Prestack Seismic Velocity Ratio Evaluation of a Mixed Siliciclastic–Carbonate Formation: Case Study from the Strawn Group on the Eastern Shelf Texas

Osareni C. Ogiesoba (), Shuvajit Bhattacharya, Sarp Karakaya and Trey Cortez
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Osareni C. Ogiesoba: Bureau of Economic Geology, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78713-8924, USA
Shuvajit Bhattacharya: Bureau of Economic Geology, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78713-8924, USA
Sarp Karakaya: Bureau of Economic Geology, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78713-8924, USA
Trey Cortez: Burnett Oil Company, Inc., Fort Worth, TX 76102-6881, USA

Energies, 2023, vol. 16, issue 4, 1-24

Abstract: Although a mixed carbonate–siliciclastic system of the Strawn Group on the Eastern Shelf in King County, Texas, USA provides excellent hydrocarbon reservoirs, facies variability and reservoir properties within such systems are not well understood. We conducted prestack, simultaneous seismic inversion, and high-level petrophysical analysis to derive elastic properties of rocks to facilitate lithology identification and determination and distribution of the different carbonate facies. Our results show that (1) the Strawn Group in King County is dominated mostly by carbonates and (2) given the ratio of P- and S-wave velocity (Vp/Vs ratio), the carbonates can be separated into three facies: (a) high-Vp/Vs-ratio shelf-edge reef carbonates, in which the Vp/Vs ratio decreases linearly as porosity increases and the Vp/Vs ratio varies from ~2.1 to ≤2.6; (b) moderately low-Vp/Vs-ratio shelf (platform) carbonates, in which the Vp/Vs ratio also decreases as porosity increases and in which the Vp/Vs ratio ranges from ~1.75 to ≤2.15; (c) extremely low-Vp/Vs-ratio slope and basin carbonates, in which the Vp/Vs ratio, although appearing to be almost constant for a wide range of porosity, increases as porosity increases, and in which most Vp/Vs-ratio values appear to range from ~1.5 to ≤2. Results of a through c can be summarized thusly: the Vp/Vs ratio of reef carbonates >the Vp/Vs ratio of platform carbonates and >the Vp/Vs ratio of slope and basin carbonates in the study area.

Keywords: velocity ratio; carbonates; shelf edge; basin; slope; seismic inversion; 3D seismic; mixed lithology; seismic interpretation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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