Seismic identification of tight-oil reservoirs by using 3D rock-physics templates

Abstract Tight-oil reservoirs are classified as unconventional hydrocarbon resources, having a complex system of pores and cracks and low porosity/permeability. A good pore-crack connectivity is required for hydrocarbon production, but clay minerals filling the pores and throats may hinder the fluid migration. Thus, the combined effects of the pore-crack network and the presence of clay are the main factors controlling the reservoir properties and its storage capacity. In this study, a suite of cores was collected from a reservoir located in the north of the Songliao Basin (China), and establish their microstructure by scanning electron microscopy. Then, ultrasonic experiments were performed under in-situ conditions to analyze the influence of clay minerals and porosity on the elastic waves. The triple-porosity, differential-effective-medium and self-consistent theories were used to calculate the stiffness moduli by considering the effects of pores, cracks and clay minerals, and to analyze the influence of these reservoir properties on the P-wave attributes. According to attenuation, acoustic impedance and phase-velocity ratio, a multi-scale 3D rock-physics template was established. By using the ultrasonic, sonic-log and seismic data, the templates were calibrated and then the reservoir characteristics were estimated. Two 2D seismic lines were considered and the corresponding predicted reservoir properties were compared to the well-log data and the actual production reports, showing that the porosity and clay content predictions are consistent with these data, and that the oil production areas are all located within the high-cracked porous zones. The 3D rock-physics templates can effectively estimate the distribution of high-quality tight-oil reservoirs.