Rock Solid Images

Wise Consortium

Well Integration with Seismic and Electromagnetics

Improving reservoir characterisation through the integration of geophysical data

WISE is a three year project focused on the Well-based Integration of Seismic and Electromagnetic data. The primary areas of research are:

• Joint interpretation
• Rock physics
• Risk reduction

The WISE consortium was formed to develop novel methods for the integrated interpretation of seismic, controlled source electromagnetic and well log data within a rock physics framework, to provide quantitative measurements of sub-surface rock and fluid properties, leading to improved reservoir characterisation.

Making use of seismic, electromagnetic and well log data allows the strengths of each to be exploited, increasing the certainty with which sub-surface properties can be derived and ensuring that the maximum value is extracted from existing data and new acquisitions alike.

Sponsors

The consortium has six founding sponsors: Chevron, Det Norske, DONG Energy, Maersk Oil & Gas, Total and the UK government’s Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC). The consortium is open to additional sponsors.

Project workflow

Benefits

Consortium sponsors will receive:

• Research reports describing consortium developments and conclusions.
• One license of the new iMOSS-EM™ modelling platform for joint seismic/EM modelling for internal use.
• Two man-days of on-site training and consulting with each sponsor to demonstrate software, best practices and workflows developed during the project.
• Sponsors will be encouraged to submit suitable datasets for analysis using the methods developed in the course of the project. The results of such analysis will also constitute a deliverable.
• Sponsors will receive a discount on list price for methods and workflows developed under the project for a period of two years from presentation of the completed product.

Timing & Further information

• The Wise Consortium will run to June 2011.
• For further information contact us
• Download this page as a pdf
• Download a case study based on this data

First Year Highlights and Accomplishments

Rock physics applications

Rock physics lies at the heart of any integrated interpretation approach and provides the link between surface seismic and CSEM measurements and the underlying rock and fluid properties affecting them.

Lab measurements performed at the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton are yielding new insights into the relationship between the electric and elastic properties of sandstone, the effect of clay minerals and the controls on electrical anisotropy.

These results will be used to develop new rock physics models that will describe both electric and elastic properties within an internally consistent framework.

iMOSS-EM™

Within iMOSS-EM seismic and CSEM responses can be calculated from electric and elastic models built from well log data using rock physics models. The new release includes 1D seismic and CSEM modelling for both isotropic and anisotropic structures and a new upscaling approach for resistivity data. New rock physics models will be added as they are developed throughout the project.

Fluid substitution in iMOSS-EM demonstrates that seismic AVO analysis by itself will not distinguish commercial from fizz gas. CSEM can resolve this ambiguity. By performing sensitivity studies of this sort, acquisition and interpretation strategies can be designed to characterise the reservoir or prospect of interest, making full use of the available data.

Dante™

In many situations it is desirable to quickly test a range of potential scenarios so that the full rock physics modelling and sensitivity analysis can be targeted at the most promising areas.

Dante is simple multi-platform 1D CSEM/AVO modelling tool that allows simple and rapid scenario testing.

Integrated interpretation and joint inversion

Integrated interpretation of geophysical data allows quantitative rock and fluid properties to be derived. This process is illustrated with an example from the Luva gas field.

• Identify the structure using seismic
  • Seismic data image a possible trap structure. Does it contain commercial gas?
• De-risk using CSEM
  • Structurally constrained interpretation of CSEM data shows that there is high resistivity (red colours) associated with the structure indicating a good probability of commercial gas.
• Appraise the field using integrated seismic and CSEM
  • Rock physics driven integration of seismic and CSEM predicts high gas volumes within a number of the sands in the reservoir.