Quantitative prediction of sand bodies in a sparsely explored zone of the Tarim basin: A case study of the aketao area

Thin sandstone reservoirs of the fan delta front sub-facies occur in the early Neogene (Miocene) series of the Aketao (Akto) structural belt within the Kunlun piedmont zone of the Tarim Basin. Oil and gas reservoirs in this area correspond to stratigraphic traps. However, owing to the low density of the 2D seismic survey grid deployed in the Aketao belt, inferior seismic data quality, and lack of well logging data, reservoir prediction in this area suffers from a multiplicity of problems and it is difficult to effectively identify sand bodies. Here, a new research approach is proposed involving the use of 3D seismic, well logging, and drilling data from a neighboring highly-explored 3D seismic survey area as a reference for the 2D seismic interpretation of the non-drilled Aketao survey area. Moreover, this approach is integrated with forward modeling and the inversion of post-stack seismic data to identify sand bodies. A comparison of the seismic reflection characteristics clarifies that these 3D and 2D seismic survey areas share similar sedimentary environments. Forward modeling confirms their similar reservoir characteristics, while the reservoir distribution in the 2D seismic survey area is effectively mapped via the inversion. The results show that for a 2D seismic survey area characterized by a low degree of hydrocarbon exploration and appraisal, and a lack of well logging data, the proposed approach can confirm the sedimentary characteristics that correspond to the seismic reflection characteristics, and can quantitatively map the reservoir thickness.