Petrel TIPS&TRICKS from SCM

Knowledge Worth Sharing

MultipleInputDataforMakeHorizons(Petrel)
Dataavailableformodelingahorizonoftenvariesfromoneareaofthehorizontoanother.Forexample,seismic
datamayexistformostfaultblocks,maybeabsentforsomeblocks,andforsomeofthoseseismicpoorblocks
theremaybewelltopdata.Inblockscompletelymissingdata,a2DGridmaybecreatedoronethathasalready
beenbuiltforahigherorlowersurfacemaybeshiftedtothatblockshorizonpositionandusedasitsprimaryinput
data.Welldataforseismicpoorblocksmaybedenseenoughtouseastheprimarydataforbuildingthoseblocks
horizonmodels.TheMakeHorizonsprocessallowsyoutoeasilyandquicklypointtodifferentdataforeachfault
block(segment)anduseallofthevariousdatasetstobuildthehorizonmodel.ThisTips&Tricksarticledescribes
howtheMakeHorizonsprocessisusedtopointtodifferentdatafordifferentfaultblocks.Theprocessiseasy,
useful,andsavestime.Theauthorstypicallyusethismultipledataapproachin20%to25%oftheirprojects.
BeforedescribingtheMakeHorizonsmultipleinputdatatechnique,thedatasetanditsinterpretationwillbe
reviewed.Thisfaulteddataconsistsonlyofwelltopsandfaultcuts.Theinterpretationofhowthefaultscorrelateis
keytocreatinganacceptablemodelandformsthefoundationintowhichthemultipledatafilesareinput.3D
displaysofthemodeledhorizonsquicklyshowwhetherfaultcorrelationsareacceptableandthetypesofproblems
seenwhencorrelationsareincorrect.

ExampleData
SomeprojectsthatSCMworksareseismicpoor.Thatis,theyeitherhavenoseismicovertheareaofinterestorthe
seismicissopooritcantbeusedforthezonesbeingmodeled.Oneofthoseprojectswasafairlymaturetightgas
fieldintheWilcoxformationoftheTexasGulfCoast.Datawereavailableforapproximately150wells,40pluszones
(80plushorizons),andabout40faults.Thedataareproprietary,however,sotheauthorshavecreatedafake
ExampleProjecthavingsimilarcharacteristicsforuseinthisarticle.TheExampleProjectsdataconsistof5horizons
penetratedby8wellswithatotalof8uncorrelatedfaultcutsand32toppicks.ThedatawereimportedintoPetrel.
Thegoaloftheprojectistocorrelatethefaults,modelthefaults,buildapillargrid,andmodelthehorizons.The
horizonscanbetreatedasplanarsurfacescutbynormalfaults.Wellsandtopscanbedownloadedalongwiththis
articleandinputtoPetrel.

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Figure:Two3DviewsofWells,tops,andfaultcutsfortheExampleProject.

FaultInterpretation(correlation)
CorrelatingfaultsinthefullfieldWilcoxprojectwith150wellsand600plusfaultcutswasdifficult.Wehadto
understandthetrendofthefaultsandtheirrelationshipstooneanother.Bysearchingtheliterature,studying
adjacentfields,reviewingoldfieldmapsandtalkingwithgeologistsexperiencedinthearea,wewereabletobuild
ourgeneralfieldknowledge.However,itwasntuntilwebuiltthemodelthatwereallyworkedoutthedetailedfault
correlations.
ForthispapersExampleProject,ittooktwopassesofmodeling,requiringonemandayoftime,toworkoutthe
correlationsandbuildtheframework.Ittookabout3manmonthstoworkoutthefaultcorrelationsonthefullfield
projectreferredtoabove.ThefaultsintheExampleProjectaresubparallel,strikeSWNE,diptotheSE,anddefine
theedgesofsmallslumpblocks.Theunitsofinteresttotalabout600feetthickandthefaultscanbetreatedas
beingplanarorhavingaminorlistricform(concaveup)throughtheunits.

