Demystifying 4D Time-Lapse Seismic

Course Description

Why demystifying 4D Time-Lapse Seismic ?  This Technology has been around for about three decades or so, and chances are that you have come across aspects of it. 

This course aims to make you comfortable enough to perform your own 4D interpretations if you are a geophysicist, and to make you comfortable in understanding the results and using the insights appropriately if you are a geologist, petrophysicist, reservoir engineer, driller, team leader, or anything else. 

Why should you be interested in this topic ?  If your work involves field development, drilling new wells, managing the reservoir better with existing wells, and/or assessing subsurface integrity risks, then 4D seismic results can provide a full-field spatial view of reservoir dynamics following production or injection. This technology is mature for marine applications and high-porosity reservoirs, while continued progress is made in more difficult areas including onshore and lower-porosity reservoirs. 

The course aims to make you comfortable with 4D seismic. Therefore, we will discuss the 4D signatures of various production effects, starting from basic rock and fluid properties. We will tackle the role of "good" seismic acquisition and processing approaches to minimise 4D noise. Then we'll discuss a variety of 4D attributes and interpretation methods and workflows, both qualitative and quantitative. This culminates in development of one or more 4D-consistent dynamic subsurface scenarios including uncertainties. Finally, we will discuss how to link these insights to reservoir models and the process for updating these, as a basis for field development decision-making. Included are plenty of real-world examples, as well as exercises including doing your own 4D interpretations with pen and paper. 

Course Outline

Day 1 (4 hours)

- Introduction

- Fundamentals

- 4D Rock & Fluid properties

- 4D Signal

- Fluid effects

- Selected Waterflood examples around the world

- Simple exercises

Day 2 ( 4 hours)

- Fundamentals

- 4D Rock & Fluid properties

- 4D Signal - Pressure effects

- Fundamentals

- 4D Rock & Fluid properties

 - 4D Signal

- Geomechanical effects

- Fundamentals

- Noise

- 4D Acquisition & Repeatability

- Simple exercises

Day 3 (4 hours)

- Fundamentals

- Noise

- 4D Processing

- 4D Interpretation & Attributes

- Visualisation, polarities, display standards

Day 4 (4 hours)

 - Interpretation exercise, plenary

- Oil Field

- 4D Integration & Reservoir Models

- Selected case studies (on request/ local focused/ audience dependent)

Day 5 (4 hours)

- Interpretation exercise in Breakout rooms & Report-out

- Gas Field

- 4D Road Ahead, Innovation & Technology Trends

Participants’ Profile

Professionals working in or with Oil and Gas Assets, independent of their Discipline (Geophysics, Geology, Reservoir Engineering, Petrophysics, Geomechanics, etc). Students are welcome too. 

Prerequisites

None, excepts for an Oil and Gas background.

About the Instructor

After joining Shell in 1991, Jan started as Research Geophysicist in Seismic Processing. This was followed by an assignment as Quantitative Interpretation Geophysicist with emphasis on Rock Physics. This made him "tick all the boxes" when Shell UK sought a focal point to coordinate this "new technology" called 4D seismic in the late 1990's. He grabbed this opportunity with both hands, and has never regretted it.

4D seismic was here to stay. From the initial breakthrough results and extensive deployment efforts in the various diverse geologic provinces of the North Sea, he moved to the USA in the early 2010's just when the OBN revolution was starting to take place in Deepwater. This technology unlocked 4D in that setting as evidenced by a major deployment cycle within Shell. This was followed by a more general Geophysical assignment to the Middle East and its associated challenges of dealing with Land seismic.  After returning to the USA in the early 2020's he oversaw Shell's efforts to deploy 4D in hard-rock settings - with success. 

A constant throughout his whole career has been a fascination for Technological Progress and Innovation, such that 4D Data Quality kept improving just as Business Requirements grew ever more demanding. As a result, 4D seismic is as valuable today in deep/tight/hard rock reservoirs as it was 25-odd years ago in shallow/soft/high porosity reservoirs, an enormous achievement by Industry as a whole.