
for all realizations the real rccovexy behavior. The range in flow
behavior is also quite a bit larger than the range exhibitedby the fluid
displacementsthrough,the reservoir model obtained by including the

916
.,:,

,.
. .

SPE 24752

U. G. ARAKTINGI and W. W BASHORE

estimation error cmnrnitted. Also, these results are very similar to the
case when no estimationerror is made (R=0,6 in Figure 5),

averageaeisndcdata set. The mesn for all of the sparserealizations

is 0.53 rectwexyat 0.7 WI while the true recovery is 0.43 recovery
r~eaenting a 23% error. Similar discrepancies are observed when
consideringfractional fiow of oil ~sparse case median@ 0.7 PVI =
0.16, true case 0.20) wirh a 20% em-m.On b other had the flow
predictions obtained when including the average seismic data set
(median@ 0.7 PVX= 0.46) are closer to the true case snd poduce a
8% error. A simi.iar.jmprovementin accuracy is ObSOIWd in the
fractional flow of oil predictions. Breakthroughtimes do not show any
signi6cant range of variation in the flow simulations for both the
sparse and the average seismic data sets due to the presence of a
high porosity~cability
channel between one of the injectors and a
producer,

DISOUSBION

NexL the effect of varying degrees of correlationbetween the well-log

data and the seismic data was investigatedwith the flow results shown
in Figure 5. The syntheticdata sets used in these flow simulationswere
generatedusing the full frequencyrange (whichis not possiblewith reaI
data) to isolate the effect of correlationon fluid flow behavior. As ye
degree decreases, the median value for total cumulative recovery
increasesfrom 0,4 * 0.01 for R=O.8to 0.51 * 0.04 for R=O.2. Similar
results sre also observed for the fkctional flow of oiL It ranges from
~0,19 t 0.015 for R=O.8to 0.165 * 0.027 for R=O.2. The results for the
lowest correlation value show the seismic data contributing very little
to the rcaewoir descriptionin terms of flowbehavior since the recovery
results are neaxlyidentical to the sparse case reaula while the high
correlationseismicdata set producesvery accurateflowpredictionswith
a vesy small range of uncertainty. Thus, at this high correlation leveL
the difkent realimtions of the reservoir are all very simiisr to the
true reservoir, The intermediatereservoir descriptionsobtained with
seismic &ta with correlation values of 0.6 and 0.4 also produce better
predictionsthan the sparsecase. Nonetheless,their ranges of unc@ainty are largerhen the R=O.8case, as would bo expected, and increases
with decreasinglevels of correlation.
Varyingthe frequencybandwidthof the seismic data while keeping the
codation level fixed at 0.6 produced the flow results shown in
Figure 6. Here, the spread in predicted valuea at 0.7 PVI decreases
slightly as,thebandwidthnarrows. Mediancumulativerecoveriesrange
fiom0,45 & 0.02 for the wide band case to 0.53 * O .015 for the
10-62.5Hz case. Thus, as the bandwidth decreases, meaning the
vertical resolution of the seismic data also decreases, total cumulative
oil recovery increasesindicatingan improvedsweep efficiency through
the reservoir. The seismic-basedinformation suggests a much more
homogeneousreservoir than actuallyexistabecauseof the smoothingof
the niurow band 5tter. The magnitu& of the error in predictingtrue
behavior (4.6% error for wide band up to a 17% error for the 10-62.5
Hz case) is smaller than the exxon observed when crmsi&ring the
effects of correlation,
Piiy, the effect of waveform phase estimation error is considered.
Brroraof +40, +20, -20, and -W are investigatecLagkinkeeping the
hwel of correlation fixed at 0.6 and. rho frequency bandwidth at
10-125W with the flowresults presentedin Pigure 7. Flow behavior,
both in terms of total cumulativeoil recove~ and tot~ fractional flow
of oil at 0.7 PVL are nearly independent,of the magnitude of the

