Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 161 (2018) 259–274

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/petrol

Estimating Vsand and reservoir properties from seismic attributes and

acoustic impedance inversion: A case study from the Mansuri oilfield,
SW Iran
Iman Zahmatkesh a, Ali Kadkhodaie b, *, Bahman Soleimani a, Alireza Golalzadeh c,
Moslem Azarpour c
a
Department of Geology, Faculty of Earth Sciences, Shahid Chamran University, Ahvaz, Iran
b
Earth Science Department, Faculty of Natural Science, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran
c
Department of Geology, National Iranian South Oil Company (NIOC), Ahvaz, Iran

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: This study integrates 3D seismic attributes and well log data to determine Vsand and reservoir property distri-
Seismic inversion bution of the Oligo-Miocene Asmari Formation in the western Dezfol Embayment, SW Iran. The rocks consist of
Multi-attribute complex geology with siliciclastic and carbonate lithology. Hence, it creates the need for a precise interwell
Neural network estimation of lithology and reservoir properties. For this purpose, first the acoustic impedance was obtained by a
Reservoir property model-based inversion algorithm. Then, the acoustic impedance attribute and other sample-based seismic attri-
Mansuri oil field
butes were integrated with sand volume and petrophysical data by using multiple attribute regression and neural
Asmari reservoir
networks in order to predict Vsand and reservoir property. In the next stage, cross-validation was used to estimate
the reliability of the derived multi-attribute transforms. Based on the results of neural networks, the highest cross-
correlation was observed between seismic attributes and the observed target logs at seven wells in the study area.
After validation, and making a comparison between different available techniques for sand volume, effective
porosity and water saturation estimation, multiple regression transform and neural network were used for the first
two and latter, respectively. The derived sand volume and reservoir property maps for the Asmari reservoir
indicated that high-porous and high-sand volume parts were laterally more continuous in the central and east part
of the area under study. In addition, high-porosity zones were more related to high sand volume parts. Based on
the result of interpretation and the relationship between core and acoustic impedance, variations in acoustic
impedance were related to variations in geological characteristics of Asmari reservoir in the field. Therefore,
seismic inversion as a powerful tool can facilitate the detailed studies of sedimentary facies and lithology in the
reservoir which contribute to understand the subsurface reservoirs heterogeneities and drilling strategy of future
drilling campaigns in the study area.

1. Introduction inter-well regions(Adekanle and Enikanselu, 2013; Pramanik et al., 2004;

Water saturation, lithology and the associated porosity of the rocks
are regarded as the most important elements in estimating reserves,
characterizing reservoir and developing models in order to extract the
hydrocarbons efficiently. In heterogeneous reservoirs, lateral variations
of lithology and reservoir property cannot be delineated from the mea-
surements made at sparsely located wells, due to the presence of high
complexity and heterogeneity. In order to overcome this problem, the
integration of 3D seismic attributes and well logs is essential for
providing different models of geology and reservoir properties for the
Saltzer et al., 2005).
The application of seismic attributes is widely used for decreasing the
spatial uncertainty of the geology and reservoir parameter prediction.
Nowadays, inversion and interpretation of AVO pre-stack data are both
most of the approaches for this purpose. However, post-stack data are
still common due to their availability, and an inexpensive and fast pro-
cessing (Leite and Vidal, 2011). Through accurate estimation of volumes
and reservoir characteristics by using seismic attributes, the spatial dis-
tributions of geology and reservoir property are obtained, which can be
used to guide the drilling strategy for development and exploration of

