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Integrating 3D & 4D Rock Physics Inversion data into better understanding of field and
reservoir behavior to mitigate production decline
Mark Nicholls*, Scott Marler and Dan Maguire – Hess Corporation

Summary used as inputs to the rock physics inversion modeling

portion of the project.
The uplift in identification and prediction of hydrocarbon
sands when using Rock Physics Inversion over Chi angle
and Extended Elastic Impedance approaches is presented
for a producing asset in Equatorial Guinea, West Africa.
Deep water clastic reservoirs with rapid rates of production
decline (`30% per year) require continuous phases of infill
drilling to fully and effectively deplete the resource.
Identification of remaining unswept potential in the fields
requires the use of both 3D and 4D seismic data. The 3D
data is required for the identification of sedimentary
architecture of the reservoir bodies. The 4D seismic is
required to identify remaining oil.
DOI:10.1190/segam2014-0711.1

A comparison of reservoir details obtained from Extended

Elastic Impedance (EEI) and Rock Physics Inversion (RPI)
are presented. Their relative accuracy in identifying HC
sands is quantified and compared. New areas that were
derisked using the RPI data are presented. Integrating the
3D inversion products with 4D inversion products has
allowed for the identification and quantification of the
unswept potential in the field that will form the basis for
the next phase of infill drilling in the asset.
Introduction
The Okume Complex located in the Rio Muni Basin
offshore Equatorial Guinea was discovered in 2001 and
consists of two meandering East to West Submarine
Canyon systems that were initiated during the Aptian and
continued through to at least the Campanian period. The
hydrocarbon bearing reservoir sands are from turbidite
depositional systems that occur as a series of vertically
stacking and laterally migrating sinuous channel deposits
(Figure 1) which seismically give class II and Class III
AVO responses.
The fields within the Complex were originally discovered
on a 1999 standard 3D marine survey. Full field
interpretation and development was conducted on
WesternGeco Q data acquired in 2003 (forming the
baseline survey of our 4D), this survey geometry was then
replicated in 2010 to obtain a 4D time lapse dataset. The
complex has over 90 well penetrations 10 of which were
Figure 1: Okume Complex Field description and geologic setting
that outlines the confined deep-water slope-levee complex
channels and turbite sands.
Methodology
As is typical with many West African post-salt Late
Cretaceous fields the excellent seismic illumination from
conventional 3D seismic data exhibits hydrocarbon bearing
sands as amplitude anomalies. These form a great base
interpretation method for originally identifying and
defining the 3D sedimentary architecture of these confined
turbidite canyon system reservoirs.
Definition of the sand packages along with the first phase
of the development and first oil from all fields in the
Okume Complex was achieved using this method of
interpretation and mapping AVO Class 3 seismic
anomalies.
As production in the field increased and multiple drilling
phases progressed so did the methodology of integrating
seismic attributes that discriminate for fluid and lithology
into the base interpretations and static simulation models.
The second phases of production drilling in these fields
used chi angles and extended elastic impedance concepts
into the interpretation to better define and discriminate
reservoir properties. A Chi angle is the projection angle
measured from the x-axis of an Intercept-Gradient cross

© 2014 SEG DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.1190/segam2014-0711.1

