The potential application of shear waves in 3D4C seismic

Abstract

The article gives a brief overview of theoretical and practical aspects of shear wave seismic exploration, as well as main geological problems that are solved at stages of additional and further exploration of hydrocarbon deposits. Despite the theoretical basis developed back in the 19th century, the practical implementation of processing and interpretation of multiwave seismic data has not yet been included in the traditional graph of deskwork. Geological problems that can be solved with the use of shear wave data are relevant and extremely complex for traditional 2D / 3D seismic exploration. Shear waves provide more reliable information about structural and tectonic features in areas under the "gas clouds" or anomalous objects, leading to a complete lack of information below them in the data of traditional seismic. A quantitative interpretation of the v_P/v_S ratio allows one to make predictions of the reservoir properties and lithology. Reliable sorting of bright spot anomalies caused by the presence of hydrocarbons in the reservoir or lithological substitution is possible. The anisotropy of shear wave velocities observed with birefringence effects is the basis for predicting fracture intensity and direction.