Rock Physics of Time-Lapse Seismic for an Anisotropic 3D Earth Model

Numerous field examples have shown that 4D seismic signals can only be explained with stress variations in different directions, shear-wave splitting, and azimuthal velocity variation during the course of production However, integrated analysis of fluid flow, petro-elastic modeling, and stress momentum has have been historically ignored. This work addresses why we must consider anisotropic modeling of 4D seismic data and how geomechanical stress direction calculation can be embedded in petro-elastic modeling and fluid substitution for predicting the time-lapse seismic response of an earth model from surface to the reservoir and the surrounding area.