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Richard B. Aram1,
Dan C. Boatwright1
(1) Phillips Petroleum Company, Bartlesville, OK
Abstract: Out of the organic soup and into the workstation:
interpreting
geochemical data in the digital world
Digital databases and modern workstations have allowed us to
interpret huge amounts of data and to better integrate them with different
kinds of information. Incorporation of geochemical data into digital
interpretation has lagged behind that of seismic or well log data, but offers
many great opportunities for improved interpretation.
Traditionally, geochemical data have been provided in
massive paper reports with countless pages of numbers and wiggly lines. It is
very difficult to relate the geochemical data to each other, to stratigraphy,
to other data types, or between different wells when it is presented in paper
reports.
The modern workstation offers solutions to visualize,
integrate, and interpret these types of data. We have loaded geochemical data
to Landmark OpenWorks databases as pseudo well log curves. This enables the
geoscientists to easily select, display, and visualize huge amounts of
geochemical data. Individual well displays can be built that integrate any
geochemical data with stratigraphic tops, well logs, synthetic seismograms,
pressure data, casing points and other relevant drilling data. Regional changes
in source rock characteristics can be recognized easily by building correlation
sections or maps. Cross-plotting or mathematical manipulation of the data can
also be easily performed.
This method of interpreting geochemical data within the
geologists' interpretation system makes it far more likely that the data will
be used, and that it will be fully integrated with all available geoscience
data
. It also improves communication between the geoscientist and the
geochemist because of the powerful visualization capability.
AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90914©2000 AAPG Annual Convention, New Orleans, Louisiana