WA Tech Night - PSDM in relatively benign on-shore settings

Date = Wednesday 13 November

Time = 530 to 7pm

Venue = Celtic Club, West Perth WA

Title = PSDM in relatively benign on-shore settings

Speaker = Marianne Rauch, TGS

Abstract:

Off-shore, depth imaging has been performed for a long time, especially to improve imaging around salt domes and faults. However, conventional wisdom dictates that in geological benign areas, it is not necessary to pre-stack depth migrate the data and stretching from time to depth is enough. A majority of the unconventional reservoirs are in geological less complex areas and this argument could be valid. We are presenting our thoughts why this is not correct and why applying a well-executed PSDM is worth the effort.

In many on-shore unconventional basins worldwide, the general geology around the tight reservoirs is nearly flat but the velocity and anisotropy within these layers can change rapidly laterally. PSTM velocities are based on hyperbolic assumptions and the ability to accurately image these changes are limited. In addition, it is crucial to solve the velocities in the near surface for accurate ray tracing but nearly impossible to do in the time domain. These issues can produce incorrect depthing and lateral positioning of the seismic events. A well-performed PSDM will result in an amplitude preserved dataset that has a higher resolution and can be used for geo-steering and attribute calculation which will further enhance the knowledge of the reservoir space. 

Speaker Bio:

Marianne received her PhD in Physics in 1985 from Uni Graz in Austria. She started her oil career as research assistant at Curtin University in Perth, Australia 30 years ago and has been active in geophysics ever since then. Marianne lived in many places and worked on-shore and off-shore basins all over the world. Her main specialties are DHI, seismic processing, depth migration, potential fields and researching new technologies, methodologies. She likes to do applied research, mentor and teach and is a seasoned presenter at conventions and workshop. She has published a good number of articles on several subjects and still is passionate about geoscience and the thrill to get more and unique information out of geophysical measurements that help drilling more successful wells. Currently, she is the Principal Technical Advisor, multi-client, onshore, TGS, Houston.