Seismic attributes add a new dimension to prospect evaluation and geomorphology offshore Malaysia

The Malay Basin is a mature Tertiary extensional basin with a later inversion regime in the Late Miocene. The general geology is simple “layer cake” seismically, with some compressive anticlinal inversion structures. The Borneo Basin, on the other hand, is tectonically complex, with steep dips, overthrust, and complex faulting. The rocks are unconsolidated, and geophysical techniques such as amplitude and other attributes should work well. In early years, seismic interpretation was based mostly on mapping structures. The advent of AVO and inversion technologies and pioneering geophysical work brought about increased usage of seismic attributes, solving various problems of geologic interpretation. In Southeast Asia, concentrated efforts since 2000 in seismic data acquisition and processing have resulted in significant improvement in data quality and hence success of attribute application. Seismic imaging and attributes meet challenges such as (1) inversion structural plays in the Malay Basin, (2) stratigraphic channels, (3) fractured basement, (4) deep high-pressure (HP) and high-temperature (HT) plays, (5) steep-dip/overthrust plays, (6) deepwater turbidite plays, (7) carbonate plays of Luconia Province, and (8) thin pay beds, often below seismic resolution, using spectral attributes. Various attributes can be applied to a widespread problem in prospect-maturation evaluation and reservoir characterization