Summary

We foresee that the use of the pseudo-seismic approach and the computer workstation will provide the tools for cost-effective, efficient yet comprehensive studies of large mature areas such as the Hugoton Embayment. The proposed approach makes use of the existing well data base. It can be used prior to or even in place of extensive new seismic data to develop a basin and field-wide understanding of the architecture and fundamental geologic controls that affect fluid migration, trapping, and production within mature producing areas and fields typical of the Hugoton Embayment and much of onshore North America. The use of the pseudo-seismic approach makes comprehensive subsurface geologic studies possible by easing the data handling burdens through use of computerized techniques designed for manipulation, interpretation and display of seismic data.

The results of these ongoing studies will be both an approach and a product. The product will be the first comprehensive study of such areas as the shallow gas producing horizons of the Hugoton Embayment. The approach represents an integration of seismic methodologies with subsurface geologic data. The data from multiple wells are treated as a volume instead of on a well-by-well basis. This change in approach permits the direct application of standard Landmark Seisworks 2D and 3D tools for display, mapping, and analysis. Application of seismic tools permits efficient study of the large data sets characteristic of mature fields and producing basins, and leverages the existing database. It transforms the immense volume of existing data into a digestible form to overcome the economic and technologic barriers to efficient exploitation of resources in mature producing areas such as the Hugoton. The result is an increased efficiency of stratigraphic interpretation that can open new dimensions in well log analysis and interpretation and can provide significant insight into complex 3D stratigraphic geometries associated with lithology, reservoir quality, and fluids.