Ocean bottom seismic surveys have been a key part of the seismic imaging strategy at several large deepwater fields in the Gulf of Mexico (Howie et al., 2008; Beaudoin et al., 2008; Li et al, 2013). Benefits of these surveys include a wider and more even distribution of azimuths and offsets, a generally lower background receiver noise level, and better receiver coverage in congested offshore development areas. In this paper we present how finite difference modeling improved our understanding of existing seismic data and predicted significant improvement in subsalt image quality with long offset and full azimuth Ocean Bottom Node (OBN) geometry. Once the imaging criteria for acquisition design were met we optimized the survey for full waveform inversion (FWI) with ultra-long offsets. The modeling results were essential for designing an OBN survey that was acquired on the Thunder Horse field in 2015. We observed improved imaging of salt flank with OBN data that helped during velocity model building process.
Presentation Date: Thursday, September 28, 2017
Start Time: 10:10 AM
Location: 371F
Presentation Type: ORAL