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14 Geomodeling: A Team Effort To Better Understand Our Reservoirs Part 6: Geophysicists And Geomodeling 21 Annual Young Geoscientists Networking ...
14 Geomodeling: A Team Effort To Better
   Understand Our Reservoirs
   Part 6: Geophysicists And Geomodeling
21 Annual Young Geoscientists
   Networking Reception
22 Gussow Conference 2015
   Fine Grained Clastics: Resources
   to Reserves Meeting Summary

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DECEMBER 2015
VOLUME 42, ISSUE 11
Canadian Publication Mail Contract – 40070050
14 Geomodeling: A Team Effort To Better Understand Our Reservoirs Part 6: Geophysicists And Geomodeling 21 Annual Young Geoscientists Networking ...
14 Geomodeling: A Team Effort To Better Understand Our Reservoirs Part 6: Geophysicists And Geomodeling 21 Annual Young Geoscientists Networking ...
DECEMBER 2015 – VOLUME 42, ISSUE 11

                                                                                                                                                       ARTICLES
                                                                                            Geomodeling: A Team Effort To Better Understand Our Reservoirs
                                                                                             Part 6: Geophysicists And Geomodeling ............................................................................ 14
CSPG OFFICE
                                                                                            Annual Young Geoscientists Networking Reception ........................................................... 21
#110, 333 – 5th Avenue SW
Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2P 3B6                                                            Gussow Conference 2015
Tel: 403-264-5610                                                                            Fine Grained Clastics: Resources to Reserves Meeting Summary ................................ 22
Web: www.cspg.org
Please visit our website for all tickets sales and event/course registrations               Honorary Member - Graeme Bloy ......................................................................................... 26
Office hours: Monday to Friday, 8:00am to 4:30pm
The CSPG Office is Closed the 1st and 3rd Friday of every month.

OFFICE CONTACTS
Membership Inquiries
  Tel: 403-264-5610 Email: membership@cspg.org
Technical/Educational Events: Biljana Popovic
  Tel: 403-513-1225 Email: biljana.popovic@cspg.org                                                                                             DEPARTMENTS
Advertising Inquiries: Kristy Casebeer
  Tel: 403-513-1233 Email: kristy.casebeer@cspg.org                                         Message from the Board ............................................................................................................. 5
Sponsorship Opportunities: Lis Bjeld
  Tel: 403-513-1235 Email: lis.bjeld@cspg.org                                               Technical Luncheons .................................................................................................................... 8
Conference Inquiries: Candace Jones
  Tel: 403-513-1227 Email: candace.jones@cspg.org                                           Division Talks .............................................................................................................................. 11
CSPG Foundation: Kasandra Amaro
Tel: 403-513-1234 Email: kasandra.amaro@cspg.org                                            Rock Shop ................................................................................................................................... 25
Accounting Inquiries: Eric Tang
  Tel: 403-513-1232 Email: eric.tang@cspg.org
Executive Director: Lis Bjeld
  Tel: 403-513-1235, Email: lis.bjeld@cspg.org

EDITORS/AUTHORS
Please submit RESERVOIR articles to the CSPG office.
Submission deadline is the 23rd day of the month, two months prior
to issue date. (e.g., January 23 for the March issue).
To publish an article, the CSPG requires digital copies of the
document. Text should be in Microsoft Word format and illustrations
should be in TIFF format at 300 dpi., at final size.

CSPG COORDINATING EDITOR
Kristy Casebeer, Programs Coordinator,
Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists
Tel: 403-513-1233,
kristy.casebeer@cspg.org
The RESERVOIR is published 11 times per year by the Canadian Society of Petroleum
Geologists. This includes a combined issue for the months of July and August. The
purpose of the RESERVOIR is to publicize the Society’s many activities and to promote
the geosciences. We look for both technical and non-technical material to publish.
The contents of this publication may not be reproduced either in part or in full
without the consent of the publisher. Additional copies of the RESERVOIR are available
at the CSPG office.
No official endorsement or sponsorship by the CSPG is implied for any advertisement,
insert, or article that appears in the Reservoir unless otherwise noted. All submitted
materials are reviewed by the editor. We reserve the right to edit all submissions,
including letters to the Editor. Submissions must include your name, address, and
membership number (if applicable).The material contained in this publication is
intended for informational use only.
While reasonable care has been taken, authors and the CSPG make no guarantees
that any of the equations, schematics, or devices discussed will perform as expected
or that they will give the desired results. Some information contained herein may be
inaccurate or may vary from standard measurements. The CSPG expressly disclaims
any and all liability for the acts, omissions, or conduct of any third-party user of
information contained in this publication. Under no circumstances shall the CSPG and        FRONT COVER
its officers, directors, employees, and agents be liable for any injury, loss, damage, or
expense arising in any manner whatsoever from the acts, omissions, or conduct of            Tavurvur is a stratovolcano within the Rabaul caldera, located at the eastern tip of
any third-party user.                                                                       New Britain Island, Papua New Guinea.
Printed by McAra Printing, Calgary, Alberta.                                                Explosive eruptions have occurred persistently since 1994, repeatedly covering the
                                                                                            town of Rabaul and surrounding area in fine, powdery ash.
                                                                                                                                                        Photo by: Nicholson, Paul G.

                                                                                                                                                                      RESERVOIR ISSUE 11 • DECEMBER 2015                                 3
14 Geomodeling: A Team Effort To Better Understand Our Reservoirs Part 6: Geophysicists And Geomodeling 21 Annual Young Geoscientists Networking ...
CSPG and geoLOGIC Systems Present our

      Annual Holiday Social
                            &
        Technical Luncheon
                           Talk:

     Glacier Gas– Impact of Continental
     Glaciation on Sedimentary Basins
                         Speaker:
      Steve Grasby | Geological Survey of Canada

    Tuesday December 8th , 2015
           Wine & Appetizers 10:30-11:30am
           Technical Luncheon 11:30-1:00pm
This is a sellout social event that you don’t want to miss!
        Tickets are available at www.cspg.org
                        Sponsored by:
14 Geomodeling: A Team Effort To Better Understand Our Reservoirs Part 6: Geophysicists And Geomodeling 21 Annual Young Geoscientists Networking ...
Message from the Board
                                                     A message from Astrid Arts, Finance Director

