Seismic attributes for characterization and prediction of carbonate faulted karst reservoirs in the Tarim Basin, China

Abstract

An ultradeep, faulted karst reservoir of Ordovician carbonate was discovered in the Shunbei area of the Tarim Basin. Fractured-cavity reservoirs buried beneath the large thickness of upper Ordovician mudstone were formed along the fault-karst belts. The hydrocarbon accumulation in these reservoirs is controlled by the fault system, and the oil-gas accumulation was affected by karstification and hydrothermal reformation. Previous studies and 2D modeling revealed that the reservoirs had “bright spot” amplitude responses like “string beads,” and they have developed along the strike-slip faults. However, describing such a complex fault-controlled karst system is still a difficult problem that has not been well addressed. We have sought to instruct the attribute expression of faulted karst reservoirs in the northern part of the Tarim Basin. We applied coherence and fault likelihood (FL) seismic attributes to image faults and fractures zones. We then used a trend analysis method to calculate the residual impedance from the impedance of the acoustic inversion, using the fact that residual impedance has higher lateral resolution in reservoir predictions. Finally, we integrated the coherence, FL, and residual impedance attributes into a new seismic attribute, the “fault-vuggy body,” with a certain fusion coefficient. The fault-vuggy body attribute establishes a connection between faults and karst cavities. This method could help in the characterization and prediction of carbonate faulted karst reservoirs. Available drilling data were used to validate that the fused fault-vuggy body attribute was an effective reservoir prediction method. As the seismic sections and slices along the layer help delineate, the distribution of bright spots and strike-slip faults indicates that the main strike-slip fault zones are the most favorable reservoirs in the Shunbei Oil and Gas Field.