Reliable density inversion and application in mapping reservoir heterogeneity for heavy oil in WCSB

Presented by Yong Xu

April 8th or April 10th, 2008

11:55 to 1 pm (lunch provided)

Suite 2600, 111 - 5th Ave SW

East Petro-Canada Tower

Limited seating, click here to RSVP

This is the fourth in a series of lunch & learn seminars, see the sidebar for information on the other topics.

It is well known that the bitumen bearing McMurray formation in the oil sand area is highly heterogeneous. High risks exist for SAGD projects if the reservoir heterogeneity is not understood well. As the lithology may vary from sand-dominated to mud-dominated in just a short distance, inference from core to core may not be reliable. Surface seismic, with its ability to image subsurface laterally and vertically, has the potential to help describe reservoir heterogeneity, and such applications can be found in the literature over the past decade.

Among the seismically derivable attributes, bulk density has a strong correlation with lithology in oil sand reservoirs. The density information can be extracted from pre-stack seismic data by extending commonly used AVO inversion methods, However, it is usually unreliable due to the ill-posed nature of the inverse problem. A more reliable approach is presented in this talk to overcome this issue. Its application shows the advantages over other commonly used inversion approaches in many aspects. The talk begins with a rock physics study on oil sand reservoirs from a few areas in the WCSB, and concludes with a case study to apply density inversion to solve reservoir lithological structure.

To learn more, attend the lunch & learn session on April 8th or 10th. Click here to RSVP.

This course is available as a free in-house seminar. For more information contact Florence Janzen, 781-1437 or email fjanzen@arcis.com.