--> Seismic Reservoir Characterization of Utica-Point Pleasant Shale With Efforts at Quantitative Interpretation – A Case Study

AAPG ACE 2018

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Seismic Reservoir Characterization of Utica-Point Pleasant Shale With Efforts at Quantitative Interpretation – A Case Study

Satinder Chopra1, Ritesh Sharma1, M.Hossein Nemati3, James Keay2


1Reservoir Services, Arcis Seismic Solutions, TGS, Calgary, AB, Canada.
2GPS, TGS, Houston, Houston, TX, United States.
3TGS, Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.


July 23 - 25, 2018 – AAPG ACE 2018,

Posted: July 23-25, 2018

Abstract

Utica shale is one of the major source rocks in Ohio and extends across much of eastern US. Its organic richness, high content of calcite, and development of extensive organic porosity makes it a perfect unconventional play and has gained the attention of the oil and gas industry. The primary target zone in the Utica includes Utica, Point Pleasant, and Trenton intervals. In the present study, we attempt to identify the sweet-spots within the Point-Pleasant interval using 3D seismic data, available well data, and other relevant data. This has been done by way of organic richness and brittleness estimation in the rock intervals.

The organic richness is determined through TOC content which is derived by transforming the inverted density volume. The core-log petrophysical modeling provides the necessary relationship for doing so.

The brittleness is derived using rock-physics parameters such as Young’s modulus and Poisson’s ratio. Deterministic simultaneous inversion along with a neural network approach are followed in order to compute rock-physics parameters and density using seismic data. We find that the Point Pleasant formation does not seem to follow the commonly followed variation in terms of low Poisson’s ratio and high Young’s modulus for brittle pockets. Instead, by restricting the values of Poisson’s ratio and examining the variation of Young’s modulus, we are able to determine the brittleness behavior within the Point Pleasant interval. Combining the brittleness behavior with the organic richness determined through the TOC content, we are able to pick sweet spots in the Point Pleasant interval.

The consistency of sweet spots identified based on the seismic data with the available production data emphasizes the integration of seismic data with all other relevant data.

AAPG Datapages/Search and Discovery Article #90323 ©2018 AAPG Annual Convention and Exhibition, Salt Lake City, Utah, May 20-23, 2018