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GeoCanada 2010
Optimizing Converted-Wave Prestack Time Migration
Poster Displays - Stress, Strain, Anisotropy and Natural Fractures
Peter W. Cary & Changjun Zhang, Sensor Geophysical Ltd.
Optimizing Converted-Wave Prestack Time Migration
Effect of Heavy Oil Reservoir Rock Texture on the VpVs Ratios Derived From Logs
Wednesday, May 12 – Afternoon - Heavy Oil - Subsurface - Boyce Theatre
Carmen C. Dumitrescu, Sensor Geophysical Ltd. & Larry Lines, CHORUS, University of Calgary
Effect of Heavy Oil Reservoir Rock Texture on the VpVs Ratios Derived From Logs
SENSOR HELD ITS ANNUAL TECHNOLOGY FORUM ON THURSDAY APRIL 15, 2010
These are the papers that were presented
Title: Interpolation, AVO and Prestack Migration
Speaker: Dr. Peter Cary, Sensor Geophysical Ltd.
Summary: Suddenly, 5D interpolation is something that every processing company in Calgary must have in order to perform 3-D prestack migration in an AVO-compliant manner. Quietly, Sensor has for years been using interpolation to common-offset-vector gathers before migration to make our output gathers as free from migration artifacts as possible and AVO-compliant. Details of how Sensor’s procedures work as well as examples on synthetic and real data will be shown.
Dr. Peter Cary has B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in physics, a B.A. degree in philosophy from the University of Toronto, and a Ph.D. in geophysics (1987) from Cambridge University, England. He worked for Chevron both in Calgary and in La Habra, California from 1982 to 1984 and was Manager of Geophysical Research with Pulsonic Geophysical Ltd. from 1988 until joining Sensor Geophysical Ltd. as Chief Geophysicist in 1996. He has presented and published many papers on seismic processing. He served as technical program chairman of the 1993 CSEG Annual Meeting and of the SEG 2000 Annual Meeting, was also second Vice President of the CSEG in 1996-97, and president of the CSEG in 2004-05. He was an associate editor (seismic processing) of Geophysics from 1998-2001. Most recently he was honored by the CSEG with the 2009 Honourary Membership Award. One of his specialties is processing and developing software for multi-component seismic data.
Title: 2D and 3D Design Considerations for Converted Wave Data
2D and 3D Design Considerations for Converted Wave Data
Speaker: Norman M. Cooper, Mustagh Resources Ltd.
Summary: An increasing number of geophysicists are becoming interested in converted-wave studies. Some studies have failed in their objectives partly due to inadequate adjustments to program design parameters. This short seminar will highlight changes that must be considered in 2D and 3D designs in order to accommodate requirements for sampling shear wave fields.
Norman M. Cooper has B.Sc. in geophysics from the University of British Colombia (1977). He worked for Amoco Canada in Calgary from 1977 to 1981 and Voyager Petroleums from 1981 to 1983. He founded Mustagh Resources Ltd. in 1983 and has serviced the industry as a consultant for the past 27 years. Mustagh has acted as interpreting consultants, operated exploration interests and most recently provided a variety of support services in training as well as planning and management of acquisition programs. Norm has served two terms on the board of directors of CAGC and one term as Second Vice President of CSEG. He is also a long standing member of CSPG, CWLS and APEGGA and has served on many committees for the CSEG.
He is a frequent presenter at technical conferences and has published papers on several topics in acquisition. He has participated in the designs of more than 3000 3D programs in over 40 countries. His many courses have attracted over 3000 participants. He is known for his ability to convey an understanding of complex topics at very basic and easy-to-understand levels.
Title: Optimal Time and Depth Imaging and Interval Velocity Derivation
Speaker: Kerry Stinson, Data Modeling Inc.
Summary: Time and depth migration depend fundamentally on the velocity/anisotropy model for correct focusing and positioning of events. To avoid the subjective issues with human picking, and to allow greater accuracy, consistency and density, a data driven approach was developed to optimally build the appropriate velocity models. An offshoot in this development was the ability to build structurally consistent interval velocities as a part of the time or depth velocity determination. Data examples will illustrate the quality of the interval velocity models, and the anticipated reduction of non-uniqueness in depth migration when the model and migrated image are structurally consistent.
Kerry J. Stinson received his Masters in Geophysics at the University of British Columbia in 1982. While still at U.B.C., Mr. Stinson helped found ITA Inverse Theory and Applications, along with other U.B.C. researchers. This research driven company developed proprietary applications for the geophysical industry, and introduced Insight, one of the first interactive seismic processing systems. The Insight workstation formed the base for their seismic processing services, and was also sold commercially around the world. In 1990, Landmark Graphics Inc. purchased ITA, with Mr. Stinson remaining with the new Landmark/ITA until 1993. In 1994, Mr. Stinson and Dr. Shlomo Levy incorporated Atlantis Ventures Consulting Inc., to supply consulting and software design service, while continuing to work together on the development of the automation and optimization of major seismic processing tasks, such as imaging velocity determination and multiple suppression. In 1996, they formed Data Modeling Inc., along with Dr. Wai-Kin Chan and Dr. Edward Crase, in order to accelerate development of their AutoImager software suite. Mr. Stinson is a member of SEG and EAEG.
Title: Microseismic, Time-lapse Seismic and Tiltmeter Monitoring of a Thermal Heavy Oil Extraction Process at Peace River, Canada
Speaker: Dr. Peter McGillivray, Shell Canada Ltd.
