Petrel 2014 Quantitative

Interpretation
Module 1: Rock physics
Target Audience & Pre requisites

This training assumes that attendees have experience working

with Petrel and familiarity with AVO concepts and fluid
substitution as used in E & P subsurface workflows
Have completed training courses or a have a good working
knowledge of the concepts taught in
 Petrel Seismic Well Tie or Petrel Geophysics course or equivalent
 Petrel Property Modeling Course especially familiarity with geostatistics
Learning objectives
After completing this module, you will know
 the global QI workflow and the link between the processes
 some basic rock physics concepts
 how to set up and run a rock physics study to
– estimate elastic parameters
– perform fluid substitution modeling
– perform shear property estimation from P wave velocity logs
– perform log blocking by using Backus averaging
 how to crossplot results for analysis
Lesson 1: The Quantitative Interpretation global workflow
What is Quantitative Interpretation?

 Quantitative Interpretation
involves the transformation of
seismic attributes (primarily, but
not exclusively, amplitudes) into
physical quantities that can be
related to rock properties.
 Quantitative Interpretation seeks
to make specific predictions
about quantities such as
lithology, pore fill, reservoir
quality, and distribution.
Different tasks performed at different stages
The QI workflow
Lesson 1: Introduction to Rock Physics
What is rock physics?

Rock physics uses the principles of physics to establish

relationships between fundamental rock and fluid properties and
seismically observable quantities such as the speed with which
seismic waves travel, and why and how they reflect.
Lithology and fluid content versus rock properties

 Two fundamental rock

properties: Acoustic
impedance and
Poisson’s ratio
 Different values for
different lithologies
Seismic reflectivity and rock properties

 Two reflections: Hard-soft

shale and hard shale-gas
sand
 Similar decrease in AI but
different change in PR
 A way to discriminate two
similar seismic reflections
Lithology and fluid content versus rock properties

AI vs. PR for a real data

Background
shales and wet
example
sands

Gas sand
Lesson 2: Rock physics review
Rock physics review

 What causes reflections

 Different modes or propagation: P waves and S waves
 Velocity relationships
 Definitions of some important elastic moduli
 Fluid substitution
 Formula mixing
 Impact of saturation
 Empirical rock property relationships
Basic seismic experiment

Shot Receivers
Depth

r1v1

r2v2 Impedance contrast causes

energy to be reflected
Time
Reflections
Offset
Acoustic impedance AI = density r* velocity V
> Change in velocity or density causes reflections
Density

grains pore space

 

rb is the bulk density

rM is the density of the matrix
rw and rHC are the densities of the brine and hydrocarbons in the pores
f is the porosity or the fractional part of the rock that is pore space
Modes of wave propagation: P waves and S waves

 P wave mode: Particle motion along the

direction of travel (Compression)
 Shear mode: Motion perpendicular to the
direction of travel (Shear motion) > Slow
P wave and S wave velocity relationships

P wave velocity S wave velocity

   

K (bulk modulus): rock deformation to a

compressional stress Elastic moduli
m (shear modulus): rock deformation to a shear
stress, not influenced by pore fluid
r is the density
Elastic constants: Poisson’s ratio

DL/L is the longitudinal strain

Dh/h is the transverse strain
s is Poisson’s ratio

 
Elastic constants: Shear modulus or rigidity

ss is the shear strain

DY/X is the proportional deformation
m is the shear modulus also called the
rigidity
r   is the density
 
Some typical published values for m are
 smectite 7.5 GPa  or
 quartz 45.0 GPa

 dolomite 45.0 GPa

Elastic constants: Young’s modulus

 sis the stress expressed as a pressure

l
DL/L is the fractional change in length
E is Young’s Modulus

is the Poisson’s ratio

 
� is the Shear modulus
or
Quartz: 95.8 GPa
E=
Dolomite 116.6 GPa
Elastic constants: Bulk modulus or incompressibility

  For sx=sy=sz=P

 
or
K =  

P is the confining pressure

DV/V is the fractional change in volume
K is the bulk modulus also referred to as the incompressibility

r   is the density

Quartz 36.6 GPa Kgas = 0.0435 GPa
Dolomite 94.9 GPa Koil = 0.3922 GPa
Kwater = 2.68 GPa
Elastic constants: Lame’s constant l

l= K - (2/3) m
K = bulk modulus
M = shear modulus
 l is used to evaluate lithology and fluid changes
 m is relatively insensitive to fluid changes, whereas l is
because of its dependence on the bulk modulus. 
 The use of l and m in seismic analysis was introduced by
Goodway, et al, in 1997.
Fluid substitution: Gassmann’s equation
Vp is the P wave velocity
r is the density
K is the bulk modulus
m is the shear modulus
f is the porosity
 
 

 Ksat, the bulk modulus of  Gassman’s formula tells us how this is

the saturated rock calculated if the fluids are different.
 dry, m, and fl refer to the dry frame (rock with
empty pores), the mineral that makes up the
frame, and the fluid in the pores
Gassmann assumptions

