Integrated rockAVO and Seismic Delivers Enhanced Understanding of Barents Sea Prospectivity

wave imagewave image
The August issue of GEO magazine describes integrating rockAVO with the PGS seismic data library to derisk exploration in the Barents Sea.

Rock physics models provided in rockAVO can be reliably and interactively perturbed to better understand features of interest in seismic. As described in the August issue of GEO magazine, integrating PGS rockAVO and GeoStreamer seismic data provides greater insight into Well 7121/9-1, by comparing and contrasting seismic and well responses from Well 7120/12-2 located in the same vicinity of the Barents Sea. Correlation of seismic data sets and agreement to known well responses confirm the fidelity, quality, and reliability of both the Hammerfest Basin GeoStreamer seismic and the rockAVO well data. 

Integrating rockAVO and GeoStreamer Seismic Data

The interactive rock physics well browser rockAVO is a product that models and predicts responses in seismic data. It conveys the synthetic Amplitude-versus-Offset (AVO) response of the well data and correlates it to the AVO response of the measured seismic. Demonstrating correlation between synthetic and measured AVO ensures the reliability of resultant seismic mapping, reservoir modeling, and quantitative interpretation. By interactively modifying the rock, fluid, and seismic properties in real-time, rockAVO provides the means to explore and understand realistic geological scenarios in the observed seismic AVO responses.

PGS GeoStreamer acquisition along with cutting edge imaging technology provides seismic data of unrivaled quality. Regionally consistent well data conditioning, petrophysical analysis, and rock physics modeling delivered by rockAVO and integrated with seismic data provide essential tools for derisking prospectivity and enhancing reservoir understandings. 

Understanding_Seismic_Attributes_Using_Well_Data
An obvious strong amplitude event in the gradient close to Well 7120/12-2 is highlighted at the top of the gas-bearing Stø Formation and a comparable event is also circled at a similar level close to Well 7121/9-1. The location of the two wells in the Hammerfest Basin, Barents Sea is shown in the lower image.

 

Derisking Exploration Using rockAVO

The image below shows interesting features within the calculated gradient section of the Barents Sea covering the PL1074 license area. An obvious strong amplitude event in the gradient close to Well 7120/12-2 is highlighted at the top of the gas-bearing Stø Formation. A comparable event is also circled at a similar level close to Well 7121/9-1, but this is associated with a water-bearing response as confirmed by the well results. At both well locations, excellent correlation is observed between the in-situ synthetic seismic calculated using the rockAVO well data and the measured GeoStreamer seismic data. This confirms that the rock physics model and associated synthetic seismic can be integrated with the GeoStreamer seismic in rockAVO to understand what is driving the observed responses. 

Click here to compare the rockAVO windows and measured pre and post-stack seismic traces for each well in the full article.

The interactivity of rockAVO and the ability to perturb the calibrated rock physics models in real-time can be used to understand how these responses relate to rock and fluid properties and enhance the understanding of potential prospectivity in this and other areas.

Find Out More

To find out more about PGS’ latest models of Barents Sea areas and the rockAVO Barents Sea Atlas data, contact europe.info@pgs.com.

 

Contact a PGS expert

Please contact a member of our Canada team for more information.