"Progressive Seismic Data Mining for Reservoir Characterization "
Date: Thursday, November 7, 2002
Place: Westchase Hilton, 9999 Westheimer
Time: Social 5:30 p.m., Dinner 6:30 p.m.
Recent years have seen remarkable technological advances in seismic data acquisition and processing. It is now commonplace for marine vessels to acquire a terrabyte of 3D seismic data per day and for some of the larger data processing centers to achieve daily throughput in excess of 10Terrabytes of seismic data. These exponential increases in available data represent huge data management and data interpretation challenges to our industry.
There are clear similarities between the seismic exploration industry and the Internet in terms of the volume of information that is available for analysis; it therefore makes perfect sense to deploy data mining tools and methodologies developed for other industries to address the needs of the oil and gas exploration business.
“Data mining is a process that uses a variety of data analysis tools to discover patterns and relationships in data that may be used to make valid predictions” (Two Crows Corp.). The analysis data employed for gas exploration in this study are seismic attributes, and the data enrichment process employs a neural network classification scheme.
Seismic attributes are a specific class of mathematical constructs of the propagated seismic wavefield. However, many attributes are simple numerical derivatives that provide little additional discrimination, from one to the other. The primary goal of the data mining exercise is to establish appropriate seismic attributes that, in combination, afford the maximum discrimination of hydrocarbon indicators.
The phased workflow represents a progressive information enrichment process. The initial phase, conducted in the absence of well data, generates attributes appropriate for the prospects being mined. The attributes are next organized using statistical tools to select those affording the appropriate discrimination. The next phase organizes the multi-attribute response into a manageable set of discriminating classes thereby enriching the information content concealed in the attributes. Final phases seek to extract knowledge from the classification by calibration to known prospectivity determined from well data, yielding such properties as lithology, porosity and fluids.
Each phase delivers a data product in its own right, so the seismic data miner can select the appropriate number of phases for the task at hand.
The seismic data mining workflow is applied to multiple seismic attribute volumes calculated from a 3D dataset acquired on behalf of Forest Oil Corporation over the Ibhubesi Field in the Orange River Basin, RSA.
Biographical Sketch:
M. Turhan (Tury) Taner Senior Vice President, Chief Geophysicist of Rock Solid Images
Dr. Taner is one of our industry’s best-known and most respected figures. He graduated from Technical University of Istanbul in 1950 with a Diplome-Engineer degree (Master of Science) in Structural Engineering. In 1953 he attended the University of Minnesota to continue his studies in engineering mechanics. In 1991, he received an Honorary Doctorate in Geophysics from Technical University of Istanbul.
In 1959, Dr. Taner co-founded Scientific Computers Inc., and in 1962 along with Mr. Kelso and Dr. Koehler founded and served as the Chairman and the Director of Research of the multinational geophysical company Seiscom-Delta. In July 1980 he founded Seismic Research Corporation, dedicated to developing advanced data processing technology. This company merged in 1998 with Petrosoft and Discovery Bay Company to form Rock Solid Images.
Dr. Taner co-authored numerous papers with his associate Dr. Koehler, covering subjects such as velocity computation, wavelet estimation and shaping, seismic attributes, special band pass filters, reflection and refraction statics computation methods, high resolution wave equation time and depth migration, plane wave processing and imaging systems, multi-channel deconvolution, etc. The paper on seismic velocity computation has been recognized and reprinted by Geophysics as a classical paper. Dr. Taner is an Honorary member of the Society of Exploration Geophysics and Geophysical Society of Houston. He is the recipient of the 1993 Maurice Ewing Gold Medal of the SEG and is also a member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, European Association of Exploration Geophysicists, and Institute of Electrical Engineers. In 1995 Dr. Taner in recognition for his lifetime of achievement in science and geophysics received AGIP’s 1995 Technological Achievement Award. The EAGE awarded Dr. Taner a lifetime honorary membership in June of 1999.
Dr. Taner in 1988 was appointed to the Geology and Geophysics Department of Rice University where he presently serves as an Adjunct Professor.
"Geopressure and Seismic Estimation of Enhanced Reservoir Quality-Subsalt Analogs" Author: Dr. Norman S. Neidell, N. S. Neidell and Associates, Houston, Texas
Date: Monday, November 11, 2002
Place: Westchase Hilton, 9999 Westheimer
Time: Social 5:30 p.m., Dinner 6:30 p.m.