CSPG BOARD
   PRESIDENT
   Tony Cadrin
                                                                                         Financial Overview of
   president@cspg.org Tel: 403.303.3493                                                  the CSPG
   PRESIDENT ELECT                                                                       2015 Fiscal Year
   Greg Lynch • Shell Canada Ltd
   presidentelect@cspg.org Tel: 403.384.7704
                                                     The CSPG 2015 fiscal year ran from             org website by the end of December if
   PAST PRESIDENT                                    September 1, 2014 through to August 31,        you are curious about all the details. For
   Dale Leckie                                       2015.                                          2015 we posted a loss of ~$230 K, quite
   pastpresident@cspg.org                                                                           a swing from the ~$175 K profit we made
                                                     A lot can happen in a year.WTI went from
                                                                                                    in fiscal year 2014. Most of that loss was
   FINANCE DIRECTOR                                  US $92.92 to US $49.20, the Canadian
                                                                                                    the result of reduced sponsorship, lower
   Astrid Arts • Cenovus Energy                      dollar went from $0.91 to $0.76 US and
   directorfinance@cspg.org Tel: 403.766.5862                                                       attendance at our events, donation to
                                                     over 35,000 people in Alberta lost their
                                                                                                    CSPG Foundation and a reduced profit
                                                     jobs in the petroleum industry. Albertans
   FINANCE DIRECTOR ELECT                                                                           from the GeoConvention Partnership.
                                                     elected an NDP government in May
   Scott Leroux • Long Run Exploration                                                              Nothing unexpected in a downturn.
                                                     who increased corporate and personal
   directorfinanceelect@cspg.org Tel: 403.802.3775
                                                     income taxes and have left an air of           As a Not-For-Profit society our metrics
   DIRECTOR                                          uncertainty over our industry. The CSPG        for success are different than the E&P
   Mark Caplan                                       is registered federally under the Not-         and Service companies many of our
   conferences@cspg.org                              For-Profit Act and so as an organization       members work for. The mission of the
                                                     we won’t feel an added tax burden but          CSPG is to advance the professions of
   DIRECTOR                                          we recognize that many of our members,         the energy geosciences – as it applies to
   Milovan Fustic • Statoil Canada Ltd.              corporate sponsors, advertisers and            geology, foster the scientific, technical
   publications@cspg.org Tel: 403.724.3307           exhibitors will. We are in a recession         learning and professional development of
                                                     unlike any we have seen since the 1980’s.      its members; and promote the awareness
   DIRECTOR
   Michael LaBerge • Channel Energy Inc.
                                                     Most companies are not projecting WTI          of the profession to industry and the
   memberservices@cspg.org Tel: 403.301.3739         prices to turn around until 2017 but           public. As a society we accomplish this
                                                     even that may be bullish. How long this        through the tireless work of volunteers
   DIRECTOR                                          will last is anybody’s guess.                  in 40+ committees, it is astounding what
   Ryan Lemiski • Nexen Energy ULC                                                                  our CSPG community accomplishes and
   ypg@cspg.org Tel: 403.699.4413                    The CSPG has felt the effects of the
                                                                                                    it is something we should all be proud
                                                     downturn. On the whole though, we
                                                                                                    of. Some highlights of our activities from
   DIRECTOR                                          are in good financial shape to weather
                                                                                                    2015:
   Robert Mummery • Almandine Resources Inc.         the storm thanks to the solid work of
   affiliates@cspg.org Tel: 403.651.4917             many past CSPG Finance Directors,                 • 16 Technical Luncheons, Fall &
                                                     CSPG Executives as well as Lis, Eric and            Spring Education Weeks & a Gussow
   DIRECTOR                                          the rest of the CSPG office staff. Savings          Conference on Geomodelling
   Darren Roblin • Kelt Exploration                  during profitable years has positioned
   corprelations@cspg.org Tel: 587.233.0784                                                            • The GeoConvention Partnership
                                                     the CSPG with an Internally Restricted
                                                                                                         ran its first geoConvention since its
                                                     Rainy Day fund of $1.1 MM and an
   DIRECTOR                                                                                              formation as its own legal entity in
   Jen Russel-Houston • Osum Oil Sands Corp.         unrestricted fund of $720 K at year end.
                                                                                                         which CSPG has a 45% ownership
   Jrussel-houston@osumcorp.com Tel: 403.270.4768    Our portfolio is conservatively invested
                                                                                                         (along with CSEG 45% and CWLS
                                                     where we hold an asset mix of 80% Fixed
                                                                                                         10%)
   DIRECTOR                                          Income and 20% Equities on an Adjusted
   Eric Street • Jupiter Resources                   Cost Base. Operationally, we brought              • Three Joint Venture Conferences
   street@jupiterresources.com Tel: 587.747.2631     in $1.9 MM in Revenue and had $2.2
                                                                                                       • Oil Sands with AAPG, Playmakers
                                                     MM in Expenses. Fully audited Financial
   EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR                                                                                    with AAPG & the inaugural Mountjoy
                                                     Statements will be available on the cspg.
   Lis Bjeld • CSPG                                                                                      Carbonate Conference with SEPM
   lis.bjeld@cspg.org Tel: 403.513.1235                                                                                    (... Continued on page 7)

                                                                                                    RESERVOIR ISSUE 11 • DECEMBER 2015           5
14 Geomodeling: A Team Effort To Better Understand Our Reservoirs Part 6: Geophysicists And Geomodeling 21 Annual Young Geoscientists Networking ...
Submit your hike to be featured in the
                 “GO TAKE A HIKE” SERIES
        Before writing an article please contact the series coordinator
                   via email at Philip.Benham@shell.com.
           He can provide a template document and confirm that a
               particular hike has not been submitted before.

                           Submission guidelines:
        Preferred format is powerpoint, 2-3 pages in length, include map,
    hike directions, annotated photos, Geological description and references.
               While hikes focus on western Canada, hikes in other
                         parts of the world are welcome.

     CSPG Regional Graduate Student Scholarships
        4 x $2,500 awards available by region
                            (Atlantic/Quebec, Ontario, Western, Open)

                                         Eligibility:
    Graduate Students enrolled full-time at a Canadian University in their first year of an MSc
     or PhD Geology or Earth Science Program
    Disciplines include: Sedimentology, structural geology, stratigraphic studies involving
     clastic or carbonate rocks, paleontology, geochemistry, hydrogeology, petrophysics and
     reservoir geology
    Active student members of CSPG (membership is free!)
    Previous winners are not eligible

           Application deadline is January 15, 2016
For application form and other requirements please see www.cspg.org/scholarships
14 Geomodeling: A Team Effort To Better Understand Our Reservoirs Part 6: Geophysicists And Geomodeling 21 Annual Young Geoscientists Networking ...
(... Continued from page 5)                our programs to best meet our member
                                                                                        needs in this new environment. We
                                                • 4 sporting events                     recognize that our community is one of
                                                • Road Race & Fun Run, Squash           our biggest strengths and our society and
                                                  Tournament, Mixed Golf and Classic    industry will be forever different when
                                                  Golf Tournaments (Classic moved       prices rebound. Our demographics will
                                                  to a new 1 day format)                have changed as many of our members
                                                                                        retire. New grads, young and seasoned
                                                • Continued investment in our           professionals who have struggled to find
                                                  Young Professional and Outreach       work over the last year, may choose to
                                                  programs and we launched the          leave industry and the profession. As a
CORPORATE                                         CSPG Ambassador program which         society we have money in the bank to
SPONSORS
                                                  is working on improving our           pay for our activities for a few more
SAMARIUM                                          relationships with universities and   years at current spending levels but we
CSPG Foundation                                   organizations across the country.     have challenged our committees to see
geoLOGIC systems ltd.                                                                   what they can do this year with 80% of
                                                • $75 K donation to the CSPG
DIAMOND                                           Foundation (from 2014 Audited         their budgets. This is the 88th year of
AGAT Laboratories                                 Profits)                              our society and if there is one thing we
                                                                                        can say with certainty, it is that every
Alberta Energy Regulators
                                             Looking forward into the 2016 Fiscal       time the price of oil goes down … it
TITANIUM                                     Year we are looking at ways to adjust      always goes back up.
Tourmaline Oil Corp.
APEGA
PLATINUM
Weatherford Canada Partnership
Cenovus Energy
Loring Tarcore Labs Ltd.
Imperial Oil Resources
SILVER
Devon Energy Corp
Enerplus Corporation
Nexen ULC
Seitel Canada Ltd.
MEG Energy Corp.
Husky Energy Inc.
BRONZE
Chinook Consulting
Talisman Energy
Long Run Exploration
Qatar Shell GTL Limited
Osum Oil Sands Corp.
Crescent Point Energy Trust
Pro Geo Consultants
Exxonmobil Exploration Co. Ltd.
Belloy Petroleum Consulting
GLJ Petroleum Consultants Ltd.
Gaffney, Cline & Associates
RIGSAT Communications
CSEG Foundation
MJ Systems
Paradigm Geosciences Ltd.
Core Laboratories
IHS Global Canada Limited

As of Ocotber 30, 2015
A Special Thanks to Geologic Systems Ltd.,
CSPG’s Top Sponsor of the Month.

