Numerical simulation of frequency-dependent seismic response and gas reservoir delineation in turbidites: A case study from China

• We present a diffusive-viscous wave equation(DVWE) for frequency-dependent modeling.
• We present a seismic data-driven geological model building method.
• We show the frequency-dependent characteristics of DVWE-based simulation.
• We present a workflow to employ the frequency-dependent hydrocarbon indicators.

To simulate the frequency-dependent response of turbidite reservoirs in the JZ Area, near the Bohai Sea, China, we apply a diffusive and viscous wave equation (DVWE), which takes into account diffusive and viscous attenuation and velocity dispersion in fluid-bearing poroelastic media. We use a seismic data-driven geological model building approach to produce physical parameter sections, which are then used to numerically synthesize the frequency-dependent seismic response in the DVWE-based simulation. The DVWE-based synthetic section shows the characteristic reflection and geometry of turbidites and delineates the phase delay, instantaneous dominant frequency decrease and magnitude attenuation related to the gas-bearing reservoir. The common frequency sections obtained by instantaneous spectral decomposition of the synthetic section show that a low-frequency shadow (LFS) lies immediately beneath the reservoir. Next, following the implications of the numerical simulation, we then apply LFS and fluid mobility to the data volume. Both hydrocarbon indicators clearly delineate the bright gas reservoir and its spatial distribution. The workflow and methodologies can be expected to be applicable to other frequency-dependent hydrocarbon indicators.