Seismic-Scale Rock Physics of Methane Hydrate

• Main Author: Amos Nur
• Language: unknown
• Published: 2009
• Subjects: 03 NATURAL GAS; GAS HYDRATES; MINERALOGY; POROSITY; SATURATION; SIMULATION; SEISMIC SURVEYS; NATURAL GAS DEPOSITS; ROCK MECHANICS; Methane hydrate
• Online Access: http://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/945215; https://www.osti.gov/biblio/945215; https://doi.org/10.2172/945215

We quantify natural methane hydrate reservoirs by generating synthetic seismic traces and comparing them to real seismic data: if the synthetic matches the observed data, then the reservoir properties and conditions used in synthetic modeling might be the same as the actual, in-situ reservoir conditions. This approach is model-based: it uses rock physics equations that link the porosity and mineralogy of the host sediment, pressure, and hydrate saturation, and the resulting elastic-wave velocity and density. One result of such seismic forward modeling is a catalogue of seismic reflections of methane hydrate which can serve as a field guide to hydrate identification from real seismic data. We verify this approach using field data from known hydrate deposits.