CRR200901 PDF
CRR200901 PDF
CRR200901 PDF
WASP Large-scale
Study Area
(LSSA)
(?!)
WASP High-grade
Focus Area
(HGFA)
Table 1 gives an outline of the volume and approximate areal coverage of the analyzed
seismic data as well as the number of wells with appropriate log curves and formation
tops that were available for integration into the seismic data analysis. No new seismic
data were acquired as part of Phase I of the project. The spatial distribution of the
available seismic data is illustrated in Figure 3, and shows that the data coverage is not
distributed uniformly. Thus characterization was constrained to those areas with good
coverage. The 2D seismic data were used primarily for identifying long-wavelength
structures, whereas the high-quality 3D data were used for detailed mapping, inversion
and generation of seismic attributes.
GR (API) DT (us/m)
Banff/Exshaw ~ 1505 m
Wabamun ~ 1555 m
Calmar ~ 1725 m
Nisku ~ 1729 m
Ireton ~ 1828 m
LEGEND
Sandstone
Carbonate
Shale
Evaporites
Crystalline
Aquifer
Aquitard
Aquitard/Aquiclude
(Bachu and Bennion, 2009)
Figure 2: Stratigraphic model of Paleozoic strata in the study area using well 10-05-052-2W5
(Bachu and Bennion, 2009).
Seismic
data
Borehole
data*
2D
3D
Within HGFA
Nearby HGFA
Nisku Shelf
LEGENDS
WASP Largescale Study
Area
Reference 3D
volume
3D Seismic
2D Seismic
Wells with Sonic
& Ireton Top
Water Source Well
Water Injection
Dry & Abandoned
Producing Gas
Suspended Gas
Water Source
Abandoned Oil
Pigeon Lake
0.0
20.0
40.0 km
Figure 3: Base map showing the distribution of the seismic and borehole data. Cyan shapes
indicate bodies of water.
Model-based inversion uses a different approach. First, the well control and the
seismic data (horizons) are used to build an initial low-frequency estimated model of the
acoustic impedance distribution. Using an estimate of the source wavelet, the model is
then perturbed and the model response, in the form of synthetic seismogram, is measured.
The model responses are then compared to the actual seismic traces, usually by means of
crosscorrelation. The process is iterated until the model converges, i.e. the model
response becomes within a predefined acceptable range from the actual observation. The
misfit error between the two is quantified through various means; one of the most
commonly used measures is the sum of the squared differences (Lines and Treitel, 1984).
There are many elements that could degrade the reliability of the inversion results,
some of which could not be controlled, such as noise, whereas others could not be
precisely calculated, such as the source wavelet. However, each method has its own
advantages and disadvantages in regard to those limitations and it is suggested that by
using both methods some of the ambiguities associated with the inversion results could
be minimized. More information about those and other inversion methods can be found in
Waters (1978), Aki and Richards (1980), Lines and Treitel (1984), Russell (1988), and
the STRATA software theory manual. Figure 4 depicts some of the major steps adopted
in the acoustic impedance inversion framework.
Wavelet extraction I
statistical
Edit logs
median filteretc
Inversion analysis:
inversion method(s) + parameters optimization
1
Seismic-to-well tie 4
appropriate CDPs
2
Wavelet extraction II
using well
Porosity/Lithology
indications
Figure 4: Flowchart outlining the major steps followed in the seismic inversion to extract the
acoustic impedance map of the Nisku event.
RESULTS
Field Data
A critical factor to achieving good inversion results is the seismic-to-well tie. The
correlation coefficients associated with the wells used in the inversion are shown in
Figure 5. Figure 6 shows example of the seismic-to-well tie near the water source well
(1F1-11-29-45-2W5), at which a very good correlation is obtained (0.92). Prior to
showing the Nisku acoustic impedance map, two examples were selected to illustrate the
performance of each of the inversion methods. The first example is from the 2D seismic
line near the water source well (Figure 7) while the other is from an inline extracted from
the reference 3D volume (Figure 10). Figure 8 and Figure 11 show the initial guess
model for the 2D and the extracted inline seismic sections while the inversion results
using bandlimited and model-based inversion for those two sections are illustrated in
Figure 9 and Figure 13, respectively.
The bandlimited inversion appears to produce a more detailed acoustic impedance
model than the model-based inversion. For instance, the Wabamun and the Nisku
formations are clearly separated by low impedance in the bandlimited inversion whereas
they are hardly separated in the model-based inversion results (Figure 9 and Figure 13).
