Reprocessing 3D seismic data for prestack inversion and attribute interpretation, Fort Worth Basin, Jean, Texas

Abstract

Oil and gas has been produced from the Ordovician to Permian age rocks of the Fort Worth Basin and Bend Arch since the early 1900's. However, with the resurgence of exploration, attributed to new drilling and completion technologies and new 3D seismic imaging capabilities, we are discovering that these ‘old’ plays are being given new life. The purpose of this study is to use state-of-the-art 3D seismic processing and interpretation tools to bring a modern perspective to legacy data. Having access to a relatively small 3D seismic survey, 10 sq. mi, acquired in the early 1990's and a number of wells within the adjacent area, we reprocessed the raw shot gathers with a modern workflow. With careful attention to velocity analysis, techniques for preserving the frequency content while mitigating noise, a prestack Kirchhoff migration algorithm and an abundance of time, we show improved seismic image quality thus boosting the interpretability of the data. The primary reflectors of interest are representative of Pennsylvanian fluvial-deltaic sandstone and conglomerate and the Strawn formation carbonate reefs. We used geometric attributes to assist in the development of a stratigraphic and structural framework and a prestack simultaneous inversion to indicate porosity. The data are scrutinized not only in the time domain, but also in the frequency domain identifying spectral components showing potential low frequency hydrocarbon zones.

AAPG Datapages/Search and Discovery Article #90221 © 2015 Mid-Continent Section, Tulsa, Oklahoma, October 4-6, 2015