Estimation of Flow Zone Indicator Distribution by Using Seismic Data: A Case Study from a Central Iranian Oilfield

Abstract

Flow unit characterization plays an important role in heterogeneity analysis and reservoir simulation studies. Usually, a correct description of the lateral variations of reservoir is associated with uncertainties. From this point of view, the well data alone does not cover reservoir properties. Because of large well distances, it is difficult to build the model of a heterogenic reservoir, but 3D seismic data provides regular sampling that can improve reservoir spatial description. In this study, seismic attribute analysis was used to predict flow zone indicator (FZI) values of a carbonate reservoir by using seismic and well log data. First, a 3D acoustic impedance volume was created as an external attribute for seismic data analysis. To improve the ability of FZI prediction, the maximum number of attributes from multiattribute analysis was computed by using a step-wise regression technique. To verify the results of multiattribute technique, the cross plot analysis of multiattribute method was performed. It was found that the <em>R</em>² value of the correlation between the predicted and actual FZI is as high as 0.859 with an average error value of 2.34 µm. The analysis of the results of multiattribute technique showed that it was an effective technique for FZI prediction in hydrocarbon reservoirs. Such accuracy in building a 3D distribution of FZI provides a good insight into reservoir production zones. The results clearly indicate that the methodology proposed herein can successfully be used to specify the locations of new wells for the purpose of future production or injection plans.