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That's why it's called interpretation

Impact of horizon uncertainty on seismic attribute analysis

ExxonMobil Upstream Research Company, Houston, Texas, U. S.

J. C. Mitchell

ExxonMobil Exploration, Houston, Texas, U. S.

Corresponding author: grankey@rsmas.miami.edu

The first 20% of the full text of this article appears below.

In the late 1960s-early 1970s, seismic stratigraphy revolutionized the petroleum industry by providing an objective, meaningful technique for describing the stratigraphic record and predicting the distribution of potential reservoir, source and seal facies. Within the last 10 years, the uses of seismic data have evolved from sequence interpretation and qualitative assessment of reservoir trends to evaluations that include more quantitative prediction of reservoir properties. Throughout the industry, seismic attribute analysis has become a commonly utilized tool for quantitative evaluation of reservoir properties from seismic data.

Seismic attribute analysis can require that the interpreter defines an interval for which seismic attributes will be calculated. Preferably, this unit should represent a chronostratigraphic interval, the interpretation of which is directly tied to well data. However, even in areas with abundant well data, seismic interpretation can involve many areas in which the interpreter lacks a well tie or other "hard" data and must use geologic insight or understanding to make an accurate interpretation decision. Depending on the complexity of the reservoir system, seismic data quality, and the experience of the interpreter, the level of confidence in an interpretation can vary from very high to very low.

The purpose of this paper is to qualitatively and quantitatively evaluate the impact of interpretation and interpretation uncertainty on predictions of reservoir properties from seismic attribute analysis. We start by illustrating and quantifying the variability in interpretations of the same survey that were completed by six different interpreters. We then evaluate how these interpretation differences impact quantitative predictions of reservoir properties. We summarize by discussing the implication of these results and by introducing approaches by which uncertainty in interpretation may be minimized or assessed.

The results of this study quantitatively illustrate the pronounced impact that seismic interpretation can have on prediction of reservoir properties from seismic data. The . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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