Publications

The combination of a hard seafloor and subsequent velocity inversions in the deep water areas of Indonesia creates an environment that is conducive to the generation of seismic multiples. These multiples include both traditional surface related multiples and interbeds. As the signal to noise ratio decreases due to shallow surface effects and a degradation of imaging with depth, the multiples can become the dominate reflections. The alignment and character of these seismic reflections can limit the ability of an interpreter to extract useful structural and stratigraphic information from the data. The combination of state-of the-art seismic data processing and model driven interpretation using synthetic multiples can assist in avoiding interpretation pitfalls and help produce viable geologic scenarios. The collaboration between Contractor, Processor and Interpreter identifies the major sources of multiples, isolating several velocity inversions. For the standard surface-related multiples a processing flow is designed using 3D surface-related multiple elimination (SRME). This flow is applied where the multiples can be reduced without damaging primary reflections. In the target zone, however, instead of removing or attenuating reflections, synthetic multiples are generated which can be used to quality control the interpretations. The synthetic multiples are then either co-rendered with the amplitude data or interpreted as horizons and compared to structural interpretations which might have been generated on the seismically derived multiples. The use of multi-volume visualization techniques such as co-rendering synthetic multiples with reflection seismic volumes along with multislice views allows the interpreter to identify imaging issues and distinguish signal from noise in the target zone. Understanding the issues related to multiple generation and removal techniques help the interpreter avoid interpretation pitfalls. Recognition and mitigation of these issues through the use of techniques such as multi-volume 3D visualization, modeling, and cross skill collaboration can result in an interpretation that more accurately represents the true sub-surface geology.