Summary: Peace River is Shell Canada’s in situ heavy oil production operation in northwestern Alberta. The principle production strategy at Peace River is to use multi-lateral horizontal wells to steam the bitumen saturated sand reservoir and to then use the same horizontal wells to produce the mobilized bitumen. Although Peace River has been in full-scale operation for over 20 years, there has been considerable uncertainty about the processes taking place within the reservoir during these steam and production cycles. This has made it difficult to optimize the drilling and operational strategies so as to maximize the value of this large resource. Several years ago, Shell Canada carried out a focused effort to apply geophysical monitoring techniques to gain a better understanding of the processes taking place in the reservoir, and to assess the practicality of monitoring on a field-wide basis. Time-lapse surface-to-surface and surface-to-borehole surveys were carried out, in conjunction with continuous microseismic and surface uplift monitoring, over a number of pads of horizontal wells. The study of this diverse set of monitoring data, together with core and log information, and pressure, injection and temperature data for several steam and production cycles, has provided valuable information about how steam and mobilized bitumen move through the reservoir. This has, in turn, allowed us to adapt our drilling and operational strategy in order to exploit the factors that control steam distribution and ultimately the efficiency of the operation.
Dr. Peter McGillivray received a B.Sc. in Geophysics in 1983 and a Ph.D. in Geophysics in 1991 from the University of British Columbia, where his focus was on geophysical inverse theory and applications. He worked as a geophysicist at Canadian Superior Oil Ltd and later Mobil Oil Canada Ltd. from 1983 to 1986, prior to commencing graduate studies. In 1990, he was employed as a visiting scientist with Schlumberger Doll Research, where he worked on cross-borehole EM inversion for reservoir characterization and monitoring. Since 1991, he has been employed by Shell Canada Ltd., where he has worked as a geophysicist in various departments and asset teams, including the Peace River and the Orion in situ heavy oil asset teams. He is currently the Asset Development Manager for Orion.
Title: An Overview of Microseismic Research at the U of C
Speaker: Dr. Dave Eaton, University of Calgary
Summary: Microseismic research at the University of Calgary is entering a period of exciting growth and activity, as a result of the inception of the micro-seismic industry consortium (mu-SIC). This project is a joint initiative of the U of C and the University of Alberta, and is the only university consortium in the world focusing on microseismic research in general, yet focused on Western Canadian priorities in particular. The main focus areas for the project are: creating improved algorithms for data processing; optimized design of microseismic arrays; improved geomechanical characterization of fracturing processes; numerical simulation of fracturing processes; understanding the stress field and its evolution; and, temporal changes in reservoir conditions. A new microseismic field system being purchased by the U of C will enable acquisition of data in piggy-back experiments, commencing summer 2010. The new project will operate independently from existing consortia but will exploit synergies and complementary strengths.
Dr. David Eaton is a Professor of Geophysics and Head of the Geoscience Department at the University of Calgary. He joined the department in 2007, after spending nearly 11 years at the University of Western Ontario. Prior to 1997, he worked one year in Plano Texas with Arco Research and Technical Services and three years with the Continental Geoscience Division of the Geological Survey of Canada. Together with his students, his research focuses on applications of microseismic monitoring and teleseismic studies of the deep Earth. These projects seek to understand the architecture and geological evolution of the continents, as well as potential earthquake hazards in continental interior regions. He is past-president of the Canadian Geophysical Union, founding member of POLARIS, a $10 M infrastructure project funded by the Canada Foundation for Innovation and Honorary Professor at the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies.
Title: An Overview of Geophysical Methods used in Saskatchewan Potash Mines.
Speaker: Craig Funk, PotashCorp
Summary: Geophysics plays an important role in the planning and operations of potash mines. Depth migrated 3-D seismic is used for mine planning in order to maximize production and to avoid mining into hazardous water-bearing anomalies. In-mine seismic refraction surveys detect changes in porosity in overlaying carbonates. Ground penetrating radar can identify safety hazards in the roof of the openings and is also used to detect carnallite. Microseismic arrays constantly monitor the mines in order to confirm that the mined-out areas are yielding as expected (verify mine design) and also to detect and record unexpected changes in rock deformation.
Craig Funk is the Chief Geophysicist for PotashCorp and works out of the head office in Saskatoon Saskatchewan. He received a B.Eng (1989) and M.Sc (1992) from the University of Saskatchewan. He started his career in South Africa where he spent 5 years developing graphics analysis and interpretation software for microseismic monitoring systems. Next he spent 7 years in the United States working as a consultant for a geotechnical engineering company. He eventually ended up in Calgary where he worked for Pinnacle (now Halliburton) developing technology for the microseismic monitoring of reservoirs. Craig finally found his way back to Saskatchewan in 2008 where he joined PotashCorp.
Title: Heavy oil reservoir characterization with multicomponent data
Speaker: Carmen Dumitrescu, Sensor Geophysical Ltd.
Summary. Multicomponent seismic data is increasingly being used to get the reservoir petrophysical properties such as density and Vp/Vs ratio. PP and PS seismic data can be jointly inverted to P-impedance, S-impedance, Vp/Vs ratio and density. Joint inversion of PP and PS data requires registration of the PS data to PP time. The shear impedance is better estimated when we use PP and PS seismic data.
Carmen Dumitrescu is a graduate of the University of Bucharest, Romania. She worked for 15 years in resource exploration and geophysical research in Europe (Romania, UK and France). In 1997 she was employed by Veritas as a processor for land and marine data for a year and then as a geophysicist within Exploration Services. Carmen joined Sensor Geophysical Ltd. in 2003 and as Manager of Reservoir Geophysics has been involved in a variety of projects to calculate reservoir properties in 2D and 3D data in clastics, carbonates and heavy oil. She is a member of the CSEG, SEG, AAPG, CSPG, EAGE and a P.Geoph with APEGGA. Currently she is working on her Ph.D. at the University of Calgary.