GEOPHYSICS, VOL. 73, NO. 6 共NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2008兲; P. C23–C30, 10 FIGS.
10.1190/1.2978337
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Spectral-decomposition response to reservoir fluids
from a deepwater West Africa reservoir
Ganglin Chen1, Gianni Matteucci2, Bill Fahmy3, and Chris Finn4
ABSTRACT
We study the spectral-decomposition response to reservoir
fluids from a deepwater West Africa reservoir through a sys-
tematic modeling approach. Our workflow starts from select-
ing the seismic data 共far-angle seismic images兲 that show
more pronounced fluid effect based on amplitude-versus-off-
set 共AVO兲 analysis. Synthetic seismic forward modeling per-
formed at the control well established the quality of the seis-
mic well tie. Reservoir wedge modeling, spectral decomposi-
tion of the field and synthetic seismic data, and theoretical
analyses were conducted to understand the spectral-decom-
position responses. The reservoir fluid type is a main factor
controlling the spectral response. For this deepwater reser-
voir, the amplitude contrast between oil sand and brine sand
is higher at low frequencies 共⬃15 Hz兲. In addition, synthetic
modeling can help identify the possible frequency band
where the amplitude contrast between hydrocarbon sand and
brine sand is higher. When properly included in a comprehen-
sive direct-hydrocarbon-indicator 共DHI兲–AVO evaluation,
spectral decomposition can enhance the identification of
hydrocarbons.
INTRODUCTION
Spectral-domain seismic data attributes have been useful for
some applications in hydrocarbon-reservoir characterizations. For
example, Dilay and Eastwood 共1995兲 analyze seismic data in the
spectral domain for monitoring bitumen production by cyclic steam
stimulation 共steam injection兲 at Cold Lake, Alberta, Canada. Partyka
et al. 共1999兲 discuss spectral-decomposition analysis and interpreta-
tion of 3D seismic data. They show how channel details and discon-
Manuscript received by the Editor 16 November 2007; revised manuscript received 25 January 2008; published online 24 October 2008.
1
ExxonMobil Upstream Research Company, Houston, Texas, U.S.A. E-mail: ganglin.chen@exxonmobil.com.
2
ExxonMobil International Limited, London, U.K. E-mail: gianni.matteucci@exxonmobil.com.
3
ExxonMobil Exploration Company, Houston, Texas, U.S.A. E-mail: bill.a.fahmy@exxonmobil.com.
4
ExxonMobil Production Company, Houston, Texas, U.S.A. E-mail: chris.finn@exxonmobil.com.
© 2008 Society of Exploration Geophysicists. All rights reserved.
C23
tinuities could be imaged and mapped better with spectral-decompo-
sition results. Both studies used a Fourier transform over short time
windows, or short-time Fourier transform 共STFT兲.
Chakraborty and Okaya 共1995兲 compare different methods for
performing frequency-time analysis on seismic data. They show that
the STFT method suffers from time-frequency resolution limita-
tions. Improved spectral-decomposition results could be obtained
by methods such as discrete wavelet transform and matching pursuit
algorithm. Castagna et al. 共2003兲 apply instantaneous spectral analy-
sis to seismic data and obtain high-resolution spectral-decomposi-
tion images. They illustrate how spectral-decomposition results are
used to detect low-frequency shadows beneath gas-sand reservoirs.
Related studies also show that spectral decomposition could be used
to image hydrocarbon sands at certain frequency bands 共Burnett et
al., 2003; Sinha et al., 2003兲.
In this paper, we use instantaneous spectral analysis 共Castagna et
al., 2003兲 to study the spectral-decomposition response to reservoir
fluids from a deepwater West Africa reservoir 共Figure 1a兲. From am-
plitude-versus-offset 共AVO兲 analysis, fluid effect is more pro-
nounced in far-angle seismic traces 共class IIp兲. Our analysis there-
fore focuses on far-angle stack seismic data. Spectral decomposition
of far-angle stack seismic images reveals that the amplitude contrast
between the oil sand and downdip brine sand is higher at low fre-
quencies 共Figure 1b兲. A systematic seismic forward-modeling ap-
proach helps us to understand the response.
Four key factors control the spectral-decomposition response of a
reservoir: thickness, stratigraphy 共i.e., reflectivity series兲, fluid type,
and effective attenuation. For this reservoir, the reflectivity series
and fluid type are the main controlling factors. We do not discuss de-
tails of our work on the other two factors because the focus of this pa-
per is the effect of reservoir fluids. We show that reservoir fluid type
is a main factor controlling spectral response. Synthetic modeling
can be used to identify the possible frequency band where the ampli-
tude contrast between hydrocarbon sand and brine sand is higher.
 C24 Chen et al.

