ORIGINAL PAPER

Application of 3D fine seismic interpretation techniquein Dawangzhuang Area, Bohai Bay Basin, Northeast China

Shiqiang Xia & Quan Li & Xiande Wang & Cong Sun &

Ye Wang & Zhen Hu & Xin Li & Qifang Zheng

Received: 4 August 2013 /Accepted: 26 November 2013# Saudi Society for Geosciences 2013

Abstract One of the major problems in subsurface seismicacquisition, procession, and exploration we are facing today isthe uncertainty in geologic interpretation because of the com-plexity of subsurface geology and the limited dimension of thesubsurface data available (including drilling data, well log-ging, and core samples). Case studies from worldwide explo-ration projects indicate that an integrated, three-dimensionalseismic volume visualization and interpretation workflowcontributes greatly to resolving the problems we mentionedby extracting critical geologic information from within 3Dseismic datasets. Over the last decade, with the increasingemployment and improvement of geophysical technologyand following 3D seismic data acquisition and processing,the subsurface seismic interpretation workflow is composed

of four integrated stages from data selection and pre-procession, to structures, stratum, and facies characterization;to prospect prediction and evaluation; and to well-bore plan-ning. In the data selection and pre-procession phase, the mostfavorable and frequently used datum is the full and limitedangle and limited azimuth post-stack amplitude with signifi-cant structures, stratum, and facies enhancements. Signal-to-noise ratio, color scheme, dynamic range, bit resolution, andvisual contrast all affect the visibility of features of interest.During the structures, stratum, and facies characterizationphase, vertical slicing along arbitrary traverses demonstratesstructure styles, stratigraphic architecture, and reservoir geom-etry in the cross-sectional view. Time/depth slicing defineslateral and vertical variability in the structural trend and arealextent in the map view. Stratal slicing and fault slicing suggestchronostratigraphic seismic facies, associated depositional in-formation, and cross-stratal, along fault seismic signature.Volume flattening and structure restoration aid in unravelingpaleo-structural framework, stratigraphic architecture, evolu-tion, and filling histories. In the prospect prediction and eval-uation phase, a combination of volume trimming, co-rendering, transparency, attribute analysis, and attribute bodydetection is instrumental in delineating volumetric extent andevaluating spatial connectivity of critical seismic features.Finally, in the well-bore planning phase, decision makingrelies on the integration of all the information and knowledgeextracted from 3D seismic datasets. Most importantly, inter-preters' geologic insights and employments of geophysicaltechnology are crucial to optimal well-bore planningwith highgeologic potential and low economic risk. The structure of thestudy area, which is poorly understood to be primarily due tothe complexity of subsurface geology and the limited dimen-sion of the subsurface data available, and therefore, we designthe integrated workflows and use some of the methods men-tioned above to carry out fine seismic interpretation in ananalysis of high-resolution 3D seismic data and other

S. Xia (*) : Z. Hu :X. LiSchool of Energy Resources, China University of Geosciences, No.29 Xueyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100083, Chinae-mail: xiasq007@126.com

Q. LiOversea Evaluation Center, CNOOC Research Institute,Beijing 100027, China

X. WangChina Huadian Science and Technology Institute, Beijing 100035,China

C. SunInstitute of Geology, Huan Xiling Exploit Factory, Liaohe OilfieldCompany, CNPC, Panjin, Liaoning 124114, China

Y. WangResearch Center for Ultra-low Permeability Reservoirs, ResearchInstitute of Petroleum Exploration and Development, PetroChinaChangqing Oilfield Company, Changqing 710021, China

Q. ZhengSchool of Ocean Science and Resources, China University ofGeosciences, Beijing 100083, China

Arab J GeosciDOI 10.1007/s12517-013-1225-6

geological data in the study area. Finally, we finished the fineinterpretation of 3D seismic data and achieved a series of successand good application results. The evolution of tectonics resultedin sub-tectonic units containing the sequences of Ek, Es, Ed, Ng,andNm. Interpretation reveals that tectonic transition zonewhichcontrolled the evolution of the sequences because of its strength,and also, the structural pattern resulted in types of fault (such as“Y” type). The seismic interpretations provide new informationon subsurface geology, including the recognition of complexstructural patterns in rift lacustrine basin and the presence of atectonic transition zone at the structural center. The interpretationof these seismic reflection profiles provides new insights into thestructure, geological evolution, and petroleum potential of thestudy area.