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: kadkhodaie_ali@tabrizu.ac.ir (A. Kadkhodaie).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.petrol.2017.11.060
Received 8 October 2016; Received in revised form 14 October 2017; Accepted 22 November 2017
Available online 24 November 2017
0920-4105/© 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
I. Zahmatkesh et al.
Fig. 1. Location map of the Mansuri Field in southwestern Iran. The major Cenomanian
and Tertiary oil fields in the region are also shown.
hydrocarbons recovery (Ogiesoba, 2010).
In recent years, seismic attributes have been successfully used for
different purposes in reservoir characterization (Farfour et al., 2015; Hart
and Balch, 2000; Iturrar
an-Viveros and Parra, 2014; Kadkhodaie-Ilkhchi
et al., 2009; Na'imi et al., 2014; Pramanik et al., 2004; Raeesi et al.,
2012). Among this, acoustic impedance (AI) is a rapidly growing field,
due to its relationships with geological and petrophysical data from
wells. Acoustic impedance, as the product of rock density and compres-
sional (P-wave) velocity, is obtained from the inversion of seismic data.
Seismic inversion is a technique which was first used by geophysicists
(Lavergne and Willm, 1977; Lindseth, 1976). Then, many geoscientists
and geophysicists in the petroleum industry used this technique for
subsurface interpretation, especially in settings where a close relation-
ship was established between AI and rock properties like lithology,
porosity and pore fluid. A number of approaches are available for seismic
inversion. However, in the present study, the model-based inversion was
used to obtain the cube of full band acoustic impedance.
Seismic attributes extracted from 3-D seismic data in combination
Fig. 2. Cenozoic stratigraphic correlation chart of the Iranian Sector of the Zagros Basin, adopted from James and Wynd (1965).
260
Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 161 (2018) 259–274
Fig. 3. Generalized flow-chart for model-based inversion.
with statistical methods and intelligent systems have been successfully
employed in reservoir lithological prediction, hydrocarbon potential
prediction, as well as reservoir property estimates. In addition, several
researchers focused on predicting porosity (e.g., Kadkhodaie-Ilkhchi
et al., 2014; Khoshdel and Riahi, 2011; Leite and Vidal, 2011; Naeem
et al., 2015; Ogiesoba, 2010; Pramanik et al., 2004) and water saturation
(Kadkhodaie-Ilkhchi et al., 2009; Na'imi et al., 2014) from various post-
stack seismic attributes by using multi-linear regression, neural network
analysis and fuzzy system. Based on the results, certain seismic attributes
were directly sensitive to the reservoir or desired lithology property. In
conclusion, we are able to predict some interesting properties in
this regard.
In the present study, sand volume, effective porosity and water
saturation were predicted from seismic attributes, along with seismic
inversion by using multi-attribute regression analysis and neural network
in Asmari reservoir, mansuri field. In addition, in order to reach sedi-
mentary facies and its expansion in the reservoir, a correlation was
established between seismic data and core data in wells, based on the
seismic inversion results.
2. Geological setting of the studied area
The present study focuses on Oligo-Miocene mixed siliciclastic-
carbonate deposits of the Asmari Formation in the Mansouri Oil Field,
located in Dezful Embayment, parallel to the general trend of Zagros fold
and thrust belt (Fig. 1).
Asmari Formation is considered as the main proliferous reservoirs in
SW of Iran (Fig. 2). In the NW-SE trending Dezful Embayment, the Asmari
I. Zahmatkesh et al.
Fig. 4. Average wavelet extracted, a) in time domain and b) in frequency domain.
Fig. 5. Time horizons of top Asmari formation (left) and top Pabdeh formation (right).
Formation span in age from the Early Oligocene (Rupelian) to the Early
Miocene (Burdigalian) (Stocklin, 1968). The formation is mainly
composed of fractured dolomites with limestones, and locally the Ahwaz
sandstone Member. The intervals of Kazhdumi Formation are regarded as
the source rock while Gachsaran Formation is the cap rock.
Based on the core and petrographical studies of the Asmari samples,
with an emphasis on diverse ichnofossil assemblages, the depositional
environment of the Asmari Formation changed several times in Mansuri
field from shallow marine to coastal plain (from offshore/lower shore-
face through lagoonal to inter/supratidal flat) in a series of depositional
cycles. A shallow marine depositional system is interpreted as the sedi-
mentary environment for the mixed carbonate-siliciclastic deposits of the
Asmari Formation. The mixed carbonate-siliciclastic deposits indicating a
low input of clastic sediment to the shoreface occurs mostly within arid
settings. The low clastic input may result in minimal fluvial input or low
relief in the shoreline and source area (Zonneveld et al., 2001).
The fluvial input to the Asmari shoreface was characterized by
washover fan deposits and the abundance of quartzose, very-fineto fine-
grained sand in lower shoreface, the presence of burrows in intertidal
deposits and coarse-grained sand infilling cracks within foreshore and
upper shoreface.
It seems that the Asmari succession was deposited in six deepening-
upward parasequence sets. Each parasequence is started by lagoonal
carbonate facies and continues with fine to very fine-grained shoreface
sandstones. The influx of fine to medium-grained sands into the Asmari
261
Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 161 (2018) 259–274
depositional environment occurred as a result of sea level falling so that
the unconsolidated medium to fine-grained sands could be precipitated
as a lowstand systems tracts at some depths (Research Institute of Pe-
troleum Industry (RIPI), unpublished). It is worth noting that the
above-mentioned unconsolidated channel sands have the best reservoir
quality in the Asmari reservoir.
Based on lithology and well log evaluation, Asmari reservoir was
divided into 8 main zones in this field which mostly include limestone
and sandstone. Here, sandstones encompass a majority of the hydrocar-
bons of reservoir due to high porosity and low water saturation.
In this reservoir, most of the production come from zone 1, which
mainly consists of limestone, along with zone 2 and 3 dominat by
sandstone with some interbeds of carbonate and shale (EDCO Kish In-
ternational Company, unpublished).
3. Method and data collection
In this study, some of the conventional logs including sonic (DT), bulk
density (RHOB) and calculated logs of sand volume (Vsand), water satu-
ration (SW) and effective porosity (PHIE) were used. The latter log was
computed using neutron-density crossplots in seven wells drilled in
Asmari reservoir of the mansuri field. In order to calculate the effective
porosity correctly, the shale volume was estimated and the porosity of
the shale was eliminated from all computations.
An integrated workflow was regarded as the method in which a well-
I. Zahmatkesh et al. Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 161 (2018) 259–274

Fig. 6. A sample of well to seismic tie for one of the wells in the Mansuri field showing the synthetic seismic generated from wavelet and well data (blue trace) and sampled seismic data
close to the well (red) and a correlation co-efficient of 69%. (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)

Fig. 7. An arbitrary line from seismic data which passes through four well locations.

to-seismic tie was established to identify the key stratigraphic surfaces
which were interpreted to generate horizon maps. The generated hori-
zons maps, along with necessary log properties in thirteen wells, were
used in acoustic impedance (AI) inversion. The inversion procedure in-
volves well to seismic calibration, wavelet estimation, low-frequency
model estimation and model based inversion for a seismic dataset of
Mansuri oilfield (Huuse and Feary, 2005; Kumar et al., 2016). Then, the
results of AI, horizon maps, and seismic attributes were computed from
3D post stack data by using multi-attribute regression analysis and neural
networks, which were used for predicting sand volume, effective porosity
and water saturation in the field under study.
After outlining the method for deriving the acoustic impedance and
predicting reservoir properties, the results were described and inter-
preted based on diagenetic features and depositional setting of the

262
I. Zahmatkesh et al. Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 161 (2018) 259–274

Fig. 8. Arbitrary line from model based inversion impedance cube, passing through well locations. Inserted color at the well locations is acoustic impedance. Lateral and vertical changes of
Asmari reservoirh is clear after inversion. (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)

Fig. 9. (a) Crossplot of actual and predicted volume of sand using multi attribute regression. Data points from analysis zone of each well are shown in one color. (b) Crossplot of predicted
effective porosity versus actual effective porosity. The correlation coefficient is 0.76. (c) Cross plot of actual and predicted water saturation (SW). (For interpretation of the references to
colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)

Asmari reservoir in the field.
4. Acoustic impedance inversion
Seismic inversion is a sophisticated process of transforming the
seismic reflection data into a quantitative rock property, descriptive of
the reservoir (see Appendix A). The most popular inversion technique for
invert seismic data and create cube of full band acoustic impedance is
called model-based inversion (e.g. Russell and Hampson, 1991).
As shown in Appendix A, model-based inversions are the generalized
linear algorithm which uses an iterative forward modeling and com-
parison procedure (Simm et al., 2014). In this method, an initial model of
the acoustic impedance is first used and this model is perturbed until
computing the resulting synthetic trace by applying equations (A-1) and
(A-2) which match original seismic data within some tolerance level. For
each trace, a synthetic seismogram is calculated by using the extracted