FirstPassFaultInterpretation
Allfaultcutsweredisplayedina3DWindow.Thewindowwasrotatedtolineupcutsanddeterminewhichcuts
belongedtothesamefault.Thetopsforaparticularhorizonwerealsodisplayedtoseeiftheylineduponaplanein
oneparticulararea(possiblyafaultblock)andifthatareawasboundedbythecorrelatedfaultcuts.Whenasetof
faultcutswerethoughttolineupandappearedtoseparatetopsthatlookedtobedisplaced,theywereassigned
thesamenameusingtheTopsfilespreadsheet.Attheconclusionofthisprocess,threefaultshadbeenidentified.A
faultmodelwasbuiltforthefaulthavingthemostdataandextendedtocoverthemodelarea.Faultmodelswere
builtfortheothertwofaults,eachmadetohavethesamegeneraltrendasthefirstfault.

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Figure:FirstPassattemptatfaultcorrelationwithfaultmodelsdisplayedandtiedtofaultcuts(left)andsegments
displayed(right).

TheFirstPassFaultInterpretationwasPillargriddedandtheMakeHorizonsprocessruntobuildthestructural
framework.Thetechniquesforusingseparateinputdataforeachfaultblockwereusedbecausethereweretoofew
toppickstobuildacceptablehorizonsinanyblock.ThisMakeHorizonsmethodformultipleinputdataisdescribed
indetailbelowusingtheSecondPassFaultInterpretation.
Figure:FirstPassFaultInterpretationsStructuralframework:Horizon10(topLeft),Horizon20(topright),Horizon
30(middleleft),Horizon40(middleright),andHorizon50(bottomleft),andfaultsshowingwellandfaultcut
penetrations.
H20

H10

H30

H40

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H50

Thereareseveralproblemsresultingfromthisfaultinterpretation:

Almostallhorizonshaveaproblemwiththesmalldisplacementportionofthedarkbluefaultinthecenter
ofeachpicture.Theyreversealongthefaultorhavelittlethrow.Thisindicatesthatthefaultdoesnotexist
orisinthewrongplace.Thepointsinthefaultblocksnorthandsouthofthisfaultindicatethattheeastern
topsmaybeononefaultblockandthewesterntopsonanother.

Horizon20:Wells#7and#5shouldhavetoppicksforHorizon20butdonot.Iftheydonothavepicksthen
theyshouldbeinthefaultgapforthishorizon.Thisandthereversalalongthecentralfaultindicatethatthe
faultsareincorrectatthislevel.

Horizon30:Wells#3,#4,#5,and#7shouldhavetoppicksforHorizon30(sameproblemashorizon20).
NotealsotheextremereversalatWell#5causedbythetoppickbeingonthewrongsideofthefault.

Severalofthehorizonshavefaultblocksurfacesthatareseverelywarpedandalmostlooklikeportionsof
themcorrelatebetterwithportionsofadjacentfaultblocks.

Well#5penetratesafaultwithoutafaultcut.

TheseproblemscouldonlybefixedbychangestothefaultinterpretationandthusaSecondPassFault
Interpretationwasdone.
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SecondPassFaultInterpretation
OntheSecondPassInterpretationconsiderabletimewasspentstudyingtheFirstPassandlookingatthetoppicks
andfaultcutsina3DWindow.2DGridswerebuiltoffaultsoncetheywererecorrelatedandalsoforthetopsin
individualfaultblocks.Itwasfoundthatthediponthestructuresurfacesinmostfaultblockswasabout0.5degrees
(basicallyhorizontal)ratherthanthe2.0degreesthatwasusedintheFirstPassFaultInterpretation.Usingthisdip
toidentifywhichtopsbelongedtogetherinafaultblockhelpeddefinewherethefaultsshouldbethreadedthrough
thetops.Thefinalfaultinterpretationandmodelisshowninthefigurebelow.Thisisonlyoneofahundredpossible
interpretationsbutitworkswiththedata.
Figure:SecondPassFaultInterpretationwithfaultmodelsdisplayedandtiedtofaultcuts(left),Horizon10built
usingthiscorrelation(center),and3DWindowviewoffaultblock(segment)distributionandnames(right).Note
therearenowsixfaultsratherthantheoriginalthree.

