~3,000 km2 of ultralong-offset, FWI OBN data in the US Gulf of Mexico
WesternGeco, in collaboration with TGS, has completed acquisition of a new 2,950-km2 ultralong-offset, full-waveform inversion (FWI) ocean bottom node (OBN) project in the US Gulf of Mexico. This new project extends the footprint of ultralong-offset data into the northern Green Canyon to resolve subsurface imaging challenges and offer dynamic new geologic insight.
This area is characterized by complex geology and salt tectonics, creating the need for an innovative approach to illuminate the highly prospective Miocene and its associated traps against salt flanks or deep weld systems. The combination of OBN data, recording of ultralong (>30-km) offsets, and FWI (through data-fitting, model-building technology) is expected to deliver superior salt body definition and a major update to the earth model.
Results from the Amendment Phase 1 sparse-OBN survey in the Mississippi Canyon and Atwater Valley show that the combination of this updated model—integrated with the available multiple types of WAZ surveys—demonstrates significant imaging uplift and can reveal previously unseen structural relationships subsalt.
