Using Poro-Viscoelastic Forward Modeling to Reduce Exploration Risks in Frontier Basins

Summary

To reduce the risk in exploration investments in the Canadian Arctic, a poro-viscoelastic (PVE) forward modeling scheme is tested using seismic and well log data collected during the initial round of exploration that took place between the late 1960s and the early 1980s. The synthetic seismograms are modeled with a 2-D implementation of the PVE formalism. The PVE modeling is tested form different cases such as a gas and oil reservoirs and an igneous intrusion, the latest representing an exploration risk in the Canadian Arctic. Modeling results are discussed in terms of wavefront propagation and acoustic and PVE zero-offset reflections in both the time and the frequency domains. Time-domain observations show that best ties with seismic data are achieved by the PVE modeling in the case of the gas reservoir whereas for the intrusion acoustic and PVE modeling ties are almost equivalent. Frequency-domain analysis indicates that the key reflections have slightly higher frequency content as opposed to what is observed on the seismic traces at the well locations. Finally, wavefield imaging shed light on the characteristics of the reflections of brine-, gas- and oil-filled reservoirs and igneous intrusions as changes in amplitude are mostly attributed to the tuning effect.