However, for the acoustic impedance of the Nisku Formation, both methods yield similar
results (Figure 13 and Figure 14), the only apparent difference being in the magnitude of
the impedance. This is probably due to scaling differences. Furthermore, because there is
a lack of well control, it is crucial that the impedance maps are interpreted only in terms
of relative rather than absolute changes in acoustic impedance.
Several interesting low impedance zones are highlighted in Figure 13 and Figure 14.
The impedance determination from the 2D seismic line near the water source well is also
shown for comparison. By examining those maps, there seems to be two categories of
low impedance: one that is associated with lithological/porosity changes in the Nisku
Formation and another which is associated with discontinuities in the overlying
Wabamun event. Even though the results are not shown here, discriminating against the
two groups of anomalies was achieved using coherency-sensitive methods. However,
differentiation between acoustic impedance changes caused by enhanced porosity and
those associated with a possible increase in shale content remains tenuous. With respect
to the lithological/porosity changes, low acoustic impedance (Figure 13 and Figure 14)
appears to normally correspond to low NRMS (Figure 15) while the time structure of the
Nisku (Figure 16) is rather smooth and does not exhibit any significant variations within
the WASP focus area expect for following the regional dip in the northeast-southwest
direction.
Inline
LEGENDS
100-10-21-50-2W5
100-05-20-50-2W5
100-16-16-50-2W5
Reference 3D
volume
100-08-20-48-27W5
3D Seismic
2D Seismic
Wells with Sonic
& Ireton Top
100-02-21-48-1W5
2D seismic
Suspended Gas
Water Source
Abandoned Oil
1F1-11-29-45-2W5
Well
1F1-11-29-45-2W5
100-10-21-50-2W5
100-16-16-50-2W5
100-05-20-50-2W5
100-02-21-48-1W5
100-08-20-48-27W4
0.0
Seismic Reference
2D
3D
3D
3D
3D
3D
20.0
40.0 km
Correlation Coefficient
0.92
0.80
0.83
0.72
0.63
0.80
Figure 5: Correlation coefficient, over designed correlation window, between seismic data and
synthetic seismogram from selected wells within the study area. The wells location are shown in
the base map. The blue lines show the location of the 2D seismic (Figure 7) and the inline (Figure
10) invoked in the inversion.
LEGENDS
WASP Largescale Study
Area
Reference 3D
volume
3D Seismic
2D Seismic
Wells with Sonic
& Ireton Top
Water Source Well
Water Injection
Dry & Abandoned
Producing Gas
Suspended Gas
Water Source
Abandoned Oil
2D seismic line
0.0
20.0
40.0 km
P-wave
Deep
Gamma
Caliper
Synthetic
Density
SP
Velocity
Induction
Ray
(cm)
Seismogram
(kg/m3)
(mV)
(m/s)
(ohm-m)
(API)
0
40 -400
239
50 1500
3000 1000 6000
0 0.1
1x104 0
Seismic
(CDP)
247
255
300
295
400
500
700
800
1215
Depth (m)
600
900
1000
Viking
1634
1100
1200
1300
Nisku
2250
1400
Figure 6: Seismic-to-well tie at the water source well (1F1-11-29-45-2W5). The location of the
well and the seismic (blue) line are shown in the top image. The correlation coefficient is 0.92
over the outlined zone (dashed rectangle) in the bottom image.
110
150
200
1100
Trace
1F1-11-29-045-2W5
300
350
NW
Viking
1200
1300
Wabamun
Nisku
1400
NRMS Amplitude
-1.0
0.0
1.0
1500
BH Lake
Figure 7: Seismic section near the water source well (Figure 5). The green curve at the well
location is the correlated synthetic seismic trace. The correlation coefficient is 0.92.
SE
110
150
200
1100
Trace
1F1-11-29-045-2W5
300
350
NW
Viking
1200
1300
Wabamun
Nisku
1400
Acoustic Impedance (kg/m2.s)
6.0 x 106
1.25 x 107
2.0 x 107
Figure 8: The initial acoustic impedance model of the seismic section in Figure 7. The blue curve
at the well location is the correlated synthetic seismic trace while the black curves are the actual
seismic traces.
