Petrel TIPS&TRICKS from SCM

Knowledge Worth Sharing

HistogramsandSGSModeling
Histogramsareuseddailyforinterpretation,qualitycontrol,andmodelinginPetrel.ThisTIPS&TRICKSdocument
brieflydescribeshowhistogramsarebuiltandusedforQCbutprimarilyfocusesontheiruseinPetrophysical
propertymodeling,specificallySequentialGaussianSimulation(SGS).PorosityfromtheGulfaksdemodata
distributedwitheachPetrelreleasewillbeusedtodemonstratehistograminputtoSGS.Wewilldemonstratethe
dramaticimpactthesehistogramshaveonpropertydistributioninthemodel.Probablythemostimportantpointto
learnfromthispaperisthathistogramsforeachzoneandfaciesofthemodelmustbereviewedtoensurethatthe
modelisreasonable,representsthedata,andmatchesthegeologicinterpretation.
Figure:Porosityhistogramsforonezonefrom:initiallogs(topleft)andupscaledcells(topcenter),andfrom
modelsbuiltusinghistograminputcontrol:modelusingupscaledcells(topright),modelusingreasonabledata
analysis(bottomleft),modelusingmeanandstddev(bottomcenter),andmodelusingextremedataanalysis
(bottomright).Notetheamountofvariationthatcanexistforthesamerockunit.

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HistogramDisplays
Petrelhastwomethodsforbuildinghistogramdisplays.TheSettingsDialoghistogramisquickandusedforQCofa
specificobject.TheHistogramWindowisusedforcreatingfinaldisplays,comparingseveralobjectsonthesame
histogramdisplay,andforconvertinghistogramstodistributionfunctions(data).

SettingsDialogHistogram
TheHistogramtabofanobjectsSettingsDialogissecondonlytotheStatisticstabasthemostusedtoolinPetrel.
TheStatisticsandHistogramtabsarethefirstlineofattackforQCandshouldbecheckedfornearlyeveryobject
thatisbuilt.
ToviewtheSettingsdialogsHistogramdoubleclickontheobjectandgototheHistogramtab.Theavailable
parameterswillvaryslightlydependinguponwhethertheobjectisanupscaledpropertyorjustanobject.Forall
objectsyouhaveparametercontrolover:
Numberofintervals(bins)
Displayaspercentorcount(percentletsyoucompareobjectswithdifferentcounts)
Logorlinear
Minimumvaluetodisplay
Maximumvaluetodisplay
Printhistogramtoaprinteryouselect
Copybitmap(allowscopyingtoclipboard,thenyoupastetoInputtabanddisplayinotherwindowsorto
anexternaldocument)
Whenthehistogramrepresentsanupscaledpropertyyouhaveadditionalcontrolover:
Whichzonethehistogramrepresents
Whatvaluesaredisplayed:Log,Upscaledcells,allcells,oranycombination
Useactivefilters
Volumeweightthecount(usefulwhencellsofthemodeldiffersignificantlyinsize)
Youcannotcontrolthecolorsofthebarsonthistypeofhistogram.
Figure:Histogramtabrelatedtoageneralwelllog(left)andapropertymodel(right).

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HistogramWindow
TheHistogramWindowallowsoneorseveralobjectstobedisplayedatthesametime.Thisdisplayhasmore
versatilitythantheDialogHistogramandisusedmoreforanalysisandfinaldisplaythanforQC.
TocreateaHistogramWindowclickontheWindowbuttonatthetopofthePetrelwindowandselectNew
histogramwindow.Resizethewindowandthencheckthebuttoninfrontoftheobjectorobjectsyouwantto
displayinthewindow.Theparametercontrolsforthiswindowarefoundintwoplaces,someareaccessedthrough
theiconstotherightofthedisplayareaandothersusingtheViewportSettingsdialogforthehistogram.Thisdialog
canbegottentobyclickingonthe iconorbygoingtotheWindowstabofthePetrelexplorerHistogram
windowHistogramsubfolderanddoubleclickingonthesubfolder.Fromthisdialogyoucontrolmostofthe
parametersyoucontrolledintheSettingsdialogHistogram.Inadditionyoucanlinkmultiplehistogramwindows
togetherinacoordinategroupsothatachangetoonesdisplayformchangesall.Youcanalsolinkthemtoavisual
groupsothatwhatisdisplayed(turnedonoroff)inonememberofthegroupisadjustedsimilarlyinallother
membersofthatgroup.
Figure:DoubleclickontheHistogramsubfolderintheWindowstabofthePetrelexploer(left)todisplaythedialog
forcontrollingtheparametersoftheHistogramwindow.

