INTERPRETATION OF 3D SEISMIC AND SUBSURFACE DATA FROM THE BUFFALO VALLEY FIELD, CHAVEZ COUNTY, NEW MEXICO

Structure and isopach maps derived from formation top picks reveal the presence of differential subsidence across the Buffalo Valley field during the Pennsylvanian and Permian periods. The Buffalo Valley field is located along the Northwest Shelf of the Delaware Basin. 3D seismic data reveal that the field is bounded by two normal faults, both of which drop to the southeast. The fault bounded block rotates slightly to the southeast during deposition of the reservoir intervals. Production from the Morrow Formation is concentrated within this fault block. The Morrow production trend in this area is roughly north-south at an angle to the northeast trending Northwest Shelf in this area.

3D seismic data volumes consisting of P-Wave and P-to-S wave data are interpreted and compared in this study. VSP data (zero offset and some 3D VSP coverage) are incorporated into the seismic interpretation. The tie between surface seismic and well-log derived synthetics is generally poor due to Fresnel zone effects in these heterogeneous intervals. Correlation of formation top depths to arrival times in the zero-offset corridor stack are used to identify reflection events in the surface seismic data. In this study we examine the relationship of reflection amplitude and other seismic attributes associated with reflections from the Atoka-Morrow interval to 5-year cumulative production data from the field.