Print this pageSeismic Amplitude Analysis: A Driver for Deep Water Hydrocarbon Exploration in the Eastern Niger Delta - Examples from the Zafiro Field Area, Equatorial Guinea
STEPHENS, ANDREW R., 
GENE
D. MONSON, and JOSEPH M. REILLY
The Zafiro Oil Field, located in Licence Area B, offshore Equatorial Guinea, was discovered by Mobil and partners United Meridian Corporation (UMC) in March 1995. The Field has been the subject of a "fast track" development program and first production was achieved on 25th August 1996. The oil bearing formations in the general area are Late Miocene to Early Pliocene in age and were deposited in a deep water setting on the eastern slope of the Niger Delta by a range of depositional processes that include slumps, debris flows and turbidity currents. In such settings, reservoir prediction and mapping are extremely difficult to accomplish.
Working with an 850 square kilometer 3D seismic survey, Mobil and its partners have utilized amplitude versus offset (AVO) techniques, workstation- based amplitude extraction, together with other attribute analysis and 3D visualization techniques to identify reservoir trends and fluid contacts in the Zafiro Field and surrounding areas. The spatial relationships of the amplitude packages are providing significant insight into the temporal variations in the depositional processes in the Zafiro Area. It is anticipated that these observations will improve our understanding of deep water depositional systems.