METHODS AND WORKFLOW a)

First, we performed seismic well tie at the control well. Toward
this end, wireline sonic logs and density logs were blocked 共Figure
2a兲. A far-angle synthetic seismic trace was generated through iso-
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tropic synthetic seismic forward modeling using a ray-tracing meth-

od 共Figure 2b兲. The tie achieved a crosscorrelation coefficient of
94% over the reservoir interval 共Figure 2c兲. This high-quality syn-
thetic/seismic field data tie gave us confidence in the quality of logs
and input seismic data. Rock properties 共P-velocities, S-velocities,
and densities兲 from this well were the foundation of our simulations.
We then studied in detail the spectral-decomposition response to
different reservoir fluid fills 共gas, oil, and brine兲 of a wedge model.
Rock properties of sand and shale in models were taken from the av-

a)

b)

b)

c)

Figure 1. 共a兲 Interval average absolute amplitude 共AAB兲 map of a

deepwater West Africa reservoir. Red regions have high AAB val-
ues, as indicated by the color scale bar on the right. Black polygons
are fault zones. For scale, the width of the field 共high AAB region兲 is
about 2 km. 共b兲 Spectral-decomposition frequency slices of a seis-
mic traverse 共AA⬘: blue line in Figure 1a兲 showing oil-leg brighten-
ing on the 15-Hz section relative to the brine leg. The time scale is
about 600 ms for each image.
Figure 2. 共a兲 Original and blocked logs at the control well used for
modeling. 共b兲 Gamma-ray log, P-impedance log, and far-angle seis-
mic 共black兲 to synthetic 共green兲 plane-wave convolution well tie. 共c兲
Sample-by-sample crossplot of far-angle synthetic trace amplitude
versus far-angle field seismic stack trace with regression line that
shows a correlation coefficient of 94%.
 Spec decomp response to reservoir fluids C25

erage of some typical deepwater WestAfrica reservoirs used in a pre-
vious seismic/well-tie study 共Gratwick and Finn, 2004; Gratwick
and Finn, 2005兲. Figure 3a shows acoustic impedance models of
studied reservoirs. Near-angle 共Figure 3b兲 and far-angle synthetic
seismograms were generated with a plane-wave convolution ap-
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Model parameters were adjusted based on comparisons of spectral-
decomposition attributes from the synthetic seismograms and field
seismic images. Thousands of models were generated in each simu-
lation while adjusting the model parameters. Figure 4 shows the dis-
tribution of three key parameters from the final models:

proach. Spectral decomposition of synthetic seismograms was per-

formed, and two spectral attributes 共peak frequency and peak ampli-
Total sand thickness ⳱ 兺sand 1ⳮ4 Thickness, 共1兲
tude兲 were calculated for analyses. More than 1000 models were an-
alyzed. These models examined the effect of attenuation, elastic an-
isotropy, different acoustic properties for the encasing shale, and
兺sand 1ⳮ4共Thickness ⫻ Porosity兲
normal-moveout 共NMO兲 stretch on far-angle synthetic traces. In ad- Avg net porosity ⳱ ,
dition to the plane-wave convolution approach, we also used ray- Total sand thickness
tracing and wave-equation modeling to examine the effect of differ- 共2兲
ent modeling algorithms on spectral-decomposition output.
In the second part of the study, reservoir rock-property models
were generated by perturbing the control well logs stochastically to
span model parameters 共Vshale: shale volume fraction, porosity, and
thickness兲 observed in logs from wells that penetrated this reservoir.

a)

b)