MakeHorizonsUsingMultipleInputData
TheMakeHorizonsprocesswasusedtobuildthestructuralframework.Normallytheinputdataisinsertedintothe
Input#1columnandthetopsintotheWellTopscolumn.Inthisprojecttherewasnodatabesidesthetops.Often,
fordenselydrilledfields,thetopsareinsertedintoboththeInput#1columnandtheWellTopscolumnanditworks
fine(usuallywithonlyafewfaults).Inthisexample,someblockshadlittleornodataandusingthatapproachdid
notworkwellasseeninthefiguresbelow.

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2011 SCM E&P Solutions, Inc.

Figure:MakehorizonsinputusingtopsinboththeInput#1columnandtheWellTopscolumn(topleft),with
parametersrestrictingerrorcorrectiontowithinsegments(topright),andtheresultingmodelsHorizon10(bottom
left)andHorizon50(bottomright).Notetheextremevariationinblockdisplacementandformbetweenthetop
horizonandthebottom.

H10

H50

Build2DGridInputData
Itshouldbepossibletobuildaflat2DGridusingthetypicaldipfoundonthestructure(0.5degrees)andtheaverage
strikeandthentomovethatgridtothetoppickspositioninaparticularblock.Withonlyslightadjustmentthisgrid
wouldthenmakeagoodmodelforthestructureinthatfaultblock.Thisistheapproachthatwasusedforeachfault
blockoneachhorizon.

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2011 SCM E&P Solutions, Inc.

Figure:FaultBlockA(segment)withflatplanesdipping0.5degreesatazimuth145degreesforeachhorizon(left)
andafterusingthemasinputtotheMakeHorizonsprocess(right).Notethefitisnotaperfectbutcloseandthe
welltieprocessofMakeHorizonswarpsthegridtothedataandclipsittothefaults.

TheMake/editsurfaceprocess(usingArtificialalgorithmsplane)wasusedtobuildabasestructuregridcovering
theentireareaofinterest.ThatplanargridwascopiedandanArithmeticOperationusedtoshiftthecopytothetop
pickspositionforaspecificblock.Becausethishadtobedoneforeachhorizon(5)andforeachblock(7)therewere
35gridstocopyandshift.Alsotheamounttoshiftthegridforeachblockhadtobedeterminedbyexperimentation.
ThiseffortwouldhavetakenhoursusingPetrelsinteractivetools.Instead,sevenworkflowswerecreated,onefor
eachfaultblock.Inputtoeachworkflowwastheflatstartinggridbuiltaboveandtheworkfolderintowhichthat
faultblocksgridsweretobewritten.Theworkflowhadfivelineswhereeachblocksshiftvaluewasentered.Inthe
workfloweachinputgridwascopied,theenteredvaluewasusedtoshiftthegrid,andthegridwasmovedtothe
outputfolderandrenamed.A3Dwindowwithonlythetopsforthefaultblockbeingworkedwasdisplayedand
eachshiftedgridcheckedtoensureitwasproperlypositioned.Whennotopsexistedforahorizoninablock,the
averagespacingbetweenthathorizonandonethatdidhaveatopwasusedtopositionthegrid.
Figure:Make/editsurfaceprocessusedtobuildtheplanargrid(left)usedasinputtotheworkflow.

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Figure:Oneoftheworkflowsusedtobuildtheplanargridsforafaultblock.Thebaseinputgriddoesnothavetobe
aplanebutcouldhavesomeotherform.

Becauseeachworkflowwasselfcleaning(removedfoldercontent)andwrotetoitsownfaultblockfolder,thefile
managementwasautomaticallytakencareof.Thefolderscontainingthegridswerealwaysintopdownorderand
readyforinputtotheMakeHorizonsprocess.

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2011 SCM E&P Solutions, Inc.

Figure:Foldersandgridsdefiningtheinitialformofthestructuralsurfaceineachfaultblock(segment).

SetupMakeHorizonParameters
Onceeachworkflowwasrunandthegridsfinetuned,theinputwasreadyforMakeHorizons.Theprimary
differencebetweenthisstyleofinputandthatnormallyusedistheadditionofmorePrimaryInputcolumns.Eachof
theInputcolumnswaslinked,usingtheSegmenttab,toasegment(faultblock)inthemodel.InthisExample
Project,Input#1wasassociatedwithSegmentA,Input#2withSegmentB,andsoon.
Figure:ThetypicaldatainputdialogfortheMakeHorizonsprocess.

