Characterization and Simulation of a Complex Fractured Carbonate Field Offshore Tunisia

Abstract

Abstract This paper describes a workflow that fully utilizes the pre-stack and post-stack seismic attributes to derive reliable geologic and fracture models that are validated by multiple blind wells and reservoir simulation. The first step in the workflow is to run post-stack seismic processes, which includes post-stack inversion and spectral imaging. The second step consists of applying a pre-stack seismic process called elastic inversion which will lead to various key seismic properties that provide good discrimination between reservoir facies. The third step consists of using the various post-stack and pre-stack seismic cubes to derive 3D geologic and fracture models. The fourth step is to use the derived models in a reservoir simulator to verify the validity of the models. This workflow was applied to a complex fractured carbonate field in offshore Tunisia which produces oil from the El Gueria formation. A large number of post-stack and pre-stack seismic attributes were generated in time and then depth converted within a 3D geocellular grid. These seismic attributes were used as input in REFRACT™, Prism Seismic fracture modeling software, to create geologic and fracture models. The resulting porosity and permeability models were put into Eclipse™ reservoir simulator software. Individual well performances were matched at eighty percent of the wells, confirming the reliability and accuracy of the derived geologic and fracture models and the usefulness of the workflow.