Seismic wave attenuation in carbonate rock and its implication to hydrocarbon-bearing reservoir identification, East Java, Indonesia

Abstract

The heterogeneity of carbonate rock properties triggers propagated seismic wave to get some attenuations. This mechanism allows that attenuation can be applied in hydrocarbon exploration to identify lithology, porosity, fluid content and fracture identification. Unfortunately, to measure the degree of attenuation, the sophisticated tools and advanced processing technology are required. Thus, some methods were formulated to estimate attenuation. This study is aimed to estimate and compare attenuation from wireline log interpretation by using four different methods. The study is also supported by a series of exploration wells penetrating Kujung I Formation in northwestern edge of North East Java Basin, Indonesia. The result shows that only Qs from Zhang et al method is overestimate. P-wave quality factor of Klimentos and Zhang methods and scaled quality factor (SQp and SQs) method are sensitive to identify hydrocarbon. Furthermore, lithofacies also affects estimated rock quality factor. The novelty of study is to estimate and compare the attenuation from different method and review its result and application in hydrocarbon identification, especially for carbonate reservoir in North East Java basin, Indonesia. So that, a new understanding of attenuation characteristic in carbonate reservoir contributes to discriminate pore fluid identification in hydrocarbon exploration.