Determination of subsurface rock properties from AVO analysis in Konga oil field of the Niger Delta, Southeastern Nigeria.

Thesis Abstract

Amplitude variation with offset (AVO) analysis was carried out on Konga oil field, an onshore oil field in the Niger Delta, Southeastern Nigeria. The study consisted of forward modeling from rock parameters measured from well logs and AVO analysis of events on pre-stack time migrated 3D seismic gathers. Forward modeling predicted specific AVO behaviour of anomalous reservoir sands in the field. Density, compressional and shear wave velocity logs, combined with a wavelet extracted from recorded seismic gathers were used to generate synthetic seismic gathers and Gassmann fluid substitution models. These synthetics supported key observations made of the AVO response in the field data. AVO attributes (intercept and gradient) were derived from analysis of common depth point (CDP) gathers obtained from a 3D pre-stack seismic survey. The attributes were cross-plotted to establish trends against which anomalous amplitude behaviour were identified. Reflections related to shales and brine sands exhibit a relatively small range of orientations creating a dominant ‘‘background trend’’ against which anomalous events related to hydrocarbon-saturated reservoirs show clear deviations. On the basis of crossplot analyses (reflectivity versus offset/angle and intercept versus gradient) and modeled acoustic impedance, Class 1 type AVO anomalies observed are associated with non-hydrocarbon bearing clastic rocks that are most probably brine saturated in the field. Evidence from these results show that drilling in this field in search of hydrocarbon reservoirs poses a risky venture.