Estimating seismic attenuation (Q) from VSP data at a heavy oilfield: Ross Lake, Saskatchewan

Arnim B. Haase, Robert R. Stewart

The analytical signal method is used for seismic attenuation (Q) estimation from VSP data acquired at Husky Energy Inc.'s Ross Lake oilfield, Saskatchewan. Q estimation is conducted on downgoing P-wave and upgoing converted-wave data. The logarithm of the instantaneous-amplitude ratio versus time-increment plot is surprisingly smooth for downgoing P-waves and converted-waves. The resultant estimates are: Qp ~= 43 at 300m depth and Qs ~= 28 at 930m.