Figure 3. 共a兲 P-impedance and S-impedance models of the schematic

reservoir 30 m thick. Three bottom shale properties were modeled to
examine the effect of symmetrical and nonsymmetrical shale cas-
ings. 共b兲 The 15°-equivalent synthetic seismograms for wedge mod- Figure 4. Distribution of average sand properties in final models for
els with symmetrical encasing shale properties. the West Africa reservoir.
 C26 Chen et al.
Avg Vshale
兺sand 1ⳮ4共Thickness ⫻ Vshale兲 Ⳮ 兺shale 1ⳮ3共Thickness ⫻ 100%兲
⳱ ,
Total sand thickness Ⳮ Total shale thickness
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共3兲
where
Total shale thickness ⳱ 兺sand 1ⳮ3 Thickness. 共4兲
An extension of the Xu-White 共Xu and White, 1995兲 sand/shale
model was used to convert porosity and Vshale values to VP, VS, and
densities as input to reservoir models to compute synthetic seismo-
grams.
Two types of displays were used to examine the spectral-decom-
position response of reservoir fluids: peak frequency versus gross
reservoir thickness and spectral ratios from hydrocarbon models,
and the brine model at representative sand thicknesses. The former
provides an abstract illustration of the frequency response of the syn-
thetic to the reservoir fluid changes. The latter shows the amplitude
contrast between different fluid-filled reservoirs and highlights the
frequency range over which the largest amplitude contrast may oc-
cur.
a) c)
b) d)
Figure 5. 共a兲 Peak frequency versus gross reservoir thickness of 15°-
equivalent seismograms 共symmetrical encasing shale兲. 共b兲 Vertical-
incidence traveltime 共time thickness兲 of the reservoir versus gross
reservoir thickness. 共c, d兲 Peak frequency versus gross reservoir
thickness for 共c兲 15° and 共d兲 40° synthetic seismograms from a
wedge model encased in nonsymmetrical shale. The separation be-
tween thick and thin sands is based on the crossover of the peak-fre-
quency curves between the hydrocarbon scenarios and the brine sce-
nario.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Wedge-model results
Figure 5a shows results for 15°-equivalent synthetic seismograms
from wedge models 共1–35 m兲 encased in symmetric shale 共same
acoustic impedance for the shale above and below the reservoir兲.
Notice, in this case, how peak frequencies decrease monotonically
with increasing gross reservoir thickness as a consequence of the in-
creasing time duration for the acoustic wave to propagate through
the reservoir sand 共Figure 5b兲. The small separation in peak frequen-
cy between different reservoir fluids is because of small time-thick-
ness differences.
The situation becomes more complicated for models with non-
symmetric shale casing 共acoustic impedance is different between the
shale above and below the reservoir兲. The spectral response is com-
plicated by the nonsymmetric interference effect of wavelets at the
top and bottom of the reservoir, in addition to the time-thickness
changes. Figure 5c and d shows the peak frequency versus gross res-
ervoir thickness for the 15°-equivalent and 40°-equivalent models.
Two regimes can be distinguished: for thin sand, the peak frequency
of the hydrocarbon sand is higher than the brine sand; for thick sand,
the peak frequency of the hydrocarbon sand is lower than the brine
sand. In comparison with near angle, the maximum peak-frequency
separation at far angle increases by ⬃50% for a thin sand regime and
⬃100% for thick sand. A detailed explanation of the phenomenon is
provided in a later section using the convolution model.
The consequence of peak-frequency shifts because of different
reservoir fluid fills is demonstrated through spectral-ratio plots in
Figure 6. The left column of Figure 6 共Figure 6a and c兲 shows results
for a 5-m sand 共thin sand兲 model. The right column 共Figure 6b and d兲
shows results for a 30-m sand 共thick sand兲 model. For clarity, three
a) b)
c) d)
Figure 6. 共a, b兲 Interval-averaged spectra and 共c, d兲 their ratios for
15°-equivalent synthetic seismograms of 共a, c兲 a 5-m sand model
and 共b, d兲 a 30-m sand model.
 Spec decomp response to reservoir fluids C27

