Identification of Côte d’Ivoire basin turbidite reservoirs and their characteristics prediction based on 3D seismic survey

The Gulf of Guinea, and in particular the sedimentary basin of Côte d’Ivoire, has recently been the subject of intensive geological exploration and major discoveries of hydrocarbon deposits. The basin is located in the northern part of the Gulf of Guinea, with the water depth of over 3,000 m. The basin has ideal conditions for hydrocarbon system forma tion. The study deals with the RUS-CIV block with the area of 2,600 km2, whereas 1,545 km2 of which has been subjected to 3D seismic surveying. The purpose of the work is qualitative assessment of turbidite reservoir properties in the Upper Cretaceous strata. The available seismic dataset is presented as a three-dimensional seismic cube with prestack time migration data and reprocessed prestack deep migration data covering the main research area. The study uses Kingdom SMT software and attribute maps that best match the channel detection (relative acoustic impedance and the second derivative of its envelope). The shale indicator attribute map enabled estimation of the clay content in the channels. The work demonstrates the efficiency of seismic attribute analysis to optimize prediction and description of hydrocarbon deposit characteristics. The interpretation of geological events at this stage is qualitative. As a result, it is recommended to pay attention to the areas identified through the scatter plot analysis and to deepen the preliminary stage of analysis by conducting a quantitative study.

Gulf of Guinea, Côte d’Ivoire sedimentary basin, seismic attributes, turbidite channels, Upper Cretaceous, trap, reservoir