--> ABSTRACT: Stratigraphic Visibility: A Forefront for Cost-Effective Seismic Exploration, by N. S. Neidell; #91030 (2010)

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Stratigraphic Visibility: A Forefront for Cost-Effective Seismic Exploration

N. S. Neidell

Is seismic exploration for carbonate reservoirs innately more difficult than sand-based reservoirs? Are our prospects in sands better in offshore Pleistocene, Miocene, or Mid-Continent Paleozoic? While these questions embody many geologic dimensions to answer fully, recently developed capabilities in seismic stratigraphy help move such questions from the realm of "apples-to-oranges" comparisons to reasoned decision-making.

Key to the necessary information is simultaneous derivation of interval velocity measurements and geometry for defining the subsurface from color-coded seismic inversion displays. Such displays show stratigraphic features which in most instances cannot be perceived on conventional seismic presentations. While the technology for relating geometry to geologic and lithologic conditions is highly developed, the addition of velocity information makes the interpretive insights more formidable yet.

A generalized framework for exploration in both sand/shale and carbonate environments is developed which includes inputs from the seismic data geometries, and velocities in quantitative terms. If other factors relating to hydrocarbon development and entrapment can be properly accommodated, the velocity of anomalies forms a quantitative basis for estimating exploration risk. This is a rational basis for estimating changes of success based on technology and not on presumed statistical distributions.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #91030©1988 AAPG Annual Convention, Houston, Texas, 20-23 March 1988.