Reservoir property prediction using abductive networks

Abstract

Statistical methods, such as linear regression and neural networks, are commonly used to predict reservoir properties from seismic attributes. However, a huge number of attributes can be extracted from seismic data and an efficient method for selecting an attribute subset with the highest correlation to the property being predicted is essential. Most statistical methods, however, lack an optimized approach for this attribute selection. We propose to predict reservoir properties from seismic attributes using abductive networks, which use iterated polynomial regression to derive high-degree polynomial predictors. The abductive networks simultaneously select the most relevant attributes and construct an optimal nonlinear predictor. We applied the approach to predict porosity from seismic data of an area within the 'Uthmaniyah portion of the Ghawar oil field, Saudi Arabia. The data consisted of normal seismic amplitude, acoustic impedance, 16 other seismic attributes, and porosity logs from seven wells located in the study area. Out of 27 attributes, the abductive network selected only the best two to six attributes and produced a more accurate and robust porosity prediction than using the more common neural-network predictors. In addition, the proposed method requires no effort in choosing the attribute subset or tweaking their parameters.