A GEOSTATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF CROSSBOREHOLE SEISMIC DATA FOR RESERVOIR CHARACTERIZATION

IMPROVED MANAGEMENT OF HYDROCARBON RESERVOIRS MAY BE THE MOST IMPORTANT KEY TO MAINTAINING OR EXPANDING THE PETROLEUM/NATURAL GAS PRODUCTION CAPABILITY OF THE U.S. IN THE WORLD MARKET. NEW INTERWELL SEISMIC IMAGING OF THE DISTRIBUTION OF RESERVOIR DESCRIPTION, SIMULATION, AND MANAGEMENT. THIS TECHNOLOGY OFFERS ONE OF THE FEW MEANS AVIALABLE TODAY FOR EVALUATING THE STATE OF THE RESERVOIR BETWEEN SPARSELY DISTRIBUTED WELLS. RESERVOIR SIMULATION PROVIDES AN IMPORTANT MEANS FOR MODELING AND PREDICTING THE PERFORMANCE OF THE RESERVOIR, PARTICULARLY WHENEXPENSIVE ENHANCED OIL RECOVERY (EOR) TECHNOLOGIES ARE IMPLEMENTED. IMPORTANT FIELD DEVELOPMENT AND MANAGEMENT DECISIONS THAT CARRY SIGNIFICANT ECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES FOR THE COMPANY MAKING THEM ARE OFTEN BASED ON THE FORECASTS PROVIDED BY THESE SIMULATORS. THE INTEGRATION OF NEW INTERWELL SEISMIC IMAGING TECHNOLOGIES WITH OTHER DATA TYPES WITHIN A GEOSTATISTICAL FRAMEWORK FOR THE PURPOSE OF BUILDING IMPROVED RESERVOIR (SIMULATION) MODELS WILL BE INVESTIGATED IN PHASE I IN AN EFFORT TO ACHIEVE IMPROVED PRODUCTION FORECASTING AND MANAGEMENT OF HYDROCARBON RESERVOIRS. A SUCCESSFUL MARRIAGE OF THESE TECHNOLOGIES WILL FIND WORLDWIDE APPLICATION.