263
I. Zahmatkesh et al. Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 161 (2018) 259–274

Table 1 synthetic seismogram was created by convolving the reflectivity with the
Multi-attribute list from a stepwise regression for prediction of sand volume, effective appropriate wavelet. The appropriate statistical wavelet for each well
porosity and water saturation in Asmari reservoir of the Mansuri field.
was acquired by using the extraction and selection of different wavelets,
Target Final Attribute Training Validation which constructed a best correlation between synthetic and real traces. It
Error Error
is worth noting that a good correlation between synthetic traces derived
1 Sand Volume Inversion Result 0.209811 0.217231 from well logs and original seismic traces at each well location comes
2 Sand Volume Filter 5/10–15/20 0.196126 0.206486 from a good approximation of seismic wavelet. (Kadkhodaie-Ilkhchi
3 Sand Volume Time 0.188816 0.201080
4 Sand Volume X-Coordinate 0.182628 0.194286
et al., 2013). After obtaining wavelet for each well and doing calibration
5 Sand Volume Integrate 0.178872 0.193005 process for each of the thirteen wells, all calibrated wells were used
6 Sand Volume Derivative Instantaneous 0.175361 0.190671 together to extract one average wavelet, which was used for the inver-
Amplitude sion. Figs. 4 and 5 illustrate the average wavelet and the picked time
7 Sand Volume Cosine Instantaneous Phase 0.172457 0.192846
horizons, respectively. A sample of a well-to-seismic tie, for one of the
8 Sand Volume Dominant Frequency 0.171007 0.200654
wells in the Mansuri field, is shown in Fig. 6 where the correlation be-
1 Porosity Log (Inversion Result) 0.054156 0.055292 tween synthetic seismogram (blue) and composite trace (red), at the well
2 Porosity Filter 5/10–15/20 0.050487 0.053074
3 Porosity Amplitude Envelope 0.047960 0.051193
location, is 0.69.
4 Porosity Time 0.046266 0.049623
5 Porosity Integrated Absolute 0.044453 0.048566 6. Initial model building
Amplitude
6 Porosity Cosine Instantaneous Phase 0.042924 0.046778
7 Porosity Amplitude Weighted 0.042170 0.047468 Seismic data are naturally band-limited due to the lack of high and
Frequency low frequencies. A low-frequency component is highly important for
8 Porosity Second Derivative 0.041735 0.047715 describing the geology and reservoir properties, which need to be ob-
1 Water Time 0.171589 0.174140 tained from other data (Latimer et al., 2000). In model-based inversion,
Saturation low-frequency data is usually generated by interpolation based on log
2 Water Log (Inversion Result) 0.152315 0.158315 data, horizon interpretation, and processing velocities. Hence, in the
Saturation
present study, it was supplied from the initial model based on the
3 Water Filter 5/10–15/20 0.142008 0.151253
Saturation interpolation of impedance logs from the thirteen wells along with the
4 Water Cosine Instantaneous Phase 0.138149 0.149652 interpreted seismic horizons (top of Asmari and top of Pabdeh forma-
Saturation tions). One arbitrary seismic line passing through the well locations is
5 Water Dominant Frequency 0.135606 0.150742 shown in Fig. 7.
Saturation
6 Water Average Frequency 0.132607 0.151145
The model based inversion was run with the appropriate wavelet and
Saturation the background impedance model, resulting in an impedance model
7 Water Integrated Absolute 0.131071 0.161834 which needs to be closely compared with the actual impedance in the
Saturation Amplitude well as a QC step. Fig. 8 displays a final impedance section for one of the
8 Water Amplitude Weighted Cosine 0.129353 0.159839
studied seismic arbitrary line (violet displays tight or high AI reservoir
Saturation Phase
intervals and green indicates porous or low AI intervals).

wavelet and the initial guess impedance. Then, the inverted impedance
data is gradually modified during each iteration until matching the
resulting synthetic trace by the real trace within a predefined tolerance
limit (Russell, 1988). Fig. 3 illustrates the work flow of the seismic
inversion for 3D-seismic of the Mansuri field.
The inversion procedure is summarized as below:

Synthetic seismogram generation(Seismic to well tie and wavelet
extraction)

Seismic Horizon picking

Low-frequency model building(create initial model based on acoustic
impedance)

Model-based inversion
A well-to-seismic tie was established through a synthetic seismogram
in order to identify two horizons of Asmari and top of Pabdeh formations.
Then, these horizons were picked for using in initial model building for
the model-based inversion.
7. Sand volume and reservoir property estimation
Some studies indicated a positive relationship between seismic at-
tributes and reservoir parameters, sedimentary facies and geological
structures. In recent years, different researchers studied the linear and
non-linear relationships between seismic attributes and reservoir prop-
erties by geostatistics, neural networks, pattern recognition, artificial
intelligence, and the genetic algorithm (Bosch et al., 2010; Iturrar
an-
Viveros and Parra, 2014; Kadkhodaie-Ilkhchi et al., 2014; Pearson and
Hart, 1999; Perez-Mu~ noz et al., 2013; Raeesi et al., 2012; Snedden, 2013;
Soubotcheva and Stewart, 2006; Yao and Journel, 2000).
In the present study, seismic attributes derived from the 3D post stack
data and acoustic impedance as an external attribute were used to find
the best relationship for estimating Vsand and reservoir property. In order
to find a reliable relation between seismic attributes, as input data, and
petrophysical parameters, as target data, multi-attribute regression
analysis and neural network algorithm were used to predict the Vsand and
reservoir property.

5. Well correlation and wavelet extraction
In the first stage of seismic inversion, seismic and well logs data were
imported to the inversion project, and well logs for each of the thirteen
wells were converted to two-way travel time using check shot. Then, the
product of sonic and density logs yielded an acoustic impedance log at
each well location. This impedance log was used to derive a log of
reflectivity. In the next procedure, the reflectivity was converted from
depth to time by available check shot data for each of the well. Then, a
8. Application of single attribute regression analysis for sand
volume and reservoir property prediction
Assuming a linear relationship between target data and the seismic
attribute and using the least squares method to determine the relation-
ship is regarded as the simplest procedure to establish the relationship
between the data and the seismic attribute.
The relation between target logs and different seismic attributes in-
dicates an acoustic impedance from seismic inversion having the highest

264
I. Zahmatkesh et al. Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 161 (2018) 259–274

Fig. 10. Plot of average error versus number of attributes to determine optimal number of attributes to use in prediction processes. Validation plot for all wells showing that the optimal
number of attributes to predict volume sand (a), effective porosity (b) and water saturation (c) are six, six and four, respectively. The black curve indicates the error using all wells, whereas
the red curve shows the error plot when a well is removed. (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)

Table 2
Shows the summary of sand volume, effective porosity and water saturation prediction by single and multi-attribute regression analysis, and neural network for studied field. In this table,
Significant improvement is achieved in application of multi attribute and neural networks rather than single attribute regression.