                                                                                        RESERVOIR ISSUE 11 • DECEMBER 2015     7
14 Geomodeling: A Team Effort To Better Understand Our Reservoirs Part 6: Geophysicists And Geomodeling 21 Annual Young Geoscientists Networking ...
TECHNICAL LUNCHEONS DECEMBER LUNCHEON                                                                               Webcasts sponsored by

Glacier Gas
- Impact of
continental
glaciation on
sedimentary basins
SPEAKER
Steve Grasby
Geological Survey of Canada
11:30 am
Tuesday, December 8th, 2015
Calgary, TELUS Convention Centre
Macleod Hall ABC Calgary, Alberta

Please note: The cut-off date for ticket
sales is 1:00 pm, five business days before
event. [Tuesday, December 01, 2015].
CSPG Member Ticket Price: $45.00 + GST.
Non-Member Ticket Price: $47.50 + GST.               salt beds now discharge as saline springs               Canada on both source rock analyses as well as
                                                     along the basin margins. Highly overpressured           groundwater issues across western and northern
Each CSPG Technical Luncheon is 1 APEGA              conditions, developed in response to subglacial         Canada. He has led and participated on
PDH credit. Tickets may be purchased online          water pressures, also provide opportunities to          several regional groundwater projects, including
at www.cspg.org                                      examine the response of shales to extreme               southern Manitoba, Alberta, the Okanagan
                                                     cases of fluid injection that may inform                Valley, and currently the Nanaimo Lowlands. In
                                                     discussion on issues ranging from shale gas             addition he has conducted extensive research
ABSTRACT
                                                     development to nuclear waste repositories.              on the biogeochemistry of thermal and mineral
Northern hemisphere continents were
                                                                                                             springs across Canada, including several of the
covered by ice sheets up to 4 km thick during
                                                     BIOGRAPHY                                               northern most known springs in Canada’s High
the last glacial period. Until recently the impact
                                                     Steve Grasby - Since completion of his                  Arctic. He was awarded the Queen Elizabeth
this had on sedimentary basins has been largely
                                                     Ph.D at the University of Calgary in 1997, Dr.          II Diamond Jubilee Medal in recognition of his
ignored. The underlying bedrock was exposed
                                                     Grasby has worked at the Geological Survey of           research in 2012.
to both the lithostatic load of ice in addition to
tremendous sub-glacial water pressures. This

                                                            CRAINʼS LOG ANALYSIS COURSES
has a significant transitory effect on underlying
sedimentary basins. Where overlying more
porous and permeable units, subglacial waters
were injected into underlying sediments,
                                                          For Engineers, Geologists, Geophysicists, and Technologists
reversing continental-scale fluid flow systems.
Therefore relic pressure distribution patterns                   35$&7,&$/48$17,7$7,9(/2*$1$/
14 Geomodeling: A Team Effort To Better Understand Our Reservoirs Part 6: Geophysicists And Geomodeling 21 Annual Young Geoscientists Networking ...
TECHNICAL LUNCHEONS JANUARY LUNCHEON                                                                           Webcasts sponsored by

Back for more?                                    of the Barents Sea. The oil pool lies beneath
                                                  a sub-Early Triassic angular unconformity,
                                                                                                      Permian pebble to cobble spiculitic chert
                                                                                                      clasts. An angular relationship is observed on
The first Permian                                 suggesting block faulting and tilting prior
                                                  to the onset of Triassic sedimentation. The
                                                                                                      northern Ellesmere and Axel Heiberg islands.
                                                                                                      From these observations we conclude the set
oil discovery in the                              reservoir rocks are Permian spiculitic cherts
                                                  and heterozoan carbonates of shallow
                                                                                                      of conditions that led to Gohta is a genuine
                                                                                                      play worth exploring some more in the
Barents Sea has                                   origin that accumulated at a time of cool
                                                  oceanographic conditions. The porosity
                                                                                                      Barents Sea and, when conditions are right, in
                                                                                                      the Sverdrup Basin as well.
many analogues in                                 may be the result of extensive sub-Triassic

the Sverdrup Basin,                               subaerial karsting. The seemingly unique set
                                                  of attributes of the the Gohta Discovery has
                                                                                                      BIOGRAPHY
                                                                                                      Benoit is a Professor of Geoscience at the University
Arctic Canada                                     been observed at a number of localities in the
                                                  Canadian Arctic Archipelago. The Sverdrup
                                                                                                      of Calgary. He obtained his undergraduate and
                                                                                                      M.Sc. degrees in geology at the Université de
                                                  Basin was adjacent to the Barents Sea area          Montréal studying Carboniferous carbonates
SPEAKER
Benoit Beauchamp                                  throughout its Late Paleozoic-Mesozoic              from Western Canada. Subsequently, he moved
Department of Geoscience,                         history prior to the break-up of Pangea. The        to Calgary to pursue a Ph.D. in geology at the
University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta           succession is thicker than that of the Barents      University of Calgary. For his dissertation, he
                                                  Sea, owing to greater subsidence rates, but its     studied Carboniferous and Permian sedimentary
11:30 am                                          stratigraphic sequences are identical. Permian      rocks in the Canadian Arctic. After obtaining
Thursday, January 14, 2016                        spiculitic chert is widespread, especially in the   his Ph.D. in 1987, Benoit worked for 18 years
Calgary, TELUS Convention Centre                  Late Permian succession, when carbonates            as a Research Scientist with the Geological
Calgary, Alberta                                  were all but eradicated.The loss of carbonates      Survey of Canada in Calgary, leading major
                                                  can be in part associated with cooler oceanic       field expeditions to the High Arctic. In 2005,
Please note: The cut-off date for ticket          conditions and possibly to upwelling-enhanced
sales is 1:00 pm, five business days before                                                           he became the Executive Director of the Arctic
                                                  ocean acidification along NW Pangea.                Institute of North America at UofC. In 2011, he
event [Thursday, January 07, 2016].               Late Permian organic-rich shales locally
CSPG Member Ticket Price: $45.00 + GST.                                                               returned to the Department of Geoscience as
                                                  interfinger with the chert and may constitute       a full-time professor. Much of Benoit’s research
Non-Member Ticket Price: $47.50 + GST.            a source rock. Porosity is unusually high in        interests revolve around understanding the Late
                                                  Late Permian chert. Large carbon isotopic           Paleozoic-Early Triassic sequences and petroleum
Each CSPG Technical Luncheon is 1 APEGA
                                                  depletion in carbonate material beneath the         systems, which takes him to exotic places such
PDH credit. Tickets may be purchased online at
                                                  sub-Triassic unconformity suggests extensive        as Ellesmere Island, Svalbard and Oman. Benoit
https://www.cspg.org
                                                  meteoric leaching occurred. The sub-Triassic        has been an active contributor to many CSPG
                                                  unconformity is widespread and one of the           events and endeavours over the years, including
ABSTRACT                                          basin’s most significant in terms of base level     his leadership roles in the 1993 and 1997 CSPG
The 2013 Gohta oil discovery is the first         drops.The unconformity is also locally angular      Conventions and in the 2007 Gussow Conference.
significant discovery in the Permian succession   and associated with basal conglomerates of

