Four new papers extend the Sonic Saturation method beyond gas reservoirs and establish its rock-physics foundations:
1. SPWLA 2024 — Foundational Method Paper
Omovie, S.J. (2024). Novel Method for Estimating Water Saturation in Gas Reservoirs Using Acoustic Log P-Wave and S-Wave Velocities. SPWLA 65th Annual Logging Symposium, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, May 18-22, 2024. DOI: 10.30632/SPWLA-2024-0123
https://onepetro.org/SPWLAALS/proceedings-pdf/SPWLA24/5-SPWLA24/D051S022R002/3409231/spwla-2024-0123.pdf
The paper introducing the sonic-based saturation model, validated across 10 wells and 8 formations, from tight gas shales to deepwater Gulf of Mexico sand reservoirs.
2. OTC 2025 — Application to Oil Reservoirs
Omovie, S.J. (2025). A New Method of Estimating Water Saturation Using Acoustic Logs: Applications to Oil Reservoirs. Offshore Technology Conference, Houston, TX, May 5-8, 2025. DOI: 10.4043/35909-MS
https://onepetro.org/OTCONF/proceedings-pdf/25OTC/25OTC/D041S049R001/4791342/otc-35909-ms.pdf
Demonstrates that the model accurately estimates water saturation in black oil reservoirs, validated across 9 reservoirs offshore the Gulf of Mexico and the North Slope of Alaska.
3. URTeC 2025 — Application to Unconventional Oil Reservoirs
Omovie, S.J. and Newsham, K. (2025). Application of the New Sonic-Based Saturation Model to Unconventional Oil Reservoirs. Unconventional Resources Technology Conference, Houston, TX, June 9-11, 2025. DOI: 10.15530/urtec-2025-4259297
https://doi.org/10.15530/urtec-2025-4259297
Extends the model to unconventional tight oil and organic shale reservoirs in the Permian and Powder River basins, showing accuracy comparable to conventional saturation models even in ultra-low permeability formations.
4. IMAGE 2025 — Rock Physics Foundations
Omovie, S.J. and Dvorkin, J. (2025). On Linearity in Saturation versus Elastic Properties Relations. IMAGE 2025, SEG/AAPG Annual Meeting. Co-authored with Jack Dvorkin, Rock Physics International.
Establishes the theoretical rock physics basis for the model, proving that Vp/Vs and P-wave impedance exhibit strong linear dependence on water saturation under patchy saturation conditions, opening avenues for seismic-scale fluid quantification.