Integrating Geomechanics and Geophysics for Reservoir Seismic Monitoring Feasibility Studies

Abstract

Abstract Seismic measurements acquired at different stages in the life of a reservoir can monitor the fluid distribution over production time. Changes in saturation, pore pressure and stresses, induced by reservoir production may influence the process of wave propagation in rocks. The variations in mean effective stresses, due to changes in mean stress or /and pore pressure, are not always integrated in a proper manner. We present here a methodology to evaluate what is the contribution of a geomechanical approach on the computation of seismic velocities. This methodology has been used for the monitoring of an underground gas storage site of Gaz de France, the French gas Supply Company. Successful results illustrate the importance of integrating geomechanics with geophysics to validate real sonic data from DSI.