Lecture 13

Horizon A

Good Seal
W8 W9
Good Reservoir
W5
W1 W2
Horizon B W3
W4
W7
W6

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Outline

•Review causes of seismic response

•Modeling the seismic response
•What are seismic attributes?
•Overview of seismic attribute applications
- Qualitative analyses
 Exercise: Mapping depositional environments
- Quantitative analyses
 Exercise: Predicting average porosity

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Seismic Response

What causes a seismic response?

1. Changes in bulk-rock velocity or density
• Lithology (e.g., sandstone, shale, limestone, salt)

Limestone Shale
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Seismic Response

What causes a seismic response?

1. Changes in bulk-rock velocity or density
• Lithology (e.g., sandstone, shale, limestone, salt)
•Porosity (e.g., intrinsic, compaction, diagenesis)

Fast Slow

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Seismic Response

What causes a seismic response?

1. Changes in bulk-rock velocity or density
• Lithology (e.g., sandstone, shale, limestone, salt)
•Porosity (e.g., intrinsic, compaction, diagenesis)
•Mineralogy (e.g., calcite vs. dolomite,
carbonaceous shales)

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Seismic Response

What causes a seismic response?

1. Changes in bulk-rock velocity or density
• Lithology (e.g., sandstone, shale, limestone, salt)
•Porosity (e.g., intrinsic, compaction, diagenesis)
•Mineralogy (e.g., calcite vs. dolomite,
carbonaceous shales)
•Fluid type and saturation (water, oil, gas)

Sandstone with 30% Porosity:

Pore Fluid Density
Salt Water 2.164
Fresh Water 2.155
Oil 2.095
Gas 1.856
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Seismic Modeling

Modeling the seismic response:

•Determine bulk-rock velocity and density

•Calculate impedance (Recall: I = ρ x v)
•Represent impedance changes as reflection coefficient
I2 - I 1
RC=
I 2+ I 1

•Convolve seismic wavelet to reflection coefficients

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 The Convolution Method

Reflection
Lithology Velocity Density Impedance Wavelet Model
Coefficients

Shale

Sand
x =   
*
Shale

Sand

Shale

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Seismic Modeling
W E
Wedge Modeling
• A wedge model is
used to display the
interactions of
reflection
coefficients as the
thickness changes
• Note how the
‘middle peak’
changes amplitude,
shape, and duration
as the sand thins to
the east
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Definition

What are seismic attributes?

Seismic attributes are mathematical descriptions

of the shape or other characteristic of a seismic
trace over specific time intervals.

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Importance / Benefits

Why are seismic attributes important?

• Our increasing reliance on seismic data requires that we
extract the most information available from the seismic
response

• Seismic attributes enable interpreters to extract more

information from the seismic data

• Applications include hydrocarbon play evaluation,

prospect identification and risking, reservoir
characterization, and well planning and field
development

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Single-Trace Types

Classes of seismic attributes?

•Horizon (loop) Horizon A

•Peak amplitude
•Duration
•Symmetry
•Interval
•Average amplitude
•Maximum (Minimum) Duration
•Isochron
•Sample (volume, instantaneous)
•Amplitude Horizon B
•Time
•Frequency
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Multi-Trace Types

Classes of seismic attributes?

Trace A Trace B
•Multi-Trace
-Dip / azimuth
-Coherency

Correlation Window
Amplitude A

R2 = 0.92

Amplitude B
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Multi-Trace Types

Dip map

Faults

Stratigrahic
features

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Applications

Seismic attribute applications:

• Qualitative
-Data quality; seismic artifact identification
-Seismic facies; depositional environment

• Quantitative
- Equations relating rock property changes to
changes in seismic attributes
▪ Reservoir thickness
▪ Lithology
▪ Porosity
▪ Type of fluid fill
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Qualitative Analyses

Data Quality Analysis (Artifact detection):

• Identify zones where seismic data quality is adversely
affected by acquisition or processing methods or by
geologic interference.
- Acquisition gaps, Inline-parallel striping
- Multiples, migration errors, incorrect velocities
- Improper amplitude and phase balancing
- Frequency attenuation
- Overlying geology (e.g., shallow gas, channel)

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Data Quality

Data Quality Analysis (Artifact detection):

• Inline-parallel acquisition striping at water bottom (~ 40 ms)

Inline
Direction

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Data Quality

Data Quality Analysis (Artifact detection):

• Inline-parallel acquisition striping at 1000ms

Inline
Direction

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Qualitative Analyses

Seismic facies mapping:

• Facies are packages of rocks that exhibit similar
characteristics (e.g., lithofacies, petrophysical facies,
depositional facies)

• Seismic facies are packages of seismically-defined

bodies that exhibit similar seismic characteristics (e.g.,
reflection geometry, amplitude, continuity, frequency).

• Environment of Deposition (EoD) can be interpreted

from patterns of seismic facies (i.e., similar seismic
attributes)

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Qualitative Analyses

Orange

Datum

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Seismic Facies Mapping Exercise

Conceptual Depositional Model:

Stacked, prograding fluvial to nearshore to
offshore siliciclastic parasequences

Magenta

Orange

Fluvial Nearshore Offshore

shales - sands sands shales

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Seismic Facies Mapping Exercise

Conceptual Depositional Model:

Prograding sands increase in porosity upwards before
being capped by variable quality marine shale.

