Estimation of pore-pressure change in a compacting reservoir from time-lapse seismic data

ABSTRACT An approach is developed to estimate pore‐pressure changes in a compacting chalk reservoir directly from time‐lapse seismic attributes. It is applied to data from the south‐east flank of the Valhall field. The time‐lapse seismic signal of the reservoir in this area is complex, despite the f...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Geophysical Prospecting 2013-09, Vol.61 (5), p.1022-1034
Main Authors: Corzo, Margarita, MacBeth, Colin, Barkved, Olav
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Compacting
Computer simulation
Depletion
Estimates
Geophysics
Links
Pore pressure
Porosity
Reservoirs
Studies
Time-shift
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:ABSTRACT An approach is developed to estimate pore‐pressure changes in a compacting chalk reservoir directly from time‐lapse seismic attributes. It is applied to data from the south‐east flank of the Valhall field. The time‐lapse seismic signal of the reservoir in this area is complex, despite the fact that saturation changes do not have an influence. This complexity reflects a combination of pressure depletion, compaction and stress re‐distribution throughout the reservoir and into the surrounding rocks. A simple relation is found to link the time‐lapse amplitude and time‐shift attributes to variations in the key controlling parameter of initial porosity. This relation is sufficient for an accurate estimation of pore‐pressure change in the inter‐well space. Although the time‐lapse seismic estimates mostly agree with reservoir simulation, unexplained mismatches are apparent at a small number of locations with lower porosities (less than 38%). The areas of difference between the observations and predictions suggest possibilities for simulation model updating or a better understanding of the physics of the reservoir.
ISSN:0016-8025
1365-2478
DOI:10.1111/1365-2478.12037