Keywords Seismic attribute . Visualization . Slices .Horizonflattening

Introduction

The key problems in basin analysis are: What is the hydrocar-bon volume and how is the hydrocarbon distributed in thebasin? The ability to answer these questions and to provideevidence for hydrocarbon exploration and exploitation is crit-ical for deciding whether to produce a field and to develop aproduction plan. Well drilled during the appraisal phase pro-vides well and other related data, which are combined withstructural and stratigraphic knowledge from seismic surveysto map the extent of the field and generate a reservoir model.The cost is usually too high for onshore drilling, not tomention the offshore drilling, and it is desirable to obtain theinformation required with fewer wells if possible. The fineseismic interpretation of modern 3D seismic data provides usmuch geological information we need between well locationsand can therefore reduce the exploration costs. Traditional 2Dseismic displays of limited numerous seismic lines or mapsoften distort the interpretation of tectonic deformation, sedi-ment deposition, and hydrocarbon occurring in three dimen-sions easily. With the improvement of computer processingand display, three-dimensional seismic imaging technologyprovides geologist a continuous volumetric seismic coverageof the survey area that makes it possible to interpret seismicstructure, stratigraphic distribution, hydrocarbon migration,and accumulation from a three-dimensional perspective (Dornet al. 1995; Dorn 1998; Walla and Edward 2003; Jiang et al.2006; Al-Zahrani and Neves 2008; Wu et al. 2010; Amoguet al. 2011; Yan et al. 2013; Wang 2013). Although the 3Dseismic data offer a unique opportunity to make seismicobservations and geologic interpretations in 3D space, most3D seismic data are displayed and interpreted in a 2D manner,leaving the critical advantage and potential value of 3D seismicdata underused. High-performance 3D digital computing and

state-of-the-art volume visualization and interpretation technolo-gies have played an important role in facilitating a 3D seismicvolume interpretation in an interactive manner (Dorn et al. 1995;Dorn 1998). There is extensive documentation on various seis-mic volume visualization and interpretation techniques; however,these techniques have been largely used as individual, indepen-dent functions in routine seismic interpretation applications(Jiang et al. 2005a, b; Li 2012; Gorodnitskiy et al. 2013). Dueto the poor understanding of the subsurface structure andstratigraphy of the study area, we plan to relate structuresto the broader tectonic framework of DawangzhuangArea. This paper presents and implements the key seismic

Fig. 1 The location of the study area

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volume visualization and interpretation modules in anintegrated workflow beginning with data selection andpre-procession, through structures, stratum, and faciescharacterization; prospect prediction; and evaluation.Using case studies of worldwide exploration projects,this study demonstrates that the integrated workflowhelps interpreters unravel and understand structural,stratigraphic, and reservoir systems that are of geologicand economic significance. The workflows should havegeneral applicability in seismic exploration projects indiverse geologic settings (Yang et al. 2012; Zhang et al.2012). The interpretation of seismic reflection data re-veals a pattern of faults, linked by different tectonicsettings, making the distribution and characteristics offaults clear.

Geological overviews

The Dawangzhuang Area is mainly located in the central partof Raoyang Sag, Jiyang Depression, Bohai Bay Basin (Fig. 1)and adjacent to several tectonic zones including Liuxi,

Liuchu, Suning, and Zhaohuangzhuang. The area cov-ered by 3D seismic survey in the study area is about200 km2. The strata here from the bottom to top includepre-Cenozoic deposits, the Paleocene Kongdian Forma-tion deposits, the Eocene Shahejie Formation deposits,the Oligocene Dongying Formation deposits, the Mio-cene and early Pliocene Guantao Formation deposits,and the mid-late Pliocene Minghuazhen Formation de-posits. Due to the petroliferous reservoirs and low-quality seismic datasets, it is a serious impediment tofine evaluating process of the study area. In order tofurther reveal the geologic structure, to understand thefault assemblage relationships, and to study the potentialtraps, it aims to make deeper studies about fine 3Dseismic interpretation to get all these issues mentionedabove clear.