Marine Shale (seal)

Magenta
Porous Sand (reservoir)

Marine Shale (seal)

Orange
Fluvial (reservoir)
Porous Sand (reservoir)

Marine Shale (seal)

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Seismic Facies Mapping Exercise

Modern Analog:
Fluvial to nearshore progression resulting in wave
dominated, barrier island complex (Texas Gulf Coast)

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Seismic Facies Mapping Exercise

Modeled Seismic Response

Seismic modeling indicates the following response to
changes in reservoir and seal quality:
Good Seal Poor Seal Good Seal Poor Seal
Good Reservoir Good Reservoir Poor Reservoir Poor Reservoir

Strong Peak Moderate Peak Strong Peak Moderate Peak

Strong Trough Strong Trough Moderate Trough Moderate Trough

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Seismic Facies Mapping Exercise

Objective:
• Identify areas where good-quality seal rocks overlay
good-quality reservoir rocks

Available data / tools:

• Seismic attribute maps
• Orange time structure map
• Depositional model and seismic response
• Tracing paper and pencils

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Seismic Facies Mapping Exercise

Good Seal Poor Seal Good Seal Poor Seal

Good Reservoir Good Reservoir Poor Reservoir Poor Reservoir

Strong Peak Moderate Peak Strong Peak Moderate Peak

Strong Trough Strong Trough Moderate Trough Moderate Trough

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Applications

Seismic attribute applications:

• Qualitative
-Data quality; seismic artifact identification
-Seismic facies; depositional environment

• Quantitative
- Equations relating rock property changes to
changes in seismic attributes.
▪ Reservoir thickness
▪ Lithology
▪ Porosity

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Quantitative Analyses

Quantitative Seismic Attribute Analysis

• Requirements:
- Controlled Amplitude, Controlled Phase processing
- Data quality reconnaissance
- Good well-seismic ties
- Sufficient well control (additional seismic modeling
is usually necessary)

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Quantitative Analyses

Goal:
• Build a correlation between seismic attributes and
sand thickness to predict areas of high reservoir
producibility.

Tools:
• Seismic - well log (i.e., rock property) models

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Geologic Description

Backstepping, unconfined sheet-sands comprising two

multicycle reservoirs separated by a marine shale

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Attribute Response
Which seismic attributes differentiate average sand thickness?
Sand Shale Sand Shale Sand Shale

Well 2 Well 6 Well 9

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Calibration
Duration Amplitude

Measured Average Sand Thickness (ft)

Measured Average Sand Thickness (ft)

300 300

Maximum
250 250

200 200

150 150

100 100

50 50

0 0
30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 80 90 100 110 120 130 140 150 160 170 180

Maximum Loop Duration (ms) Maximum Amplitude

Measured Average Sand Thickness (ft)

Measured Average Sand Thickness (ft)

300 300

250 250

Average
200 200

150 150

100 100

50 50

0 0
30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 40 60 80 100 120 140 160

Average Loop Duration (ms) Average Positive Amplitude

Measured Average Sand Thickness (ft)

Measured Average Sand Thickness (ft)

300
300
Minimum

250
250

200
200

150
150

100
100

50
50

0
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
Minimum Loop Duration (ms)
Average Amplitude

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Seismic Attribute Calibration

Seismic Attribute Calibration

300
Measured Average Sand Thickness (ft)

250

Thickness = 3.3787 APA - 187.67

200 R2 = 0.869

150

100

50

0
40 60 80 100 120 140 160

Average Positive Amplitude

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Input Seismic Attribute

W8 W9
W5
W1
W2
W3

W4
W7
W6

Average Amplitude
Low High

55 70 95 110 125 140

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RESULT

W8 W9
W5
W1
W2
W3

W4
W7
W6

Average Sand Thickness

Thin Thick

60 80 100 120 140 160 feet

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Quantitative Analysis: A Brief Example
An Oil Field, Onshore Alabama

Porosity in the No Porosity in the

Upper Smackover Upper Smackover

Impedanc Impedanc
e e

Haynesville Smackover Norphlet

Haynesville Smackover Norphlet

Porous
Tight
Zone

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Change Porosity -> Change Seismic Response

Porosity No Porosity
in the Smackover Representative In-Line in the Smackover

2.82 2.82

2.84 2.84

2.92 2.92

The trough is The trough is

lower in amplitude Mapped
higher in amplitude
and loop duration Horizon
(white)
and loop duration
is longer is shorter

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1-D Seismic Modeling

Changing the porosity in the Upper Smackover

in 1-D models confirms there is a seismic
signature related to porosity

16 ft 10 ft 3 ft
Porous Porous Porous
Zone Zone Zone

Haynesville

Smackover

Norphlet

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Attribute Calibration & Evaluation

Porosity for the Smackover

– Predicted based on 4 attributes
– Calibration based on 8 wells

9
Predicted Average Smackover Porosity

7 st Fi t
Be
6

5
C .I.
95%
4

0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Actual Average Smackover Porosity

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A Predicted Porosity Map

Applying the derived attribute “equation” to the 3D

seismic survey resulted in a Smackover porosity map

Possible New
Well Location

18%
porosity

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Potential Pitfalls / Solutions

Inadequate well control:

• Wells don’t represent all variability within reservoir
• Use seismic modeling to infill gaps

Redundant attributes
• Different attributes highly correlated to one
another
• Remove redundant attributes; keep one that
correlates best with rock property

Linear correlation
• Nonlinear correlation may be better representation
• Test other nonlinear correlation schemes but be
aware of extrapolation problems
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Summary

• Seismic attributes describe shape or other characteristics of

a seismic trace over specific intervals or at specific times

• Seismic attributes are important because they enable

interpreters to extract more information from seismic data

• Seismic attributes can be derived from a single-trace or by

comparison of multiple traces

• Three common types of single-trace attributes are horizon-,

interval-, and sample-based

• Seismic attributes are used for qualitative analysis (e.g.,

data quality, seismic facies mapping) and quantitative
analysis (e.g., net sand, porosity prediction)

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