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Iconstotherightofthedisplayareacontrolavarietyofthingsthatareeasilyturnedonandofftotest.Afewof
interestare:

Selectandeditoraddpointstoadisplayedfunction
Selectandeditlineofadisplayedfunction
Displayhistogramasbars
Displayhistogramasaline

Showcdf(cumulativedistributionfrequency)curve
Displayaspercent
Volumeweighting
Displayhistogramforallcellsinselectedproperty
Displayhistogramforupscaledcellsinselectedproperty
Displayhistogramforlogvaluesassociatedwithupscaledcellsinselectedproperty
RangeselectpointsalongtheXaxis(worksbutdoesntseemedtobeusedforanything)
Createnewdistributionfunction
Smoothfunctionwhenoneisdisplayed
Usesplinetoconnectpointsofadisplayedfunction
Oneofthemostfrequentlyaskedquestionsis:Howdoyouchangethecolorsofthebarsonthehistogram?Thisis
doneinthreeplaces.
Property:DoubleclickonthePropertiesfoldercontainingthatpropertyandgototheStyletab.Alterthe
parametersintheHistogramareaofthatdialog.
Welllogs:DoubleclickontheWellsfolderandgototheHistogramtab.AlterparametersundertheHistogramarea
ofthisdialog.
Objects:DoubleclickontheobjectandgototheStyletab.AlterparametersundertheHistogramareaofthisdialog.

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Figure:Alterhistogrambarcolorsandotherdataspecificparametersusingoneofthesethreedialogs:Properties
folderSettings(left),WellsfolderSettings(center),andObjectSettings(right).

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Figure:Histogramwindowwithapropertyanditsthreeassociatedhistogramsdisplayed.Thecdfforeachisalso
displayedscaledtothehistograms.

SubsetLogsforHistogramDisplay
Welllogsusuallystartoutrepresentingtheentirewellorsignificantportionsofthewell.However,sometimesitis
desirabletodisplayoranalyzeonlyasmallportionofthelog.Forinstance,youmightwanttoanalyzetheportionof
thelogcorrespondingtoonlyonezoneortoonlyonefaciesinonezone.Histogramscreatedforsubsetsofthe
entirelogareoftenconvertedtodistributionfunctions(discussedbelow)sothattheycanbebotheditedandused
asinputtotheSGSmodelingprocess(discussedbelow).Thelogcalculatorisusedtooutputpartsoflogsthat
correspondtopartsofotherlogs.Typicalexamplesmightbe:
Outputporositywherezonelogis2
Outputporositywherefaciesis3andzonelogis2
Outputporositywherethenetnonnetlogis1
Eachoftheseoperationswouldcreateanewporosityloghavingvaluesonlyintheportionofthewellwheretheif
statementwastrue.ThesenewlogscouldthenbedisplayedinaHistogramwindowandthedatacapturedasa
distributionfunction.

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Figure:Welllogcalculatorusedtosubsettheporositylogbasedonnetflag,facies,andzone.

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Figure:Wellsectionshowingtheoriginalporositylog,thelogsusedtosubsetporosityandthefinalporositylog
(left)andthehistogramforthenewlog(right).

DistributionFunctionfromaHistogram
AdistributionfunctionisaseriesofXYpairs.WhenthefunctionisbuiltfromahistogramtheX
representsthevalueatthecenterofahistogrambinandtheYisthecount(numberofvalues)inthatbin.
Onceafunctionhasbeencreateditcanbedisplayed,edited,exported,orusedasdataforproperty
modeling.
Figure:Histogram(left),thedistributionfunctionbuiltfromit(center),andtheXYvaluesdefiningthefunction
(right).

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CreateDistributionFunction
UsethefollowingstepstocreateaDistributionFunction.
1. DisplayonedatasetonaHistogramwindow.(Ifyoudisplaymorethanonedatasetyoucannotgeneratea
functionrepresentingthedata.Youwillbeallowedtoonlygenerateafunctionasaconstantvalueorasa
normaldistributionbyspecifyingmeanandstandarddeviation.)

