DHI's (Direct Hydrocarbon Indicators) Part 1: Simple Seismic Attributes INTRODUCTION Direct Hydrocarbon Indicators, or DHI's (also commonly

known as, H Is !Hydro arbon Indicators"), are used e#ery day in t$e oil and %as industry by tec$nical pro&essionals to $elp searc$ &or $ard to &ind, or simply o#erseen, $ydrocarbon deposits' ($ere are many &actors t$at must be taken into consideration to apply seismic attributes properly) to name a &ew: 1) understandin% rock p$ysics) *) t$e si%nal to noise ratio o& t$e seismic sur#ey) +) poor processin%) ,) insu&&icient (or erroneous) ac-uisition parameters, and so on' .$en %as or oil replace t$e interstitial brine water in e/istin% reser#oirs, t$e seismic re&lection coe&&icient in$erently c$an%es (t$is is mani&ested by a di&&erence in t$e acoustic impedance o& t$e $ydrocarbon0bearin% 1one as compared to t$e brine0 saturated 1one eit$er abo#e or below t$e reser#oir in -uestion)' ($is work must be done in order to determine i& a well s$ould be drilled 23 42( D3I556D 0 t$is cannot be stressed enou%$) t$ere&ore DHI's are a cornerstone application &or t$e $unt o& oil and %as deposits' It s$ould be noted t$at not all seismic anomalies are DHI7s, and not all DHI7s are o& e-ual -uality) amplitudes can be caused by &actors not related to $ydrocarbon accumulations 0 t$is is a key point t$at many %eop$ysicists commonly o#erlook (t$is will be discussed in %reater detail in Part II o& t$is write0up)' Potential Pitfalls in DHI Interpretations ($e relative amplitude #alue can be deteriorated and8or altered dramatically by post0processin% o& t$e seismic data' ($at is, t$e numbers associated wit$ t$e seismic amplitude #alues are unitless, t$ere&ore, t$ey &all into no particular unit sc$eme (t$ere is a lar%e misconception in t$e oil industry t$at all seismic amplitudes &it nicely into a 01*9 to :1*9 #alue sc$eme 0 (HIS IS 42( S2 0 in &act, t$ey can ran%e anyw$ere &rom 0;';;*+, to :;';;*+, to as $i%$ as 01,< =< to :1,<=< be&ore processin%)' Simply put, amplitude #alues are unitless numbers 0 t$ere&ore, t$ey are -ualitati#e, not -uantitati#e'

Durin% processin%, erroneous arti&acts may mani&est t$emsel#es in t$e seismic dataset 0 t$ese need to be studied wit$ %reat detail to be certain t$at t$ey are indeed real or not real) an error o& t$is ma%nitude could cost a company >1;;'s o& ??@SD's, so it is #ery important to understand w$at one is doin% and i& t$ey are %oin% about it t$e proper way' ($ere&ore, analo% data, calibrated well lo%s, etc', must be used to $elp determine i& t$ese arti&acts are true representations o& $ydrocarbon deposits' 2t$er maAor issues include t$e calibration o& wells t$at are not in t$e same %eolo%ic pro#ince because t$ey come &rom a di&&erent en#ironment o& deposition, or t$e wells used to calibrate t$e data are simply too &ar away &rom t$e well bein% studied' Additionally, i& t$in%s suc$ as strati%rap$ic c$an%es (e'%', %oin% &rom a c$annel &ill sandstone en#ironment to a t$in bedded le#ee en#ironment) t$e well ties and t$e prospects will be wildly di&&erent' And per$aps t$e most common error is t$e lack o& su&&icient inte%ration o& %eolo%ical data8interpretations &or t$e prospect bein% e/amined' Basic Seismic Attributes Definitions Bright spots: 5ocal increase in amplitude on a seismic section (presumably caused by a $ydrocarbon accumulation) DHI or HCI: ?easurement w$ic$ indicates t$e presence or absence o& a $ydrocarbon accumulation (bri%$t spot, dim spot, &lat spot, s$adow 1one, tc') Phase (Polarity Cahnge): Seismic peak c$an%es to a trou%$ (or #ice #ersa) Dim Spot: 5ocal decrease in re&lection amplitude, %enerally occurs in low porosity sands (1;B to 1=B)

Ci%ure ;1: Clat Spot s$owin% &luid contact o& a %as &ield wit$ an underlyin% water le% (blue0das$ed line)

Ci%ure ;*: Das re&lections &rom t$e 4ile Delta in 6%ypt) t$e $i%$ amplitude red re&lection (trou%$) is &rom t$e top o& t$e %as in t$is anti&ormal trap) con#ersely, t$e $i%$ amplitude blue re&lection is &rom t$e base o& t$e %as, or &rom t$e &luid contact'