ADVANCES IN SEISMIC

Defining Technology for Exploration, Drilling and Production March 2006

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ADVANCES IN SEISMIC
New approach defines carbonate reser voirs

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62 MARCH 2006 World Oil
 ADVANCES IN SEISMIC
Reprinted from: March 2006 issue, pgs 57-66.
Used with permission.

Using high-resolution seismic

for carbonate reservoir description
An integrated study approach was used to characterize Mesozoic carbonate
reservoirs offshore Mexico. The study resulted in development well locations,
their drilling order and a noteworthy infill producer.
Richard Salter, Dianna Shelander, Marc Beller, Ben Flack, Diana Gillespie,
Nick Moldoveanu, WesternGeco Reservoir Seismic Services, Houston; and
Francisco Gonzalez Pineda and Jose Camara Alfaro, Petroleos Mexicanos

A high-resolution, 320 km2 seismic survey was acquired
over carbonate reservoirs in Arenque and Lobina fields, off-
shore Mexico, Gulf of Mexico. The study was directly used to
assess four potential drill locations and modify their drilling
order preference. A prolific hydrocarbon infill producer was
drilled in Arenque field in the primary Jurassic target. In ad-
dition, in a secondary, Cretaceous reservoir target, there was a
superb character tie between the predicted porosity from seis-
mic data and the measured well porosity.
The reservoir description results also enabled an appraisal
well in Lobina field to be successfully sidetracked to target a
thicker section of the main reservoir facies. The details of key
reservoir features were only visible when advanced processing
was applied to high-quality seismic data.
High-frequency, high-fidelity seismic data and a fully in-
tegrated workflow enabled reservoir properties, driven by de-
tailed rock-physics analysis, to be used in the construction of
a high-quality reservoir model and attribute maps. This article
describes the new seismic technology that made this result
possible, outlines the major steps taken in the workflow and
illustrates examples of successful projects undertaken as a di-
rect result of the study.
INTEGRATED STUDY APPROACH
The reservoir characterization study used an integrated ap-
proach, which combined new seismic survey evaluation and
design (SED), high-quality seismic acquisition and advanced
data processing to prepare the data for its reservoir descrip-
tion objectives. The project study area encompasses Arenque
field (discovered 1968) and the newly discovered Lobina field
(2003), located in offshore northeastern Mexico, about 40 km
east of the coastal city of Tampico. Water depths range from
30 to 80 m. The main productive reservoirs are the Jurassic-
aged San Andres carbonates (Jsa) and the Cretaceous Tamau-
lipas inferior carbonates (Kti). Jsa formation is the primary
reservoir target, while the secondary target is the Kti.
Survey evaluation and design. The objectives of the Lo-
bina project SED were to define the optimum acquisition
parameters, and then determine the processing sequence and
seismic inversion rock-property workflows that met the re-
quirements of the reservoir characterization study. Resolutions
of about 15 m in the Jsa formation and 20 m in the higher-
MARCH 2006 World Oil
velocity Kti formation were deemed necessary to maximize
interpretation of reservoir variations.
The SED study assessed concerns with the existing seismic
data by using borehole information to determine if seismic
resolution could be improved. Problems apparent with the
area’s previous 3D survey in 1996 limited its usefulness. Spa-
tial resolution was a concern. The maximum and dominant
frequencies of 30 Hz and 15 Hz, respectively, adversely af-
fected interpretation of key layers. Moreover, the data was not
robust enough for detailed AVO and inversion studies because
of poor amplitude preservation and limited offset range.
Obstructions and shallow-water limitations in the area
presented design challenges for the new 3D survey, namely,
whether it could be shot in the strike direction, which was op-
timum from an operational standpoint. To answer this critical
question, two 2D seismic lines were shot in two directions,
one oriented toward the dip (E-W) and the other toward the
strike (N-S).
After processing the lines and analyzing their results, several
conclusions were drawn. Shooting could indeed be performed
in the strike direction if the spatial sampling was adequate. The
maximum frequency attainable was 60 Hz (at 20 dB), with
the dominant frequency being about 30 Hz. Data comparisons
and analyses indicated that a frequency bandwidth of 6 to 60
Hz would be sufficient to achieve the survey’s resolution objec-
tives. To recover the higher frequencies, a “whitening” method
had to be applied. Also, a good signal-to-noise ratio was needed
to prevent the boosting of high-frequency noise.
Seismic data acquisition. There were three primary goals
for shooting the new seismic survey. First, new high-frequency,
high-fidelity seismic data were needed for an overall improve-
ment on the 1996 conventional 3D seismic survey. Second,
the new survey would improve the amplitude fidelity and ver-
tical resolution for accurately delineating previously defined
prospects. It was clear that doubling the maximum recorded
frequency would significantly enhance the capability of map-
ping key reservoir layers, allowing previously defined drill lo-
cations to be ranked and new potential well locations to be
identified. Third, new seismic data were required to interpret
and characterize the area’s Mesozoic reservoir units in terms of
structural and stratigraphic complexity, as well as their reser-
voir property prediction and distribution.
World Oil MARCH 2006 57
ADVANCES IN SEISMIC

