Use of Seismic Attributes and Geomorphic Anomalies for the Evaluation of Prospective Zones in the Cuban North Oil Strip

Abstract

The search for new areas for the production of hydrocarbons is a constant challenge in oil industry. The geological intricacies inherent in folded and thrusted belts favor the increase in the degree of error in oil exploration of the north of western Cuba. With the objective of revealing new areas of petroleum interest, a study was carried out in regions of the Northern Cuban Thrusted and Folded Belt (NCTFB) where there are known oil producing fields in the North Cuban Oil Strip (NCOS), helping to establish analogies in unknown areas. Positive residual geomorphic anomalies, obtained from residual at 500 m Digital Elevation Model (DEM) data (possibly related to hydrocarbon microseepage on offshore oil and gas targets), were used. Also were used the seismic attributes “Relative Acoustic Impedance” (RAI) and “Genetic Inversion” (GI), from which volumes of assisted properties were generated with data of wells (responding to the presence of reservoirs). The analysis of the coincidence of the geomorphic anomalies with the already drilled structures allows proposing the existence of a relation between its amplitude and the depth of the structures, noting a decrease of this with the depth of the drilled objectives. The response of the seismic attribute in question, linked to the presence of geomorphic anomalies in non-drilled zones, allows to define the possible extension of reservoirs in operation and new areas of interest not yet drilled.