ABSTRACT: Seismic Definition of Winnipegosis Buildups in S.E. Saskatchewan

POTTS, EDWARD B., DARRYL F. METCALFE, and UGUR ERKMEN, Home Oil Company Limited, Calgary, Alberta, Canada

The Middle Devonian Winnipegosis Formation of southeast Saskatchewan has been the subject of significant exploration interest over the past six years. The definition or delineation of these carbonate complexes has historically been difficult.

The objective of this display is to highlight some of the significant aspects of seismic exploration for the Winnipegosis reefs in the Tableland, Hitchcock, and Macoun areas in southeastern Saskatchewan. Since the initial success in the Tableland 08-22-02-09 W2M well in 1986, over 60 wells have been drilled in the southern part of the Elk Point basin with mixed success. In the early stages of exploration, buildups were drilled on 2-D seismic anomalies. The inability of 2-D seismic to precisely outline these three-dimensional features resulted in numerous wells that either penetrated the reef flank or missed the feature altogether. It was hoped that the use of 3-D seismic technology would substantially decrease this risk. However, as a result of inferior applications of 3-D imaging pro esses, these expectations were not fully realized. Subsequent applications of more sophisticated 3-D migration algorithms resulted in more accurate imaging of Winnipegosis structural subtleties. In spite of this progress, the

definition of the porous area of the carbonate complex and other stratigraphic characteristics is still elusive.

The presentation demonstrates the application of improvements in seismic technology to exploration for Winnipegosis carbonate complexes. The limitations of the tool to provide stratigraphic/structural information will be discussed with 3-D examples and modeling.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #91012©1992 AAPG Annual Meeting, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, June 22-25, 1992 (2009)