Use of structure-guided 3D controlled-source electromagnetic inversion to map karst features in carbonates in offshore northwest Borneo

Abstract

Fractured and/or karstic carbonates (FKCs) in the subsurface are commonly associated with significant drilling risk or reservoir effectiveness issues. Understanding the distribution of karsts will help avoid drilling into possible voids and also reassess risks associated with reservoir effectiveness. A 2020 3D seismic acquisition in offshore northwest Borneo provided data for identifying new carbonate prospects and an opportunity to revisit a 2010 marine controlled-source electromagnetic (CSEM) survey that was not designed specifically for FKC mapping but can serve to test new inversion capability for imaging karsted carbonate bodies. A 3D CSEM data were used to detect and characterize the nature (i.e., fractured and/or karsted) of carbonate prospects mapped using 3D seismic data. In one approach, structure tensors computed from these seismic data were used to constrain the 3D CSEM inversion on the Azure cloud platform. In another approach, cross gradients between vertical and horizontal resistivities were used as a structural guide obviating the need for seismic data. The resulting anisotropic resistivity models were validated using resistivity logs from a nearby well; the resistivity results matched the well-logs satisfactorily, providing geologic justification to interpret the presence of karst features in the resistivity volumes. Lateral boundary of the carbonate prospects was mapped based on the resistivity characteristic, in seismic- and nonseismic-guided structure-coupled inversion. Resistivity-depth cross section of the area revealed the presence of resistivity discontinuity at the seismic-inferred boundary of the main carbonate prospect. Also, resistivity depth slices of the models clearly demonstrated that the areal distribution of low and high resistive zones can be mapped and useful deductions such as the presence of FKC and basement characteristics can be made using the 3D inversion of the CSEM data.