Target log Method Validation result Quality check (application result)

Cross correlation Average Error Cross correlation Average Error

Sand Volume Single attribute regression 0.6245 0.2172 0.6462 0.2120

Multiple attribute regression 0.7301 0.1906 0.7757 0.1753
Neural network (PNN) 0.7211 0.1928 0.8713 0.1378
Neural network (RBF) 0.6826 0.2076 0.8477 0.1478

Effective Porosity Single attribute regression 0.5628 0.0552 0.5857 0.0541

Multiple attribute regression 0.7174 0.0467 0.7664 0.0429
Neural network (PNN) 0.6918 0.0487 0.8380 0.0378
Neural network (RBF) 0.7041 0.0479 0.8740 0.0330

Water Saturation Single attribute regression 0.4401 0.1741 0.4649 0.1715

Multiple attribute regression 0.6392 0.1496 0.7013 0.1381
Neural network (PNN) 0.7695 0.1244 0.9128 0.0792
Neural network (RBF) 0.7107 0.1392 0.8726 0.0946

degree of correlation and the lowest degree of error related to effective
porosity and sand volume. Further, time attribute has the highest cor-
relation with water saturation. Although a single attribute transform
presents good results, it does not yield a realistic value for 100% each of
target logs. Importantly, acoustic impedance and time are not the only
single seismic attribute to predict the target logs of the reservoir. In fact,
many attributes could be combined to derive the best multi-linear
regression relationship between seismic data as extracted attributes
and the petrophysical properties. Here, a multi-linear regression was
used to estimate target logs such as sand volume, effective porosity and
water saturation more accurately in the Asmari reservoir.
9. Application of multi-attribute regression analysis for sand
volume and reservoir property prediction
A multi-regression analysis is a simple and practical method to inte-
grate the information of numerous seismic attributes for predicting a
target parameter. The objective of this method is to provide a group of
seismic attributes comprising better information than each single attri-
butes can offer. The basic theory of multi-attribute regression for

265
I. Zahmatkesh et al. Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 161 (2018) 259–274

Table 3
Characteristics of Asmari facies in differentiated clusters based on acoustic impedance (AI).

Asmari reservoir facies based on AI PHIE Vsand Description

acoustic impedance (AI)

Low-AI facies min 4750 0 0 Fine to medium/coarse-grained sandstones which is mainly clean, unconsolidated to
Cluster1 mean 6650 0.23 0.67 semi-consolidated, oil-saturated and appear massive without visual sedimentary structures.
max 7926 0.33 1
Medium-AI facies min 7930 0 0 composed of two distinctive lithofacies; 1: fine-grained sandstones with dolomitic cement
Cluster2 mean 9007 0.12 0.34 and argillaceous matrix and 2: dolomitic sandy skeletal packstone to grainstone with
max 10610 0.29 1 interparticle, biomoldic, vuggy and intercrystalline porosity.
High-AI facies min 10610 0 0 mud-supported facies and claystones.
Cluster3 mean 12210 0.09 0.23
max 14640 0.25 0.9

Fig. 11. Thin section photomicrographs and core photographs of cluster lithologies from the Asmari reservoir, Mansuri field. a) burrowed fine to medium-grained dolomitic sandstone
with interparticle porosity; Plan polarized light. b) burrowed fine-grained argillaceous sandstone; Plan polarized light. c) skeletal grainstone with interparticle and moldic porosity;
interparticle pore spaces have been occupied by calcite cement; Cross polarized light. d) burrowed dolomitic sandy mudstone with pervasive anhydrite plugging; Cross polarized light.

266
I. Zahmatkesh et al.
Fig. 12. Sand volume prediction showing a sand volume distribution along transect B–B’. Sand volume gradually increase towards the north of field. Also, high-sandy zones are laterally
more continuous in the north part.
modeling reservoir parameters using different attributes is presented in
Appendix B.
In application of multi-attribute regression, convolutional operator
and stepwise regression are two important issues. As shown in Appendix
B, The optimal value of operator is obtained by minimizing the prediction
error between the predicted and the actual target logs.
On the other hand, stepwise regression is used for selecting an
optimal number of seismic attributes, in which the choice of predictive
variables is conducted by an automatic procedure. (Draper et al., 1966;
Hampson et al., 2001; Khoshdel and Riahi, 2011; Ogiesoba, 2010).
In this method, in order to obtain a target log from m number of wells
and n number of attributes, the method needs to find the attributes which
yield the best prediction of the target log after combination in a lowest
least-squared error (Ogiesoba, 2010). The algorithm first searches for a
single best attribute by exhaustive search of all the attributes, using
equation (B-4). The best attribute is the one with the lowest prediction
error. When the attribute is found, it searches for a second attribute
which represents the lowest prediction error when combined with the
first best attribute. Next, it tries to find the best triplet of attributes with
the lowest prediction error, and so on. However, a validation test is
needed as a criterion to stop adding additional attributes when an
optimal number of attributes is found.
The validation test involves several steps. The validation error is
computed by hiding a particular well and using the remaining wells and
attributes as the best single attribute during analysis for m number of
wells including the target log and n attributes. This process of cross
validation continues until all the wells can arrive at a total validation
error. The process is repeated for the best two attributes, three attributes,
and so on. Then, based on a plot of validation error versus the number of
attributes, suitable attributes are identified for prediction.
Fig. 9 displays the application of multi-attribute regression method
for sand volume, effective porosity and water saturation prediction; the
red line is cross correlation between the actual and the predicted po-
rosities. The numerical errors for each of target logs are shown in Table 1,
in which each line indicates a different multi-attribute transform,
including above all its attributes. Based on the results in Fig. 10, for
267
Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 161 (2018) 259–274
predicting sand volume, effective porosity and water saturation, a com-
bination of six, six and four attributes, respectively, are statistically sig-
nificant, since the validation error starts to increase after this points.
Then, these selected attributes were used to create the estimates of the
target logs at the seven wells ties. The result of applying the derived
multi-attribute transform by using the selected attributes for sand vol-
ume, effective porosity and water saturation indicate a correlation co-
efficient of 0.77, 0.76 and 70, with an average prediction training error of
0.175, 0.042 and 0.13, respectively (Table 2).
10. Application of neural network for sand volume and reservoir
property estimation
One of the advantages of using the artificial neural network algorithm
is related to fast speed and small errors in determining the nonlinear
relationships between the input data and the target property (Calderon
and Castagna, 2007; Hampson et al., 2001; Leiphart and Hart, 2001;
Pramanik et al., 2004; Walls et al., 2002). Therefore, two types of neural
network including Probabilistic Neural Network (PNN) and Radial Basis
Function (RBF) were emphasized to obtain the Vsand and reservoir
property. However, PNN represented better results in the present study.
The Probabilistic neural network is a feedforward neural network,
including Input, Hidden and Output layer. The network is regarded as
one of the most effective neural networks used to predict the petro-
physical characteristics of seismic attributes by different researchers
(Hampson et al., 2001; Li, 2014; Masters, 1995; Pramanik et al., 2004;
Specht, 1990). The data used by the PNN consist of a series of training
samples such as the sample of {A1i, A2i, A3i, Li}, i ¼ 1, 2, 3, … n. For a
given training sample, the PNN assumes that each new output log value
can be expressed as a linear combination of the log values in the training.
In other words, for a new sample, by having a property vector x, the new
log value is estimated as follows:
Pn
i¼1 Li exp½  DðX; Xi Þ
LðXÞ ¼ P n (1)
i¼1 exp½  DðX; Xi Þ
I. Zahmatkesh et al. Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 161 (2018) 259–274