                                                                                                      RESERVOIR ISSUE 11 • DECEMBER 2015                9
14 Geomodeling: A Team Effort To Better Understand Our Reservoirs Part 6: Geophysicists And Geomodeling 21 Annual Young Geoscientists Networking ...
TECHNICAL LUNCHEONS JANUARY LUNCHEON                                                                       Webcasts sponsored by

Antarctica’s                                       Each CSPG Technical Luncheon is 1 APEGA
                                                   PDH credit. Tickets may be purchased online
                                                                                                    CO2 conditions, like those predicted in
                                                                                                    our future.
sedimentary                                        at https://www.cspg.org
                                                                                                    BIOGRAPHY
archives of                                        ABSTRACT                                         Julia Wellner - Wellner is a sedimentologist

past glacial                                       During times of past extensive glaciations,
                                                   the Antarctic ice sheet extended from
                                                                                                    and stratigrapher who works primarily in
                                                                                                    the Gulf of Mexico and offshore Antarctica
history: Tools for                                 its current position, reaching across the
                                                   continental shelf. As the ice sheet retreated
                                                                                                    on questions related to sediment facies,
                                                                                                    stratigraphic architecture, glacial history,
understanding                                      to its modern extent, the shrinking ice sheet
                                                   left behind seawater, rather than ancient
                                                                                                    and sea-level change. She earned her PhD
                                                                                                    from Rice University in 2001 where she
climate change                                     ice, leaving behind a sedimentary signature
                                                   of deglacial history. Marine geophysical
                                                                                                    also completed a post-doctoral fellowship.
                                                                                                    She has been at the University of Houston
SPEAKER                                            survey data, including 3.5 kHz profiles and      since 2006 where she teaches stratigraphy,
Julia Wellner                                      multibeam swath bathymetry, combined             sequence stratigraphy, marine geology, and
AAPG Distinguished Lecturer                        with sediment cores, are used to map the         oceanography. Wellner has completed over a
                                                   extent of past ice, estimate the speed at        dozen ocean-going cruises collecting seismic
11:30 am
                                                   which it was flowing, and understand the         data and sediment cores, including eight in
Tuesday, January 26, 2016
                                                   style of retreat. Radiometric dating gives       Antarctica.
Calgary, TELUS Convention Centre
                                                   ages of retreat and allows comparison to
Calgary, Alberta
                                                   other global archives. Past periods of glacial
Please note: The cut-off date for ticket           retreat, which tend to be diachronous,
sales is 1:00 pm, five business days               are compared to the modern day retreat,
before event [Tuesday, January 19, 2016].          which is happening across large areas in
CSPG Member Ticket Price: $45.00 + GST.            a short period of time. Ongoing work is
Non-Member Ticket Price: $47.50 + GST.             targeting records from times of past high

                                     GeoConvention 2016
                                                           MARK YOUR CALENDAR
                                                       GeoConvention 2016 is March 7 – 11
                                                In recognizing the business environment which we are
     With low commodity prices and an ever -
         changing economic and business         operating in, GeoConvention is pleased to offer heavily
       environment, it is imperative that the
       industry optimize the way in which it
                                                discounted delegate rates for the 2016 program.
      operates. Whether enhancing recovery
      methods, finding the optimal path for a
     horizontal well or maximizing the return   New for our 2016 program, in addition to the technical
         of capital employed, Optimizing
     Resources, the theme for GeoConvention
                                                program and exhibit floor at the Convention Centre, we will be
              2016, is key to success.          hosting an offsite component at the Lake Louise Inn – check
      Please join us and contribute as          out geoconvention.com for details.
       speaker, exhibitor or sponsor

                                                         EARLY BIRD REGISTRATION
                                                                NOW OPEN
                                          www.geoconvention.com
10       RESERVOIR ISSUE 11 • DECEMBER 2015
DIVISION TALKS INTERNATIONAL DIVISION                                                                Sponsored by

Husband and
Wife survive an
18-Month Trip
around Africa in a
Land Cruiser
SPEAKER
Tom Feuchtwanger

12:00 Noon
Wednesday December 9th 2015
Buzzards Restaurant & Bar
140-10 ave SW, Calgary, AB T2R 0A3

ABSTRACT
In an attempt to seek adventure, escape
the daily grind, and recharge their 30-
year marriage, exploration geologist Tom
Feuchtwanger and healthcare professional
Janet Wilson purchased a Land Cruiser in
South Africa, modified it for extended self-
supported travel, and spent 18 months
circumnavigating the African continent. He         Tom Feuchtwanger P.Geol.
will present this once-in-a-lifetime adventure:    themselves and the world along the way. Tom   hydrocarbon resource opportunities and
its highs, its lows, and what they learned about   will also include some comments about the     challenges that Africa is facing currently.

                       CSPG Structural Geology Division Lunchtime Talk
                         12:00-1:00pm | Thursday December 3, 2015
    Schlumberger, Conference Room, Second Floor, Close to Reception, 200 125-9 Ave SE

   Random Rocks, Structures and Geo IQ– Christmas Social
                                         Just us in December for something different.
                       Three things geologists love – rocks, structures and showing how brilliant they are!
              We will be having a Christmas Quiz, with great photographs, brain teasers and cryptic clues.
      Put together a team of 2-3 people, give yourselves a good name, then come along and test your Geology IQ.
                                 See your friends, enjoy some snacks, have a bit of fun.

                        Contest starts at 12 noon – sharp!
   All are welcome and no registration is required. Bragging rights for the winner!
                    For more information go to www.cspg.org

                                                                                                 RESERVOIR ISSUE 11 • DECEMBER 2015      11
DIVISION TALKS GEOMODELING DIVISION                                                                    Sponsored by

