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The AAPG/Datapages Combined Publications Database
AAPG Bulletin
Abstract
AAPG Bulletin, V.
2004. The American Association of Petroleum Geologists. All rights reserved.
Seismic attribute-based characterization of coalbed methane reservoirs: An example from the Fruitland Formation, San Juan basin, New Mexico
Iv
n Dimitri Marroqu
n,1 Bruce S. Hart2
n Dimitri Marroqun,1 Bruce S. Hart21Earth and Planetary Sciences, McGill University, 3450 University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada H3A 2A7
2Earth and Planetary Sciences, McGill University, 3450 University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada H3A 2A7; [email protected]
AUTHORS
Iv
n Dimitri Marroqu
n is a Ph.D. student of geophysics at McGill University, Canada. He received his B.Sc. combined degree in physics and geology from the Universit
de Montral in 1994 and his M.Sc. degree in geophysics from 
cole Polytechnique in 1998. His current research includes characterization of conglomerate and coalbed reservoirs by 3-D seismic-based means.
Bruce Hart holds a Ph.D from the University of Western Ontario. He held positions with the Geological Survey of Canada, Penn State, and the New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources prior to joining McGill University in 2000. His research interests focus on the integration of 3-D seismic data with other data types for reservoir characterization programs. He has been an associate editor of the AAPG Bulletin since 2000.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Principal funding for this project was provided by a Department of Energy–funded investigation of optimizing infill drilling in naturally fractured tight-gas reservoirs (contract number DE-FC26-98FT40486; Larry Teufel, principal investigator). Portions of this project were funded by a Natural Science and Engineering Research Council award (238411-01) to Hart. We thank Williams Energy (in particular, Ralph Hawks) and Tom Engler (New Mexico Tech) for supplying data and insights into Rosa field. Software used in this study was graciously provided by Landmark Graphics Corporation (GeoGraphix) and Hampson-Russell. We thank both companies for their ongoing support of our research and former AAPG editor John Lorenz and two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments that helped improve the focus of this paper.
ABSTRACT
The Fruitland Formation of the San Juan basin is the largest producer of coalbed methane in the world. Production patterns vary from one well to another throughout the basin, reflecting factors such as coal thickness and fracture and cleat density. In this study, we integrated conventional P-wave three-dimensional (3-D) seismic and well data to investigate geological controls on production from a thick, continuous coal seam in the lower part of the Fruitland Formation. Our objective was to show the potential of using 3-D seismic data to predict coal thickness, as well as the distribution and orientation of subtle structures that may be associated with enhanced permeability zones. To do this, we first derived a seismic attribute-based model that predicts coal thickness. We then used curvature attributes derived from seismic horizons to detect subtle structural features that might be associated with zones of enhanced permeability. Production data show that the best producing wells are associated with seismically definable structural features and thick coal. Although other factors (e.g., completion practices and coal type) affect coalbed methane production, our results suggest that conventional 3-D seismic data, integrated with wire-line logs and production data, are useful for characterizing coalbed methane reservoirs.
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