General workflows

The subset of seismic data employed in this study is providedby the No.3 Oil Plant, Huabei Oilfield, which is composed of

Fig. 2 The tiny changesobserved on seismic profile (seeFig. 1 for location from line B)with flattening technique inDawangzhuang Area, Bohai BayBasin (as for the color column , itcan be seen from Fig. 2)

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a 350-km2 grid of a post-stack, time-migrated 3D vol-ume, with a bin spacing of 25×50 m and a two-waytravel time trace length of 4 s. The 3D seismic dataquality in the survey at the target stratigraphic intervalis good, with 25–30 Hz in the main frequency width;furthermore, there are some kind of well logs, such asdensity logs, sonic logs, natural gamma ray logs, andspontaneous logs. Except those data above, a widevariety of sedimentological, paleontological, biostrati-graphic, and oil–gas production data are collected. Thewell data we employed are used to calibrate seismicinterpretations mainly for horizon tracing. Because theresolution of seismic dataset is far more ambiguous in verticalprofile than that of well data, however, the horizontal resolu-tion of well data is much worse than that of seismic

data. The application of well data, especially the factthat interpretation of well logs such as SP curve andGR curve, can help us identify sequence stratigraphyand systems tract and build sequence stratigraphicframework.

With the development of oil exploration technology con-stantly, the research work on Dawangzhuang Area graduallyformed a set of 3D fine seismic interpretation technique andachieved wonderful results in the studied area.

The comparison of traditional seismic interpretation methodsand seismic geological interpretation in integration platform

Processes for the traditional seismic interpretationare data loading, well-seismic calibration, structural

Fig. 3 The seismic attributeextraction based on the strataslices in Dawangzhuang Area,Bohai Bay Basin (the seismicattribute is used for looking forfault features, i.e., inclination,azimuth. The best seismicattribute results are obtained byslicing as near as possible to thetarget interval and parallel to awell-mapped structural horizon.)

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interpretation, mapping, and favorable target analysis(Jiang et al. 2005a, b; Hong et al. 2008; Hao et al.2012). There are some disadvantages for this pro-cess: (1) it is a linear process which is in lack oflateral interactivity, (2) the soft architecture is single,and (3) there are too many modules which are diffi-cult to transfer. While in integration platform, all thedisadvantages mentioned above are gone, and instead, thereare some obvious advantages of the seismic geological inter-pretation: (1) it can take an advantage of a variety of data tomake seismic geological interpretation fully merged andinterpretation process clearer, concise, and practical; (2)it can give full play to the advantage of the integration

platform and integrate interpretation into the interpreta-tion process; and (3) all the processing results can beshared and updated in the platform.

Several key technologies and its application in the integrationplatform

Fine structural interpretation techniques

1. To make full use of the workstation characteristics ofstretch and strong amplification technology and also con-venient, flexible, and interactive features to observe allevents with tiny changes, and to explain the small faults

Fig. 4 The seismic attributes offaults interpretation inDawangzhuang Area, Bohai BayBasin (the upper right isinclination seismic attribute, andit can be seen from the map thatthe dark linear distribution ofnortheast strike is clearlydisplayed which indicates faults.The upper left is the azimuthseismic attribute, and also, thefaults can be identified. The lowerseismic cross volume testifies thespatial distribution of faults on theplane section including faultstrike and trend. The color mapon the left is for the upper leftfigure , and the color map on theright is for the lower right and thelower one .)

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and small amplitude structure, and finally, to meet the require-ments of shallow low-amplitude trap identification (Fig. 2).

2. To use time slices, horizon-parallel slices (i.e., strataslices), and proportional slices to identify fault inclinationand azimuth on both sides of faults and to verify the faultplane assemblage and its structural types (Fig. 3) (Dorn1998; Zeng et al. 2001; Zeng 2005).