Modeling three                                 ABSTRACT
                                               [This paper was previously presented at EAGE
                                                                                                  continuous variables in 3D, ensuring they are
                                                                                                  bounded and sum to 1, and a unique e-facies
ways from electro-                             Petroleum Geostatistics Biarritz, France, 7-11
                                               September 2015]
                                                                                                  code is assigned, by taking the e-facies with
                                                                                                  the maximum probability at each location.
facies: categorical,                           Geomodeling for petroleum reservoirs is
e-facies                                       conventionally done hierarchically by facies to
                                               establish regions within which rock and fluid
                                                                                                  BIOGRAPHY
                                                                                                  David Garner is a chief scientist and technical
probabilities, and                             properties can be considered “stationary”.
                                               Many reservoir models do not use depositional
                                                                                                  advisor with the Landmark R&D Division of
                                                                                                  Halliburton. His current focus is mainly on
petrophysics with                              facies description, but use “electro-facies”
                                               from clustering of petrophysical log curves.
                                                                                                  developing new technologies and filling gaps
                                                                                                  in integrated subsurface earth modeling.
assignment                                     This paper compares three approaches to            David has previously worked in R&D at Statoil
                                                                                                  and in various geomodeling/geostatistical
                                               the development of e-facies geomodels, 3D
SPEAKER                                        models of categorical codes that can be used       roles at Chevron, ConocoPhillips and his old
David Garner                                   as stationary domains within which rock and        consulting company, TerraMod Consulting.
Halliburton/Landmark                           fluid properties can be simulated. The first       Mr. Garner currently serves as a co-chair for
                                               approach takes the e-facies codes developed        the Geomodeling Technical Division of the
CO-AUTHORS                                     through cluster analysis as conditioning           CSPG. He previously served on the CSPG
R. Mohan Srivastava                            data and uses a method for simulating              board of directors and was general chair
FSS Canada Consultants                         categorical variables, plurigaussian simulation,   for the Gussow 2011 and 2014 conferences,
Jeffrey Yarus                                  to directly build a 3D model of the e-facies.      “Advances in Applied Geomodeling for
Halliburton/Landmark                           The second approach takes the petrophysical        Hydrocarbon Reservoirs: Closing the Gap I
                                               logs at the wells as conditioning data and         and II”.
12:00 noon                                     uses a standard method for co-simulating
Wednesday, December 9, 2015                    continuous variables, to build 3D models of
Husky Conference Room A, 3rd Floor,            the log responses; these are then converted        INFORMATION
+30 level, South Tower,                        to e-facies using the rules developed through      There is no charge for the division talk and we
v707 8th Ave SW, Calgary, Alberta              cluster analysis. The third method works           welcome non-members of the CSPG. Please
                                               directly with the e-facies probabilities that      bring your lunch. For details or to present a talk
                                               most cluster analysis techniques can provide.      in the future, please contact Weishan Ren at
                                               These probabilities are co-simulated as            renws2009@gmail.com

 DIVISION TALKS BASS DIVISION                                                                           Sponsored by

Data Integration                               formation, we need to be able to capture the
                                               complex heterogeneity of the geology within
                                                                                                  BIOGRAPHY
                                                                                                  Pippa Murphy is a Geoscience Consultant and
Techniques for                                 these models. We also need to gather a firm
                                               understanding of the distribution of gas and
                                                                                                  Petrel expert with Schlumberger Canada. She
                                                                                                  started her career with Schlumberger in 2005
Geocellular Model                              water that may have an effect on the ability of
                                               these steam chambers to grow.
                                                                                                  as a technical consultant working on multiple
                                                                                                  international plays out of the UK. Now based
Building, An                                   The aim of the game is always to honor the
                                                                                                  in Calgary, Pippa works closely with oil and
                                                                                                  gas companies to leverage the full range of
Example from the                               information at the wells whilst achieving
                                               sound results in terms of geostatistics. But
                                                                                                  capabilities in Schlumberger software to solve

McMurray                                       what other information could we use to
                                               increase our confidence in the models that
                                                                                                  their exploration and development challenges.
                                                                                                  She is currently engaged in a number of heavy
                                                                                                  oil related projects. Pippa is a Geologist by
SPEAKER                                        we are building, and could we use some of
                                                                                                  background and studied at Kingston University in
Pippa Murphy                                   this data to impose a more geological flavor
                                                                                                  London, England.
Schlumberger Canada                            to our models rather than relying on the fully
                                               stochastic population techniques that we
12:00 noon                                     commonly see today.                                INFORMATION
Tuesday December 15, 2015 | 12:00pm                                                               BASS Division talks are free. Please bring your
ConocoPhillips Auditorium,                     During this talk we’ll look at an example          own lunch. For further information about the
Gulf Canada Square,                            model where geological analogues, as well          division, joining our mailing list, a list of upcoming
401-9th ave SW Calgary AB                      as data derived from seismic have come             talks, or if you wish to present a talk or lead a
                                               together to build a realistic and confident        field trip, please contact either Steve Donaldson
                                               model of the McMurray which can then be            at 403-808-8641, or Mark Caplan at 403-975-
ABSTRACT                                       used for simulation and field development          7701, or visit our web page on the CSPG website
In order to accurately simulate the movement   going forward.                                     at http://www.cspg.org.
of a steam chamber through the McMurray

12     RESERVOIR ISSUE 11 • DECEMBER 2015
DIVISION TALKS PALAEONTOLOGY DIVISION                                                                        Sponsored by

Sue (the                                         auction in which Sue sold for more than
                                                 8 million dollars to the Field Museum in
                                                                                                       INFORMATION
                                                                                                       This event is presented jointly by the Alberta
Tyrannosaurus                                    Chicago with the bill footed by the Ronald
                                                 McDonald House and Disney. After years
                                                                                                       Palaeontological Society, the Department of
                                                                                                       Earth and Environmental Sciences at Mount
Rex) and the                                     of preparation by staff and volunteers at
                                                 the Field Museum in Chicago, Sue is now
                                                                                                       Royal University, and the Palaeontology
                                                                                                       Division of the Canadian Society of Petroleum
Chicago Field                                    proudly displayed at the Field Museum.
                                                 Mona will present an overview of Sue’s
                                                                                                       Geologists. For details or to present a talk in
                                                                                                       the future, please contact CSPG Palaeontology
Museum                                           background and some of the things that                Division Chair Jon Noad at jonnoad@hotmail.
                                                 Sue has taught us (scientific and otherwise).         com or APS Coordinator Harold Whittaker
SPEAKER                                          Mona will also illustrate some of the other           at 403-286-0349 or contact programs1@
Mona Marsovsky                                   treasures in the Chicago Field Museum.                albertapaleo.org. Visit the APS website for
APS Executive Member and                                                                               confirmation of event times and upcoming
Professional Engineer                                                                                  speakers: http://www.albertapaleo.org/.
                                                 BIOGRAPHY
7:30pm                                           Mona Marsovsky is a life member of the APS
Friday, January 15, 2016                         who has served as the APS treasurer since
Mount Royal University, Room B108                2002. She is also a member of the Society
                                                 of Vertebrate Paleontology. She is an amateur
                                                 whose paleo habit has been supported by
ABSTRACT                                         her work as a professional engineer (Mona
In the 1990’s controversy erupted around         Trick P. Eng.) programming gas and oil field
the Tyrannosaurus Rex (T-Rex) dinosaur           optimization software for the oil industry.
named Sue. This included seizure of Sue’s        As part of her work, she has taught training
skeleton by the FBI (Federal Bureau              courses and given luncheon talks all over the
of Investigation), court hearings which          world.
resulted in a jail sentence for the person
who excavated Sue’s skeleton, and an