2. SetthenumberofbinstoyourlikingusingtheSettingsdialogforthehistogramwindow,reachedusingthe
iconandthenalteringtheNumberofintervalsortheIncrementparameter.

3. CreatetheDistributionFunctionby:

a. ClickingontheCreatenewdistributionfunction icon.ACreatedistributionfunctiondialogwill
appear
b. Enteringthedesiredname
c. UncheckingtheOverwritelastparameter(Thisdefaultstocheckedwhich2timesoutof3willcause
youtowipeoutthepreviousfunctionyoubuiltandoftenwipeourmanyofthepreviousfunctions
beforeyoucatchit,aproblemthatshouldbecorrectedinacomingreleasebutmaybenot.)

d. SelectingtheFitdistributiontoActivehistogramcolumns icon
e. ClickingExecutetobuildthefunction
4. Notethatthefunctionisdisplayedonthehistogram
5. GototheInputtabandseethatthefunctionhasbeenplacedatthebottomandhasnotoverwrittenanalready
existingfunction.
Figure:Createdistributionfunctiondialog(left),Histogramwindowwithhistogramandgeneratedfunction
displayed(center),andInputtabshowingtheresultingfunctionaftermanuallymovingitintoafolder
(right).

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EditDistributionFunction
OftenthereasonforcreatingadistributionfunctionfromlogsalreadyinPetrelistoaltertheformofthefunctionto
betterrepresenttheinterpretation.Forexample,theremaybetoolittledatatoproperlydescribetheporosity
distributionofaparticularfaciesorzone.Inthatcaseyouwoulddisplayahistogramofthedata,createthe
distributionfunction,andtheneditthefunctionuntilitmatchesyourinterpretationofhowthedistributionreallyis
intherocks.AlthoughitispossibletoeditafunctionusingitsSettingsdialogFunctiontab,itisbesttoeditusing
aHistogramwindowsothatabackgroundhistogramcanbedisplayedforreferencewhileediting.
Figure:HistogramfromZoneNess1porositylog(left),Distributionfunctiondisplayedonsamehistogram(center),
andeditedhistogramwithsamehistograminbackground(right.

ThestepsusedtoeditaDistributionFunctionare:
1. OpenaHistogramwindow
2. Displayabackgroundhistogramfromdatatouseasreferencewhileediting(usuallythisisthehistogram
fromwhichthefunctionwasderived)
3. Displaythepreviouslycreateddistributionfunctionthatistobeedited.

4. ClickontheSelectandedit/addpoints icon
5. Editthepoints
Movetheexistingpointstodesiredlocations
Touchapointandhitthedeletekeytoremoveit(oftentherearemorepointsthanneeded)
Touchalineandmovethecursortocreateanewpoint

HistogramControlforSGSModeling
SequentialGaussianSimulationisacommonlyusedalgorithmforbuildingpropertymodelsofcontinuousvariables
suchasporosity.Thisalgorithmusesasinputahistogramofthedatasdistribution.Itassumestrendshavebeen
removed,thedataarenormallydistributed,andthatthedistributionhasamean0andstandarddeviation1.The
Petrophysicalmodelingprocesshasseveralwaystoinputhistogramdata:upscaledcellsrepresentingthelogdata,
DataAnalysisprocessresults,meanandstandarddeviationvaluesrepresentinganormaldistribution,anda
DistributionfunctionfromtheInputtab.Regardlessofwhichmethodisusedasinputtheprogrameventually
appliesaNormalScoretransformation(derivedfromthehistogram)tothedatatoconvertthedatafromitsinput
formtoanormaldistributionwithmeanzeroandstandarddeviation1.Thenormalizeddataarethenmodeled
usingparametersyouspecifiedfortheSGSalgorithm.Thenewmodelsnormalizedcellvaluesarethenback
transformedintoporosityunitswithadistributionmatchingtheinputhistogram.

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Figure:HistogramportionofprocessingflowduringSGSmodeling.Bluerepresentsinputinoriginaldataunits,light
redrepresentsinternalNormalScoreprocessing,greenrepresentsSGSmodelinginmean0standarddeviation1
units,andyellowrepresentstheoutputmodelinoriginaldataunits.

