New technologies for seismic resolution enhancement and bandwidth expansion: Applications in SE Asian Basin

Abstract

Over the last few years, the petroleum giant and its partner have effectively implemented new marine seismic technologies in this part of the world. During the acquisition phase, the industry has observed the introduction of novel broadband acquisition techniques such as dual-sensor cable, multiple towed streamers (over/under), slanted and variable depth streamers, and isometric areal recording. The application of these techniques has resulted in a noteworthy enhancement of the recorded data’s bandwidth. The focus of this paper is on the improvement of seismic bandwidth expansion resulting from advancements in marine broadband acquisition, innovative processing techniques, and inversion methodology. The outcome leads to a noteworthy enhancement in the vertical resolution, which proves to be valuable in the identification of thin stacked pay beds and the creation of a reservoir model that is constrained by seismic data. This paper focuses on the imaging aspect, particularly the complex structures. The utilization of wide and full azimuth (Circular) recording and the resolution of Gas wipeout issues through seabed acquisition with Ocean Bottom Cables (OBC) have been advantageous. By utilizing de-ghosted or far-field signature modeled techniques on the processing side, it is possible to increase the bandwidth for both legacy and modern high-quality data, such as Q-marine. A novel de-convolution technique has been developed, which can enhance signal frequency to a considerable extent while minimizing or eliminating any impact on noise. The article presents various wavelet transform techniques that can effectively enhance the signal-to-noise ratio (S/N). The methods are noteworthy due to their ability to be swiftly executed post-stack while incurring minimal expenses. Further, the inversion techniques, with a focus on stochastic elastic inversion, generates broadband data, enabling the identification of pay sand that falls below the quarter of wavelength criteria. The developed techniques are novel and have been validated using authentic Offshore Malaysia data.