The East Zeit Field is located in the southern region of the Gulf of Suez along the “B” trend. The Gulf of Suez, Gulf of Aqaba, and Red Sea are rift arms that make up a triple junction between the surrounding tectonic plates. The structural complexity of this area produces a three-dimensional visualization problem for geoscientists.

This problem could probably be solved easily using reliable 3-D seismic to aid in the interpretation. In this case, 3-D seismic does not exist over the field and older vintage 2-D seismic has very limited value because of thick, shallow layers of evaporite deposits that are common in this region. Since exploration began, 28 wells have been drilled in the East Zeit Field. Most of the wells are highly deviated which adds to the difficulty of mapping the area. A state of the art workstation and software capable of displaying scattered subsurface data in 3-D and allows interactive interpretation were used to unravel the structural complexity of the field. The interpretation software programs used in this study are IESX* and GeoViz*.

Structural interpretation is based on well log data that is not regularly spaced. The log data was projected on a pseudo 3-D seismic volume and visualized in a three-dimensional cube. This allows faults and selective horizons to be analyzed using techniques similar to that of 3-D seismic. The dipmeter analysis was used to identify faults and orient fault blocks. This paper describes how 3-D visualization tools were used in the structural interpretation of the East Zeit Field.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90937©1998 AAPG Annual Convention and Exhibition, Salt Lake City, Utah