3D inversion of borehole to surface electromagnetic data in a multiple reservoirs survey

• DOI: 10.1190/segam2014-0455.1
• Publication Date: 2014-08-05T18:07:51Z
• Authors: Alberto F. Marsala*; Michael S. Zhdanov; Masashi Endo; Noel Black
• Keywords: 01 natural sciences; 0105 earth and related environmental sciences

Summary There is a growing interest in developing innovative geophysical methods for monitoring hydrocarbon reservoirs. One emerging technique is based on using the borehole electric current transmitter and a grid of surface electric field receivers for detailed mapping of the subsurface resistivity of oil- and gas-producing fields. This method is often called Borehole to Surface Electromagnetic (BSEM) surveying. We introduce a rigorous method for 3D inversion of BSEM data based on the integral equation approach and adaptive regularization. We have applied our developed method to 3D inversion of a field BSEM dataset collected in a giant oilfield in Saudi Arabia. It was demonstrated that 3D inversion of the BSEM data can be effectively used for mapping and monitoring fluid distribution inside a reservoirs and imaging the oil-water contact.