Detection of Porous and Permeable Formations: From Laboratory Measurements to Seismic Measurements

Abstract

We present a seismic processing method which shows that it is possible to extract new attributes from seismic sections, leading to a better understanding of the distribution of the porous and permeable bodies. The attributes are also used to detect the impermeable layers. The methodology is based on laboratory experiments which have shown that a formation permeability indicator can be obtained via the computation of 4 input data: P-wave frequency and attenuation, porosity and specific surface. The procedure has been firstly conducted in acoustic logging to estimate permeability of porous layers and to detect water inflows [Mari et al. (2011) Phys. Chem. Earth 36, 17, 1438-1449]. In seismic, the processing is performed in order to measure these parameters. The analytic signal is used to compute the instantaneous frequency and attenuation (Q factor). The porosity and specific surface are computed from seismic impedances obtained by acoustic inversion of the migrated seismic sections. The input parameters are used to compute a new index named Ik-Seis factor (Indicator (I) of permeability (k) from acoustic or seismic (Seis) data). The potential of the proposed procedure is demonstrated via a field case, both in full waveform acoustic logging and in seismic surveying. The example shows that the Ik-Seis factor can be used to map both the distribution of the permeable bodies in the carbonate formations and the non permeable shaly layers associated with the Callovo-Oxfordian claystone. © 2012 IFP Energies nouvelles.