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                                Western Canada                                  Lewis, Frontier, Niobrara, Mesaverde shorelines, Minnelusa, Gothic,
                                                                                Hovenweep, Ismay, Desert Creek, Field Outlines, Outcrops
                               Geological Edge Set
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                                                                                (Wolfcampian, Leonardian, Guadalupian), Mississippian Horizontal Play, Red
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                                                         Eastern US /           Eagleford, Tuscaloosa, Haynesville, Fayeteville-Caney, Woodford, Field
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                  Geological Edge Set                                           -bi-annual updates and additions to mapping
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                                                                                                      RESERVOIR ISSUE 11 • DECEMBER 2015                         13
GEOMODELING: A TEAM EFFORT TO BETTER
UNDERSTAND OUR RESERVOIRS
Part 6: Geophysicists and Geomodeling
| By Thomas Jerome, RPS, Sher Ali, Brion Energy and Nilanjan Ganguly, Canacol Energy
INTRODUCTION                                       when it shows its potential.                        Geomodeling can be used for time-to-depth
                                                                                                       conversion. This will be covered in the first
After discussing, in the last two papers, how      A seismic cube does give us a 3D image of the
                                                                                                       section. Secondly, seismic interpretation is
geologists and petrophysicists can get involved    reservoir; however, the resolution is usual too
                                                                                                       extremely useful to guide how the geomodel
in a geomodeling project, we now look at the       low to capture the level of detail engineers
                                                                                                       3D-grids shall be built. The second section
role of geophysicists.This paper is the last one   need to truly understand the reservoir. Wells
                                                                                                       focuses on the integration of stratigraphic
on the relationships between geoscientists         data provides the level of detail we are looking
                                                                                                       interpretation, while the third section looks
and geomodelers. The next three papers will        for, but this data can be cumbersome to
                                                                                                       at the integration of structural interpretation
talk about the role of engineers.                  interpolate in 3D. The solution is to integrate
                                                                                                       in    geomodeling.      Lastly,    considerable
                                                   well data and seismic data.
Geophysicists in oil and gas companies                                                                 information about the rock characteristics
worked mostly on 2D seismic data before the        We use trends extracted from seismic to             can be extracted from the seismic cube,
technology to acquire 3D seismic data was          guide the interpolation of wells data in            such as seismic attributes or fracture density
developed and became popular. Companies            3D. Some uncertainty about the reservoir            for example. This data can be used to guide
are now also using seismic data to monitor         will remain, coming both from the seismic           geostatistical algorithms. It will be the topic
the development of their fields thanks to the      interpretation process, from the work on the        of the last section. Each of these sections will
acquisition of 4D seismic data. Nowadays,          wells and from the integration of the well data     also cover the associated uncertainties.
geomodelers still have to integrate some 2D        with the seismic. This uncertainty needs to be
                                                                                                       To close the introduction, a second question is
seismic lines into their models and some are       taken into account as well. Integrating different
                                                                                                       in order: who should really be accomplishing
starting to work on the integration of 4D          type of data together and understanding the
                                                                                                       all these tasks that we will cover in this
time-lapse data. But for most of us, when          impact of uncertainties in a model: these are
                                                                                                       paper? The geomodeler with his geomodeling
we think about geophysical data, we have in        two tasks that geomodels are designed for.
                                                                                                       software or the geophysicist with his 3D
mind the integration of 3D seismic data into
                                                   As such, it’s advisable to build a geomodel         geophysical package? Over the last few years,
our geomodels. This topic is the focus of this
                                                   whenever seismic data and seismic                   software companies specializing in geophysical
paper.
                                                   interpretation are available. In the meantime,      packages have added more and more tools
First, one has to ask: Why do we need a            building a geomodel only based on well data         of grid construction, of geostatistics and
geomodel if we have acquired 3D seismic            while seismic is readily available would be a       of 3D-grid analysis (volume computation
data? After all, seismic cubes give us an          shame. Good seismic information will always         for example). In a similar way, geomodeling
image of our reservoirs between the wells.         tell us more about the reservoir than the           packages are now able to accomplish large
Don’t they solve all of our problems? Using        results of pure mathematical interpolation          parts of many geophysical workflows. So who
a technology as a stand-alone product              techniques. If a geomodel is about to be built,     should integrate seismic and well data and
has its use. When integrated with other            a geomodeler should always ask if seismic           study the remaining reservoir uncertainties?
technologies, such as geomodeling, that is         data are available.                                 The geomodeler or the geophysicist? As far

14     RESERVOIR ISSUE 11 • DECEMBER 2015
as the authors of this paper are concerned,          unit between the ground (for onshore               the two first layers have more or less constant
it doesn’t matter who does the job. Our goal         seismic) and the first key horizon HrzA, then      interval velocity of 2,500m/s and 5,000m/s
is to highlight aspects of a reservoir study in      for the unit A between HrzA and HrzB and           respectively (Figure 2A) while the deepest
which we believe geophysics and geomodeling          lastly for the unit B between HrzB and HrzC.       layer has a sharp lateral change of interval
shall be combined. Each team will decide who         In a given unit, sonic shows that the velocity     velocity. The layer is a shale unit (3000m/s)
has the time, the tools and the experience           varies vertically. The interval velocity is an     truncated by a sand channel (4000m/s).
to do the agreed-upon workflow. Ultimately,          integration of these local vertical variations.    Facies is one of the key factors to control the
it’s all a team effort. It doesn’t matter who is     Well tops are all we need to compute an            distribution of velocity in a geological unit.
pushing the buttons on a computer, as long as        interval velocity. The depth of top horizon        This lateral change of facies has an impact on
the job gets done.                                   and of the bottom horizon are known (by            the geometry of the seismic horizon of HrzC
                                                     definition). As the well has been converted to     (Figure 2B). Where we are in the sand, the
TIME-TO-DEPTH CONVERSION                             time, the time two way-time (TWT) is known         layer appears thinner, in the time domain, than
Time-to-depth conversion means that each             too. The interval velocity is the ratio between    where we are in the shale; while in the depth
seismic data point in the time domain will be        the delta-depth and the delta-TWT. If the          domain, the thickness changes smoothly
given a depth coordinate. Each point keeps its       interval velocity is more or less constant at      between wells 2 and 3. In such a reservoir,
XY location. There is no lateral displacement,       each well, an average constant interval velocity   it is essential to properly capture the limit
only a vertical one. Such approach is                might be assigned to the whole unit over the       between the zone where the wells have an
insufficient in complex domains such as              lease. This approach is also used when there       interval velocity of more or less 3000m/s
structural plays or salt plays. There, depth-        are too few wells to interpolate the interval      and are in the shale, to the zone where the
migration and not time-to-depth conversion           velocity on the map in any meaningful way. On      wells are in the sand and show an interval
will likely be applied. This topic isn’t discussed   the contrary, if we have enough wells and if       velocity of 4000m/s. It means tracking the
hereafter. Only time-to-depth conversion is.         the interval velocity varies from well to well,    limit sand-shale between the wells and then
Readers interested in depth-migration can            interpolation techniques are used to generate      to interpolate the interval velocities within
refer for example to (Jones, 2010) for more          an interval velocity map between the well          each facies domain.
details. For more details about time-to-depth        interval velocities. For every XY location,
conversion, the reader can refer to (Al-             the interval velocity value from the map is
Chalabi, 2014).                                      then assigned to every point of the seismic
                                                     cube at this coordinate. Having done this for
Well logs, such as sonic, are used to transfer
                                                     each geological unit, the seismic cube can
the wells to the time domain. A sonic log
                                                     be converted to the depth domain with all
quantifies the reverse of the instantaneous
                                                     the seismic interpretation. If only the seismic
wave velocity of the rocks in the vicinity of the
                                                     horizons need to be converted, it is done
borehole. Converting the wells to the time
                                                     directly from the interval velocity maps.
domain is also the time when the geophysicist
must decide which seismic event can be
associated with which well top. It guides the
seismic interpretation of the seismic cube;
that is to say the picking of the horizons                                                              Figure 2. Reservoir with a lateral change of facies and
                                                                                                        velocity in the depth domain (A) and the time domain (B).
and faults from the seismic cube. Details on
how to integrate a seismic interpretation in                                                            All these approaches of computing velocities
geomodeling are covered in the two next                                                                 at each well and then interpolating maps from
sections. Before doing so though, the seismic                                                           them can also be done in a geomodeling
interpretation must be converted to the                                                                 package, if this is more convenient for the
depth domain. That’s where time-to-depth                                                                asset team to do so. Geostatistical algorithms,
conversion is being used.                                                                               as introduced in the previous papers of
                                                                                                        this series, are perfect for interpolating the
While sonic logs are being used to convert the
                                                                                                        velocity maps. Not only to capture trends in
wells from depth to time in great details, sonic
                                                     Figure 1. Interval velocities (A) versus average   the velocities, but also to generate multiple
is usually not used for converting the seismic
                                                     velocities (B).                                    possible velocity maps, and so capture the
data to depth. It can be extremely challenging
                                                                                                        velocity uncertainty between the wells.
to extrapolate sonic logs data between the
                                                     An average velocity is the mean velocity not
wells. It has the same level of uncertainty than                                                        No matter where these maps are generated,
                                                     between two horizons, as for the interval
extrapolating facies data or petrophysical data                                                         the geomodeler should make sure that these
                                                     velocity, but between the ground and a given
in 3D. Such an approach is sometimes needed                                                             maps do include all the wells needed for the
                                                     horizon (example, Figure 1B). Once the
though and the topic will be discussed in                                                               geomodeling workflow, and not only those
                                                     average velocity for a given horizon is known
more detail later in this section.                                                                      used by geophysicist. In many projects, some
                                                     at each well, a map of average velocity is
                                                                                                        wells might have facies and petrophysical logs,
Instead of defining the time-to-depth                defined, either as a constant everywhere, or
                                                                                                        but they might not have a sonic log. Such wells
conversion from the sonic log, interval              using interpolation techniques. The average
                                                                                                        would not be converted to the time domain
velocities or average velocity are used.             velocity maps are then used to convert the
                                                                                                        by the geophysicist. It might be perfectly
                                                     seismic cube and/or interpretation to the
An interval velocity is the mean velocity                                                               fine for seismic interpretation: once the
                                                     depth domain.
between two horizons at a given XY location.                                                            time-converted wells have confirmed which
Interval velocities are computed along each          Interval velocities are preferred to average       seismic event shall be picked, the interpreter
well. Figure 1A illustrates the concept with         velocities for units with lateral changes of       can follow these events in the whole cube,
interval velocities computed for the shallow         interval velocity (Figure 2). In this example,     even around wells without a sonic log. The
                                                                                                                                      (... Continued on page 16)

