Direct seismic modeling: day surface topography and shallow subsurface anisotropy

Abstract

Introduction. The article is devoted to one of the problems in the development of oil and gas fields - the construction of correct geological models of the subsurface space. Researchers from various scientific groups around the world have proposed various ways to improve the accuracy of the computer simulations used in this process. The purpose of this study is to assess the degree of influence of the day surface relief and the anisotropy of the upper part of the geological section on the recorded seismic signal using a realistic model of the Orenburg field as an example.Materials and methods. A seismogeological model describing the Lower Permian interval of the Orenburg geological section is considered. According to well data, the elastic properties of geological formations were estimated: density and propagation velocities of longitudinal and transverse waves. There is a high contrast of P-wave velocities estimated from sonic logs. The reservoir in this model is confined to the lower layers. It is composed of sulfate-carbonate media, uniform in density and acoustic properties. Using the grid-characteristic method, zero-offset synthetic seismograms were calculated. The choice of structural curvilinear computational grids made it possible to correctly consider the relief of the day surface.Research results. In this work, two different models were compared. The first model included the anisotropy of the upper part of the section and the topography of the day surface. In the second model, the upper boundary of the computational domain was flat, and the entire medium was considered within the framework of an isotropic linear elastic model. The analysis of synthetic seismograms showed that the anisotropy inherent in this model does not significantly affect the recorded seismic wave field. However, considering the relief of the day surface significantly shifts the times of arrival of reflected waves.Discussion and Conclusion. The algorithm presented in the paper can be used to verify the field data processing graph, since the assessment of the anisotropy of the medium is a standard step in building a velocity model. The presented approach can be extended to 3D models of realistic dimensions.