Detection of guided waves between gas wells for reservoir characterization

Guided seismic waves can be used to predict continuity and discontinuity of reservoir structures between wells, with the low‐velocity beds acting as waveguides. We relate guided‐wave signatures to waveguide targets using experimental data acquired at the Stratton gas field in southeast Texas. The observed seismic data indicate the presence of trapped energy in low velocity shale markers between wells 145 and 151. Guided waves in the form of leaky modes are excited, transmitted, and detected in the low‐velocity shale markers at a well separation of 1730 ft (527 m). Dispersion analysis, modeling, frequency–amplitude depth curves, well logs, and lithological information all support the results. Specifically, the characterization of two low‐velocity shale markers, V2 and V5, demonstrates that V2 is more heterogeneous than V5 between the source well 151 and detector well 145. Finally, images of synthetic and real data show the potential applications of the guided‐wave technology as a tool for reservoir charact...