                                                                                                        RESERVOIR ISSUE 11 • DECEMBER 2015                   15
(... Continued from page 15)                       depth-conversion. But in many projects, the             needs to decide if that was the intention or
geophysicist might have the reflex, or be          team might not have the time for that. The              if a different approach is needed. Creating
forced by his software, to create the velocity     geophysicist might have been already assigned           a map showing the difference between the
maps only from the time-converted wells.           to some other tasks (or projects)...or the final        original and the corrected geometry is a nice
As a result, the depth-converted horizons,         deadline for the whole project might be too             way to understand how the geomodeling
while fitting nicely to the wells with sonic,      close to provide an opportunity to redo the             process modified the map exactly.
may not match to the wells without sonic.          depth-conversion.
                                                                                                           Instead of interpolating the depth values
Such mismatches can be cleaned in the              If the mismatches are large, it is still                directly, we suggest another approach which
geomodeling workflow, as discussed in the          recommended to adjust the velocity model                better respects the geometry of the seismic
next section, but it might be more elegant to      and redo the depth-conversion. But if                   interpretation: create a map of the adjustment
create the velocity maps from all the wells        mismatches are reasonable, then they can be             you need to apply to the seismic horizon map
in the first place, as well tops are all that is   fixed directly in the geomodeling package.The           (Figure 3A, blue line) to get it to fit to the
required to compute interval and average           technique, described hereafter, can probably            markers. Then move the seismic horizon map
velocities. Sonic is not needed.                   be applied in many geophysical packages.                with this adjustment map.
While illustrating the concept of lateral                                                                  The first step of this workflow is to compute
change of velocity, Figure 2 was also                                                                      the mismatch between the original seismic
overly simplistic. In many reservoirs, the                                                                 map and each well marker. In our example
heterogeneity is such that facies do change                                                                (Figure 3A), the mismatch at well 1 is
both laterally and vertically, in very complex                                                             +1.2m, the mismatch at well 2 is +0.9m and
ways, and difficult to predict from wells.                                                                 the mismatch at well 3 is -0.6m. A negative
The velocities in such geological units might                                                              number means that the marker is deeper than
be better defined by creating geomodeling                                                                  the surface at this location.We now know that
3D-grid in the time-domain. A 3D facies                                                                    the adjustment map must have the value +1.2,
model can then be built with geostatistical        Figure 3. A) Original (blue) vs marker-adjusted (red)   +0.9 and 0.6 at the respective XY locations
algorithms, and then the velocity can be           seismic interpretation. B) Adjustment map needed to     of wells 1, 2 and 3 (Figure 3B). We also
modeled by facies. In such reservoirs, it might    correct the mismatch observed in (A).
                                                                                                           decide that the adjustment must be null past
be necessary to interpolate sonic logs by          In Figure 3A, a seismic interpretation (blue            a certain distance from each well location. It
facies instead of interval velocities, to really   line) has been depth-converted using the                means that outside of areas centered at each
capture the heterogeneity. This geomodel will      three wells 1, 2 and 3. The interpreted                 well, we don’t want to modify the original
create multiple cubes of velocity for this unit,   horizon is close to the well markers but a              seismic map.
each one representing a possible distribution      mismatch remains. Should it be corrected? A
of the facies and the velocity in 3D. Overall,                                                             The second step of this workflow is to
                                                   general rule in geomodeling is that if well data
geomodeling packages are better equipped                                                                   define the radius of these areas. More details
                                                   and seismic data are partly in contradiction,
than geophysical packages to do such complex                                                               will be given in a later paragraph. Once the
                                                   the well data shall be respected in priority
time-to-depth conversions.                                                                                 radius defined, we know the displacement
                                                   because well data are more precise than
                                                                                                           at each well and we know the displacement
SEISMIC INTERPRETATION AND                         seismic data. In the process of adjusting to
                                                                                                           is 0m beyond the radius. All that remains to
STRATIGRAPHIC MODELING                             the well, we try to respect the seismic data
                                                                                                           do is to use some interpolation technique
                                                   as much as possible. Naturally, if well and
When depth-converted seismic horizon data                                                                  to extrapolate a decreasing displacement
                                                   seismic data are in complete contradiction,
are available, the geomodeler must consider                                                                from each well toward the limit of its
                                                   it is wiser to understand ‘why’ instead of
how to integrate the data into the model.                                                                  associated area. On Figure 3B, it is illustrated
                                                   enforcing this rule blindly. Once the source
He must create horizon surfaces which                                                                      by a bell shape around each well. Lastly, the
                                                   of the inconsistency is identified, the team
respect both the seismic interpretation and                                                                displacement map is added to the original
                                                   might agree that the data can be corrected to
the well markers. Even when all the wells,                                                                 seismic horizon. The resulting, corrected
                                                   make them coherent one with the other, or
with or without sonic, are used for time-to-                                                               horizon is equal to the original map far from
                                                   the team might decide that the inconsistency
depth conversion, it is rare that the seismic                                                              the wells (= outside of the pre-defined radial
                                                   is the result of different interpretations (for
interpretation matches precisely to the well                                                               zones around each wells) while the horizon
                                                   example). In that case, several geomodels
markers. The reasons are many. The velocity                                                                has now changed around each well. Each
                                                   might be needed, one for each interpretation.
maps might not have respected exactly the                                                                  marker is now respected while keeping the
                                                   For the purposes of this section, we assume
velocity value at each well. The time-depth                                                                overall geometry of the seismic interpretation.
                                                   that it makes sense for our dataset to modify
conversion itself, once the velocity is modeled,   the seismic horizon to fit to the well markers.
might not have been exact either. This is not
as rare as one might think. The reason might       One might be tempted to simply create a
be also a question of timing in the team. Some     surface from the seismic interpretation and
well locations or some well KB elevation           then adjust this map directly to the markers.
might have been adjusted after the depth-          By doing this, we mean using the depth of
conversion was done. Similarly, the geologist      each marker to adjust the depth of the map.
might have modified slightly the markers           Such an approach might be risky. While the
interpretation after the velocity maps were        markers will be respected, it is also very likely
completed. At last, some wells might have          that the whole surface will be completely
been drilled after the seismic data got depth-     smoothed out even far from the wells. The               Figure 4. Effect of using different radius to compute the
                                                   adjusted map might look very similar to the             adjustment map. A) map resulting to three different radii
converted. Or it might be a combination                                                                    (small, medium or large). B) map resulting from using at
of all these events. In a perfect world, the       map we could generate from the markers                  each well a radius function of the local mismatch.
geophysicist would systematically redo the         alone. If it happens, at the least the team

