18059915. METHOD TO DETERMINE A TIME-DEPTH MODEL simplified abstract (Saudi Arabian Oil Company)

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METHOD TO DETERMINE A TIME-DEPTH MODEL

Organization Name

Saudi Arabian Oil Company

Inventor(s)

Ilya Silvestrov of Dhahran (SA)

Andrey Bakulin of Dhahran (SA)

METHOD TO DETERMINE A TIME-DEPTH MODEL - A simplified explanation of the abstract

This abstract first appeared for US patent application 18059915 titled 'METHOD TO DETERMINE A TIME-DEPTH MODEL

Simplified Explanation

The method described in the patent application involves drilling a wellbore to various depths within a subterranean region of interest and obtaining seismic data at each depth to create a coherency map. This map is used to determine unique seismic velocities and vertical travel times, which are then used to generate a vertical travel time-depth model and convert time-domain surface seismic data to depth-domain surface seismic data.

  • Drilling a wellbore to different depths
  • Obtaining seismic data at each depth
  • Creating a coherency map
  • Determining unique seismic velocities and vertical travel times
  • Generating a vertical travel time-depth model
  • Converting time-domain surface seismic data to depth-domain surface seismic data

Potential Applications

The technology described in this patent application could be applied in the oil and gas industry for more accurate subsurface imaging and reservoir characterization.

Problems Solved

This technology helps in improving the understanding of subsurface geology and identifying potential hydrocarbon reservoirs more effectively.

Benefits

The benefits of this technology include increased drilling efficiency, reduced exploration risks, and improved reservoir management.

Potential Commercial Applications

One potential commercial application of this technology could be in oil and gas exploration and production services.

Possible Prior Art

One possible prior art for this technology could be the use of seismic imaging techniques in the oil and gas industry to locate subsurface reservoirs.

Unanswered Questions

How does this technology compare to existing seismic imaging methods in terms of accuracy and efficiency?

This article does not provide a direct comparison with existing seismic imaging methods, so it is unclear how this technology stacks up against current practices.

What are the potential limitations or challenges in implementing this technology on a larger scale in the industry?

The article does not address any potential limitations or challenges that may arise when implementing this technology on a larger scale in the industry, leaving room for further exploration of this aspect.


Original Abstract Submitted

Systems and methods are disclosed. The method includes drilling, using a drill bit, a wellbore to a sequence of drilling depths within a subterranean region of interest. The method further includes, for each drilling depth, obtaining a seismic dataset generated by the drill bit, determining a coherency map using the seismic dataset, a range of seismic velocities, a range of vertical traveltimes, and a geological model, determining a locus from the coherency map, defining an objective function based on the locus, and determining a unique seismic velocity and a unique vertical traveltime based on an extremum of the objective function. The method further still includes generating a vertical traveltime, depth model using the unique seismic velocity and the unique vertical traveltime for each drilling depth, obtaining a time-domain surface seismic dataset, and determining a depth-domain surface seismic dataset using the time-domain surface seismic dataset and the vertical traveltime, depth model.