Multiattribute rotation scheme: A tool for reservoir property prediction from seismic inversion attributes

Abstract

The multiattribute rotation scheme (MARS) is a methodology that uses a numerical solution to estimate a transform to predict petrophysical properties from elastic attributes. This is achieved by estimating a new attribute in the direction of maximum change of a target property in an [Formula: see text]-dimensional Euclidean space formed by an [Formula: see text] number of attributes and subsequent scaling of this attribute to the target unit properties. We have computed the transform from well-log-derived elastic attributes and petrophysical properties, and we have posteriorly applied it to seismically derived elastic attributes. Such transforms can be used to estimate reservoir property volumes for reservoir characterization and delineation in exploration and production settings and to estimate secondary variables in geostatistical workflows for static model generation and reserve estimation. To illustrate the methodology, we applied MARS to estimate a transform to predict the water saturation and total porosity from elastic attributes in a well located in the Barents Sea as well as to estimate a water-saturation volume in a mud-rich turbidite gas reservoir located onshore Colombia.