Fig. 13. Sand volume maps of different vertical slices of Asmari reservoir zones. Location of wells used in the field is marked with small black circles. a) 2 ms slice of Asmari Horizon, b)
2 ms slice of Asmari reservoir zone two (Z_2), c) 2 ms slice of Asmari reservoir zone three (Z_3), d) 2 ms slice of Asmari reservoir zone four (Z_4).

where n indicates the number of measurements and D(x, xi) is defined by PNN, which uses a Gaussian kernel estimator instead of the sigmoid
function based on the distance between points in seismic attribute space.
3 
X 2
Xj  Xij Learning is much faster than other types of networks in RBF, when the
DðX; Xi Þ ¼ (2)
j¼1
σj number of input variables are not very high. However, an increase in the
number of input variables leads to an geometrical increase in the number
The quantity D(x, xi) represents the distance between the point we are of hidden units. Accordingly, the use of this network becomes practically
trying to estimate, x, and the training points, xi. This distance is scaled by impossible for a large number of input variables.
the quantity σ j (smoothing parameter) which may be different for each In practice, using neural networks in this study is divided into
of the attributes. The network training aims to determine σj, and mini- three steps:
mizing the validation error is regarded as the criterion used for deter-
mining σj. Thus, the validation result for the mth target sample is 1) The selection of appropriate attributes by applying the stepwise
as follows: regression and its validation
P 2) Neural network training to derive the statistical relationship between
Li exp½  DðXm ; Xi Þ
b
L m ðXm Þ ¼ Pi≠m
n (3) seismic attributes and target logs at well locations
i≠m exp½  DðXm ; Xi Þ 3) The application of derived neural networks to the 3D seismic data
volume
Radial basis function artificial neural networks (RBF) are similar to