Abstract:
Seismic data are now used quite often to detect abnormal subsurface pressure. Findings are then employed to design casing and mud-weight programs that facilitate drilling. It is also known that the long-term presence of geopressure can cause changes in rocks that affect their properties as well as those of the core fluids. Research is progressing in this area involving principally geochemistry and well logs.
It is also recognized that reservoirs beneath salt can represent favorable circumstances but also present formidable problems with seismic imaging. Here we note the possibility of analogously favorable reservoirs, but now associated with geopressure further favors having the possibility of seismic detection in advance of the drill.
First, a pressured reaction (especially shale) can constitute a formidable barrier to hydrocarbon leakage much as the case with overlying salt. Next, just as salt having high thermal conductivity more efficiently cools a section below, so thermal eddy currents could produce a similar effect. One obvious consequence of cooling is to slow down processes that destroy porosity and permeability and also affect hydrocarbon maturation which forms oil and ultimately cooks it to carbon.
Lastly, the force driving the upward movement of salt layer bedded from a redirection of the overburden forces squeezing down on the mobile salt. “Squeezing” water from an overpressured zone or leakage may cause similar compaction shielding, also possibly enhancing reservoir quality. Because the case of enhancement associated with geopressure is usually more amenable to seismic imaging, detection and assessment can be accomplished more readily than in the case of sub-salt, particularly if some well control or prior information is available. A case study from offshore Texas predicting and validating such enhancement is discussed.
Biographical Sketch:
Dr. Norman S. Neidell received a BS in mathematics from New York University, a postgraduate degree in applied geophysics from Imperial College, and a PhD in geodesy and geophysics from Cambridge University. He acquired basic experience with Gulf Oil and Seiscom-Delta, and then undertook independent ventures and consulting in 1971. His special interests include seismic stratigraphy, reservoir definition, and imaging technology.
Dr. Neidell co-founded Geoquest International and Geoquest System (a Schlumberger company) and Zenith Exploration Co. serving as its President and Chief Executive Officer. He also co-founded Gandalf Explorers Intl. Ltd, which later became MMS Petroleum PLC and ultimately Ramco Energy in 1998. He formed a new company, Wavefield Image, to exploit his interests in new methods of high-resolution seismic imaging. Wavefield Image merged with Zydeco Energy, an offshore exploration company. Dr. Neidell resumed his consulting practice in 1999.
He was Adjunct Professor in the geology department at the University of Houston. Dr. Neidell is a Past President and Honorary Member of the Geophysical Society of Houston (GSH), a Distinguished Lecturer for the SEG and an Honorary Life Member, a Past Associate Editor of Geophysics, and a member of several AAPG and SEG committees. He lectures in continuing education programs for the AAPG, SEG, and SPE as well as several universities.
Mr. Dale Bird, president of the University of Houston Geological Alumni Association (UHGAA) will MC. Dr. John F. Casey, Department of Geosciences Chairman, will give an overview of current activities at UH. There will be posters and presentations on current thesis and dissertation research activities of UH graduate students.
Come and meet the next generation of geoscientists from UH.
The Robert E. Sheriff Lecture Series was initiated in 1999 by the UHGAA. For the past three years it has been co-sponsored by the International Explorationists Group of the Houston Geological Society. The series honors Dr. Sheriff as an educator, scholar, and a proponent for the geosciences. Its mission is to
"Kwanza Arcana: a new look at Angolan salt tectonics, tectonostratigraphy, and differential uplift"
Date: Monday, November 18, 2002
Place: Westchase Hilton, 9999 Westheimer
Time: Social 5:30 p.m., Dinner 6:30 p.m.
Abstract:
We highlight results of a three-year research project on two basins: the Inner Kwanza Basin (IKB, onshore) and the Outer Kwanza Basin (OKB, offshore). The best-known region is the extensional province on the continental shelf, which has been intensively explored for its Albian reservoirs. To appreciate the entire Kwanza system, we focused instead on its lesser known, more arcane, regions. One such obscure region is obviously the deep-water and ultradeep-water frontiers of the OKB, now being explored. The other region is the IKB, which is mysterious not because it is new to exploration but because it is old; it has not been explored for several decades.
The Kwanza region had a far more complex history than might be expected on a passive margin. The following themes illustrate these complexities and surprises.
