Abstract

Seismic modeling is a key instructional tool in the education of new geoscientists working in exploration and development. The hands-on understanding of seismic response to changing fluid and rock properties is key in developing appropriate skill sets for multi-discipline teams working to create field development plans. This paper outlines techniques and methodologies to achieve knowledge transfer within a very short timeframe.

Training is of critical importance for the industry as we move forward with the “great crew change”. Seismic datasets are frequently proprietary, and may lack certain elements that are essential for a specific instructional objective. The methods outlined in this paper allow the instructional team to design a dataset which is ideally suited to transfer the appropriate knowledge to the students.

Within this context the concepts of elementary seismic response to rock and fluid type as well as the response to dynamic fluid flow can be addressed by integrating fluid properties within a sub-surface geomodel. Using forward modeling, students can obtain a better understanding of the seismic response to specific rock properties which can then be expanded on to anticipate the 4D seismic response of a producing reservoir through time. The synthetic seismic data can then be interpreted by the students to discover the changes in seismic response imparted by rock and fluid type and the migration of those fluids through time.