Imaging the Mannville Group with 3-D Seismic and Wireline Data

Sabrina Sarzalejo and Bruce Hart
McGill University, Montreal, QC

We integrated 3-D seismic data and wireline logs to define sequence boundaries, lateral accretion surfaces and other stratigraphic features that affect heavy oil production from the Mannville Group of western Canada. In our study area, the Mannville is a complex unit formed by fluvial, estuarine and marine sediments that were deposited in the Western Canadian Foreland Basin. Five unconformities were identified and mapped, thus dividing the stratigraphic package into four sequences. Each sequence displays different seismic facies, which go from organized parallel reflections to chaotic reflection patterns. A maze of channels can be imaged, using time and horizon slices, in a unit characterized by blocky thick sands that could be interpreted as a single complex channel using wireline control alone. Other features that are seen in the seismic data appear to represent lateral accretion surfaces and single channel morphologies. Integration of 3D seismic and well logs provides information about the characteristics of stratigraphic bodies that cannot be derived with the use of well logs or seismic data alone. The techniques and concepts we illustrate here have application in heavy oil areas where SAG-D, VAPEX etc. are used as oil production technologies. In these areas it is critical to be able to image the location and morphology of the depositional features because they will determine fluid migration pathways.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90039©2005 AAPG Calgary, Alberta, June 16-19, 2005