Biographical Sketch:
Martin P. A. Jackson is a Senior Research Scientist at the Bureau of Economic Geology, The University of Texas at Austin, where he heads the Applied Geodynamics Laboratory, an industry-supported research consortium on salt tectonics. He received Bachelors degrees from the University of London and a Ph.D. from the University of Cape Town. His early career interests included lunar structures, mineral exploration, and Precambrian geology. He has published widely on structural geology and salt tectonics. Honors include AAPG’s Sproule Award, Matson Award, and Dott Award, AAPG Distinguished Lecturer, lecturer in AAPG’s School of Structural Geology, and Associate Editorship of AAPG Bulletin and GSA Bulletin. His current research focuses on the West African margin, especially salt-related structural traps in deepwater.
Poster Session titles
"Future Colors of Energy",
Energy demand and the search for energy sources will also continue to dominate world geopolitics.
Date: Wednesday, November 20, 2002
Place: Petroleum Club, 800 Bell Avenue, Downtown
Time: Social 11:15 a.m., Lunch 11:45 a.m.
In early 2000 we published The Color Of Oil, which went on to become a national best seller on the subject of energy. The book used colors to symbolize the various important aspects of the energy enterprise and, among other things, it pointed out that at the start of the new millennium, energy consumption has replaced industrialization as the national trait that separates rich from poor countries. Our conclusion was that the energy industry ultimately deserved the color Purple, that of the imperial cloak: it will stay around and will dominate for a long time.
Energy consumption will continue to increase and conservation, while it evokes warm sentiments, has never really played a role in cutting total energy consumption. Conservation always addresses the old rather than the new. Energy for the world has been a particularly dynamic process. Energy consumption per dollar of the gross domestic product (GDP) has declined steadily for almost a century and, in spite of their differences in geography and culture, developed nations such as the United States, Europe, and Japan use today roughly the same amount of energy per dollar of their GDP. Even more important is that the dominant fuel has changed from wood, to coal, to oil and, now emerging, natural gas, which will eventually be replaced by hydrogen. The latter, in all likelihood, will be extracted for centuries from hydrocarbons, mostly natural gas.
This de-carbonization of fuels is not just motivated by environmental concerns, which are considerable, but instead it is a historical imperative, tracing the development of more refined, more efficient fuels and the “miniaturization” of the engines of our economy and industry. While energy consumption has been going up the engines of modern society have become smaller, more focused, and more individualistic. Gases in this transformation are superior to liquids and certainly far superior to solids.
The foreseeable future will be dominated by fuel cells, which will be first stationary home units, then micro-engines, and eventually take over the biggest prize of all, mobile engines. Fuels cells will do to the internal combustion engine what it did to the steam engine a century ago. Change of fuels goes with the change of engines. The technological transformation for the society will be nothing short of revolutionary. The economic impact will be in the trillions of dollars.
It is, thus, ironic that politicians the world over try to stem the torrent of energy needs and changes with small dikes of protectionist politics and legislations, in vain attempts to bolster passé energy forms such as coal. Even more outlandish are environmentalist ideologues, who inundated by anachronistic notions of social conflict, propose highly inadequate solutions such as solar and wind energies, or take even more destructive postures without regard to the importance that energy plays on the workings of a modern society. None is more insidious than the rhetoric about global warming and the preposterous claims of its anthropogenic nature. In any case the transformation we envision surely should quiet any such silliness.
We examine here a prudent and constructive national and international energy policy, one that is free of strident and non-constructive government regulation and one that will contain a number of pillars. These will include a full throttle effort toward deepwater petroleum, a “trillion-dollar” idea, with emphasis on natural gas. Liquid natural gas (LNG) and a new variant, compressed natural gas (CNG), will serve to ameliorate economical production deficiencies among large energy ‚consumers by opening up the practically infinite worldwide supply of natural gas and the huge diversity of its sources.
Energy demand and the search for energy sources will also continue to dominate world geopolitics. The transition to natural gas will serve actually to soften future global friction between the current lone superpower, the United States, and China, the superpower-in-the-making. The diversity and volumes of the fuel stand in stark contrast to the concentration of oil resources and the geopolitical vulnerabilities that they breed for all nations.
There is one thing that is certain. Future energy will be colorful and, in turn, will continue to color all facets of human activity and industry.
Biographical Sketch:
Michael J. Economides is University Professor at the Cullen College of Engineering, University of Houston. Before that he served in senior academic positions both in the USA and abroad.
He has had multi-national industrial experience with a major service company and does a wide variety of industrial consulting. Publications include authoring or co-authoring 10 technical textbooks and almost 200 journal papers and articles. He has had professional activities in over 70 countries. In addition to his technical interests, he has written extensively in wide-circulation media on a broad range of issues associated with energy and geopolitical issues.