4D Feasibility Study

• The type of 4D signal that the rock/fluid change will generate
• If the signal is detectable above the noise
• What is the most realistic 4D response

The synthesis may either be based on a zero-dimensional rock physics model, or based on 3D reservoir simulator predictions of reservoir conditions. The initial step in the process is to build a rock physics model of the reservoir and then investigate the uncertainty of the model to variations in reservoir parameters such as saturation and pressure. Successful 4D studies aim to create increased production and significant cost savings due to better planning of production and injection wells and increased understanding of reservoir characteristics.

Typically feasibility studies include the following steps:

Establish the reservoir objective that 4D technology must address to be of value to the asset team

Collect, QC, and validate seismic and log data, including data volumes, attributes, horizon surfaces, fault planes, well picks, petrophysical analyses, and others

Analysis of well logs

Seismic Well Tie Analysis and Wavelet Extraction

Forward Property Modeling predicts the pre-stack acoustic response of a seismic trace to changes in the rock physics model through the exact Zoepritz formulation or full waveform model.