Interactive seismic mapping of net producible gas sand in the Gulf of Mexico

Abstract

In the Garden Banks area of offshore Louisiana several gas sands have been drilled and found productive. However, the sands are laterally variable in thickness and effectiveness. An improved understanding of the spatial distribution of net producible gas sand is highly desirable for reservoir management. The bright reflections from the top and the base of each sand were tracked automatically on an interactive interpretation system. This yielded time structure maps and hence isochron maps for each gross sand interval. The horizon Seiscrop™ sections diplaying amplitudes over the sand interfaces were then summed, adjusted for tuning effects, and smoothed to yield estimates of net gas/gross sand ratio over the area under study. By combining these with the corresponding isochron maps and an appropriate gas sand interval velocity, we obtained net gas sand isopach maps which tie acceptably with well data. Integration of these provided total reservoir volumes. ™Trademark of Geophysical Service Inc.