Lecture 7

Synthetic Trace

Time (ms)
Depth

FWSchroeder
Courtesy of ExxonMobil ‘06
L 7 – Well-Seismic 1
Outline

 Objectives of the seismic - well tie

 What is a good well-seismic tie?
 Comparing well with seismic data
 Preparing well data
 Preparing seismic data
 How to tie synthetics to seismic data.
 Pitfalls

FWSchroeder
Courtesy of ExxonMobil ‘06
L 7 – Well-Seismic 2
Objectives of Well-Seismic Ties

• Well-seismic ties allow well data,

measured in units of depth, to be
compared to seismic data, Synthetic Trace
measured in units of time

• This allows us to relate horizon tops

identified in a well with specific
reflections on the seismic section

• We use sonic and density well logs

to generate a synthetic seismic
trace

• The synthetic trace is compared to

the real seismic data collected near
the well location

FWSchroeder
Courtesy of ExxonMobil ‘06
L 7 – Well-Seismic 3
Purposes for Well-Seismic Ties & Quality

Business Accuracy Seismic Example

Stage Required Quality Application
Required
Within a few Poor/fair • Mapping and
Regional cycles tying a regional
Mapping flooding surface
across a basin
Exploration Within ~½ cycle • Comparing a
Good
lead to nearby
wells
• Seismic attribute
Wavelet character Very good analysis
Exploitation match
• Inversion

FWSchroeder
Courtesy of ExxonMobil ‘06
L 7 – Well-Seismic 4
Measurements In Time and In Depth

Seismic - Time Units Log - Depth Units

Surface SHOT REC’R

Kelly Bushing
Elevation
Elevation

Vertical depth
Base of
Weathering
Two-way time

FWSchroeder
Courtesy of ExxonMobil ‘06
L 7 – Well-Seismic 5
Comparison of Seismic and Well Data

Seismic Data Well Data

• Samples area and volume • Samples point along well bore
• Low frequency 5 - 60 Hz • High frequency, 10,000 - 20,000 Hz
• Vertical resolution 15 - 100 m • Vertical resolution 2 cm - 2 m
• Horizontal resolution 150 - 1000 m • Horizontal resolution 0.5 cm - 6 m
• Measures seismic amplitude, • Measures vertical velocity, density,
phase, continuity, horizontal & resistivity, radioactivity, SP, rock
vertical velocities and fluid properties from cores
• Time measurement • Depth measurement
100 m

100 m

FWSchroeder
Courtesy of ExxonMobil ‘06
L 7 – Well-Seismic 6
Seismic-Well Tie Flow-Chart

Seismic Data Real Seismic

Data Processing
Trace

Estimate
Pulse

External Well -
Well -
Pulse Seismic Tie
Seismic Tie

Well Data Seismic Synthetic Seismic

Data Processing Modeling Trace

Check Shots/
Time Depth
Information

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Courtesy of ExxonMobil ‘06
L 7 – Well-Seismic 7
Check Shot Data

Check shots measure the vertical

one-way time from surface to
Seismic Shot
various depths (geophone
positions) within the well

Depth
– Used to determine start time of
top of well-log curves

– Used to calibrate the

Borehole
relationship between well
Geophone
depths and times calculated
from a sonic log

FWSchroeder
Courtesy of ExxonMobil ‘06
L 7 – Well-Seismic 8
Pulses Types

Two options for defining the pulse:

A. Use software that estimates the
pulse based on a ‘window’ of the
real seismic data at the well Known Pulse Shapes
(recommended)
Minimum Zero Quadrature
RC
Phase Phase Phase
B. Use a standard pulse shape
specifying polarity, peak frequency,
and phase:
Positive
• Minimum phase Reflection
Coefficient
• Zero phase
• Quadrature

FWSchroeder
Courtesy of ExxonMobil ‘06
L 7 – Well-Seismic 9
 The Modeling Process

