Low-porosity and low-permeability reservoirs characterization using low-frequency seismic attribute

Abstract

The low-frequency seismic reflection is important for the characterization of hydrocarbon reservoirs. Previous research has proved that the frequency-dependent component of the low-frequency reflection coefficient is approximately proportional to the reservoir fluid mobility. A low-frequency seismic attribute is defined to extract an approximate measurement of reservoir fluid mobility from seismic reflection data. Based on the high-resolution time–frequency decomposition technology, we apply this seismic attribute to detect hydrocarbons in shale and igneous reservoirs with low porosity and low permeability. The application results illustrate that the low-frequency seismic attribute can not only indicate the spatial distribution of oil and gas, which can help design the optimal landing point and trajectory of directional drilling, but also be approximately proportional to the production of oil and gas, which can be used for resource evaluation during the early exploration stage. We also give a brief discussion on the working mechanism of the low-frequency seismic attribute. The present work may provide some references for the subsequent exploration and research of reservoirs with low porosity and low permeability.