共instead of five兲 fluid-fill scenarios were plotted: dry gas, light oil,
and brine. Figure 6a shows interval-averaged amplitude spectra for
5-m gas sand, oil sand, and brine sand models. Figure 6c shows the
spectral ratio versus frequency. The peak-frequency shift toward
higher values, as brine is replaced by hydrocarbon, causes a mono-
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better separation between the oil-leg 共bright兲 and brine-leg 共dim/
blue兲 amplitudes. The 25-Hz spectral-decomposition map 共Figure
8c兲 has a very similar amplitude pattern to the input full-band seis-
mics 共Figure 8a兲 because the dominant frequency of the full-band
seismic data is about 25 Hz. The high-frequency 共37-Hz兲 spectral-

tonic increase of spectral ratios with frequency between hydrocar-
bon and brine scenarios. We expect that hydrocarbon sand is better
illuminated at higher frequencies. For example, at 50 Hz, the hydro-
carbon-sand and wet-sand contrast is more than 30% higher than at
30 Hz, the Ricker-wavelet frequency used to generate synthetic
seismograms.
For thick sand 共Figure 6b and d兲, as brine is replaced by hydrocar-
bon, the peak frequency of the spectrum shifts to lower values. This
peak-frequency shift causes a low-frequency peak in the spectral ra-
tio between hydrocarbon sand and wet sand 共Figure 6d兲. As a conse-
quence, the hydrocarbon sand would be better illuminated at fre-
quencies near this low-frequency peak. The contrast between gas
sand and wet sand is more than 40% higher at 16 Hz than at 30 Hz
共Ricker-wavelet frequency兲. For oil sand and wet sand, the contrast
is about 24% higher at 16 Hz than at 30 Hz.
We can explain these results in the spectral domain invoking the
convolution approach. With the convolution model, the amplitude
spectrum of the synthetic seismogram is the product of the reflectivi-
ty spectrum with the wavelet spectrum:
Time domain: S共t兲 ⳱ RC共t兲 丢 Wavelet共t兲
decomposition map 共Figure 8d兲 shows that high-amplitude patterns
bleed across the oil-water contact 共upper-left area兲. The change of
high-amplitude patterns inside the white polygon 共the reservoir兲 is
caused primarily by the variation in the thickness of the reservoir in-
terval and net-to-gross sand volume fraction. Note a dim area inside
the reservoir 共upper region inside the white polygon兲. This is be-
cause of the interference effect of an overlying reservoir that was not
investigated in this study.
Figure 8e and f further demonstrates the difference of the seismic
stack response in the spectral domain between the oil leg and brine
leg. Figure 8e shows five rectangular regions over which average in-
terval spectra in Figure 8f were calculated. Three regions are in the
oil leg, with corresponding spectra black. Two regions are in the
brine leg with corresponding spectra red. Two effects are clear from
brine-leg spectra to oil-leg spectra: amplitude brightening 共higher
peak amplitude兲 and peak frequency shift to lower values.
a) b) c)
共5兲

Spectral domain: S共␻ 兲 ⳱ RC共␻ 兲 ⫻ Wavelet共␻ 兲. 共6兲

In this study, a 30-Hz Ricker wavelet was used. The wavelet spec-
trum peaks at 30 Hz 共Figure 7b兲. Reflectivity spectra for thin hydro-
carbon sand increase monotonically with increasing frequencies
共Figure 7a兲. Multiplication of monotonic increasing-reflectivity
spectra with the Ricker-wavelet spectrum leads to a higher peak fre-
quency of the final spectrum than the peak frequency of the Ricker
wavelet 共Figure 7c兲. For thin brine sand, the situation is different.
Reflection coefficients from the top and base of the sand have the
same sign and form an even pair. The reflectivity spectrum is a broad
cosine curve and decreases monotonically with increasing frequen-
cies over the frequency range used in the modeling 共1–80 Hz兲. Mul-
tiplying the reflectivity spectrum with the Ricker-wavelet spectrum
d) e) f)
shifts the peak frequency of the final spectrum to a lower value than
the peak frequency of the wavelet spectrum 共Figure 7c兲. Figure 7d-f
shows the convolution model for thick-sand reservoirs. Examples
here serve as illustrative cases on the controlling effect of the reflec-
tivity series on spectra.
The deepwater West Africa reservoir analyzed in this paper be-
longs to the thick-sand regime reservoir 共see Figure 4, total sand
thickness plot兲. The effect of attenuation was investigated with
wave-equation modeling and was found to be relatively small 共less
than 1 Hz兲 for single-cycle oil-filled reservoirs.