16       RESERVOIR ISSUE 11 • DECEMBER 2015
As illustrated in Figure 4, the challenge is to      wells. When this happens, it is recommended                only from the well markers. The mismatch
decide what radius to use around each well. In       to treat such horizon as we did here with                  between the two maps tells us how incorrect
this example, the mismatch at well A is half of      Horizon A, and then create horizons for the                – that is to say how uncertain – our map of
the mismatch at well B. If we use a very small       real stratigraphic tops (= the horizons we do              Horizon A from the markers alone is. On
radius for both wells (Figure 4A, black thin         need for the 3D-grid) following the approach               Figure 5, the error is reasonable between the
line), the adjustment zone is really narrow          proposed here for Horizon B.                               wells (yellow color), while it is very large to
and the corrected horizon surfaces might                                                                        the east beyond well 3. One might assume
                                                     Other horizons known only from well
show an obvious bullseye around each well.                                                                      that a similar range of uncertainty would have
                                                     markers are simply not conformable to any
Using a medium-size radius (Figure 4A, red                                                                      been found around Horizon C if it would
                                                     horizon picked on seismic. Such horizons can
dashed line), the bullseye effect might be less                                                                 have been possible to pick it on seismic. If we
                                                     only be modeled from the well markers. No
noticeable, and so acceptable, around well A,                                                                   accept this assumption, we can simply assign
                                                     seismic horizon, such as Horizon A, can be
while it might still be too visible around well                                                                 the uncertainty map from Horizon A onto
                                                     used as a reference. In Figure 5, this is the case
B. At last, using a large radius (Figure 4A, green                                                              Horizon C (Figure 5, vertical thick arrows).
                                                     of Horizon C.
thick line), the bullseye effect might now be
                                                                                                                Many geomodeling packages have tools to
minimal on both wells, but the question might
                                                                                                                create multiple versions of a given horizon,
become that we are altering a too large
                                                                                                                each version being a variation around a
portion of the seismic maps around each well.
                                                                                                                base case geometry. The tool is fed with
Ultimately, this is all a trade-off that the                                                                    an initial geometry of the horizon (Figure
team must agree upon. If some mismatches                                                                        5, the interpolated Horizon C map from
are really too large or the bullseyes are too                                                                   the well markers) as well as an estimate of
visible, then, as mentioned earlier, it might                                                                   the range of uncertainty (Figure 5, the map
be wiser to redo the depth-conversion. An                                                                       of mismatches computed on Horizon A).
alternate approach might be to use different                                                                    Each variation is slightly different from the
radii for each well (Figure 4B). The idea is to                                                                 reference surface, but all surfaces fall within
select a radius proportional to the absolute                                                                    the range of uncertainty pre-defined by the
value of the mismatch: the more important                                                                       uncertainty map. In Figure 5, a few possible
                                                     Figure 5. Modeling horizons from seismic interpretations
the mismatch, the larger the radius. In Figure       and/or well markers and managing the uncertainty           variations of Horizon C are represented in
4B, we could use a medium radius around well         associated to the model.                                   thin dark lines.
A and a large one around well B.
                                                     Another use of seismic interpretations is for
Once surfaces are created for each horizon on        quantifying the uncertainty on the geometry
the well markers and a seismic interpretation        of the horizons. Horizons A, B and C illustrate
exists, the geomodeler can continue taking           different type of uncertainty geomodelers
advantage of the seismic interpretation in two       have to consider.
ways, both illustrated in Figure 5.
                                                     Horizon A is the best defined horizon as it
Figure 5 is an extension of the example              was visible on seismic. There are still two
presented in Figure 4. Horizon A is the one          sources of uncertainty though: uncertainty
for which a seismic interpretation existed, and      in the picking itself in the time domain and
got adjusted to the well markers at wells 1,         uncertainty in the depth-conversion (or
2 and 3. For the horizons B and C though,            depth migration as discussed at the beginning
there is no seismic interpretation, only well        of the previous section).
markers.
                                                     Horizon B was created from Horizon A. As
In many reservoirs the horizons, or a subset         such, it inherits all Horizon A’s sources of
of them, might be conformable, one with the          uncertainty. An additional uncertainty must
other. If one of these conformable horizons          be considered too: the uncertainty on the
has been picked on seismic, then it can              thickness of the unit between Horizon A and
be used as a reference to model the other            Horizon B.
horizons. In Figure 5, Horizon B is interpreted
                                                     Horizon C, at last, is only known from well
as conformable with Horizon A. We can use
                                                     markers. As such, we have no real idea of
the geometry of the Horizon A to model the
                                                     how uncertain the interpolated surface is. Of
geometry of Horizon B. A thickness map of
                                                     course, mathematically, we can run different               Figure 6. Reservoir in which the horizons are defined
the unit between Horizon A and Horizon B
                                                     scenarios for this horizon, but which scenario             from seismic and from well tops. A) traditional approach
is interpolated from the thickness at each
                                                     bound to the uncertainty shall we use? +/-                 to build the mesh of the 3D-grid (horizontal mesh).
well (using geostatistical algorithms). Then,                                                                   B) modern approach integrating local seismic events
                                                     5m? +/- 50m? More maybe? A solution is to
the geometry of Horizon B is calculated by                                                                      interpreted in the reservoir.
                                                     define the range of uncertainty on Horizon C
subtracting the thickness map to the depth
                                                     from Horizon A with the following approach.                Up to this point, this section focused on
map of Horizon A.This is a first additional way
to take advantage of a seismic interpretation.       Firstly, we create a new surface for Horizon               integrating “traditional” seismic horizon
Sometimes, none of the seismic events they           A only from well markers. Such geometry is                 interpretations. By “traditional”, we mean
can interpret correspond to any of the               illustrated in a dashed blue line on Figure 5.             surfaces that can be picked across the whole
stratigraphic markers interpreted by the             We now have two geometries for Horizon                     seismic cube such as Horizon A on Figure 5.
geologists on the wells.These events are linked      A: the surface made from the seismic and                   In the last few paragraphs of this section, we
to other change of log signatures along the          the well markers and the geometry made                     are considering the integration of the smaller
                                                                                                                                             (... Continued on page 18)

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