3. To employ variable density, variable area displays, vari-ous seismic attributes (such as inclination and azimuthseismic attributes), and the observation of seismic eventsin view of phase, amplitude, and other properties to im-prove the correctness of interpretation and to test itsrationality (Fig. 4) (Todorov 2000; Zeng 2005).

4. To use a comparison of fault block moving and sliding andso on to further deepen the relationship between fine struc-tural interpretation and comparison of wave groups and toachieve full visualization, wonderful paleogeomorphology,and good geology information (Fig. 5).

5. To employ a flattening technique to examine the rational-ity of fault interpretation and to analyze the tectonicevolution history (Fig. 6). By flattening all the reflectionsurfaces in the study area by inline direction, the evolutionof faults and stratum can be understood better (Fig. 7a, b).

All the techniques mentioned above have been applied inDawangzhuang Area, and they overcame the difficulties oftraditional 2D seismic datasets and achieved good results.

The application of three-dimensional coherence techniquein fault and strata interpretation

Three-dimensional coherence technique which is a highlyeffective technology is fully used to utilize the computerfunctions to pick up automatically three-dimensional seismicgeological information to identify the continuous variation offaults and the formation. The methods of using three-dimensional coherent data for fault interpretation could de-crease the influence of human factors and reduce the multi-plicity. That is because the coherent data were used to employthe similarity of seismic waves to identify its continuity(Todorov 2000; Jiang et al. 2005a, b; Posamentier et al.2007). All these advantages can be summarized in threeaspects:

1. The application in identifying the faults parallel to thestrike of strata

The normal time slicing played an important role instudying the faults which were vertical to the strata. How-ever, it is difficult to identify the faults when they areparallel to the strata. Due to the fact that the coherent datacan avoid the characteristics of horizontal compatibilityand the effects of bedding, therefore, it can reveal thefaults of arbitrary direction.

2. The application in improving efficiency and accuracy ofseismic interpretation

Fig. 5 The full visualization, wonderful paleogeomorphology and good geology information of Dawanghzuang Area, Bohai Bay Basin

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The coherent interpretation is not based on the tradi-tional manual interpretation, but to the reflected real sub-surface seismic reflection records, and therefore, it canreduce the interpretation of time consumed and increasethe effects needed.

The coherent data can meet the needs of various actualregions with different geologic backgrounds. It can bedesigned to characterize the complex sand bodiesin special tectonic settings or along the strike of

strata. It can also be calculated in a special way to co-render the inner structure of seismic dataset within visu-alization using dip or azimuth seismic attributes, whichmakes interpretation more reliable and simple.

3. The application in auto faults interpretationBased on the previous references (Jiang et al. 2005a, b;

Hao et al. 2012), the accuracy of auto faults interpretationwith coherent data can be as high as 60–70 % which isalso proved by practices.

Fig. 6 The application of flattening technique in Dawangzhuang Area(see Fig. 1 for location of line C seismic section. In the upper Fig. 5a, thered line indicates a first-order fault that controlled the basin framework ofthe studied area, while the blue one indicates a second-order fault affectedby the red one. The blue marks on the boreholes are surface of the strata

in the study area. The flattening technique reveals the changes of stratathickness and tectonic evolution. The structural style of all these faults ismainly in the form of “Y” style, and the faults separated the strata intovarious fault blocks in Fig. 5b in the interpretation.)

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The spatial continuity of the coherent datacould reduce the chances of missing smallerfaults. Practice has proven that the use of co-herent data on faults identification and faultsspatial distribution and its assemblage relation-ship is very effective. Here is an example, inshallow tectonic breaks zone in DawangzhuangArea where lots of faults were developed, it iseasy to interpret the faults, understanding theevolution and spatial distribution of these faultsreasonably with coherence technique (Fig. 8). Inaddition, from the coherence data, it can be seenthat an obvious dislocation appears in the centerof studied area which is regarded as the struc-ture transition zone based on the comprehensive

analysis of the characteristics of plane and crosssection (Lomask et al. 2009).

