Fault Length, Connectivity and Reservoir Compartmentalisation – Testing Workflows With Seismic Forward Modelling

Abstract

Reservoir compartmentalisation is a critical factor in determining suitable development strategies and thus economic viability of prospects. The degree of compartmentalisation is controlled by the geometry, continuity, linkage and transmissibility of individual faults. Research to date has focussed on the transmissibility and juxtaposition analysis of faults, however our understanding of uncertainty and flow sensitivity to interpreted fault geometry and continuity in seismic data has been less robustly investigated. We use seismic forward modelling to determine effective methods of defining fault tip locations. Using a comparison of individual and combinations of geometric and complex trace seismic attributes, we analyse fault-tip prediction for a range of fault displacement profiles. Our results suggest that rather than defining a single attribute interpretation of fault-tip location, combination of multiple interpretations from selected individual and combined methods provides an envelope and probability distribution, within which an interpreter may expect the fault-tip. This approach to constraining fault-tip location supports a progression towards robust inclusion of multiple geometric scenarios in reservoir simulation.

AAPG Datapages/Search and Discovery Article #90291 ©2017 AAPG Annual Convention and Exhibition, Houston, Texas, April 2-5, 2017