Multi-point geostatistics – an introductory overview

Abstract

Multi-point geostatistics is an algorithm which complements the traditional variogram driven cell-based and object modelling approaches to facies modelling. It is situated somewhere between the two, being a cell-based approach, but because it uses estimates of the multi-variate distribution instead of the simple bi-variate distributions that are available to variogramdriven algorithms, it is capable of capturing geometries that are more similar to those available with object modelling. This paper introduces and reviews the merits and weaknesses of this new method, particularly with regard to its ability to provide additional control in conditioning to secondary data such as may be provided from seismic data.