The West Africa reservoir

Figure 8a-d is an average absolute amplitude 共AAB兲 map over the
reservoir interval from the full-band far-angle seismic stack 共Figure
8a兲, low-frequency 共13-Hz兲 spectral decomposition 共Figure 8b兲,
dominant frequency 共25-Hz兲 spectral decomposition 共Figure 8c兲,
Figure 7. Modification of the Ricker spectrum 共middle column兲 by
and high-frequency 共37-Hz兲 spectral decomposition 共Figure 8d兲. reflectivity spectra 共left column兲 for 共a-c兲 thin-sand models and 共d-f兲
The thin white polygon outlines the oil-water contact, confirmed by thick-sand models 共red curves are gas sand; green curves are oil
well data. Low-frequency 共13-Hz兲 spectral decomposition provides sand; blue curves are brine sand兲.
 C28 Chen et al.

To understand the spectral response of seismic images in the oil a)

and brine legs, we performed synthetic seismic forward modeling on
logs at the control well 共Figure 9a兲 from the oil scenario 共in situ兲 and
brine scenario 共through Gassmann fluid substitution兲. Figure 9b
shows far-angle synthetic seismic traces. The left trace is for the oil
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scenario, and the right trace is for the brine scenario. Three horizon-
tal lines indicate the top of the reservoir 共black兲, the base of the oil
reservoir 共green兲, and the base of the reservoir for the brine-fill sce-
nario 共blue兲. There is a noticeable upward time shift in the reservoir
base when oil is replaced by brine because of faster velocities in the
brine-filled reservoir. Accordingly, the frequency content of the
brine scenario is higher, as shown in Figure 9c. Plotted in Figure 9c
are Fourier spectra for two synthetic traces in Figure 9b and the
Ricker-wavelet spectrum 共black curve兲. Notice the similarity be-
tween spectra for oil and brine scenarios in Figure 9c and Figure 8f:

a) b) b)

c) d)

c)

e) f)