Reflection
Lithology Velocity Density Impedance Wavelet Synthetic
Coefficients

Shale

  
Sand

Shale
x = *
Sand

Shale

• We ‘block’ the velocity (sonic) and density logs and compute an impedance
‘log’
• We calculate the reflection coefficients at the step-changes in impedance
• We convolve our pulse with the RC series to get individual wavelets
• Each RC generates a wavelet whose amplitude is proportional to the RC
• We sum the individual wavelets to get the synthetic seismic trace

FWSchroeder
Courtesy of ExxonMobil ‘06
L 7 – Well-Seismic 10
Impact of Blocking

• For typical seismic data,

blocking on the order of Sonic
Log RC Synthetic Sonic
Log RC Synthetic
3 m (10 ft) is the - + - +
recommended minimum

• Using coarser blocking

Time (sec)
helps identify the major
stratigraphic contributors to
the peaks and troughs

Thin beds have almost no impact

due to destructive interference

Coarse Blocking Fine Blocking

FWSchroeder
Courtesy of ExxonMobil ‘06
L 7 – Well-Seismic 11
Our Example
Well A

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L 7 – Well-Seismic 12
Tying Synthetic to Seismic Data

Position of
 Position synthetic trace on seismic line.
Synthetic Trace
– Project synthetic along structural or
stratigraphic strike if well is off line

Time (ms)

FWSchroeder
Courtesy of ExxonMobil ‘06
L 7 – Well-Seismic 13
Tying Synthetic to Seismic Data

 Position synthetic trace on seismic line.

Synthetic Trace
– Project synthetic along structural or
stratigraphic strike if well is off line

 Reference datum of synthetic to seismic

data (usually ground level or seismic
datum)

Time (ms)
– Without check shots estimate start time
of first bed

FWSchroeder
Courtesy of ExxonMobil ‘06
L 7 – Well-Seismic 14
Tying Synthetic to Seismic Data

 Position synthetic trace on seismic line.

Synthetic Trace
– Project synthetic along structural or
stratigraphic strike if well is off line

 Reference datum of synthetic to seismic

data (usually ground level or seismic
datum)

Time (ms)
– Without check shots estimate start time
of first bed

 Shift synthetic in time to get the best

character tie
– Use stratigraphic info on detailed plot
to help
– determine the best fit.

FWSchroeder
Courtesy of ExxonMobil ‘06
L 7 – Well-Seismic 15
Tying Synthetic to Seismic Data

Synthetic Trace

 If justified, shift synthetic laterally

several traces to get the best character
tie

 Character tie is more important than

Time (ms)
time tie
– We can use a cross-correlation
coefficient as a measure of the
quality of the character tie

FWSchroeder
Courtesy of ExxonMobil ‘06
L 7 – Well-Seismic 16
Tying Synthetic to Seismic Data

 Accept the tie that yields best

character tie with least time
shift in the zone of interest
(reservoir)

The top of the reservoir

should be mapped on this
peak (red)

FWSchroeder
Courtesy of ExxonMobil ‘06
L 7 – Well-Seismic 17
Assumptions for Synthetic Well Ties

Seismic Data Synthetic Seismograms

– Noise free – Blocked logs representative
of the earth sampled by the
– No multiples seismic data
– Relative amplitudes – Normal incidence reflection
are preserved coefficients
– Zero-offset section – Multiples ignored
– No transmission losses or
absorption
– Isotropic medium (vertical
and horizontal velocities are
equal)

FWSchroeder
Courtesy of ExxonMobil ‘06
L 7 – Well-Seismic 18
Common Pitfalls

 Error in well or seismic line location

 Log data quality
– washout zones, drilling-fluid invasion effects
 Seismic data quality
– noise, multiples, amplitude gain, migration, etc
 Incorrect pulse
– Polarity, frequency, and phase
– Try a different pulse; use extracted pulse
 Incorrect 1-D model
– Blocked logs, checkshots need further editing
– Incorrect start time or improper datuming
– Amplitude-Versus-Offset effects
– Bed tuning
 3-D effects not fully captured by seismic or well data
FWSchroeder
Courtesy of ExxonMobil ‘06
L 7 – Well-Seismic 19