110
150
200
1100
Trace
1F1-11-29-045-2W5
300
350
NW
Viking
1200
1300
Wabamun
Nisku
1400
Acoustic Impedance (kg/m2.s)
6.0 x 106
SE
110
150
1.25 x 107
200
1100
Trace
1F1-11-29-045-2W5
2.0 x 107
300
350
NW
Viking
1200
1300
Wabamun
Nisku
1400
Acoustic Impedance (kg/m2.s)
6.0 x
106
1.25 x 107
2.0 x 107
Figure 9: Estimated acoustic impedance along the 2D seismic line near the water source well
(Figure 5) using bandlimited (top) and model-based (bottom) inversion methods. The inserted
blue curve at the well location represents the computed acoustic impedance from the sonic and
density logs. The black curves represent the acoustic impedance from the bandlimited inversion
whereas in the model-based inversion they represent the misfit error.
10
1
1000
100-10-21-050-2W5
200
Crossline
300
400
NRMS Amplitude
0.0
-1.0
1.0
Viking
1100
500
1200
Wabamun
1300
Nisku
1400
BH Lake
1500
Figure 10: Inline extracted from the reference 3D seismic volume (Figure 5). The green curve at
the well location is the correlated synthetic seismic trace. The correlation coefficient is 0.80.
N
1
1000
100-10-21-050-2W5
200
Crossline
300
400
1.25 x 107
2.0 x 107
Viking
1100
500
1200
Wabamun
1300
Nisku
1400
BH Lake
1500
Figure 11: The initial acoustic impedance model corresponding to the inline in Figure 10. The blue
curve at the well location is the correlated synthetic seismic trace while the black curves are the
actual seismic traces.
11
1
1000
100-10-21-050-2W5
200
Crossline
300
400
106
1.25 x 107
2.0 x 107
Viking
1100
500
1200
Wabamun
1300
Nisku
1400
BH Lake
1500
N
1
1000
100-10-21-050-2W5
200
Crossline
300
400
106
1.25 x 107
2.0 x 107
Viking
1100
500
1200
Wabamun
1300
Nisku
1400
BH Lake
1500
Figure 12: Estimated acoustic impedance of the inline in Figure 10 and Figure 11 using
bandlimited (top) and model-based (bottom) inversion methods. The inserted blue curve at the
well location represents the computed acoustic impedance from the sonic and density logs. The
black curves refer to the acoustic impedance from the bandlimited inversion whereas in the
model-based inversion they represent the misfit error.
12
1.65x107
2.0x107
0.0
20.0 km
Figure 13: Estimated Acoustic impedance (Ip) map of the Nisku Formation using bandlimited
inversion. Due to lack of well control, the inversion was not performed on the entire dataset.
13
1.65x107
2.0x107
0.0
20.0 km
Figure 14: Estimated Acoustic impedance (Ip) map of the Nisku Formation using model-based
inversion. Due to lack of well control, the inversion was not performed on the entire dataset.
14
Karsting
footprint
Low amplitude
NRMS
Amplitude
-3
0.0
20.0 km
Figure 15: Nisku NRMS amplitude map. Some of the major amplitude anomalies are specified:
Wabamun karsting footprint, Wabamun discontinuities footprints, and the Nisku amplitude low. It
should be emphasized that the karsting and discontinuities shown here are just due to the
footprint of those anomalies and do not indicate that the Nisku has been physically affected.
15
Karsting
footprint
Low time
Time (ms)
1200
1300
1400
1500
0.0
20.0 km
Figure 16: The Nisku time structure map. The locations of some of the major anomalies are
specified: Wabamun karsting footprint, Wabamun discontinuities footprints, and the Nisku local
time low. It should be emphasized that the karsting and discontinuities shown here are due to the
footprint of those anomalies and do not indicate that the Nisku has been physically affected.
16
Synthetic Data
There are several factors that could affect the acoustic impedance of the Nisku event
as observed in the field data. Therefore, some sensitivity analyses were undertaken and it
was found that thickness and average P-wave velocity are the primary parameters
affecting the Nisku event impedance. Subsequently, zero-offset synthetic seismograms
were generated using a 25 Hz Ricker wavelet and the convolutional model to further
understand the effect of these two parameters on the Nisku event acoustic impedance.