268
I. Zahmatkesh et al.
Fig. 14. Arbitrary line from porosity cube created using multi attribute regression method. Porosity decreases from top to bottom of reservoir. Porosity logs are inserted at the well
locations to compare the actual porosity with the predicted porosity near the well locations. Map of the arbitrary line is shown in the upper right of the figure.
The two aforementioned neural network was trained by using the
attributes obtained from multi-attribute regression for Vsand, water
saturation and effective porosity. After training, PNN and RBF provided a
correlation coefficient of 0.87 and 0.84, respectively, between actual and
predicted sand volume, which is better than multilinear regression
(Table 2). However, the correlation coefficient for the validation result
drops to 0.72 and 0.68, which is marginally worse than the validation
result for multilinear regression (0.73).
As it was already mentioned, the result of validation is regarded as the
real measure of performance. Therefore, based on this criterion, multiple
attribute regression method used for Vsand prediction is more accurate
than other methods in this case.
Similarly, based on the cross-correlation between actual and pre-
dicted water saturation in training set and validation tests, the prediction
power increases through using neural network, compared with a single
attribute and the multi-attribute regression analysis. In other words, the
neural network can sufficiently improve the performance of the water
saturation estimation in Mansuri oil field. In addition, based on the
validation tests, multi-attribute regression was used as an efficient and
practical method for effective porosity prediction of Asmari reservoir in
the Mansuri field.
11. Geological reservoir characterization based on acoustic
impedance
In a complementary study, k-means clustering was utilized to char-
acterize and classify reservoir based on acoustic impedance. Accordingly,
Asmari reservoir was classified into three main clusters including low (AI
<7926), medium (7930 < AI < 10610) and high (AI >10610) acoustic
impedance. Table 3 indicates the main characteristics of these three
clusters or groups. Then, regarding the core and thin sections of reservoir,
the difference in AI value can be described based on petrophysical and
geological characteristics of the reservoir in the field under study.
Accordingly, cluster1 encompasses more unconsolidated fine to coarse-
grained channel sands and occasionally consolidated medium to
coarse-grained sandstones cemented with dolomite (Fig. 11a). Cluster 2
269
Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 161 (2018) 259–274
shows medium acoustic impedance and effective porosity values, and is
mostly composed of fine to very fine-grained sandstones with dolomitic
cement and argillaceous matrix and dolomitic skeletal grainstone with
biomoldic, vuggy and intercrystalline porosity (Fig. 11b and c). Cluster 3
compared with the aforementioned clusters characterized by high
acoustic impedance and low average effective porosity. The facies of this
cluster consist of claystones, mudstones and wackestones with occasional
dolomitization (Fig. 11d). These facies are deposited in sub-tidal
lagoonal and lower shoreface to offshore settings, indicating the lowest
values of core porosity and permeability.
12. Results and discussion
Based on both linear and non-linear algorithms on 3D seismic attri-
butes and log data of the Mansuri field, the multi-attribute analysis as a
suitable method was used for predicting sand volume and effective
porosity. Further, neural network was selected to estimate water
saturation.
Based study of core and thin sections of Asmari reservoir, the
impedance data can be used to determine the lateral and vertical varia-
tions in lithology and facies units. The inversion result indicated that low-
amplitude reflections in the upper part of the reservoir are due to low-
impedance (soft) layers, as they are mostly considered as sandstones li-
thology. The correlation of low impedance with sandstone intervals can
be explained by the lower velocity of unconsolidated channel sands,
compared to dolomitic skeletal grainstone, packstone and Lime/dolo-
mitic mudstone/wackestone in this field. Furthermore, high acoustic
impedance value (Purple color) is congruent with low porous and
consolidated Lime/dolomitic mudstone/wackestone facies in the studied
reservoir (Fig. 8). Accordingly, seismic inversion for acoustic impedance
is a useful tool in reservoir characterization of Asmari reservoir in the
field in order to yield lithology and reservoir property.
A multi-attribute transform method was applied to the 3-D seismic
volumes to generate sand probability volumes. Figs. 12 and 13 illustrate
arbitrary line and different slices with 2 ms thickness from the top of each
zone in the studied field, respectively. The results demonstrated that
I. Zahmatkesh et al.
Fig. 15. Effective porosity maps of different vertical slices of Asmari reservoir zones. Location of wells used in the field is marked with small black circles. a) 2 ms slice of Asmari Horizon,
b) 2 ms slice of Asmari reservoir zone two (Z_2), c) 2 ms slice of Asmari reservoir zone three (Z_3), d) 2 ms slice of Asmari reservoir zone four (Z_4). Note concentration of high porosity
values in central and east of survey area.
siliciclastics are best developed in the west, and to the bottom of the
reservoir, and it gradually increase towards the east and the north of the
field. Geometrically, sandstones are more deposited as the thickness of
accumulation of continuous sands, which is locally incisions, reac-
tivations possible.
Based on the results of this study, a multi-attribute regression can
successfully predict effective porosity from the use of acoustic imped-
ance, Filter 5/10–15/20, Amplitude Envelope, Time, Integrated Absolute
Amplitude and Cosine Instantaneous Phase attributes.
Based on representative arbitrary line and horizon slices through the
effective porosity volume (Figs. 14 and 15), high-porosity zones is more
corresponding to high sand volume parts. Four different horizon slices
(Fig. 15) below the top of the Asmari show that overall effective porosity
decreases with depth, as it was found from inversion results in Fig. 7. In
addition, the most porous zones are more continuous at shallow levels
270
Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 161 (2018) 259–274
and are concentrated mostly in the along central and east part of
the reservoir.
Based on the results of multi-regression analyses, in order to predict
water saturation, the first four attributes of time, acoustic impedance,
filter 5/10–15/20 and cosine Instantaneous Phase, could be considered
as the optimal inputs for predicting water saturation using a neural
network (PNN) (Table 1). Fig. 16 indicates a cross plot of predicted water
saturation values against actual water saturation values using points of all
seven wells. It was evident that PNN technique provided a better corre-
lation coefficient (0.91) and average error (0.02126), compared with
multi-attribute linear regression. As the neural network can better
determine the nonlinear relationship between seismic attributes and
water saturation log, the neural network result was applied to the entire
survey, starting from the top of the Asmari to the base of the Pabdeh in
order to generate water saturation volume. The water saturation maps
I. Zahmatkesh et al.
Fig. 16. Crossplot of actual and predicted water saturation (SW) using neural network
showing high correlation coefficient of 0.91. Data points from analysis zone of each well
are shown in one color. (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend,
the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)
Fig. 17. Water saturation maps of different vertical slices of Asmari reservoir production zones. Location of wells used in the field is marked with small black circles. a) 2 ms slice of Asmari
Horizon, b) 2 ms slice of Asmari reservoir zone two (Z_2), c) 2 ms slice of Asmari reservoir zone three (Z_3), d) 2 ms slice of Asmari reservoir zone four (Z_4).
271
Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 161 (2018) 259–274
generated by using a neural network for production zones are shown in
Fig. 17. Based on the results, water saturation in the central and east parts
of the reservoir is low, which is related to the hydrocarbon-bearing area.
In general, acoustic impedance data, the derived geology, and reser-
voir property distribution could facilitate the detailed studies of lithol-
ogy, fluid flow and finally the reservoir quality in the studied reservoir.
Accordingly, the seismic inversion, along with seismic attributes, can be
used as a cost-effective tool to guide development and exploration dril-
ling for optimal hydrocarbon recovery, especially where well log data are
available to calibrate the impedance model. In addition, the integration
of results in the present study into geostatistical models (co-kriging) can
efficiently reduce the uncertainty in this field.
13. Conclusion
In the present study, 3D seismic data were used to investigate the
lateral and vertical distribution of Vsand and reservoir property in Asmari
reservoir of the Mansuri field. For this purpose, a model based inversion
was used as the starting point since we found that the inversion results is
I. Zahmatkesh et al. Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 161 (2018) 259–274

regarded as a key parameter for directing geologic interpretation and
detecting lateral lithologic variation. Based on the results, the upper parts
of Asmari reservoir have lower AI values than the lower reservoir because
it is more sandy and porous. Then, a linear regression and neural network
methods were conducted in a volume-based approach to model Vsand and
reservoir property distribution by using seismic attributes in addition to
the inversion attribute and well log.
The results indicated the prediction of effective porosity and sand
volume obtained from multi-attribute regression analysis. Also, the
neural network is the best method for estimating water saturation.
Representative transects and horizon slices through the effective
porosity, sand volume and water saturation volumes show that high
effective porosity zones are more related to high sand volume parts.
Further these parameters best developed in the west, gradually increased
towards the east and the north of the field. Moreover, water saturation in
the central and east parts of the reservoir is low, which corresponds to the
hydrocarbon-bearing area.
Regarding the correlation between core data and AI, variations in
acoustic impedance were more related to geological (depositional,
diagenetic) and petrophysical characteristics of Asmari reservoir in the
field. Accordingly, the best porous and permeable reservoir intervals
with low AI were found in the unconsolidated fine to medium-grained
channel sandstones, while high AI value was compatible with low
porous and mud-supported facies and claystone. Hence, for this reservoir
case, impedance data may be used to predict depositional facies away
from the already drilled wells.
The present study provided a better understanding of heterogeneity
and quality of reservoir, which plays a pivotal role in analyzing the
various producing units in the study area, which is helpful in developing
drilling for optimal hydrocarbon recovery.
Acknowledgements
This contribution represents part of the Ph.D. thesis of first author at
Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Iran. The authors acknowledge the
National Iranian South Oil Company (NISOC) for providing the subsur-
face data and for permission to publish the data. The authors would also
like to thank the editor and the anonymous reviewers for the critical and
constructive comments which greatly contributed to the improvement of
the manuscript.

