Study of the Sensitive Properties of Marine Gas Hydrate Based on the Prestack Elastic Inversion

Abstract

Using a bottom simulating reflector (BSR) on a seismic profile to identify marine gas hydrate is a traditional seismic exploration method. However, owing to the abundance differences between the gas hydrate and free gas in different regions, the BSR may be unremarkable on the seismic profile and invisible in certain cases. With the improvement of exploration precision, difficulty arises in meeting the requirements of distinguishing the abundance differences in the gas hydrate based on BSR. Hence, we studied other sensitive attributes to ascertain the existence of gas hydrate and its abundance variations, eventually improving the success rate of drilling and productivity. In this paper, we analyzed the contradiction between the seismic profile data and drilling sampling data from the Blake Ridge. We extracted different attributes and performed multi-parameter constraint analysis based on the prestack elastic wave impedance inversion. Then, we compared the analysis results with the drilling sampling data. Eventually, we determined five sensitive attributes that can better indicate the existence of gas hydrate and its abundance variations. This method overcomes the limitations of recognizing the gas hydrate methods based on BSR or single inversion attribute. Moreover, the conclusions can notably improve the identification accuracy of marine gas hydrate and provide excellent reference significance for the recognition of marine gas hydrate. Notably, the different geological features of reservoirs feature different sensitivities to the prestacking attributes when using the prestack elastic inversion in different areas.