Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences,: WWW - Bahria.edu - PK By: M. Hammad Manzoor

Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences,
Bahria University, Karachi Campus
3D SEISMIC INTERPRETATION (GEO(GEO-518)

M. S (Geophysics)
By Instructor
M. Hammad Manzoor
March 07, 2015 (Saturday)
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Lecture # 4
By: M. Hammad Manzoor

explorationist@gmail.com

Hydrocarbon Exploration Overview

By Utilizing
Geophysical Methods
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Key elements
Geophysical Methods
Key to find Hydrocarbons
Subsurface Mapping Techniques
The Constraints of Economics
Conclusions
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Constraints of Economics
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Just as there is no point in finding oil on someone else's

land, so there is no point in finding oil which cannot be produced
economically. And, of course, there is little point in drilling dry holes.
Let us, then, set up a strategy for viable exploration.
First, obviously, we never spend all of our money on a single

wildcat prospect. The statistical odds against success are far too
high; we would be inviting gambler's ruin. We adopt a program of
prospects. If the odds are 10 to 1 against, we feel uncomfortable with
a program of fewer than ten prospects; we prefer to have 10% of each
of ten such prospects than 100% of one. We feel distinctly more
comfortable with a program of 30, or 40, or 50 prospects. Perhaps we
can generate internally all the prospects we need; if not, we buy
prospects from independent prospect-generators, or we cooperate
with other companies (in partnerships, or joint ventures, or groups).
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Second, we try to maintain access to a large number of

prospects, so that we can choose the best. It is poor strategy to allow
circumstances to force prospects upon us. This is why we seek to
minimize the work commitment which host governments are trying to
impose.
Third, in order to choose between prospects we must

establish a method of ranking them a figure-of-merit for prospects.
Knowing the complexity of Mother Earth, and the unpredictability of
price and other factors affecting exploration economics, we can
guess that this is not an easy task. Indeed we can make it as
complicated as time allows. For present purposes, however, we are
content just to establish the principle, that of balancing risk and
reward.
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Reward is the ratio of the net present value of the reserves

believed discoverable to the net present cost of finding out whether
those reserves are there; tax considerations, if relevant, must be
taken into account in computing the net sums.
Then a first crude figure-of-merit for prospects is obtained by

dividing the reward by the risk. For example, we estimate the net
present value of the reserves in a prospect at $500 million. To find
out if the reserves are there will cost us $20 million net (for land, and
geophysics, and an exploratory well). The reward ratio is 25; if there
were no risk this would be a good business. However, our experience
tells us that the odds against finding those reserves in such a
prospect are 10:1. Thus the prospect's figure-of-merit is 2.5; if we drill
a large number of such prospects, we shall return 2.5 times on our
risk money.
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Next, in setting up a strategy of exploration, we should

choose the level of risk with which we are comfortable. In the present
mature state of the oil industry (and certainly in a mature area), we
cannot hope to find many prospects offering large reward at small
risk. In general we shall find prospects offering small reward at small
risk, or large reward at large risk.
Some companies choose to operate at the low end of the

range, others at the high end; most seek a balanced spectrum of risk.
The more confidence we have in our own skill as explorers, the more
high-risk-high-reward prospects we will take (provided, of course,
that we can take enough of them to protect ourselves against
gambler's ruin). What we must not do is take prospects with large
risk and small reward.
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With our risk strategy in place, then, and our reward/risk ratio
as the figure-of-merit, we proceed to select our prospects. To do this,
we need to estimate the reserves discoverable, the net present value
of those reserves, the cost of finding out, and the risk of failure. The
first and last of these are major parts of our exploration task.
The estimation of reserves is based on the volume of the

reservoir rock, the proportion of that volume filled with petroleum,
the pressure, the temperature, and the type of reservoir drive.
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Conclusions
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Conclusions
In their essentials the methods of geophysics are simple, but

the details can be quite complex; only by attending to the details well
can we (a) minimize the risk, and (b) assess the remaining risk, for
purposes of ranking prospects.
In the absence of a direct method for locating petroleum, the

exploration task is to find prospective combinations of source,
reservoir, path, trap and seal, and to establish their geological
history. However, all this must be done with due regard for
considerations of land and considerations of economics.
Further, sufficient prospects must be identified to allow a

choice. The choice is made by balancing potential reward and risk.
An important part of the exploration task is the estimate of potential
reward and the minimization and assessment of the risk.
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Conclusions
And all this we must do deep, deep, deep in the earth. Deep
in the earth when we know so little of what is right below our feet that
we stand and watch with fascination the man digging a hole in the
road.
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INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
Interpretation
2D
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3D

2D/3D Basic Interpretation Flow
2D Interpretation
Picking
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Timing
Posting
Contouring


TECHNICAL DIFFERENCE
BETWEEN
2D AND 3D SEISMIC INTERPRETATION
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DIFFERENCE BETWEEN 2D AND 3D SEISMIC
2D data collection occurs along a line of receivers; therefore the resultant

image represents only a section below the line.
A three-dimensional seismic survey utilizes multiple points of observation.