These key assumptions underlie Gassmann’s equation:

 The rock is elastically isotropic and homogeneous.
 The pore space is in perfect communication.
 The pore fluid is frictionless and there is
no coupling between the rock and fluids.
 The rock and fluids can be characterized
by single bulk moduli and densities.
Fluid substitution steps

 1. Use the formula for the shear velocity to calculate m  

 
2. Calculate Ksat

 
3. Calculate Kdry from Ksat

4. Use published values for Km, Kfluid1

5. Recalculate  Ksat for a new fluid with Kfluid2

 
6. Calculate the new bulk density
7. Calculate the new
Mixing formulas

 Gassmann’s equation assumes that

the fluids and the rock frame are
represented by single values for the
densities and the bulk moduli.
 For mineral mixtures (for example
residual brine in hydrocarbon), two
methods give lower (Reuss method)
and upper (Voigt method) bounds for
the actual value, and they often are
averaged together to give the Hill
average.

.
Reuss average

The Reuss average uses the harmonic mean:

 

 Ki and are the bulk moduli and fractional amounts for the
different parts that constitute the mixture.
 Additional terms are added to the right side of the equation if
there are more than two components in the mixture.
 The Reuss average is the appropriate formula to use for fluid
mixtures where the individual fluid phases are in perfect hydraulic
communication.
Voigt average

The Voigt average uses an arithmetic average:

 

 Ki and are the bulk moduli and fractional amounts for the
different parts that constitute the mixture.
 Additional terms are added to the right side of the equation if
there are more than two components in the mixture.
Saturation effects

Using Gassmann’s formula, we can investigate the effect of the introduction of oil/gas on
P wave and S wave velocities.

Gas saturation effect in a porous uncompacted rock is good to differentiate fluid from
lithology change but possible shallow gas effect.
Empirical relationships

 Several empirical relationships have been derived over the years that
relate density to P wave velocity and P wave to S wave velocities.
 These relationships are useful when actual measurements are
unavailable (specific logs not run, poor log quality, old wells).
 These relationships also can be useful for modeling studies in areas far
away from well control or in basins where there might be no well
control and velocity information is available only from seismic data.

But they should be calibrated if there is relevant data!

Empirical relationships: Velocity-Density

Gardner, Gardner, and Gregory relationship (1974) relates P wave

velocity to density through the formula:

 Density is in grams/cc.
 Velocity is in meter per second.
 The constant 0.31 depends on the units being used.
 The relationship was derived for clastic sediments that were brine
filled.
Castagna mudrock for Vp-Vs

An early relationship published by Castagna (Geophysics,

1985) from work at ARCO relates Vp to Vs. It is referred to as
the Castagna or Arco mudrock line.

This relationship was derived from water saturated sands,

shales, and siltstones.
Castagna Greenburg Vp - Vs

 Castagna’s work was extended with additional data (1992).

 Relationships were derived for sands, shales, limestones, and
dolomites.
 These results are known as the Greenberg and Castagna
relationships.

Note: Any porosity is assumed brine filled.

Lesson 3: Rock physics workflow
Rock physics workflow
Lesson 4: Basic rock physics studies
Set up a rock physics study (1)

2
Note: Velocity or transit time
3
curves can be used as input.
Set up a rock physics study (2)

Note: Acoustic impedance, shear

impedance, the Vp/Vs ratio, Poisson’s
ratio, lambda-rho, and mu-rho are
common choices for fluid-related seismic
studies.
Output locations

Output is located in three places

 Global well logs > Study name (1)
1
 Well folder > Well logs subfolder >

Study name (2)

 Well subfolder > Rock physics

studies (3)

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Display the results in a Well section window

The input and output for the

study are displayed in the
Well section window.
You can customize the
display by clicking the
Template settings icon.
Edit the results of a rock physics study

OR
Crossplot elastic property estimates (1)

Crossplotting rock properties is a way to assess if a given rock property can discriminate
subsurface features of interest usefully, such as specific lithology types or pore fill (brine,
oil, or gas).

1 2

The selections populate the Available objects section.

Crossplot elastic property estimates (2)

The selected properties appear in the Crossplot window and can be

compared with Rock Physics templates.

?
?
Create classifications (1)

To link the area of the crossplot with the logs in the Well section window,
you must create Selections from the crossplot display and Classifications
that you use to display the selection in the Well section window.

?
Create classifications (2)

Edit the polygon selection to see

the effect on different parts of
the crossplot.

3
Create classifications (3)

Edit the polygon selection to see

the effect on different parts of
the crossplot.
Create 3D crossplots

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3

4
Exercise 1 and Exercise 2

 Set up a Rock Physics study.