Porosity
data

Porosity Define Normal Normal Score SGS

histogram Score Transform Transformation modeling

Porosity
model

NormalScoreTransformationandBackTransformation
Thenormalscoretransformationinvolvesfoursteps:
1. Buildacumulativedistributionfunction(inputcdf)fortheinputhistogram.
2. Buildacumulativedistributionfunction(normalcdf)foramean0standarddeviation1histogram
3. Mapeachinputdatavalueontheinputcdfbynotingitspercentileposition(Yaxis)onthecdfcurve
4. Extractanormalizedvalueforeachinputdatavalueby:locatingitscdfpercentilepositiononthenormal
cdfcurvesYaxis,goingtothatlocationonthecurve,andreadingoffthenormalizedunitsvaluefromthe
Xaxis.
Theprocessisdoneforeachupscaledcellinthepropertymodel.Onceinnormalizedspace,theSGSalgorithmis
appliedusingallotherparametersyouspecified.Thiscreatesamodelwithcellshavingamean0andstandard
deviation1(ifnospecialtrendswereapplied).Thesemodeledcellvaluesarethenbacktransformedbywalking
throughthefourstepsaboveinreverseorder.Theresultingvaluesarenowinporosityunits.Anyothertransforms
(outputtruncation,log,trend,etc.)thatyouappliedtotheinputdataarereverseappliedatthispointtocreatethe
finalporositymodel.Notethatthesameinputcdfcurveisusedinbothtransformdirections.Thismeansthatthe
originalhistogramsformwillbereproducedintheoutputmodelunlessspecialtrendsorothercontrolswere
appliedduringmodelingthatforcedtheresultingmodeltodeviatefromanormaldistribution.Eventhenthe
resultswillbesimilartotheinputhistogramwithminordistortions.

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Figure:Normalscoretransformofupscaledcellvaluesfromporosityunitstomean0standarddeviation1units
(left),SGSmodelinginnormalizedunits(leftmiddle),Normalscoretransformofallcellvaluesbackfromnormalized
unitstoporosityunits(rightmiddle),andfinalmodelinporosityunits(right).

HistogramfromUpscaledLogs
Ifyouhavealargenumberofwellswithlogdatawhichcreateahistogram(s)youfeelisrepresentativeofthe
propertysdistributionthenyoucanusetheupscaledvaluesfromthosewellstodefinethehistograminputforSGS
modeling.WhendefiningthePetrophysicalmodelingparametersyouwillusetheDistributiontabtopointtothe
upscaledlogs.Inthistabyouwillwanttocheckseveralparameterssincetheyhaveanaffectontheinput
histogramoroutputvalues.Theseparametersinclude:
Islogarithmic:Checkingthiswouldremovealogtrend(commonforpermeabilitydata)fromthedata.This
removalisdonebeforetheupscaledcellvaluesareusedtobuildahistogram.
Outputdatarange:Thecellvaluesofthefinalmodelwillbecheckedagainstthesenumbersandclippedto
themiftheyareviolated.YouusuallywanttoclickontheEstimatebuttontomakethesematchtheup
scaledcellvalues.
Distributionmethod:Standardmeansyouareusingthispropertysdataandhistogramtocontrolits
distribution.Bivariatemeansyouareusinganotherpropertyscellvaluestoguidethispropertys
distribution.
Distribution:Fromupscaledlogsmeansyouwanttousethehistogrambuiltfromtheupscaledcellsas
inputtoSGSmodeling.
[Note:Evenifdataaresufficienttodefineaninputhistogramfromupscaledcells,youmaywishtouseData
AnalysisratherthantheDistributiontabtoinputthehistogram.Youwoulddothiswhenlogform,skewness,XYZ
trends,etc.needtoberemovedfromthedataandthatfunctionalityisnotavailableintheDistributiontab.]

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Figure:DistributionparameterssettousetheupscaledcellvaluestobuildthehistograminputforSGS.

Figure:ZoneNess1Porosityhistogramjustfortheupscaledcells(left)andforallcells(right).Notehowthe
propertydistributionfortheentiremodelmatchestheoriginalinputdatasdistribution.

