Canadian foothills geology unraveled by VSPs

Journal Article · Wed Jul 01 04:00:00 EDT 1992 · World Oil; (United States)

OSTI ID:7045372

Van Dijk, A A; Amstutz, R ^[1]

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1. PanCanadian Petroleum Ltd., Calgary, Alberta (CA)

This paper reports that downhole vertical seismic profiles (VSPs) can help improve confidence in a seismic interpretation when surface seismic data are poor and the local geology is complex. Improved siting of additional drilling locations can result. In the case study detailed, Paleozoic outcrops at a prospective Alberta Foothills location caused the surface seismic data obtained to be a very poor representation of the subsurface. To gain needed subsurface detail, the operator chose to acquire a VSP survey in an initial wellbore in the area. Briefly, steps in the survey included: building an initial geologic model from the surface seismic in hand and limited local geologic knowledge; drilling a prospect well based on the initial geologic model; acquiring one VSP pass prior to reaching TD to locate a major fault and optimize the second VSP pass; process the first VSP pass and reinterpret the surface seismic based on the direct arrivals obtained from the VSP; modify the geologic model; acquire a second VSP pass optimized over the zones of interest; process the second VSP pass and overlay it on the reinterpreted surface seismic for further refinement and agreement; modify the geologic model and pick further drilling sites.

• OSTI ID: 7045372
• Journal Information: World Oil; (United States), Journal Name: World Oil; (United States) Vol. 213:7; ISSN 0043-8790; ISSN WOOIA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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DATA PROCESSING
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
GEOPHYSICAL SURVEYS
MINERAL RESOURCES
NORTH AMERICA
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