An Industry-First Unified Solution for Complex Subsalt Imaging

Resolving Complex Salt Architecture

Legacy wide-azimuth (WAZ / M-WAZ) surveys failed to accurately image the deep salt architecture beneath the Mississippi Canyon canopy system. In several areas, seismic continuity deteriorated significantly below salt, leading to uncertainty in trap definition and reservoir interpretation.

As an example, the Jedd well (EW 656) highlighted these limitations after encountering an unexpected secondary salt body that was not predicted by previous velocity models. Existing datasets lacked the low-frequency content, offset distribution and azimuthal coverage required to properly resolve the salt geometry.

Better Ultra-Low Frequencies

Accurate FWI-driven velocity model building in complex salt environments relies on stable ultra-low-frequency signal content and long-offset full-azimuth coverage.

Conventional marine source arrays often struggle to provide coherent energy at the required frequencies to improve deep subsalt velocity updates. At the same time, sparse OBN acquisition geometries require designs capable of maximizing offset and azimuth coverage while preserving shot density and signal quality for imaging and inversion.

Maximizing Exploration OBN Efficiency

Large-scale exploration OBN programs in the Gulf of America involve substantial operational complexity and higher acquisition costs compared to streamer surveys. Maintaining efficient production while introducing new source technologies can be difficult, particularly when lower-frequency sources require longer refill times.

A scalable acquisition strategy that improves operational efficiency without compromising data quality, shot density or imaging performance was needed.