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Edinburgh Time-Lapse Project, Phase 9

The Edinburgh Time-Lapse Project (ETLP) is a mature, UK-based, university research consortium with over twenty-four years of experience in the field of Quantitative Interpretation of 4D seismic data. The size of our research team fluctuates each year but typically consists of one Principal Investigator (Colin MacBeth), Assistant Professors or Research Fellow, SRAs, RAs, and twelve PhD students. The consortium started its ninth phase of research on June 2024 and this will last until June 2027. Our particular specialisation is the integration of reservoir engineering and time-lapse seismic data at an in-depth and practical level that is relatively unique to academia. To maintain our data-centric perspective, a key driver in ETLP research is the data donated from our sponsors. Our data portfolio covers clastic, chalk and hard-rock carbonate fields from the UKCS, NCS, Brazil, West Coast Africa, North America, and the Gulf of Mexico. We continue with our popular data-oriented approach in Phase 9, and also to retain our particular brand of multi-disciplinary research.

Over the years, ETLP has developed tools, ideas and workflows to analyse 4D seismic data in an engineering-consistent manner – that is, the seismic results must honour the true reservoir physics of fluid flow, pressure evolution and available geological knowledge. Quantitative 4D seismic interpretation as a subject has also grown, involving more interest in pre-stack analysis, larger data volumes, frequent acquisitions and of course machine learning.  Interest in accessing geomechanical information on stress fields or deformations from the seismic data remains high and relevant not just to our chalk or HPHT fields, but also CCS and hydrogen storage. Seismic history matching remains challenging, although we believe we have some new directions for improvement. Finally, within the ETLP team our consolidation of historical and current software into the 4DQI toolbox is going well, and we plan to continue this process in earnest.

Our Phase 9 programme retains the same basic modular structure to previous phases, as this has been found to be an effective way to communicate and structure our work for the sponsorship group and during sponsor meetings. It is also reflects the way our software toolbox is organised. It will run as four generic, inter-linked subject areas: 1) Enhancement of 4DQI; 2) Dynamic property estimation; 3) Seismic history match; (4) CO2 and hydrogen storage.  The topics within these themes are now well established at ETLP, however within each there are several new projects and in-depth studies that need to be developed.

Module 1 – 4D QI+

Module 2 – Dynamic property estimation

Module 3 – Data assimilation

Module 4 – CO2 and hydrogen storage