An integrated approach for reservoirs characterization: A case study from the Barreirinhas basin in Maranhão, Brazil

Abstract

Seismic attributes have made an important contribution to the interpretation of seismic data, ranging from regional mapping to reservoirs characterization. The present study describes an oil reservoir based on its seismic attributes, in an anticline formed by fold systems, related to thrust-type faults in the lower portion of the continental slope of the Barreirinhas Basin in Maranhão, Brazil. Instantaneous, geometric, and coherence attributes permit the identification of hydrocarbons, lithology, continuities/discontinuities, faults, and the depositional environment in the study basin. The use of the coherence attribute permitted the identification of characteristic deltaic fans in the shallow marine environment, which filled ample channels recognized by their instantaneous attributes, overlaid, in turn, by distributary channels observed in the geometric attributes, which were filled by successive sandy sedimentary successions that gave rise to sandstones with characteristics of good reservoirs and high velocity wave. Finally, these seismic attributes associated with the geophysical-geological seismic interpretation, permitted the identification of additional leads with promising characteristics that should be targeted in a future research.