Appendix A. Seismic inversion

Convolutional model is regarded as the basic premises behind all seismic inversion methods, upon which the seismic trace(t) is simply the
convolution(*) of the earth's reflectivity with a seismic source function w(t) by adding a noise component n(t) (Russell and Hampson, 1991):

sðtÞ ¼ wðtÞ*rðtÞ þ nðtÞ (A-1)

For zero incident angles, rðtÞ as reflectivity is related to the acoustic impedance (AI) of the earth through a the following simple equation:
ziþ1  zi ρiþ1 viþ1  ρi vi
ri ¼ ¼ (A-2)
ziþ1 þ zi ρiþ1 viþ1 þ ρi vi

where ri represents the reflection coefficient at the ith geological interface, and zi indicates the impedance at the ith geological layer and is defined as the
product of compressional velocity (v) and density (p). By inverting equation (A-2), the impedance value of each layer can be recursively derived from
the impedance value of the above layer. The recursive inversion equation is written as follows:

1 þ ri
ziþ1 ¼ Zi (A-3)
1  ri
Equation (A-3) is generalized to provide the impedance value of an arbitrary M layer by

M 
Y 
1 þ ri
ZM ¼ Z1 (A-4)
i¼2
1  ri

Based on the logarithm of the above equation, a linear approximation was used:

XM  
r3 r5
lnðZM Þ ¼ lnðZ1 Þ þ 2 ri þ i þ i þ … ; (A-5)
i¼2
3 5

As it is possible to discard the high-order terms in the summation, equation(A-5) is rewritten as follows:
!
X
M
ZM ¼ Z1 exp 2 ri ; (A-6)
i¼2

The preceding approximation is used in recursive inversion for the transformation of reflectivity into impedance and is valid if ri <(0.3) (Leite and
Vidal, 2011; Oldenburg et al., 1983; Russell, 2004).
In order to use the recursive inversion properly and obtain absolute impedance, the noise component should be removed or reduced and it should
deconvolve the seismic traces into the reflectivity series. To accomplish this, a Model-based inversion is applied for minimizing the objective function
(Russell, 2004).

j ¼ weight1  ðS  W*RÞ þ weight2  ðM  H*RÞ (A-7)

Where S indicates the seismic trace, W represents the wavelet, R refers to the final reflectivity, M displays the initial guess model and H is regarded as
the integration operator. The convolution (¼*) of the latter parameter with the final reflectivity produces the final impedance. In equation (A-7), the
first part models minimize the error in the seismic trace, while the second part ones minimize the error in the initial guess impedance.

272
I. Zahmatkesh et al. Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 161 (2018) 259–274

Appendix B. Multi-attribute regression analysis

In most cases, the function to model the reservoir parameters via m different attributes is written as follows:

T ¼ w0 þ w1 A1 þ w2 A2 þ … þ wm Am (B-1)

where T represents reservoir parameters (target parameter), Ai is the ith seismic attribute and wi shows the weighting factor.
The least squares method is used to get the target parameter:
P P P X
2 3 2 N 31 2 L 3
w0 X P A1i P A2i P Ami X i
6 w1 7 6 X A1i A2 A1i A2i A1i Ami 7 6 A L 7
6 7¼6 P 1i P 2 P 7  6 X 1i i 7 (B-2)
4 w2 5 4 A A1i A2i A A2i Ami 5 4 A2i L2i 5
X 2i P P 2i P 2 X
wm Ami A1i Ami A2i Ami Ami Ami L2i

It is worth noting that one-to-one corresponding samples may not be optimal due to the difference in the frequency between target log and seismic
attributes. A convolution operator is used to solve the problem. Based on this operator, each sample of the log is related to a group of neighboring
samples on the seismic attribute (Hampson et al., 2001).
The extension of equation (B-1) to involve the convolutional operator is as follows:

T ¼ w0 þ w1 * A1 þ w2 * A2 þ … þ wm * Am (B-3)

where * represents the convolution operator and wi indicates the operators of a specified length.
Similarly, the convolution operator is computed by the least squares method:

1 XN  2
E2 ¼ Li  w0 þ w1 * A1i þ w2 * A2i þ … þ wm * Ami (B-4)
N i¼1
As given in equation (B-4), the optimal operator determined by minimizing the mean-squared error between the actual and the predicted values of
the target log.