TABLE 1. Seismic survey acquisition

parameters.
Cable length: 6,000 m
Number of streamers: 8
Streamer separation: 50 m
Streamer depth: 6m
Source depth: 5m
Group interval: 6.25 m (after DGF)
Source interval: 18.75 m
Number of sources: 2
Source array: 5,085-in3 Bolt airgun
Bin size: 6.25-m inline x 12.5-m crossline
Record length: 8 sec
Sampling interval: 2 ms
Shooting direction: N-S

Fig. 1. Reservoir description workflow used in this study.

TABLE 2. Seismic data processing sequence.
1. Noise attenuation and Digital Group Forming
2. Navigation merge
3. Data editing and QC
4. Deterministic designature based on the CMS
5. Swell-noise attenuation
6. Guided-waves noise attenuation in tau-P domain (linear tau-p)
7. Predictive deconvolution in tau-P domain
8. Receiver motion correction
9. Parabolic radon transform multiple attenuation
10. Inverse Q phase filter
11. Migration velocity analysis
12. Prestack Kirchhoff time migration
13. Residual velocity analysis
14. Inverse Q amplitude filter
15. Random noise attenuation in common offset planes
16. Sorting to CMP gathers
17. Stacking of the migrated CMP gathers
It was determined that Q-Marine* technology would help
achieve these goals by improving the signal-to-noise ratio, seis-
mic resolution and amplitude accuracy of the seismic data.
The acquisition system preserves higher frequencies because of
receiver perturbation corrections, a calibrated marine source
and marine noise-attenuation improvements through Digital
Group Forming (DGF). Further, its streamer steering capa-
bilities enable more efficient operation in obstructed areas.
WesternGeco Reservoir Seismic Services worked closely
with the Pemex interpretation team to design a 320 km2 sur-
vey, Table 1. The high-resolution, 3D seismic survey encom-
passed Arenque and Lobina field areas and was acquired in
September and October 2003.
Seismic data processing. Where possible, analysis and in-
terpretation of the newly acquired seismic data were integrated
with processing, so that the final analysis was completed by
November 2004. Fast turnaround was a prerequisite for this
study, in order to use it for ongoing exploration and develop-
ment plans.
Initial processing, including geometry merge, data edit-
ing and calibrated marine source (CMS) QC were performed
onboard. Most of the testing was performed before the data
arrived in the processing center in Denver, Colorado. Gen-
erally, the data were of excellent quality and good resolution
throughout, with superb reservoir detail in the key Mesozoic
intervals. A processing sequence was designed, based on the
improved seismic resolution requirements, signal-to-noise ra-
MARCH 2006 World Oil
tio and amplitude accuracy of the new seismic data, Table 2.
This sequence ensured a true amplitude dataset, which in turn
would be inverted to produce quantitative volumes, such as
P-impedance. When integrated with petrophysical analysis,
this would enable the characterization of Mesozoic objectives
through a description of a robust porosity measurement.
Reservoir description steps, results. After processing, it
was clear that the survey had achieved its goals. Petrophysi-
cal analysis in conjunction with fluid-substitution modeling
indicated that a quantitative assessment of fluid saturation dis-
tribution would be prohibited in this challenging carbonate
environment. Consequently, predicting quantitative porosity
using a robust post-stack inversion workflow would be the fo-
cus of this study.
Quantitatively mapping porosity distribution at much
higher resolution allowed ranking and high-grading of previ-
ously defined drill locations, improvement to optimally define
infill locations, and identification of new, subtle stratigraphic
traps. For Arenque and Lobina field areas, a novel workflow
was applied, which had been tried and tested for carbonate
reservoir description in fields worldwide. The important com-
ponents of the workflow are described in Fig. 1.
Geological review; Log editing and analysis. The study
area lies in the Tampico-Misantla basin, northeastern Mexico,
whose production initially began in the early 1900s from frac-
tured Upper Cretaceous limestone, and soon afterward from
karsted limestones encircling the Tuxpan Platform that forms
the renowned Faja de Oro (Golden Lane) fields. Production
was later established in 1956 from the Upper Jurassic carbon-
ates and, in 1968, from the Jurassic San Andres carbonates
within the Arenque field. Lobina field was discovered only
recently, in 2003.
The Jurassic limestone reservoir rocks were deposited in a
shallow marine setting during the opening and early subsidence