917

Of the three seismicparametersinvestigatedin this study,the correlation

level between the seismis data, and the well-log @ateplays the most
important role. As the correlation level decreases, the infbrmatiort
provided by the seismic data diminishes until a correlation level is
reachd
0.2 for the fluid t2s@ements condtwted here, wltea it no
longer contributesany additionalknowledgeabout the reservoirbeyond
the well information. Thus, a prior detmminadoriof the correlation
level before conductingthe full 2R or 3D seismicsuwey should~vide
a feel for the potentialenhancementof the reservoir deacripdonad the
reduction in uncertainty in predicting flow behavior. The seoend
parameterof importanceis the frequencybandwidthof the seismicdata.
The narrowingof the frequencyrange results in overly optimisticsweep
efficiencies as observed in fluid flow visualizationsof.those particular
emplacements, Thus, the poorer vertical resolution evidencedby the
blockier aspect of the seismic traces, resuhs in increased poparty
averaging especially in the interwell region beyond the range of
influence of the wells where the seismic data don@tca the reservoir
description. A frequencybandwidthof 10-125Hz pvided sufficient
ad@ional information to warrant the incluskm of the seismic data.
Such a bandwidthcan be expcted for reservoirdepths of 2000m w less.
However, the frequency content of a seismic suxveyk also a fimctkm
of surface conditions and the type of subsurfaceropka encounteredby
the acoustic signal, Thus, seismb surveys may result in seismic data
with lower frequencycontentfor shallowerreservoirsandcautionshould
be taken not to use depth as the sole indicator of frequencybendwidtht
On M other hsnq subsurfaceconditionsmay also enhancethe acoustic
signal beyond the expected resolution for a particular depth Pinally,
waveformphase estimationerror doeanot greatly affect.fiowresults and
an emorof f20 seems acceptablewhen dealingwith seismicdate with
a frequencybandwidthof 10-125 Hz as was usedhere. For seismicdata
with higher frequency conten~ as will be encountered in surveys of
shrdlowerreservoirs,such as heavy oil accurnulatiow a @ phase shift
may have an impact on fluid flow khavicr.
Also of note is the smallnumber of seismictraces(small by geofdtyaical
standards where 311 seismicsurveys with over a million tracea are
common) which were integrated with the ten wells to generate the
property gridsused in the fluid displacements. The synthetic seiadc
data se!s originally consistedof 9025 traces, and were decimateddown
to 143 tracea,asexplainedearlier. Ms saved time by greatlyredwing
the total amount of geologicalmarkexsneeded to be picked as required
by the geostatitisticalmodeling program used for this study~s The
results obtained irdcate that dcciiating a large seismic data set sdll
produces acceptable fluid flow predictions es evkienced by the very
small range of uncertainty for a correlation level of 0.8. The 143
sairardctracesused here cmeapond.m a 130 m spacingwhMtrapwa@a
a third of the variogram range for the extreme values.
Datermidng
exactly what spacing is acceptable to produce flow.predictiona with
small ranges of uncertaintywas beyond the scope of this study.

EFFECT OF PROPERllES IN SEISMIC DATA ON RESERVOIR

CHARACTERIZATION AND CONSEQUENT FLUID-FLOW PREDICTWNS
WHEN INTEGRATED WITH WEU LOGS

Finally, anothertxinefitof including seismic data is the resulting flow

vhUza@u4 as shown in Figures 9-11, obtaitwd for a particular
. A very even sweep around the water injectors is observed
for the sparse awe (Figure 10) while b sweep for the true
reaeIvoir(Figure 9) is muchmore disconthtuou aspecisllyat late times.
Irwludingthe average seismicdata set produces a reservoir coverage
(Figure 11) similar to the true C.asei Such knowledge of local flow
patterns leads to more efficient rsmvoir development and productions
strategies which would not be possible when consigning the limited
well dsta akme.

3.

Alabq I? a, stochastic
Imaging
of spatia) Distributions
using Hard and Soft Informati% M. SC,ThX Stanford
University,CA 1987, 197 ~.

4.

AraktingL U. Q., Bsshore, W. M., Hewe% T. A, and ham

T. T., Integration of Seismic and WellLog Data in Raiemoir
Modeling;presented at the Third Annusi NIP13RConfemmce
on Reservoir Characterizsd~ fMs%CCL5-7, 1990.