Figure 17 is a side-by-side panel display illustrating the thickness and average P-wave
velocity effect on the Nisku event amplitude whereas Figure 18 shows a display of the
Nisku event amplitude as a function of those two parameters. Changing the average Pwave velocity (vertical axis) will cause over a 60% change in the amplitude whereas
changing the thickness (horizontal axis) will only cause about an 8% variation in
amplitude (Figure 15).
h
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
avg. 5500 6500 5500 6500 5500 6500 5500 6500 5500 6500 5500 6500 5500 6500 5500 6500 5500 6500 5500 6500 5500 6500
1000
1000
Wabamun
1100
Calmar
Nisku
Ireton
1200
1200
Figure 17: Sequential display of normal incidence synthetic seismograms in which the Nisku
event amplitude is modelled as function of thickness and average P-wave velocity. The top of the
Nisku event is identified as the peak at approximately 1130 ms (the green bracket along the time
axis approximates the frequency cycle through the formation). In each blue bracket (thickness
effect), there are 11 traces, each representing the seismic amplitude associated with that
thickness and an average Nisku P-wave velocity increasing from 5500 m/s to 6500 ms/ at an
increment of 100 m/s. The modelling was undertaken using well 100-10-05-052-02W5. The actual
Nisku thickness and average P-wave velocity at this well are 100 m and 6100 m/s, respectively.
17
To relate variations in the acoustic impedance to the two primary physical parameters
of interest, i.e. thickness and average P-wave velocity, the acoustic impedance of the
synthetic seismogram in Figure 17 was reconstructed using bandlimited and model-based
inversion methods (Figure 19). The modelling results suggest that the acoustic impedance
variations in the study area, excluding those associated with karsting and discontinuities
footprints, are most likely due to variability in the average P-wave velocity (i.e. lithology
and/or porosity) rather than thickness.
6500
6400
Amplitude
0.06
6300
6200
6100
0.1
6000
5900
5800
5700
0.12
5600
5500
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Thickness (m)
Figure 18: Nisku event amplitude as a function of thickness and average P-wave velocity
synthetic modelling. The actual Nisku thickness and average P-wave velocity are 100 m and
6100 m/s, respectively. The maps represent the Nisku amplitude map that resulted from picking
the peak amplitude corresponding to the Nisku event in Figure 17. The black dashed rectangle
outlines the most likely Nisku thickness and average velocity values within the study area based
on well control. The results suggest that the Nisku average P-wave velocity (or impedance) effect
is more significant than the thickness effect. Thus, the highest sensitivity is along the vertical axis.
18
Ip (kg/m2.s)
1.5x 107
6300
6200
6100
6000
1.65 x 107
5900
5800
5700
1.8 x 107
5600
5500
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Thickness (m)
6500
6400
Ip (kg/m2.s)
1.5x 107
6300
6200
6100
6000
1.65 x 107
5900
5800
5700
1.8 x 107
5600
5500
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Thickness (m)
Figure 19: Acoustic impedance (Ip) of the synthetic seismogram in Figure 17 using bandlimited
(top) and model-based (bottom) inversion methods. Similar to the seismic amplitude response,
the acoustic impedance shows high sensitivity toward variations in the Nisku Formation average
P-wave velocity rather than thickness. The maps illustrate the direct proportionality between
average P-wave velocity and acoustic impedance. Note the similarity in the results except for the
small difference in the magnitude of the acoustic impedance due to scaling issues.
19
CONCLUSIONS
The acoustic impedance map of the Nisku event shows strong variations across the
WASP study area. Our interpretation indicates that there are two categories of low
impedance: one that is associated with lithological/porosity changes in the Nisku
Formation and another which is associated with discontinuities in the overlying
Wabamun event. In addition to the time structure, NRMS amplitude and coherencysensitive attributes, forward and inverse seismic modelling were undertaken in
delineating anomalies caused by lithological variations in contrast to those induced by
geological discontinuities. The modelling results suggest that variation in the average Pwave velocity is the primary physical parameters steering the acoustic impedance of the
Nisku event. Consequently, several favourable zones of low acoustic impedance are
identified in the study area. However, differentiation between acoustic impedance
changes caused by enhanced porosity and those associated with a possible increase in
shale content remains tenuous.
AKNOWLEDGEMENT
We thank WASP sponsors and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research
Council of Canada (NSERC) for funding the project and the WASP technical team for
valuable discussions, ENCANA kindly provided access to the seismic data, and Jimmy
Haszard (ENCANA), Jay LeBlanc (ENCANA), and Ian Reglar (formerly ENCANA) provided
valuable technical support. Hampson-Russell, Seismic-Micro Technology and Zokero are
thanked for providing seismic interpretation software. We also acknowledge the
continuing support of CREWES sponsors.
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