Patent ID: 8768672

Claim:
A method for predicting time-lapse seismic timeshifts in a three-dimensional geomechanical system, comprising: defining physical boundaries for the geomechanical system; acquiring history for at least one reservoir characteristic from multiple wells within the physical boundaries; determining whether a formation in the geomechanical system is in an elastic regime or a plastic regime; obtaining a first seismic data set for the geomechanical system, the first seismic data set being taken at a first time; obtaining a second seismic data set for the geomechanical system, the second seismic data set being taken at a second time; running a computer-implemented simulation for the geomechanical system to simulate the effects of changes in the at least one reservoir characteristic on time-lapse seismic timeshifts in the formation, wherein running the geomechanical simulation comprises calculating incremental timeshifts for a plurality of layers within the formation and calculating a cumulative timeshift value from a summation of the incremental timeshifts in the formation.