Figure:ThisExampleProjectsdatainputdialogfortheMakeHorizonsprocess,using7primaryinputcolumns(top)
andtheSegmentstabusedtolinkthedatatothesegments(bottom).NotethateachoftheInputcolumnsisfilled
withgridsfromoneofthefaultblockfoldersdescribedabove.

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TheotherparametersoftheMakeHorizonsprocessaretreatedprettymuchthesameaswhenonlyusingone
primaryinputdatacolumn.TheonedifferenceisontheWellAdjustmenttab.TheMethodparameters,normally
withAcrosssegmentschecked,areusuallychangedtohaveInsidesegmentonlychecked.Thisofcoursewillneedto
beexperimentedwith.Thelogicbehindthischangeisthattheprimaryinputforahorizoninonefaultblock(a2D
grid)wasbuiltindependentlyfromthatintheadjacentblockandthetwowilllikelyhaveindependenterrors.
Becauseofthis,theirerrorcorrectionsprobablyshouldnotbemixedacrossfault(segment)boundaries.
Figure:TheWellAdjustmenttabwiththeInsidesegmentonlyparametercheckedbecausetheerrorsare
independentacrossthefaults(duetothewaytheprimaryinputsurfaceswerebuilt).

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ReviewtheResults
AftertheMakeHorizonsprocesswasrun,theindividualhorizonswerereviewedina3DwindowtoseeifMake
Horizonparametersortheinputdataneededadjustment.Inthiscase,theresultswereacceptable.Again,youare
reviewingallwellpenetrations.Ifthewellpenetratesthehorizon,thentheremustbeatoppick.Ifthewell
penetratesafault,thentheremustbeafaultcut.Thereshouldneverbeamissingtoporfaultcutfromoneofthese
penetrationsunlessthelogdataisbad.
Figure:SecondPassFaultInterpretationsStructuralframework:Horizon10(topLeft),Horizon20(topright),
Horizon30(middleleft),Horizon40(middleright),Horizon50(bottomleft),andfaultsshowingwellpenetrations.
Notethatallhorizonslookacceptable,topsonlywherehorizonsarepenetratedandcutsonlywerefaultsare
penetrated.

H10

H30

H50

H20

H40

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AMoreCommonScenarioforMultipleDataInputs
Theaboveexampleisanextremecase,althoughuseful,havingdifferentprimarydataforeveryfaultblock
(segment)oneveryhorizon.Thisisnotnormal.Usually,onlyoneortwohorizons,ifany,requiremorethanone
primaryinputdataset.Forexample,youmighthavethreeseismicevents,twoofwhichhavebeenpickedacrossthe
entireareaandthethirdpickedovermuchoftheareabutabsentfromtwofaultblocks.Inthisscenarioyoumight
havetwoprimaryinputcolumns(Input#1andInput#2).Inthefirstcolumnisplacedtheseismicdataforallthree
events.Inthesecondcolumnisplacedthesameseismicdataforthefirsttwoeventsandforthethirdeventagrid
builttorepresentthesurfaceintheblocksweretheseismicismissing.
Figure:MakeHorizonsinputdataforthreeseismiceventswithoneonlypartiallycoveringtheareaandrequiringa
manufacturedgridtofilltwoofitsfaultblocks(top)andtheSegmentstabsettingsneededtousethecorrectdata
tobuildallthreehorizons(bottom).

MultipleDataInputsasaWaytoMergeFiles
Sometimesyouwillhavetwofiles(notincludingtops)thatrepresentthesamehorizonandyouwanttousebothas
primaryinputtotheMakeHorizonsprocess.Forexampleyoumayhavetwovintagesof2Dseismicforoneofyour
horizonsandbothneedtobeused.YoucouldmergethetwofilesoryoucoulduseasecondInputcolumntomerge
themontheflyinMakeHorizons.

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Figure:MakeHorizonsinputdatashowingtwoprimaryinputfilesforoneofthehorizons(top)andtheSegments
tabsettings(bottom).NotethatbothInput#1andInput#2areusedforallsegmentsbutInput#2onlyhasdatafor
Horizons30.

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2011 SCM E&P Solutions, Inc.

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