phase of the Gulf of Mexico. The San Andres Jsa formation
comprises several intrafacies that were formed in the lows and
on flanks of paleo highs, including grainstones, wackestones,
packstones, mudstones and conglomerates, which often can be
seen on seismic data by their acoustic signatures. Porosity devel-
opment is key for productive wells, and is best developed in oo-
litic grainstone that formed in the shallow marine depths. Faults
and paleo highs play a major role in controlling oolitic facies
deposition, permeability and reservoir compartmentalization.
ADVANCES IN SEISMIC
Overall, 44 wells had long, logged sections of compres-
sional sonic and density logs—essential to fully integrate sur-
face seismic and well datasets. The main objective of this work
component was to optimally edit and validate the sonic and
density logs, producing reliable acoustic-impedance logs in
the time domain. A multiwell, highly iterative editing process
concentrated on the zone of interest from the Tertiary uncon-
formity (Dmt) down to the well TD, usually the basement,
but also extended all the way up to ensure a well-behaved
depth-to-time function. Formation tops were used in well-to-
well comparisons during the validation process.
The final sonic log was calibrated to the checkshot data,
and a smooth drift curve (log time-checkshot time) trendline
was generated in each well, indicating that a reliable depth-to-
time function had been achieved. Minor adjustments to the
velocities were made to improve the tie with the seismic line
around well locations. The final acoustic impedance in many
of the wells was reliable and suitable for further integration
with seismic data and calibration to porosity.
Seismic interpretation; Post-stack inversion. The follow-
ing are interpreted horizons for this study.
The 21 Ma Miocene marker is the top of a thick (100–
800 m) Tertiary shale unit, below which a prominent, easily
recognizable (on high-resolution seismic) disconformity (the
Dmt) occurs, defining the top of this study’s zone of inter-
est. Beneath the Dmt and an intermittent dolomitized breccia
lays the Cretaceous Tamaulipas inferior (Kti) carbonate, the
secondary productive target in the study. Below the Kti is the
basin’s source bed, the Jurassic Pimienta Shale (Jpi), and below
this lie the primary target—the Jurassic San Andres carbon-
ates (Jsa). The Jsa provides a significant acoustic event with
an abrupt seismic velocity increase, especially compared to the
overlying, slower Jpi shale. A top basement (Bas) beneath the
Jsa is practically non-existent.
To maximize the use of the recorded seismic frequencies,
a robust post-stack inversion workflow was used. The com-
ponents of this workflow have been thoroughly tested and
successfully applied in numerous geological depositional sys-
tems and petroleum provinces worldwide. It has proven to be
particularly beneficial in the prediction of primary porosity in
carbonate reservoirs. The inversion workflow, which has sev-
eral components that are discussed in an OTC paper,1,2 results
in a trace-by-trace quantitative measure of absolute impedance
that can be directly calibrated against the sonic and density
product from the wells.
Petro-acoustic calibration. The main producing interval
of the primary targeted Jsa formation is the oolitic bank JKS3
member. Overall, the Jsa formation’s porosity ranges from zero
in micritic mudstone rocks to a 27% maximum in the oolitic
bank facies. Analysis indicates that there is no clay presence in
the primary oolitc bank reservoir pore systems and that their
pore-fabric varies mainly according to depositional variation.
The secondary Kti formation shows from coring to have more
heavily cemented oolitic bank facies. This, and the presence
of other facies, add to its complexity, so porosity is not as well
developed (20% maximum) and production relies more on
pore-space connection by fractures.
Petrophysical and core analyses were conducted on numer-
ous wells, providing calculations for effective porosity, clay
content and water saturation for the productive Jsa and Kti
formations. These results showed that fluid content varied
among wells, from gas, to light and heavy oil.
Despite the varying fluid content and pore-fabric, the pri-
MARCH 2006 World Oil
mary driver of the acoustic response, as shown by a detailed
rock physics analysis within these carbonate rocks, is porosity.
For both the Jsa and Kti formations, an increase in porosity
corresponds to a decrease in acoustic impedance, as expected.
However, for a given acoustic impedance value, the porosity
in the Kti is lower than the Jsa. Lithology, pore-fabric and
