Key Issues in integrated seismic exploration

Abstract

Full seismic inversion, i.e. transforming seismic shot records into geologically oriented subsurface parameters, may be performed by three separate processing modules. In the first module the surface information, i.e. the source input signal and the detector output signals, respectively, are transformed into the downgoing source wavefield and the upgoing reflected wavefield at the surface. Next, the influence of the source wavelet and the surface reflectivity are removed from the wavefields. In the second inversion module, the source wavefield and the reflected wavefield are extrapolated from the surface into the subsurface, and for each subsurface grid point (depth point) the reflectivity is computed. Finally, in the third module, the reflectivity information is transformed into velocity and density maps, and, optionally, into rock and pore parameters. The last step is only feasible if a significant amount of non-seismic information is available. This means that, particularly in the last inversion module, an integrated approach is required. An outline is given of the requirements of an exploration and production (E&P) information management system. It is argued that a fast, single-model database is a prerequisite for management of all related exploration and production data.