Combining burial history and rock-physics modeling to constrain AVO analysis during exploration

Abstract

We use combined burial history and rock-physics modeling of sand and shale to predict expected amplitude variation with offset (AVO) signatures and seismic fluid sensitivities for a given burial history. The advantage with this approach is that we can extrapolate away from wells in areas with complex tectonics. Furthermore, we can use depth trends derived from local burial history to create AVO probability density functions (PDFs) for calibration and classification of AVO attributes in a given area. We demonstrate the use of these techniques on two hydrocarbon discoveries with different burial histories: the Alvheim Field in the North Sea and the Skalle Field in the Barents Sea.