Over the past few years, we have seen a growing number of seismic attributes applied to reservoir characterization. Although sometimes useful by themselves, attributes used in judicious combinations can greatly enhance the understanding of a hydrocarbon reservoir. In this presentation, we will focus on the combined use of three categories of rock and structural properties and their related seismic attributes that characterize the potential, risks and plumbing of reservoirs. The categories are rock strength, paleo-strain and differential horizontal stress.

• We estimate rock strength using elastic inversion products derived from p-impedance and s-impedance.
• Paleo-strain represents the geologic forces that have shaped the basin and is manifested in the structure that we observe today. Aside from the migrated image, various curvature volumes (e.g., most positive or negative curvature) are extremely helpful in identifying major and subtle structural details that can often be easily overlooked.
• Unequal horizontal stresses are widespread in sedimentary layers and can play a major role in the development and production of reservoirs. Differential stresses can be observed only if seismic data are acquired to provide azimuthal dependent quantities such as interval velocity and AVO.

We will illustrate how the combination of azimuthal velocity and seismic curvature can be used to determine whether a flexure is under compression or extension and how that plays an important role in fractured reservoirs. Next, we will illustrate a methodology to high-grade the scores of potential attributes that may be available and then to combine them to predict production-related quantities.

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