pore-fluid have an insignificant influence on the acoustic re-
sponse within the Jsa formation, which is substantiated by its
acoustic impedance vs. porosity crossplot showing very little
standard deviation. Although the crossplot has more variance
for the more complex facies of the Kti formation, there is still
a strong dependency between acoustic impedance and poros-
ity. The facies variations were not considered to be significant,
in the gross sense, in that the crossplot still differentiates good
porosity vs. poor porosity development.
In a key step from seismic-acoustic properties to reservoir
properties, the acoustic impedance to porosity relationship,
derived from wells, is applied to the seismic data to produce
acoustic porosity at each seismic trace. The function was tai-
lored for the Jsa and Kti formations, separately, using rock
physics analysis for more accurate quantification. Seismic
porosity results were verified using the “blind-well” method,
whereby wells not used in processing were compared to results.
The absolute values matched very well, and good correlations
between well logs and seismic were seen, adding confidence to
the final output.
Porosity mapping and evaluation. The enhanced resolu-
tion of the seismic data enabled the generated porosity vol-
ume to be used to its full extent. Within the Jsa formation,
discrete porosity podding with oolitic bank geometries can be
seen in section view. Mapping the maximum porosity between
the gross top and base of the reservoir permits the calculation
of the areal extent of individual porosity sweetspots. Within
individual oolitic pods, clear porosity trends (consistent with
the borehole information) show the internal architecture of
the best reservoir units for targeted drilling.
On a macro seismic survey scale, a porosity-height (phi-h)
attribute can help in ranking future drill locations. Phi-h is a
running summation of a seismic trace for the gross reservoir
intervals. Therefore, a thick section of reservoir with high po-
rosity will illuminate as an anomaly to the surrounding areas.
Mapping these areas and using them, together with the seis-
mic porosity sections, allows new prospects to be verified and
drill targets more accurately defined. This effectively reduces
Fig. 2. Well phi(h) vs. seismic phi(h).
World Oil MARCH 2006 59
ADVANCES IN SEISMIC
Fig. 3. Porosity prediction and location of infill Well B.
risk and strengthens prospect ranking capability. Fig. 2 illus-
trates a comparison of well phi-h vs. seismic phi-h for several
wells with good quality sonic and density logs. The excellent
correlation is extremely encouraging. Most of the wells used in
this comparison were not used for either the inversion or the
calibration, and as such, were an excellent test of the quantita-
tive aspects of the seismic data.
Pemex had previously identified four prospects within the
seismic survey area that encompassed Arenque field, based on
legacy seismic character and a structural interpretation. In a
prime example of the use of the maps, the operator was assist-
ed in ranking these four locations. With the new data, Pemex
lowered the priority of two locations from its initial ranking
while giving higher priority to the remaining two. The poros-
ity development for location B is illustrated in Fig. 3, clearly
showing significantly higher porosity development in the Jsa
Fig. 4. Porosity distribution, Kti and Jsa in Arenque field. Targeted well trajectory
could tap these sweet spots.
MARCH 2006 World Oil
Fig. 5. Jsa porosity: left–average RMS Jsa to basement;
right–integrated porosity.
reservoir, thereby putting it at top priority to be drilled.
The data can also have a significant impact in defining in-
fill drill locations and optimizing well placement in mature
fields by giving a clear indication of untapped hydrocarbon
potential. Map use provides the ability to clearly define in-
dividual geobodies, and thus potential infill drill locations,
within a mature area like Arenque field. In another example,
the enhanced vertical and lateral resolution allowed undrilled,
discrete porosity pods to be identified and targeted with the
drillbit to optimize well placement by maximizing contact
with sweet spots within the porous oolites
of the Jsa formation, Fig. 4.
A summary of porosity development
over the survey area covering both explo-
ration and development potential is illus-
trated in Fig. 5. Here, the average porosity
for the Jsa to basement is seen on the left
and the integrated porosity on the right.
These maps should be used in conjunc-
tion with the data in section and in 3D