Three-dimensional visualization technique

The three-dimensional visualization technique is not only thebasis of full visualization interpretation but also the trend oftechnological development for hydrocarbon exploration andexploitation. Firstly, the interpreter will quickly scan through a3D seismic volume to get a better idea of strata framework,reservoir heterogeneity and depositional characteristics byinline, crossline, and arbitrary line. The objective is to identifyspatial distribution of volume of different attributes. All the

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Fig. 7 The evolution of fault andstratum in Dawangzhuang Area,Bohai Bay Basin

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information from this phase can be a guide to the interpreter toanalyze the seismic and geological information (Fig. 9).

Another reconnaissance approach consists of opacity ren-dering, whereby the 3D seismic volume is rendered

Fig. 8 The application ofcoherence technique inDawangzhuang Area from planeand cross section. (The left is aplane section of the coherencedata, while the right is .crosssection of the coherence data)

Fig 9 The visualization displaysby inline and crossline inDawangzhuang Area, Bohai BayBasin (The green line indicatescrossline, while the yellow lineindicates inline, we name theupper one Fig. 8a and the lowerone Fig. 8b. The coordinate weuse is Beijing Gausses Zone 20for the entire survey)

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transparent except for specific amplitude values associatedwith a particular target, such as a river channel infill (Zenget al. 2001; Zeng 2005; Zhao 2012). Commonly, it is theamplitude extremes that are rendered opaque, thus allowingthe targeted opaque features to stand out (Fig. 10).

Conclusions

In summary, through the application of fine 3D fine seismicinterpretation in Dawangzhuang Area, the integrated interpre-tations provide insights into the structures and stratigraphy ofthe study area. New observations include the recognition oftectonic fault types and graben structures, the recognition oftransformation zone and its identification methods, and thepresence of tectonic and stratigraphic evolution.

1. Structural pattern recognition, including the interpreterbeing able to identify geologically significant features inplane and cross-section view on the 3D seismic dataset, iscrucial to the fine seismic interpretation, especially for thefault and horizon interpretation and visualization. Duringthe fault interpretation, the type of fault assemblage ap-peared as Y type in graben settings. The horizon

interpretation and flattening technique reveal the deposi-tion and erosion of the strata changed with the tectonicevolution. In the initial stage, with the strong tectonicmovements, there were many deposits in the gentle andescarpment of the study area. However, with the tectonicstress increased, the strata were erased by exposure duringthe deposition of Ed and Es1 and Es2. In the last stage, thestrata were preserved well due to the weak tectonicmovements.

2. To ensure that the results from this paper have broaderapplicability to other similar geological settings and to aidwith the calibration necessary for this more general usage,this method should focus more on issues related to thefollowing: (1) erecting a stratigraphic hierarchy, (2) dif-ferentiating between internal and external controls, (3)integrating outcrop and core samples and other microsubsurface data, (4) making fairway and reservoirprediction, and (5) studying the evolution of se-quence stratigraphy and its systems tracts whichcould be able to predict the reservoir elements. Ifwe took all those things mentioned above into con-sideration, we might come up with a better under-standing of the geology and geophysics in the studyarea.

Fig. 10 The opacity renderdisplay in Dawangzhuang Area,Bohai Bay Basin

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3. The method used in the study area achieved good resultsfor the structural interpretation and provided a new blue-print for future development in fine seismic interpretation.Processing and fine interpretation of 3D seismic data fromthe similar area is an economically reasonable decisionthat provides additional information about the geologicalstructure of a region. With the new knowledge, theory,and techniques taken into consideration, one can managefuture geophysical works.

Acknowledgments The authors thank the No. 2 Oil Plant, HuabeiOilfield, China National Petroleum Corporation, for their kind coopera-tion, valuable inputs, and helpful discussions. The authors would like toshow their appreciation to Quan Li and Xiande Wang, who provided theopportunity to take part in this project. We also thank DianaW. Cross forher correction of the initial English version of this paper.

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