Young, Roger A.1, Robert D. LoPiccolo1
(1) eSeis, Inc, Houston, TX
ABSTRACT: Q-Based Pore Pressure Prediction - Slow Down and Listen to the Frequencies
It is well known that there is an easily calculable relationship between effective stress and pore pressure. There is also a clear relationship between effective stress, and frequency attenuation. These relationships form the basis for a new technique in pore pressure prediction (Q-based).
The relationship between effective stress and frequency attenuation as well as the Q-based technique for calculating pore pressure are explicated from within the context of examples from the Gulf Coast and the Gulf of Mexico. Pre- and post-drill analyses make clear the efficacy of the technique. The Gulf of Mexico example also offers a comparison with the, more-traditional, velocity-based approach.
Pore pressure prediction based on an analysis of interval velocities, as calculated from seismic moveout velocities, has enjoyed a long and not always glorious tradition; there is a strong empirical, but only a weak physical relationship between pore pressure and seismic velocity. The new, Q-based approach offers significant advantages.
AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90026©2004 AAPG Annual Meeting, Dallas, Texas, April 18-21, 2004.