visualization to fully maximize the under-
standing of the porosity distribution.
SUMMARY, FUTURE OUTLOOK
The actionable reservoir description in-
formation provided by the new high-fre-
quency, high-fidelity seismic data and fully
integrated workflow enabled new prospect
locations and infill opportunities in ex-
isting field areas to be identified, ranked
and optimally placed. The “B” location
in Arenque field, discussed previously, was
drilled following the reservoir study.
Excellent results have been seen with a
superb character tie in the predicted po-
ADVANCES IN SEISMIC
Fig. 6. Porosity overlay from well logs (Elan) on top of seismic
porosity prediction.
rosity from seismic data with the measured well porosity, par-
ticularly in the Kti reservoir target, Fig. 6. Additionally, testing
has shown the well to be hydrocarbon bearing from the Jsa
formation, with 2,000 bopd production, making this an excel-
lent step-out location from a mature field area.
This study had another immediate impact on development
by enabling an optimal sidetrack to be drilled from a new ap-
praisal well in the Lobina field area. In this well, the Jsa forma-
tion turned out to be much thinner (about 6 m) than inter-
preted using the 1996 data. The new data allowed placement
of the sidetrack into a much thicker reservoir accumulation (35
m) more than 1 km away from the original borehole. Work
continues between the teams to evaluate and use this data. Un-
doubtedly, wells yet to be drilled will benefit from the enhanced
understanding and quantification of reservoir quality. WO
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors thank Pemex and WesternGeco for their permission to publish
this article.
* Mark of WesternGeco
LITERATURE CITED
1 Salter, Richard, Shelander, Dianna, Beller, Marc, Flack, Ben, Gillespie, Diana, Moldoveanu, Nick, Pineda,
Francisco, Camara, Jose, “Carbonate reservoir description using high-resolution seismic, Offshore Mex-
ico,” OTC paper no. 17204, presented at the Offshore Technology Conference held in Houston, Texas,
USA, 2–5 May 2005.
2 Salter, Richard, Shelander, Dianna, Beller, Marc, Flack, Ben, Gillespie, Diana, Moldoveanu, Nick, Pineda,
Francisco, Camara, Jose, “The impact of high-resolution seismic data on carbonate reservoir description,
Offshore Mexico,” SEG paper presented at the International Exposition and 75th Annual Meeting of the
Society of Exploration Geophysicists, held in Houston, Texas, USA, 6–11 November 2005.
Article copyright © 2006 by Gulf Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
THE AUTHORS
Richard Salter has been with WesternGeco for 11 years and is the Res-
ervoir Seismic Services manager in Houston. He has an MS in petroleum
geology from Imperial College, London, and a BS in geology from Uni-
versity of Durham.
Dianna Shelander is a senior project geophysicist with WesternGeco.
Dianna has 25 years of industry experience. She earned an MS degree
in geophysics from Stanford University and a BS in applied physics fro
Georgia Institute of Technology.
Mark Beller joined the seismic industry in 1994 and is the Reservoir
Services manager for WesternGeco in the Middle East and Asia. He
earned an MSc degree in geosciences from Institut Français du Pétrole
in Paris, and an MS degree in geophysics from Ecole et Observatoire de
Physique du Globe in Strasbourg.
Ben Flack is project manager for WesternGeco, Reservoir Description.
Ben has a Bachelor’s degree (2000) in geology from University of Liver-
pool, and a Master’s degree (2001) in petroleum geology from Imperial
College in London.
Diana Gillespie has 14 years’ experience with WesternGeco and is se-
nior geophysicist in the Reservoir Seismic Services group. She has a BS
degree in mathematics.
Nick Moldoveanu is the manager of Survey Design Competency for
WesternGeco in Houston. Nick joined the seismic industry in 1965 as
a field geophysicist. He has Master’s degrees in geophysics and math-
ematics as well as a Doctorate in geophysics from the University of Bu-
charest.
Fancisco Gonzalez Pineda is the prospect coordinator, Activo Integral
Burgos, PEMEX. He earned his geology/engineering degrees at the Uni-
versity of San Luís Potosí. He has 24 years of experience in oil explora-
tion, primarily in the Tampico Misantla River basin.
Jose C. Camara Alfaro is geophysical interpreter, Coordination of De-
sign for Exploitation, for PEMEX. He earned a degree in engineering,
geophysical logging, at the Technologico de Madero, Tamaulipas, Mex-
ico. He has 26 years in geological data acquisition, interpretation and
subsurface characterization.
Printed in U.S.A.