Elastic Wave AVO Using Borehole SeismicData SL3.

2
Craig A. Coulombe*, Robert R. Stewart, Univ. of Calgary; and Michael 1 Jones,
Schlumbergerof Canada

SUMMARY zone is containedin a tight limestonepackage. The limestone

package is overlainby a lowervelocityshaley-carbonate
sequence,
and underlain by a thin shale package. The reservoir is
In situ elasticmeasurements are usedto investigatethe approximately
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15m thick.
amplitudevariationwith offset(AVO) response of a gas-saturated ThreeVSP surveyswereacquiredfor the study. A zero-
carbonate reservoirin Alberta,Canada.The in situmeasurementsoffsetVSP at an offsetof 80 m fromtheborehole,anoffsetVSP at
include three VSP surveys(a zero offset, an offset, and a anoffsetof 750m fromtheborehole, anda multioffset
VSP,with9
multioffset),full waveformsonicmeasurements, andbulk density offsetsbetween500 m and 2500 m from the wellborewith 11
measurements. The reservoirparametersfrom the well-log geophone levelsfor eachoffset.In eachcase,thesourceconsisted
measurements are Vp=5186 m/s, ks=2969 m/s (Vp/Vs=1.75),
of 2 44000 lb. vibratorsand the receiverwas a singlelevel 3-
Poissonsratio a=O.256 , and p=2550 kg/m3. The P-wave component geophone (seeFigure1).
traveltimesfrom the zero-offsetVSP andthe S-wavetraveltimes
fromtheoffsetVSPwereusedin a traveltime inversionalgorithmto
determinethe seismicvelocities. The reservoirvaluesfrom the
traveltimeinversionareVp=4817m/s,Vs=2833m/s(Vp/Vs=1.70),
andcH.236.
Tbe multioffsetVSP datawereprocessed to showthetrue
seismicP-P andP-Sv AVO response of the reservoir.The P-Sv
datawerefoundto havehigherverticalresolution thantheP-Pdata.
Thisis attributed to theshorterwavelength of thepropagatingshear
wavegiventhesamefrequency bandasthecompressional wave.
The AVO response of thereservoirwasforwardmodeled
usinga velocitymodelfrom theVSP traveltimeinversions.Both
the P-P andP-Sv forwardmodelscomparewell with the seismic
data,with theP-P datashowingthemostfavorablecomparison.It
wasfoundthattheP-P AVO response couldbe bettermatchedby
perturbingthe P-wavevelocity of the reservoir. The perturbed
reservoirparameters givingriseto a bettermatchof theP-P AVO
response are Vp=4333m/s,Vs=2833m/s (Vp/Vs=I.60),0=0.179,
andp=2550kg/m3.

INTRODUCTION
Figure1: MultioffsetVSP geometryshowinglocationof complete
zerooffsetVSP andOffsetVSP.
A multioffsetVSP geometry(Figure1) hasbeendesigned
torecorddataspecifically forAVO analysis of a patticularinterface.
Severaloffsetsareusedto obtainthe reflectioncoefficientsfor a DATA ANALYSIS
rangeof P-waveanglesof incidence.It is necessary to recordthe
wavefieldat severallevelsin theboreholeto adequately separate In thisstudythezerooffsetandoffsetVSP datawereused
upgoinganddowngoingwavefieldsaswell asP andS wavefields. mainlyfor thetraveltime-based velocityestimates.The multioffset
Recording thewavefielddirectlyabovethereflectoris fundamental datawereprocessed usingthe flow described by Coulombeet al.
to this geometry. As shownin Figure 1, the amplitudeof the (1991). The resultsof processing themultioffsetdataarethe P-
downgoingP wavefieldrecordedat the borehole(Ai), and the waveandS-wavegathers shownin Figure2. These athersaretrue
amplitudeof the downgoingP wavefieldwhich generatedthe amplitudeand showthe seismicAVO response oBthe reservoir.
reflectedwavefield(Ai) areassumed to be equal.This is only true The soniclog is plottedalongwith the gathersfor correlation.The
when the receiversare near the reflecting interface. So, the porouszone is a thin bed, so the seismicresponseof the zone is
reflectioncoefficientis the ratio of the downgoingand upgoing affected by nearby interfaces. Thus to model these data, it is
wavefieldsrecordedat the borehole. By usingthis technique, necessaryto usea multilayerscheme.
uncertaintiesaboutsourcedirectivity,geometrical spreading, and The full-waveform soniclog was blocked(or zoned)usinga
absorptionareminimized. compoundmedianfiltering technique(Leaney,1987). Tbe log
Anotheraspectof theVSP is that3componentacquisition blockingis necessaryto simplify theproblem,andidentify the zones
and processingcan be used to obtain the P-SV reflection whicharethemaincontributors to theseismicAVO response of the
coefficients.This suggests thatP-SV reflectioncoefficients canbe reservoir. The blocked sonic measurementswere.then usedas
usedjointly with the P-P reflectioncoefficientsto estimatethe inputsintoa VSP traveltime inversionalgorithm.
subsurfacerockproperties. Thefirst-breaktimesof thezerooffsetVSP wereusedin
the traveltime inversion to determine the VSP P-waveinterval
velocities.The traveltimesof a downgoing sheareventof theoffset
GEOLOGY AND DATA ACQUISITION VSP were usedto invert for the VSP S-wave intervalvelocities. A
comparisonof the sonicand VSP velocitiesare shownin Figure 3.
The data were acquiredto analyze the bulk reservoir Generally,the VSP velocitiesare lower thanthe sonicvelocitiesas
propertiesof a porousgas-saturated zone.The studyarea is often seen(Stewart, 1984).
carbonate
is thePaleozoicsectionin North-western
Alberta. The gasbearing

