Ahmad, J Geol Geosci 2013, 2:3
DOI: 10.4172/2329-6755.1000123
Open Access Review Article
Volume 2 • Issue 3 • 1000123
J Geol Geosci
ISSN: 2329-6755 JGG, an open access journal
Mitigation Exploration Risk of Jurassic Reservoir by Seismic Inversion,
Penobscot Area, Sable Sub Basin Nova Scotia, Offshore, Canada
Qadeer Ahmad*
Bahria University Islamabad, Pakistan
*Corresponding author: Qadeer Ahmad, Bahria University Islamabad, Pakistan,
E-mail: qadeer_ahmad2009@yahoo.com
Received March 14, 2013; Accepted July 26, 2013; Published July 30, 2013
Citation: Ahmad Q (2013) Mitigation Exploration Risk of Jurassic Reservoir by
Seismic Inversion, Penobscot Area, Sable Sub Basin Nova Scotia, Offshore,
Canada. J Geol Geosci 2: 123. doi: 10.4172/2329-6755.1000123
Copyright: © 2013 Ahmad Q. This is an open-access article distributed under the
terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted
use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and
source are credited.
Introduction
High exploration costs require that you achieve your target in the
frst attempt. Optimization technology innovate higher-value solutions.
Inversion is one of those techniques which mitigate the exploration risk
by reservoir prediction. It is a process of transforming impedance into
quantitative rock properties like porosity, saturation and pore pressure.
Area
Penobscot is located in the Sable Island, Sable sub basin Canada.
Te Scotian Basin lies on the North American Plate. It is a classic
passive, non-volcanic conjugate margin. It represents over 250 million
years of continuous sedimentation recording the region’s dynamic
geological history from the initial opening of the Atlantic Ocean to the
recent post-glacial deposition. It contains the lithology ranging from
Mesozoic era to Cenozoic era (Figure 1) [1].
Geology of area is complex due to presence of salt (Agro formation)
of Late Triassic to Early Jurassic age. Te source rock present in the
study area is Mohican and Verril Cannyon formation of Jurassic
age. Te reservoir rocks are the Mississauga Formation (clastic) of
Early Cretaceous age and Abenaki Formation (carbonate) of Jurassic
age (Baccaro member). Mainly trap formed in Late Jurassic to Early
Cretaceous age [2].
Inversion
Inversion is a process of calculating impedance from seismic data.
Te input data is the seismic cube. By applying inversion algorithm,
seismic data is transformed into impedance cube [3].
Basis of the calculation is the ‘convolution model. Te model
assumes that the Earth has discrete changes in impedance with
changing depth and that the seismic wavelet convolves with these
points of diferent impedance contrast to produce the seismic trace.
Te challenge that seismic inversion face is, to locate and then quantify
the impedance contrasts and then compute the impedance itself.
It provides quantitative values. Tese quantitative values, attributed
to impedance, are derived by multiplying the velocity of sound energy
in a medium by the density of the medium. Te refection coefcient
of a refecting interface can be calculated. Te value of impedance for
the medium below the refecting interface can be calculated if one
knows the impedance above the refecting interface or the refection
coefcient of the refecting interface.
Seismic inversion computed in this way is known as “recursive
inversion.” Tis is used here to identify the porosity of Jurassic reservoir [4].
Methodology and Interpretation
Te main steps in an inversion study are:
• QC of the input data.
• Generation of synthetic seismogram and extraction of the wavelet.
• Running of the inversion algorithm to generate Acoustic
impedance cube
• Well–to-seismic calibration
• Visualization and interpretation of the results in terms of reservoir
development
• By using 3D PSTM data, impedance is computed by calculating
the ‘refection coefcient’ at refecting interface
Ri = (Ii+1 - Ii) / (Ii+1 + Ii)
• Where Ii and Ii+1 are, the impedance values of the media above
and below the refection interface, respectively. Te equation above can
be inverted to produce
Ii+1 = (Ri + 1) / (1- R1) I1
• Te value of impedance for the medium below the refecting
interface can be computed if the value of impedance for the upper layer
is known, then hypothetical velocity value of upper layer is given to
calculate the impedance of upper layer until the relative impedance
calculated at the zone of interest matched with the absolute impedance
calculated from well (Figure 2).
Cross plot analysis
• Aim of cross plot analysis is to develop the relation between
impedance and porosity and indicate the separation of the producing
Study Area
Penobscot
200 km
Figure 1: Geographic map of study area.
Journal of Geology & Geosciences
J
o
u
r
n
a
l
o
f
G
e
o
l
o
g
y
&
G
e
o
p
h
y
s
i
c
s
ISSN: 2381-8719