Figure 9. 共a兲 Gamma-ray, P-wave, S-wave, and density logs at the

Figure 8. Interval average absolute amplitude 共AAB兲 of 共a兲 the input
共to spectral decomposition兲 full-band far-angle seismic stack, 共b兲 13
-Hz spectral decomposition, 共c兲 25-Hz spectral decomposition, and
共d兲 37-Hz spectral decomposition. For scale, the width of the field
共high-amplitude region兲 is about 2 km. 共e兲 27-Hz 共approximate
dominant frequency of the seismic data兲 AAB map averaged over
the top and base of the reservoir interval. Five rectangular areas were
outlined over which spectra in 共f兲 were calculated.
control well. For the P-wave, S-wave, and density logs over the res-
ervoir interval 共⬃20–60-m relative depth兲, green curves show the oil
scenario 共in situ兲, and blue curves show the brine scenario 共obtained
by Gassmann fluid substitution兲. 共b兲 Far-angle synthetic seismic
traces generated from the velocity and density logs in 共a兲. The left
trace is for the oil scenario 共in situ logs兲, and the right trace is for the
brine scenario 共fluid-substituted logs兲. 共c兲 Interval averaged Fourier
spectra of the synthetic seismic traces in 共b兲. The green curve is for
the oil-scenario trace and the blue curve is for the brine-scenario
trace. The black curve is the Ricker-wavelet spectrum.
 Spec decomp response to reservoir fluids
Peak amplitude reduction and peak frequency shift toward higher
frequency. Thus, the spectral-response modeling at the control well
共Figure 9c兲 explains the main features of the spectral-decomposition
response of the field seismics 共Figure 8f兲.
A more elaborate modeling approach was done by stochastically
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varying the reservoir properties at the control well, based on infor-
mation obtained from other wells drilled into this reservoir and seis-
mic isochrons 共for thickness variation兲. Two spectral attributes were
extracted from the spectral decomposition of synthetic seismic trac-
es and field seismic data for comparison. These are peak amplitudes
and peak frequencies computed from averaged interval spectra over
the reservoir interval. Results are plotted in Figure 10. Figure 10a
and b shows results from field seismic data. Figure 10c and d shows
results from modeling. The left column is for the brine scenario, and
the right column is for the oil scenario. One polygon was drawn on
the oil-scenario field seismic data, and another was drawn on the
brine scenario to highlight the distribution of peak amplitudes and
peak frequencies. The same polygons were overlaid on the peak-am-
plitude/peak-frequency crossplots from synthetic-modeling results.
Comparison of Figure 10c and 10b-d shows that spectral-decom-
position attributes 共peak amplitude and peak frequency兲 from syn-
thetic modeling reproduce the overall patterns observed from the
far-angle stack seismic data. The average peak frequency for all syn-
thetic models shifts to lower values when oil substitutes for brine
共about 3 Hz兲. Consequently, the oil leg brightens in contrast to the
brine leg in the low-frequency spectral-decomposition section.
a) b)
c) d)
e) f)
Figure 10. Crossplots of peak amplitude and peak frequency from
spectral decomposition of the 共a, b兲 field seismics and 共c, d兲 synthet-
ics. The left column is for the brine scenario and the right column is
for the oil scenario. 共e兲 Analytical Fourier spectra of the oil scenario
共green兲 and brine scenario 共blue兲 at the control well. 共f兲 Spectral ratio
of oil/brine.
C29
There are some differences in details partially resulting from an im-
perfect match of reservoir properties between the simulation and
field seismic data sets.
The above modeling studies suggest that an analytical convolu-
tion approach in the Fourier domain potentially could serve as a
quick evaluation tool for examining the spectral-decomposition re-
sponse to reservoir fluid. The Fourier amplitude spectrum for a re-
flectivity series RCi共ti兲 can be represented by
冑兺
N N
A共␻ 兲 ⳱
i⳱1
RC2i Ⳮ 兺
i⳱1,j⳱1,i⫽j
RCiRC j cos共␻ ⌬tij兲
⫻ WRicker共␻ 兲, 共7兲
where RCi is the reflection coefficient at time ti, ⌬tij ⳱ t j–ti is the
time difference, ␻ ⳱ 2␲ f is the frequency, and WRicker is the Ricker
spectrum. Figure 10e and f shows spectra and the spectral ratio com-
puted from this analytical expression for the reflectivity series at the
control well 共Figure 2兲 for the oil and brine scenarios. With oil sub-
stituted to brine, the peak amplitude decreases as peak frequency in-
creases. The spectral ratio shows that the amplitude contrast be-
tween the oil and brine scenarios is largest 共⬎5兲 at about 13.5 Hz
and is near one at about 35 Hz. This result explains the oil/brine con-
trast of spectral-decomposition sections at 15 and 35 Hz, illustrated
in Figure 1b.
CONCLUSIONS
Synthetic seismic forward modeling explains the low-frequency
hydrocarbon anomaly observed from the spectral decomposition of
the far-angle stack seismic data from a deepwater West Africa reser-
voir. We identified four main controlling factors on the spectral-de-
composition response of a reservoir: thickness, stratigraphy 共i.e., re-
flectivity series兲, fluid type, and effective attenuation. For the reser-
voir in this example, peak frequencies are lower for the oil scenario
compared with the brine scenario, leading to a larger amplitude con-
trast between the oil leg and brine leg at low frequencies. This spec-
tral-decomposition response is consistent with results of stochastic
simulations and analytical Fourier-domain representation. Our
workflow could be used to highlight and analyze the optimal fre-
quency band at which the fluid effect shows the largest spectral-de-
composition response.
Because variations in reservoir properties 共sand-shale thickness,
porosity, net-to-gross, etc.兲 collectively affect the spectral response,
resulting in ambiguities/overlaps in spectral attributes between oil
and brine scenarios, detailed modeling is needed for each reservoir
to interpret spectrally decomposed seismic data correctly.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We are thankful for ExxonMobil management’s support for the
research and approval for the publication and data release. Discus-
sions with many ExxonMobil geoscientists greatly benefited this
work, including Jie Zhang, Ramesh Neelamani, Dominique Gillard,
Michael Payne, and Wenjie Dong. Bob Keys provided critical re-
views to the write-up that predated this paper. We are grateful to
Ellen Clark for arranging reviews of this paper. Dengliang Gao’s and
Brian P. Wallick’s detailed reviews and comments greatly improved
the manuscript. We thank a third anonymous reviewer for comments
and John Castagna for many beneficial discussions on this topic.
 C30 Chen et al.
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