864
 2 Elastic wave AVO

source source Transit the P-wave velocity in the reservoir is lower than the othe
offset (m) Onset(m) Tfme(usim)
measurementsare indicating. The perturbedreservoirparameter:
are Vp=4333 m/s, Vs=2833 m/s (VP/Vs=l.60), 0=0.179, am
p=2550 kg/m3.
Figure 5 showsa similar seriesof plots as Figure 4 for the
P-Sv data. Severalinterestingobservationscan be madefrom these
data. A comparisonof the field P-P and P-Sv data(Figure4(d) ant
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5(d)) showsthat the P-Sv data appearto have higher resolution

Comparingthe syntheticP-P and P-Sv data also showsthat the P
Sv data have higherresolution. Since the P-P and P-Sv datawen
generatedwith the same wavelet, the higher resolution can bc
attributed to the shorter wavelength of the shear wave. Also
interestingis thattheperturbedAVO response(Figure4(c)) doesno
1.6
I I I I I H 16 changewhen the P-wave velocity of the reservoir is changed
Again, this is expected as the P-Sv reflection coefficient i!
(6) @I (c)
dependentprimarily on the S-wave velocity and densitycontrast:
Tigure2: Multioffset VSP P-wave gather(a) and S-wave gather(b) only. This suggeststhat P-Sv AVO analysismay yield a bette
withthe soniclog plottedin time (c) for correlation. estimateof theS-wave velocitythanP-P AVO analysis.
scurce scurce SCWC e Source
Offset(m) Offset(m) Offset(m) Offset(m)
To analyzethe AVO responseof thereservoir,the datawere
brward modeled using the VSP interval velocities. The forward
nodeling incorporated ray-tracing for the traveltimes, and the 1.4
0
8
In 0 w 0
0
510
1.4
Zoeppritzequationsfor the amplitudes. Normal move out (NMO)
was included in the forward model, so an NM0 correctionwas
applied to the synthetic data, Figure 4 is a comparisonof the
[orwardmodeled P-P data with the multioffset VSP data. Figure
l(a) is a high frequency forward model using the VSP interval z- 1.5 1.5
velocities(Figure 3).
E
This model showsthe untunedAVO responseof the zone. Note F--
there is an increase in amplitude with offset of the trough/peak
reflections from the top and base of the reservoir at a time of
approximately1.520 s.
1.6 1.6
Bulk
Velocity (m/s) VplVs
Lithology (4 (b) Cc) (4
Figure4: (a) Forward modeledP-P AVO responseusinga 100 H:
wavelet, (b) forward modeled P-P AVO responsewith a 40 H:
wavelet,(c) perturbedP-P AVO response,(d) field multioffsetVSI
P-P gather

Source Scurce SOLTC e Source

Offset(m) Offset(m) Offset(m) Offset(m)

1.4
1

: LImestone
,
,--
, __ Shale
I

_ _ _- _ Sonic
._ 1.6
VSP (4 04 (4 (d
Figure3: Comparisonof sonicand VSP intervalvelocities.
Ggure 5: (a) Forward modeled P-Sv AVO response 100 Hz
vavelet,(b) forward modeledP-Sv AVO response40 Hz wavelet,
Figure 4(b) is a forward model using the VSP interval c) perturbedP-Sv AVO response,(d) field multioffsetVSP P-Sv
velocitiesand a wavelet in the VSP frequencyband. These data ;ather.
rhowthat waveletinterferenceor tuninghasa largeinfluenceon the
:haracterof the data. Furthermore,the tuningchangeswith offset.
Figure 4(c) is a forward model using a perturbedP-wave
velocityin the reservoir. Thesedatamatchthe multioffsetVSP data
Figure 4(d)) better than the synthetic data derived using the
lmviouslydeterminedVSP interval velocities. This suggeststhat

865
 Elastic wave AVO 3

:ONCLUSION

Analysisof thesedatahasresultedin severalfindings.The

IV0 responseof the porous zone is complicatedby the
uperpositionof eventsfromaboveandbelowthezone.
lhereservoir
parameters of thezonehavebeendetermined by either
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lirect measurement(well logs)Vp=5186m/s, Vs=2969 m/s

V IVs=1.75), 0=0.256 , and p=2550 kg/m3, constrained
:a/culations(traveltimeinversion)Vp=4817m/s, Vs=2833m/s
VpIVs=1.70),and 0=0.236andforwardmodeling(perturbulAVO
,esponse)Vp=4333 m/s, Vs=2833 m/s (VplV,=l.60), and
s=O.179. The VSP and sonic velocitiesagreewell, and by
jerturbingthe reservoirP-wave velocity a bettermatchto the
seismicwasobtained.

tEFERENCES

?oulombe,C. A. Stewart,R.R., Jones,M.J., 1991,AVO analysis

usingtheVSP: 60thAnn. In!. Mtg. Sot. Expl. Geophys.,
Expanded Abstracts,
1080-1083.
kaney, W.S., andUlrych T.J., 1987Compoundmedianfiltering
applied to sonic logs: 57th Ann. Int. Mtg. Sot. Expl.
Geophys.,ExpandedAbstracts, 23-26.
itewart,R.R., Huddleston,P.D., and Kan, T.K., 1984,Seismic
versussonicvelocities:a verticalseismicprofilingstudy:
Geophysics, 49, 1153-l 168.