Seismic Work Flow Characterizes Deep, Thin Formation Layers Offshore South China Sea

This paper describes an integrated work flow developed for 3D seismic reservoir characterization of deep and thin layers without sufficient well data in a South China Sea formation.

February 1, 2022

Journal of Petroleum Technology

Fig. 1—Seismic sections before and after BWXT processing. The WCF is indicated by the lower arrows.

The complete paper describes an integrated work flow for 3D seismic reservoir characterization of offshore deep and thin layers in the Eocene Wenchang formation (WCF) without sufficient well data. The work flow includes seismic data reprocessing, well-log-based rock physics analysis, seismic structure interpretation, 3D simultaneous amplitude variation with offset (AVO) inversion, 3D lithology prediction, and geological integrated analysis.

Formation Development and Objectives

The Pearl River Mouth basin (PRMB) on the northern continental margin of the South China Sea has undergone multistage extensional rifts. The Enping Sag lies in the Zhu1 depression, north of the PRMB, and consists of three subsags. Enping 17 is the largest and deepest sag, with an area of 550 km², and the thickness of Eocene sediments is greater than 3000 m.

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