Using seismic differencing analysis in CoViz 4D can highlight changes in water saturation over time to compare with water encroachment at a producing well location in the reservoir simulation model.
Permanent Reservoir Monitoring (PRM) produces large amounts of time-lapse seismic data that must be merged cohesively to procure the necessary data points that analysts need for sufficient reservoir surveillance. In order to obtain a opens in a new windowbetter understanding of the reservoir, analysts must be able to seamlessly integrate these diverse datasets into one viewing environment.
An Example of Data Integration in a PRM Environment
A 2017 opens in a new windowarticleopens PDF file details how data integration was leveraged in a PRM project in Brazil.
In the Campos Basin in Brazil, a PRM system was installed during the second phase of the Parque das Conchas (BC-10) project which consisted of several small-to-medium-sized fields. Ocean bottom cable technology was used to monitor water flood and the general movement of injected and produced fluids. Overburden integrity monitoring via time-lapse seismic was also used. At the time of the installation, this was the deepest deployment of PRM technology anywhere in the world (1600–1700 m water depth).
With the PRM system installed, four seismic surveys were acquired providing high-quality time-lapse observations for reservoir surveillance. But with these high-quality repeat monitor surveys, and rapidly delivered interpretable products, came the significant challenge of abundant and frequent data requiring integration to leverage the broader interpretation.
The Challenge of Data Integration
One of the challenges of PRM is how to smoothly and repeatedly accommodate and interpret the large volumes of incoming monitor data. The diverse and detailed types of opens in a new windowsubsurface data requiring integration include point data (e.g. pressure measurements, production data), line data (e.g. well logs, streamlines, tracers), horizon data (e.g. interpretations, attributes, bathymetry), and volumetric data (e.g. seismic volumes, dynamic flow models). Many of these datasets are collected repeatedly through time, meaning there’s a dynamic component that also needs integration.
Overall it is widely appreciated that the true value of 4D seismic data comes when the data are fully integrated and analyzed alongside all other available subsurface data—well data and logs, completion locations, fluid rates, static geologic models, and dynamic flow models, for example.
The Data Integration Solution
The solution for integrating all available reservoir data in this PRM environment was CoViz 4D—an interactive platform allowing multi-disciplinary team members the benefit of rapid access to the relevant datasets. CoViz 4D encouraged the different geoscience and engineering disciplines to challenge or confirm each other‘s ideas, assumptions, and conclusions through direct qualitative and quantitative comparisons. This quickly generated the highest possible value from the 4D seismic data and led to the best reservoir surveillance decisions.
Data Integration Leads to Collaboration
During the BC-10 PRM project, analysts discovered that the integration of all available data and models can have a direct impact on infill drilling, wells reservoir facility management, future seismic activities, and overall cost reduction and revenue maximization.
Cross-discipline data is vital in understanding the information presented to team members—helping maximize the true value of the data. Analysts know more than anyone that a crucial part of reservoir surveillance is data simplification—having a system in place that allows all team members to better comprehend the reservoir compositions. Such a dynamic opens in a new windowenhances team cohesion, allowing users to present ideas that address obstacles and challenges. For example, a team can combine time-lapse seismic data with opens in a new windowprediction simulation models to understand what‘s stopping a water injection, successfully managing a field before the pressure causes conditions to worsen.
Data integration brings team members from different disciplines together (i.e. merging geoscience departments with engineering departments) in a comprehensive viewing environment where all parties can understand the data, irrespective of their professional background.
Data Integration Improves Reservoir Surveillance
Because PRM yields a time-lapse seismic (4D) view of a reservoir from permanent seismic instrumentation, 4D seismic data is a crucial component in reservoir surveillance and analysis. While time-lapse seismic adds significant value to the understanding of reservoir performance, integrating temporal changes adds another dimension, leading to better development decisions.
CoViz 4D maximizes the analysis of 4D seismic data, allowing users to access pertinent data points that strengthen the analytical process. The software ensures that models and other visual aids are kept up-to-date. The combination of temporal and other dynamic data streams from the field is the best way to get the most out of 4D data.
When it comes to visuals, CoViz 4D’s viewing system establishes full spatial ranges and dates in animated form. Analysts can locate certain information using custom time increments to isolate certain sections in real-time. The 4D inclusion into the viewing interface provides an accurate understanding of the project—assessing the interplay between events and the impact they have on different aspects of the reservoir.
CoViz 4D can help users discern the data produced from PRM, opens in a new windowespecially in mature fields that produce more complex and varied data streams. It also helps users understand the most imperative forms of information needed to make the right decisions on the field. The accessibility provided by CoViz 4D allows all members of the team to benefit from rapid access to relevant datasets in an easy-to-use and easy-to-understand environment. This encourages communication and mutual understanding across the technical disciplines, and quickly leads to extracting the most value from the 4D seismic data, and hence making the best reservoir management decisions.
CoViz 4D, a data visualization analytics software from Dynamic Graphics, Inc., provides integration techniques vital to reservoir surveillance. Contact our team today to learn how data visualization and analysis software can simplify your data integration strategies.
