On the seismic wavelet estimative and reflectivity recovering based on linear inversion: Well-to-seismic tie on a real data set from Viking Graben, North Sea

Abstract

Tying seismic data to well data is critical in reservoir characterization. In general, the main factors controlling a successful seismic well tie are an accurate time-depth relationship and a coherent wavelet estimate. Wavelet estimation methods are divided into two major groups: statistical and deterministic. Deterministic methods are based on using the seismic trace and the well data to estimate the wavelet. Statistical methods use only the seismic trace and generally require assumptions about the wavelet’s phase or a random process reflectivity series. We have compared the estimation of the wavelet for seismic well tie purposes through least-squares minimization and zero-order quadratic regularization with the results obtained from homomorphic deconvolution. Both methods make no assumption regarding the wavelet’s phase or the reflectivity. The best-estimated wavelet is used as the input to sparse-spike deconvolution to recover the reflectivity near the well location. The results show that the wavelets estimated from both deconvolutions are similar, which builds our confidence in their accuracy. The reflectivity of the seismic section is recovered according to known stratigraphic markers (from gamma-ray logs) present in the real data set from the Viking Graben field, Norway.