Application of Magnetotelluric Method for Oil Exploration in Minami-Noshiro Area, Japan

By

 Ahmed Bakr Khalil¹, Enjang Jaenal Mustopa¹, Keisuke Ushijima¹

(1) Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan

 Geophysical exploration for hydrocarbon resources is a prime case study of an application of science and engineering. In oil and gas prospecting, the subsurface resistivity distribution can provide important information for imaging the reservoir because the resistivity of the common sedimentary rocks depends mainly on the porosity and salinity of the fluids in rocks. One- dimensional inversion of MT data is important to provide a good initial model for a higher dimensional inversion where the geological regions are small in the area. In this paper, results of one-dimensional inversion of magnetotelluric data are presented in Minami-Noshiro oil fields collected by Japan National Oil Corporation for hydrocarbon exploration in the over thrust area in Japan. Minami-Noshiro oil fields are located in the northern part of Akita prefecture and considered as one of the most promising oil field in Japan. The major geological structures in Minami-Noshiro area are characterized by geological structure of N-S trending anticlines, synclines and faults. The interpretation results of the one-dimensional inversion are correlated well with the geological structure in the area.