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Speaker:  Mita Sengupta, Aramco Services 

Seismic data is used to model and map subsurface rock layers, regionally across basins. Some of these rock layers can be source rocks composed of kerogen. Kerogen is an organic geopolymer which thermogenically matures into bitumen, pyrobitumen, and hydrocarbons as the rock is buried. This transformation of kerogen chemically accompanies a loss of hydrogen relative to carbon, which results in a steady increase in porosity which is observable in scanning electron microscope (SEM) images of the rock surface. The changing elastic properties of the source rock that accompanies this geochemical transformation presents a challenge for modeling rock properties using seismic velocities. It is unclear, however, to what extent these chemical and physical transformations of kerogen affect measured rock elastic moduli at the seismic scale. Recent studies integrating images with rock physics suggest that the uncertainty can be reduced through understanding the properties of the organic matter and its effect upon the elastic moduli of the rock as it changes with maturity. Acoustic velocity measurements on source rock cores suggest that there is both a bulk and shear softening of kerogen as the polymer matures, which is related to the changing bitumen content. These velocities have also been observed to vary with changes in kerogen chemistry and porosity. Here, a digital rock physics based elastic property model was developed to predict maturity, organic content, and kerogen porosity using both shear and compressional velocities. The results provide the concept and potential of predicting and mapping these properties for source rocks across a basin from seismic.

Speaker Biography: Mita Sengupta, Aramco Services Company
Mita Sengupta graduated from Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur with a BSc & MSc in geosciences in 1995 and from Stanford University with a PhD in geophysics in 2000. Mita started her career with Schlumberger in 2000, where she worked on image processing, rock physics, seismic reservoir characterization, and seismic geomechanics. From 2012-2016, Mita worked in the Geophysics Technology team at Hess Corporation where she worked on worldwide 4-D feasibility studies, statistical rock physics, and digital rock physics. Mita joined Aramco Services Company in 2017 where she is currently part of the Geophysics Technology team at the Houston Research Center, working on rock property estimation from seismic, unconventional reservoirs, and multi-scale data integration. Mita is an active member of SEG and GSH and currently serves on the editorial board of The Leading Edge.

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