HistogramfromDataAnalysis
Ifyouknowyoudonothaveenoughwelldatatodefinehistogramsthatcorrectlyrepresentthepropertys
distributionthenyoushouldusetheDataAnalysisprocesstoeditthehistogramtomatchyourinterpretationofthe
distributionandusethatforSGSmodeling.Dataanalysisallowstrendstoberemovedfromthedataandproperty
distributiontrendstobeputintothedata(viathehistogram).AlthoughDataAnalysishasmanyparts,this
discussionfocusesonlyoneditingtheNormalScorehistogram.
ToedittheNormalScoreinputhistogram:
1. GototheDataAnalysisprocessandselecttheupscaledpropertyyouaremodeling,theassociatedfacies
model(ifused),thezone,andthefacies(ifused).
2. GototheTransformationstabandhighlightNormalscoreintherightselectionarea.
3. ClickontheDefinecurveradiobuttonandyouwillseetheNormalScorecurvedefinedasthreepoints.

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 4. ClickontheFitthedistributioncurvetothetransformedpropertyvalues icon.Thisessentiallyconverts
thecurvetoadistributionfunctionthatfitsthehistogram.
5. Usethecursortoeditthecurvebymoving,adding,anddeletingpoints.
6. ClickApplytosavethechangesandmoveontothenextfaciesorzone.
Notethatyoucanuseoriginallogvaluesasthebackgroundhistogramratherthanupscaledcellsbyclickingonthe
Uselogs icon.Thismaygiveyoumoreinsightintothedistribution.Sometimesafaciesorzonewillhavenolog
data.Gotoazonethathasasimilardistribution,copythattransformation,andpasteitintotheonethatismissing
data( ).Youcanthenusethetransformasitisoralterittofityourinterpretation.
OnceallhistogramsareeditedyouarereadyforSGSmodeling.IntheSGSdialog,clickontheUsethe

transformationsmadeindataanalysis iconjustabovetheVariogramtabtoforceSGStousetheedited
histogramsfromDataAnalysis.ThisalsocausesallparametersexceptSeedtobeclearedofftheDistributiontab.
Figure:DataAnalysisdialogforonezoneshowingtheNormalScoreasitfirstappears(left)andaftercheckingthe
Definecurveradiobuttion(right).

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Figure:DataAnalysisdialogforonezoneshowingtheNormalscorecurvefittothedatashistogram(left)andafter
editing(right).

Figure:ZoneNess1Porosityhistogramjustfortheupscaledcells(left)andforallmodeledcells(right).Notehow
thepropertydistributionfortheentiremodelmatchestheeditedDataAnalysiscurveinthefigureabove.

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HistogramfromNormalDistribution
Ifyouhavelittleornologdataforaparticularpropertyandwantahistogrambasedonstatisticsderivedfrom
neighboringfieldsortheliterature,thenyoucanentertheMeanandStandarddeviationyouwantthepropertyto
haveforSGSmodeling.TospecifythisstyleofdistributionchecktheradiobuttoninfrontofNormaldistributionand
entertheMeanandStd.IfthereissomedatayoucanpresstheEstimatebuttontoinsertthemeanandstandard
deviationofthatdata.
Figure:TheDistributiontaboftheSGSdialogwiththemeanandstandarddeviationspecified.

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Figure:ZoneNess1Porosityhistogramjustfortheupscaledcells(left)andforallmodeledcells(right).Notehow
themodeledhistogrammatchesthedefinednormaldistribution.

HistogramfromDistributionFunction(InputTab)
Ifyouhavetoolittlelogdatainthemodelareabuthaveotherwellsoutsidethemodelareathat,ifcombinedwould
createhistogramsrepresentativeofthepropertysdistribution,thenyoucancreateahistogramusingallwelldata,
extractthedistributionfunction,andusethatfunctionforSGSmodeling.Wehavealreadydiscussedhowtosubset
alog,buildahistogramofthatdata,andextractadistributionfunctionfromthehistogram.Giventhatyouhavea
distributionfunctionreadytosubmittotheSGSalgorithm,allyouhavetodoischecktheradiobuttoninfrontof
Generaldistributionandusethebluearrowtoinsertthenameofthedistribution.NotethattheLogandOutput
datarangeparametersarestillavailableforadjustmentusingthisapproach.

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Figure:TheDistributiontaboftheSGSdialogwithaDistributionfunctionspecified.

Figure:ZoneNess1Porosityhistogramjustfortheupscaledcells(left),thedistributionfunctioninputtoSGS
(center),andthehistogramforallmodeledcells(right).Notehowthemodeledhistogrammatchesthedistribution
function.

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