 Display the results in a well section.
 Display the results in a Crossplot window and create a
classification.
Lesson 5: Fluid substitutions in rock
physics
Fluid substitution

When exploring for hydrocarbons, a key question is often asked:

What would the log and seismic response be if the pore fill in a particular sand
was different?
If you have a gas reservoir, we might want to see what the brine filled response
would be, or vice versa, and what the response would be to oil and different GOR
scenarios using Gassmann’s equations.
 Perform fluid substitutions (1)

2
3
There are three options:
4
 Fluid substitution: Substitutes one
5 type of pore fluid for another
 Inverse relation: Calculates the dry
response from the saturated logs
6
 Simple relation: Calculates the
saturated response from the dry
response
Perform fluid substitutions (2)

Select P wave velocity sat, S

wave velocity sat, and Density
sat to calculate new seismic and
AVO synthetics for these cases
and observe differences in the
seismic response. 7
Perform fluid substitutions (3)

If the matrix has mixed mineralogy, you can select several minerals. Enter the
mineral fractions manually or, if available, use mineral fraction logs. To use logs to
specify the mineral fraction, select the Use mineral fraction logs check box.
If more than one mineralogy is present, select the mixing method to be used.
8

Note: Remember, the Hill method calculates the average of the Voigt and Reuss
methods.
Perform fluid substitutions (4)

There are three sections on the Reservoir

conditions tab:
 Fluid saturation describes the Measured
10
conditions (left) and the Modeled conditions
(right). You can specify the mixing method and
whether to allow saturation logs to be used.
 In Reservoir properties, you enter the

pressure and temperature of the measured

and modeled reservoir.
 In Fluid properties, you specify the fluid

properties for the gas, oil, and brine fractions.

Perform fluid substitutions (5)

Entries appear in the Input tree

under Global well logs, the Rock
physics studies folder, and the
Well that contains entries for the
fluid substituted logs as entries.
Set a depth range (1)

In the Well section window, click at the top of the depth range and hold
down the mouse button. Slide the cursor to the bottom of the depth range
and release it.
1

2 3

4
Set a depth range (2)

The depth range appears as an entry in the tree under Filters. It can
be entered into the Depth range window.

5
Exercise

 Perform fluid substitution with different scenarios.

 Test the effect of GOR and oil gravity on the results.
 Compare the results in a Well section window.
Lesson 6: Shear velocity estimation from
empirical relationships
Shear velocity estimation – Why ?

 Not all wells have full log suites; often, older wells do not have the
shear logs that are necessary to estimate S wave velocity values
to model potential AVO behavior.
 Much work has been done to study the relationship between P
wave and S wave velocities, and many companies have their own
proprietary regressions.
 Two sets of commonly used results were developed by Castagna
at Arco (Castagna et al, 1985) and later extended by Castagna
and Greenberg (Greenberg and Castagna, 1992).
Estimate shear velocities from P wave velocities

1
2
3

Note: Transit time or velocity

logs are acceptable input.

5 6
Exercise

 Run a shear velocity estimation using the existing Vp log.

 Compare the result with the existing shear log.
Lesson 7: Log blocking Backus workflow
Log blocking Backus: Background (1)

 Backus (1962) studied the effects of small scale layering on the

velocity of sound waves where the wavelength of the waves is
much larger than the individual layer thickness.
 He derived results that allow you to calculate the effective
velocity of such waves by averaging the properties of the
thinner layers.
 The method effectively replaces the many thin layers with a
thicker (anisotropic) layer whose properties are equivalent as
far as a long wavelength seismic pulse is concerned.
Log blocking Backus: Background (2)

 Backus averaging can be useful when you want to remove fine scale
detail from well logs, especially where the detail is well below seismic
resolution.
 Because of the layering, the resulting average layers are anisotropic
and the associated Thomsen parameters also can be calculated.
 This method has many applications, for example, when you want to
have a simplified log for seismic modeling. It also can be useful for
creating blocked logs to be used in wedge models (see later in the
course).
Run the Log blocking Backus workflow (1)

2
3

5
Run the Log blocking Backus workflow (2)

 A blocking log is used to define the major units. These units or blocks are
defined by recursive median filtering of this log and then by picking the largest
discontinuities in the filtered log.
 These units then are averaged with the Backus formula. Additional user-
selected parameters are
- Blocking factor: Specified as a fraction. The number of blocks picked is
equal to the Blocking factor times the number of input samples.
- Minimum thickness: Redefines the blocks to remove those that are
thinner than the minimum thickness specified.
 The output consists of the blocked logs and Thomsen anisotropies (delta,
epsilon, and gamma) for the blocks.
Run the Log blocking Backus workflow (3)

6
Exercise

 Perform Backus log blocking.

 Compare the results with the input logs.
 Adjust the parameters to get the best fit.
Summary

In this module you learned how to run the various different operations in
the Rock Physics module and display and interactively cross plot results
to visualize the Rock Physics relationships.
You performed these specific operations:
 Elastic parameter estimation
 Fluid substitution
 Shear velocity calculation
 Log blocking Backus
You also learned some basic theory regarding elastic moduli, empirical
Rock Physics relations, and Gassmann fluid substitution.