ABSTRACT: Italy--Adriatic Sea--Barbara--A Giant Gas Field Marked by Seismic Velocity Anomaly--A Subtle Trap

A. Ianniello, W. Bolelli, L. Di Scala

Barbara gas field, discovered in 1971, is located in the northern sector of the Adriatic offshore. The field is a gentle anticline involving Quaternary clastic sediments and shaped by carbonate Mesozoic morphology.

The presence of shallow gas pockets at the crest of the structure distort the seismic signal to such an extent that structural reconstruction using seismic data is not possible. Moreover, time delays and ray-path anomalies do not allow the use of staking velocities for the depth conversion.

Seismic attribute analysis, instead of velocities, and time delays on the isochrone maps are providing a key to the understanding of seismic anomalies and are an indirect tool for reconstructing the real structural configuration of the field.

The appraisal story of the field illustrates how the previously mentioned complications influenced its delineation and how an understanding of these complications helped in upgrading the reserves from an initial value of 10 billion ECM of gas to 40 billion ECM. Additional data acquired with the development wells tend to increase the estimate.

Therefore, Barbara field is the most important Italian gas field of the decade. The producing formation is composed of very thin-bedded sandstone and shale intercalations, representing the peculiarity of this reservoir.

Development of the field is being achieved with six production platforms and 72 wells.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #91000©1990 AAPG Conference-Giant Oil and Gas Fields of the Decade 1978-1988 Conference, Stavanger, Norway, September 9-12, 1990