Seismic Reflections of Rock Properties

This book provides an accessible guide to using the rock physics-based forward modeling approach for mapping the subsurface, systematically linking rock properties to seismic amplitude. Providing practical workflows, the book shows how to methodically vary lithology, porosity, rock type, and pore fluids and reservoir geometry, calculate the corresponding elastic properties, and then generate synthetic seismic traces. These synthetic traces can then be compared to actual seismic traces from the field: a similar actual seismic response implies similar rock properties in the subsurface. The book catalogs various cases, including clastic sediments, carbonates, and time-lapse seismic monitoring, and discusses the effect of attenuation on seismic reflections. It shows how to build earth models (pseudo-wells) using deterministic and statistical approaches, and includes case studies based on real well data. A vital guide for researchers and petroleum geologists, in industry and academia, providing sample catalogs of synthetic seismic reflections from a variety of realistic reservoir models.

Preface; Acknowledgements; Part I. The Basics: 1. Forward modeling of seismic reflections for rock characterization; 2. Rock physics models and transforms; 3. Rock physics diagnostics; Part II. Synthetic Seismic Amplitude: 4. Modeling at an interface: quick-look approach; 5. Pseudo-wells: principles and examples; 6. Pseudo-wells: statistics-based generation; Part III. From Well Data and Geology to Earth Models and Reflections: 7. Clastic sequences: diagnostics and Vs prediction; 8. Log shapes at the well scale and seismic reflections in clastic sequences; 9. Synthetic modeling in carbonates; 10. Time lapse (4D) reservoir monitoring; Part IV. Frontier Exploration: 11. Rock physics workflow in oil and gas exploration; 12. DHI validation and prospect risking; Part V. Advanced Rock Physics: Diagenetic Trends, Self-Similarity, Permeability, Poisson's Ratio in Gas Sand, Seismic Wave Attenuation, Gas Hydrates: 13. Rock physics case studies; 14. Poisson's ratio and seismic reflections; 15. Seismic wave attenuation; 16. Gas hydrates; Part VI. Rock Physics Operations Directly Applied to Seismic Amplitude and Impedance: 17. Fluid substitution on seismic amplitude; 18. Rock physics and seismically derived impedance; Part VII. Evolving Methods: 19. Computational rock physics; Appendix A. Direct hydrocarbon indicator checklist; References; Index.

Jack Dvorkin is a Senior Research Scientist in the Department of Geophysics at Stanford University, California. His primary research interests are theoretical rock physics and its practical applications as well as computational rock physics, and he has taught dozens of industrial rock physics short-courses worldwide (USA, Canada, Colombia, Brazil, India, China, Japan, Norway, Germany, Italy). Dr Dvorkin has published around 150 professional papers and has also co-authored two books including The Rock Physics Handbook (Cambridge, 2009).
Mario A. Gutierrez is a Principal Geophysicist at Shell Exploration and Production Inc., working primarily on the application of seismic- and rock physics-based methods for evaluating and risking the presence of reservoir rocks and hydrocarbons to support business decisions and recommendations on oil and gas exploration projects worldwide. Dr Gutierrez holds a PhD in Geophysics from Stanford University, California, and has previously held leading applied research and operations positions at Shell, BHP Billiton Petroleum, Ecopetrol and various seismic contractors, working on rock physics and seismic attributes modeling, reservoir characterization, shallow geo-hazards and pore pressure prediction.
Dario Grana is an Assistant Professor at the University of Wyoming. He worked for four years on seismic reservoir characterization at Eni Exploration and Production in Milan, then moved to Stanford University, California, where he received his PhD in geophysics in 2013 - during which time he also published six peer-reviewed journal papers and presented at several international conferences. Dr Grana's main research interests are rock physics, seismic reservoir characterization, geostatistics and inverse problems for reservoir modeling.