Estimating subsurface uncertainties by combining seismic interpretation with earth modeling

Abstract

Earth models are routinely used in the oil and gas industry to integrate multidisciplinary data for subsurface property predictions. Even though most earth models predict reasonably well at the field scale, they often fail to accurately predict the subsurface conditions at a specific location, especially in geologically complex reservoirs. Earth models can become more predictive by integrating information routinely extracted from 3D seismic such as faults, stratigraphy, facies, and rock properties. But their integration into earth models is often done without accounting for their uncertainties, potentially leading to the misprediction of the subsurface properties. We aimed to review several seismic interpretation techniques that provided useful input to better constrain earth models and to suggest ways to account for the interpretation uncertainty in these models. We determined the pitfalls and practical solutions for a successful quantitative seismic interpretation that can lead to more predictive earth models.