Integration of Time-Lapse Seismic and Production Data: Analysis of Spatial Resolution

Abstract

An analysis of spatial resolution is incorporated into an efficient model calibration approach with multi-scale data integration to examine the reliability of the estimated solution. The resolution is a measure of the degree of averaging of the local-scale (grid block) permeabilities during parameter estimation via inverse modeling. For a given set of data, it indicates the regions where our estimate is well constrained. By examining the spatial resolution in time-lapse seismic data integration, we can quantitatively evaluate the relative contribution of pressure and saturation changes on the calibrated permeability field. We illustrate this concept using synthetic and field applications. The synthetic example is a 5 spot pattern, where the time-lapse seismic data are incorporated as inferred pressure and saturation changes. The field example involves waterflooding of a North Sea reservoir with multiple seismic surveys. The results demonstrate that the analysis of spatial resolution provides quantitative information on our ability to estimate the subsurface heterogeneity. It is found that integration of seismic data based on inferred pressure changes better determine the barriers to the flow (e.g., low permeability areas), while calibrating the model based on saturation changes provides complementary information to identify the channels (e.g., high permeability regions).