References Lavergne, M., Willm, C., 1977. Inversion of seismograms and pseudo velocity logs.
Geophys. Prospect 25, 231–250.
Leiphart, D.J., Hart, B.S., 2001. Comparison of linear regression and a probabilistic neural
Adekanle, A., Enikanselu, P.A., 2013. Porosity prediction from seismic inversion
network to predict porosity from 3-D seismic attributes in Lower Brushy Canyon
properties over “XLD”Field. Niger. Delta. Am. J. Sci. Ind. Res. 4, 31–35.
channeled sandstones, southeast New Mexico. Geophysics 66, 1349–1358.
Bosch, M., Mukerji, T., Gonzalez, E.F., 2010. Seismic inversion for reservoir properties
Leite, E.P., Vidal, A.C., 2011. 3D porosity prediction from seismic inversion and neural
combining statistical rock physics and geostatistics: a review. Geophysics 75,
networks. Comput. Geosci. 37, 1174–1180.
75A165–75A176.
Li, M., 2014. Geophysical Exploration Technology: Applications in Lithological and
Calderon, J.E., Castagna, J., 2007. Porosity and lithologic estimation using rock physics
Stratigraphic Reservoirs. Elsevier.
and multi-attribute transforms in Balcon Field, Colombia. Lead. Edge 26, 142–150.
Lindseth, R.O., 1976. Seislog process uses seismic reflection traces. Oil Gas. J. 74, 67–71.
Draper, N.R., Smith, H., Pownell, E., 1966. Applied Regression Analysis. Wiley, New York.
Masters, T., 1995. Advanced Algorithms for Neural Networks: a Cþþ Sourcebook. John
EDCO Kish International Company, 2006. Geological Studies Report for Mansuri Oil Field
Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Development in Asmari Formation.
Na’imi, S.R., Shadizadeh, S.R., Riahi, M.A., Mirzakhanian, M., 2014. Estimation of
Farfour, M., Yoon, W.J., Kim, J., 2015. Seismic attributes and acoustic impedance
reservoir porosity and water saturation based on seismic attributes using support
inversion in interpretation of complex hydrocarbon reservoirs. J. Appl. Geophys. 114,
vector regression approach. J. Appl. Geophys. 107, 93–101.
68–80.
Naeem, M., El-Araby, H.M., Khalil, M.K., Jafri, M.K., Khan, F., 2015. Integrated study of
Hampson, D.P., Schuelke, J.S., Quirein, J.A., 2001. Use of multiattribute transforms to
seismic and well data for porosity estimation using multi-attribute transforms: a case
predict log properties from seismic data. Geophysics 66, 220–236.
study of Boonsville Field, Fort Worth Basin, Texas, USA. Arab. J. Geosci. 8,
Hart, B.S., Balch, R.S., 2000. Approaches to defining reservoir physical properties from 3-
8777–8793.
D seismic attributes with limited well control: an example from the Jurassic
Ogiesoba, O.C., 2010. Porosity prediction from seismic attributes of the Ordovician
Smackover Formation, Alabama. Geophysics 65, 368–376.
Trenton-Black River groups, Rochester field, southern Ontario. Am. Assoc. Pet. Geol.
Huuse, M., Feary, D.A., 2005. Seismic inversion for acoustic impedance and porosity of
Bull. 94, 1673–1693.
Cenozoic cool-water carbonates on the upper continental slope of the Great
Oldenburg, D.W., Scheuer, T., Levy, S., 1983. Recovery of the acoustic impedance from
Australian Bight. Mar. Geol. 215, 123–134.
reflection seismograms. Geophysics 48, 1318–1337.
Iturrar
an-Viveros, U., Parra, J.O., 2014. Artificial Neural Networks applied to estimate
Pearson, R., Hart, B., 1999. Convergence of 3-D seismic attribute-based reservoir property
permeability, porosity and intrinsic attenuation using seismic attributes and well-log
prediction and geologic interpretation as a risk reduction tool: a case study from a
data. J. Appl. Geophys. 107, 45–54.
Permian intraslope basin. In: Internat. Mtg., Soc. Expl. Geophys, pp. 896–899.
James, G.A., Wynd, J.G., 1965. Stratigraphic nomenclature of Iranian Oil Consortium
Expanded Abstracts.
Agreement Area. AAPG Bull. 49 (12), 2182–2245.
Perez-Mu~ noz, T., Velasco-Hernandez, J., Hernandez-Martinez, E., 2013. Wavelet
Kadkhodaie-Ilkhchi, A., Rezaee, M.R., Rahimpour-Bonab, H., Chehrazi, A., 2009.
transform analysis for lithological characteristics identification in siliciclastic oil
Petrophysical data prediction from seismic attributes using committee fuzzy
fields. J. Appl. Geophys. 98, 298–308.
inference system. Comput. Geosci. 35, 2314–2330.
Pramanik, A.G., Singh, V., Vig, R., Srivastava, A.K., Tiwary, D.N., 2004. Estimation of
Kadkhodaie-Ilkhchi, R., Moussavi-Harami, R., Rezaee, R., Nabi-Bidhendi, M.,
effective porosity using geostatistics and multiattribute transforms: a case study.
Kadkhodaie-Ilkhchi, A., 2014. Seismic inversion and attributes analysis for porosity
Geophysics 69, 352–372.
evaluation of the tight gas sandstones of the Whicher Range field in the Perth Basin,
Raeesi, M., Moradzadeh, A., Ardejani, F.D., Rahimi, M., 2012. Classification and
Western Australia. J. Nat. Gas. Sci. Eng. 21, 1073–1083.
identification of hydrocarbon reservoir lithofacies and their heterogeneity using
Kadkhodaie-Ilkhchi, R., Rezaee, R., Moussavi-Harami, R., Kadkhodaie-Ilkhchi, A., 2013.
seismic attributes, logs data and artificial neural networks. J. Pet. Sci. Eng. 82,
Analysis of the reservoir electrofacies in the framework of hydraulic flow units in the
151–165.
whicher range field, perth basin, western Australia. J. Pet. Sci. Eng. 111, 106–120.
Research Institute of Petroleum Industry (RIPI), 2006. Unpublished Sedimentology and
Khoshdel, H., Riahi, M.A., 2011. Multi attribute transform and neural network in porosity
Geological Reservoir Characterization of the Asmari Formation in the Mansouri Field.
estimation of an offshore oil field—a case study. J. Pet. Sci. Eng. 78, 740–747.
Russell, B., Hampson, D., 1991. Comparison of poststack seismic inversion methods. In:
Kumar, R., Das, B., Chatterjee, R., Sain, K., 2016. A methodology of porosity estimation
1991 SEG Annual Meeting. Society of Exploration Geophysicists.
from inversion of post-stack seismic data. J. Nat. Gas. Sci. Eng. 28, 356–364.
Russell, B.H., 2004. The Application of Multivariate Statistics and Neural Networks to the
Latimer, R.B., Davidson, R., Van Riel, P., 2000. An interpreter's guide to understanding
Prediction of Reservoir Parameters Using Seismic Attributes. University of Calgary,
and working with seismic-derived acoustic impedance data. Lead. Edge 19, 242–256.
Alberta.

273
I. Zahmatkesh et al.
Russell, B.H., 1988. Introduction to Seismic Inversion Methods. Society of Exploration
Geophysicists.
Saltzer, R., Finn, C., Burtz, O., 2005. Predicting V shale and porosity using cascaded
seismic and rock physics inversion. Lead. Edge 24, 732–736.
Simm, R., Bacon, M., Bacon, M., 2014. Seismic Amplitude: an Interpreter's Handbook.
Cambridge University Press.
Snedden, J.W., 2013. Channel-body basal scours: observations from 3D seismic and
importance for subsurface reservoir connectivity. Mar. Pet. Geol. 39, 150–163.
Soubotcheva, N., Stewart, N., 2006. Predicting lithology and porosity at the pikes peak
heavy oilfield, Saskatchewan using 3D seismic data and well logs. Can. Soc. Explor.
Geophys. Rec. 35–39.
Specht, D.F., 1990. Probabilistic neural networks. Neural Netw. 3, 109–118.
274
Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 161 (2018) 259–274
Stocklin, J., 1968. Structural history and tectonics of Iran: a review. Am. Assoc. Pet. Geol.
Bull. 52, 1229–1258.
Walls, J.D., Taner, M.T., Taylor, G., Smith, M., Carr, M., Derzhi, N., Drummond, J.,
McGuire, D., Morris, S., Bregar, J., 2002. Seismic reservoir characterization of a US
Midcontinent fluvial system using rock physics, poststack seismic attributes, and
neural networks. Lead. Edge 21, 428–436.
Yao, T., Journel, A.G., 2000. Integrating seismic attribute maps and well logs for porosity
modeling in a west Texas carbonate reservoir: addressing the scale and precision
problem. J. Pet. Sci. Eng. 28, 65–79.
Zonneveld, J.-P., Gingras, M.K., Pemberton, S.G., 2001. Trace fossil assemblages in a
Middle Triassic mixed siliciclastic-carbonate marginal marine depositional system,
British Columbia. Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclimatol. Palaeoecol. 166, 249–276.