This is accomplished by developing a grid of geophones and seismic source
impact points along the surface of the area being studied.
The result is a volume or cube of seismic data that was sampled from a
range of different angles and distance. The overall level of distribution from
a 3D seismic survey is greater than that of a 2D survey, since the seismic
source lines are laid out closer to each other.
In a typical 2D survey, seismic lines can be many kilometers apart, whereas

in a 3D survey, they are generally a few hundred meters apart.
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One of the most obvious differences between 2D and 3D seismic is that 3D

imaging provides information continuously through the subsurface within
the bounds of the survey whereas 2D seismic reveals only strips of
information only below the line.
Consider the images below and our ability to see both gross outlines and
fine features when just a few lines are revealed versus a rough image of all
points in the picture.
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If our objective is to see only the gross structural elements then the coarse
3D subsurface image is sufficient and we need not spend the extra money
to obtain finer image quality.
However, if the details of the structure are important for example a fault
cuts across the structure then we need better image quality and must pay
the price of better coverage.
If delicate stratigraphic plays are to be studied, we may need to see

individual spaces. For that purpose optimal resolution is required and thus
the cost also increases.
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Furthermore, the final stacked data in 2D is affected by source related noise,

multiples, and incorrectly migrated events from out of the plane of seismic
section.
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To some extent, 3D methods improve each of these concerns. 3D imaging

provides more traces and diverse statistics to the seismic process. Three
different recorded traces using three different source points and three
different receiver points. All traces image the same mid point (where deep
reflections are assumed to occur). Each trace represents a different sourcereceiver offset.
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3-D SEISMIC INTERPRETATION

(3-D Survey & Success Stories)
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3D SURVEY STORIES
We generally say that the

3D reduces finding costs, reduces risks & Improves success rates
Shell (North America Story)

Its exploration success outside North America Increased from 33%
33% in 1990 to 45%
45%
in 1993 based on large 3D Survey
Survey..
Exon (Gulf of Mexico)

Exon considers 3D seismic to be the single most important technology to ensure
the effective and cost
cost--efficient exploration and development of our oil and gas
fields they reported that their success in the Gulf of Mexico in the period of 1987
1987-92 was 43%
43% based on 2D data and 70%
70% based on the 3D Data
Data..
Mobil (South Texas Lower Wilcox)

Mobile Reports that in Wilcox trend their success based on 2D was 70 %but this
rose to 84%
84% based on 3D.
Petrobras (Campos Basin

Basin--Brazil)
Petrobras reports that in the Campos Basin Offshore Brazil Their Success rate has
increased from 30%
30% based ton 2D to over 60 % based on 3D
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Amoco Exploitation Success Rate
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Amoco Exploration Success Rate
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Amoco Exploration Wells Business Performance
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Amoco Exploration Wells Cost of finding
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Amoco Production Graph
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INTRODUCTION
3D Interpretation
History
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Basic Ideas


Walton Concept 1972
1980 - 2001
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Tegland - 1977
Saying of Sheriff & Geldart


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Saying of Sealand & Simpson
Saying of Horvath
Saying of R.M. Wright
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Why 3D required
Subsurface is three dimension
3-D method helps us to better define the
reservoir geometry and has three main
advantages over 2D method
Focusing
Positioning
Resolution
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Basic Idea and Benefits of 3D

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KEY TO 3-D SEISMIC INTERPRETATION

(Important Terminologies)
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IMPORTANT TERMINOLOGIES
3D DISPLAYS
Unlike two-dimensional data, which are viewed only along shot lines,
displays in a 3-D data volume may be extracted along any plane. These
planes are often vertical, although they need not be.
The volume may also be sliced horizontally, and several vertical and
horizontal slices may be displayed simultaneously on the workstation
screen. Vertical sections are created by selecting adjacent seismic traces
from the data volume along a line in any orientation.
The extracted seismic traces are then displayed side-by-side to form a

vertical seismic section display that looks like a traditional 2-D seismic line.
These displays are used for convenience of display and picking, not because
there are no other ways to view the seismic data.
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3D DISPLAYS
No single display orientation extracted from a 3-D data volume has more
validity or is preferred over any other orientation. All are comprised of
traces from the same processed volume and, therefore, all of the sections
tie all other sections extracted from the 3-D data volume.
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INLINE
By convention, inline sections are vertical profiles along the general
direction of data acquisition. They are sometimes thought of as the
traditional orientation of seismic sections for the survey, and lines are
usually numbered from 1 to n.
CROSSLINE
Crosslines are another way to sample and extract data from the 3-D volume,
resulting in a vertical section display that is perpendicular to the direction
defined by the inlines. A crossline may be acquired in the field or created
from the 3-D data volume by taking traces from each of the inline sections
and displaying them together to create a seismic section.
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For example, if trace number 100 were taken from each inline, together they
would form crossline 100. There may be as many different crosslines in a
survey as there are traces in each line. Crosslines are named and numbered
for convenience only
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ARBITRARY LINE
Another display unique to 3-D is a line extracted from the data volume
which does not follow the orthogonal directions of inline and crossline, but
cuts across the 3-D data volume in some arbitrary direction. Traces are
extracted or interpolated from the 3-D data volume to make up the traces
of this "arbitrary line" which may, for example, be composed of line
segments joining several wells. Although made up of several line segments,
arbitrary lines are usually displayed to look like an ordinary vertical seismic
section.
The traces from all of these vertical seismic sections can be presented as
wiggle variable area, wiggle, variable density, color or combinations of
these displays. On the workstation, generating these displays is easy and
quick.
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TIME SLICE DISPLAY
The data volume may also be cut horizontally, extracting data samples at
every trace location at the same time value. An example of the resulting
display.
A time slice may be extracted at any time in the data volume for which
there is a time sample value. Typically, data volumes are sampled at 4millisecond intervals. Time slices are usually displayed in color variable
density and time values are interpolated between individual trace locations
to make the display appear continuous.
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TIME SLICE DISPLAY
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Thanks
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Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences,: WWW - Bahria.edu - PK By: M. Hammad Manzoor

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Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences,: WWW - Bahria.edu - PK By: M. Hammad Manzoor

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Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences,

Bahria University, Karachi Campus

3D SEISMIC INTERPRETATION (GEO(GEO-518)

By: M. Hammad Manzoor