5.

Koef~
&ophysicd

Wkiesq M. B., Qu&ti@ing Resolvrng power of Seisndo

SysteM Geophysics,v. 47, 1982, pp. 1160-1173.

7.

KsUweigR. S., and Wti L. C,, The Limits of Resolution

of Zero-Phase Waveleuq Geophysics, v. 47, }98~
pp. 1035-1046.

8.

Lsvergne, M,, and WilliattLC., Inversion of Seismograms

and Pseudo Velocity Logs, Geophysical Prospecting,v. 11,
1977, pp. 231-250.

9.

LJndse@R. O., SynthaticSonic Logs a Processfor SUstig18@dC hIpICtStiO~

C3eophysics,V. 44,1979,
pp. 3-26.

10.

Bemberger,A. et al., Inversionof Normal IncidenceSeismograms; (hphysich v. 47, 1982 pp. 757-770.

11.

S., Recovery of
~kkmburg, D. W., Scheuer, T., and by,
the Acoustic Impedance from Reflection Seismograms,
Geophysics,V. 48, 1983, pp. 1318-1337.

12

Walker, C., and Uhyck T. J., AutoregressiveRecovery of

the Acoustic Jmpedanw Geophysics, v. 47, 1982
pp. 1160-1173.

13.

Joumel, A, (3., end ZhU H,, Integrating Soft SeismicDstw

Markov-Bayes Updating, An Ahemative to Cokriging mtd
Traditional Regression Stanford Center for Reservoir
ForecastingAnnual Repo~ May 1990.

14.

Chiem M. C. H., Ysrdundaw H. E,, Chung, E, Y., and To&L

W. W., The Formulationof a Thermal Shulstion Model in
a Vectorize4 General Purpose Reservoir Simulator,
SPE 18418,preseamxlat the 1989 SPE Res-oir $hmdation
Symposium Houston, Feb. 6-8, 1989.

A methoddogy was devisedto generatesyntheticseismicdata

sets which honor predeterminedcorrelation levels, fkequcmcy
Contcm$waveform phase shifts end spatial mrelation to
determine the impact.of tkse.quantities on reservoir charactdzstion for flow simulation.
Based on this study, the informationprovided by the seismic
data if it falls within the gui&lines &scribed below
will signifwsntly improve fluid flow predictions, if the data
integrationis done properly:
9

Codation betweenSdStlliCd@OIiVOdand wellpSltllllS-

cas should be equal to or greater than 0.4.

9

CL, Aapecta of Vertical Seismic Rcsolutim

prospecting,
V. 29,1981, W. 21-30.

6.

CONCLUSIONS

1.

SPE 24752

Specific to the local geology, fivqumcy

bquhvidth needs
to be equal to or greater than 10-125 Hs to Fovide the
vertical resolution needed for estimating fluid flow
behavior.

Waveformestimation errors of MO are acceptable,

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We would like to thank A. B. Bernath and K. R Maturkanich for

helping us in conductingthe numerous fluidflow simulationsneeded to
determine the differentrangesof uncertainty.

REFEIWNCE~

1,

2,

Hewew T. A. and Behrens, R. A., ConsiderationsAffecting

the Scaling of Displacements in Heterogeneous Porous
M-
SPE 20739, presented at the 65th Annual Technical
conference of SPQ New Orleaw, Sept. 23-26,1990.

15.

Omre,H., StochasticModelsfor Rwxvoir Charscterizadom

NorwegianComputing Ccmer, 1991.
,$

918

U. G., Hewetg T. A., and WamT. T., GEOLITM

An InteractiveGeostatisticelModelingProgrenuSPE 24432
presented at the SPE Computer Confemwe, Howtom
Jtdy 19-22, 1992.

Arsktingi

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i
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Riiil

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Figure 2. Basemap

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Figure 3, Porosity-velocity

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Figure 4. Multiple porosity to velocity realizations (R = 0,6)

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9. Fluid-flow simulations using trueporosity model

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Figure 11. Fluid-flow simulations with velocity model R = 0,6; 10-125 Hz
.,

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926

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