SEG Denver 2014 Annual Meeting Page 2798
 Integrating 3D & 4D Rock Physics Inversion data into better understanding of field and reservoir behavior to
mitigate production decline
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plot. The Chi angle that maximizes the standout of the
anomaly vs. background along with the angle that
minimizes it are the basis for what Hess describe as being
the Optimal and Orthogonal (O&O) projections (Ball et al,
2012).
Figure 2: Intercept – Gradient cross plots highlighting Optimal,
Orthogonal and rock property projections.
The illustration in Figure 2 displays the projection of
Optimal and Orthogonal angles as well as physical property
projections. Optimal fluid angle is the projection that
DOI:10.1190/segam2014-0711.1
maximizes the standout of the fluid response relative to the
background shale response.
Orthogonal / Non-fluid or “lithology” angle is the
projection that minimizes the standout of fluid response
relative to the background shale response. Rock property
angles are ones which best correlate to a specific rock
property of interest, for example to Vshale when trying to
identify wet sands from shales. Integrating these attributes
has proved invaluable in the 3D definition and
understanding of sediments and architectures to these
canyon confined channel trubidite complexes as can be
clearly seen in figure 3.
Figure 3: 3D Opacity ‘Probe” of Top to Base Reservoir clearly
defining the extent of the two confined sand rich trubidite channel
complexes.
© 2014 SEG
SEG Denver 2014 Annual Meeting
4D acquisition and multiple reprocessing of seismic
vintages has greatly improved the subsurface image of
these fields, enough to warrant conducting and integrating
3D and 4D Simultaneous Rock Physics Inversion data into
continuously evolving a better understanding of the
reservoirs behavior. The Rock Physics Inversion
methodology is a multi-part process which firstly requires
the simultaneous inversion of partial stacks inverted for
properties of acoustic impedance, Vp/Vs and density, these
elastic properties are then the inputs into a rock physics
inversion derived from a rock property model which is
parameterized on how elastic moduli depend on porosity,
mineral fractions, mineral moduli and effective fluid
moduli. The model honors mineral and fluid points,
Gassmann and relates to the classical bounds (Voigt, Reuss,
Hashin Shtrikman), it is also adaptable to specific rock
types and conditions as seen in Figure 4. Due to changes in
compaction and differences between the rock physics of the
Okume and Oveng Canyon systems, it was determined that
three different rock physics models were required to
characterize this region. One model was developed for
Okume and two models were developed for Oveng (one for
the upper shallow and one for the lower deeper portions of
the Oveng Canyon).
Figure 4: Cross plots of Acoustic Impedance and Poisons Ratio
(color coded by Saturation) comparing the Rock Physics Model
(right) with observed rock properties from the wells (left).
Results and Predictability
The resulting products available through these methods are
O& O, EEI datasets and from the rock physics inversion
there are static 3D datasets for Vclay, porosity and So and
4D datasets for delta SO, SW and effective pressure.
Initial validation of these datasets is done through a
statistical validation process which correlates the observed
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mitigate production decline
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responses from the static pre-production O&O and RPI data
with the pay flags calculated for all of the wells.
Observations of the seismic responses to pay flag results
are then characterized into four possible outcomes; True
positives, True negatives, false positives and false
negatives, this is repeated for every sand zone in all the
wells (appraisal and production) available for statistics on
over sixty sand bodies and the results are seen in figure 5.
DOI:10.1190/segam2014-0711.1
Figure 5: Charts displaying the results of Statistical validation and
predictability of O&O and RPI data to the pay flags in the wells.
The accuracy of the Optimal and orthogonal method is a
very modest 77% accurate at predicting hydrocarbon sands
but does give the occasional false positive. The Rock
physics inversion method improves the predictability of
hydrocarbon sands to 88%. Integrating this highly
predictable data into static models and interpretations gives
greater confidence in our ability to identify remaining
hydrocarbons and reduces the uncertainty around potential
false positives.
The real uplift is achieved when integrating the 2010 4D
change Rock physics inversion data into our understanding
of reservoir behavior, this not only mitigates the technical
risks of future infill wells but also mitigates the financial
risk by mitigating the production decline curve.
© 2014 SEG
SEG Denver 2014 Annual Meeting
4D RPI data proves invaluable in identifying reservoir
boundaries that isolate containers of hydrocarbons by
barriers and baffles that were previously thought to have
flow connections as can be seen in figure 6.
Figure 6: Maps of Optimal projection, Oil Saturation from RPI
and areas of NO 4D change are evidence of clear boundaries that
isolate containers of hydrocarbons. Arbitrary lines through these
sands show the uplift in resolution when you use RPI Saturations
compared to EEI.
Further integration of the 4D RPI has led to better
understanding of the internal plumbing of geobodies. The
4D aspect provides an improved understanding of the
sweep heterogeneity seen between water injection and
production wells, areas of high perm streaks can be
identified along with defining regions of bypassed or
poorly swept oil.
Figure 7 highlights the importance of integrating both 3D
and 4D rock physics data, the 3D aspect defines the
channel extents and their inter fingering geometries whilst
the 4D identifies the basal sweep patterns within them
occurring down the channel thalwegs and how the channels
are connected and plumed to the water injection. History
matching production data with calculated STOIIP
associated with 4D sweep patterns gives greater confidence
in identifying the remaining unswept potential left with the
fields of the Okume Complex and greatly assists us in
determining the locations of future infill drilling targets.
DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.1190/segam2014-0711.1
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mitigate production decline
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Figure 7: Example of 4D sweep heterogeneity where 4D changes

only occur along the channel base, leaving an upper zone of sand
upswept and enough remain hydrocarbons for a potential well
work over.

Conclusions
DOI:10.1190/segam2014-0711.1

AVO supported Campainan-aged deepwater slope-levee

Figure 8: Pre-Drill Pseudo log values of rock properties extracted
complex channel turbite sands are the primary exploration
from RPI datasets compared to actual rock properties logged in the
and development targets in the Okume Complex Field
well.
Areas. Integrating 3D and 4D Rock Physics Data improves
our understanding of how these fields behave. Detailed
mapping of the RPI static data plus the 4D sweep patterns
has also improved ability to mapping sands within the
acquirer leg allow for further refinements and
improvements of reservoir simulation models. The high
level of confidence with the rock physics inversions
predictability of hydrocarbon sands has been seen in the
results of the first well recently completed in the latest
phase of infill drilling at Okume Complex. Figure 8 shows
the pre-drill prediction for rock properties against the actual
well results. This level of accuracy increases confidence in
our ability to high grade all our targets and reduce the risk
of drilling future wells. Figure 9: Okume Complex Production decline curve forecast, Red
values are wells targeted by intergrating the RPI data and mitigate
By far the most significant impact these infill’s wells have the production decline
is best displayed in the forecasted production decline curve
seen in Figure 9. Not only is this data helping to mitigate Acknowledgments
the production decline but actually increasing the field
production rates and from resources that would have been The authors would like to thank the Equatorial Guinean
left in the ground without integrating 3D and 4D rock Ministry of Mines, Industry and Energy (MMIE), Hess
physics Inversion data into our understanding of reservoir Corporation, GE Petrol, Tullow Oil for permission to
and turbidite field behavior. publish this study. Qeye Labs for their RPI products and
many of our colleagues for their hard work and insightful
comments that made this project successful.

© 2014 SEG DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.1190/segam2014-0711.1

SEG Denver 2014 Annual Meeting Page 2801
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EDITED REFERENCES
Note: This reference list is a copy-edited version of the reference list submitted by the author. Reference lists for the 2014
SEG Technical Program Expanded Abstracts have been copy edited so that references provided with the online metadata for
each paper will achieve a high degree of linking to cited sources that appear on the Web.

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