Online Journal for E&P Geoscientists

Zahran, Wael A.¹; El-Emam, Adel ^*1; Al-Genai, Jarrah ¹; Al-Ajmi, Bader ¹
(1) Exploration, Kuwait Oil Company, Ahmadi, Kuwait.

Developments in data processing technologies over the last few years represent a major step towards understanding and solving seismic challenges, these advanced technologies can help KOC achieving its objectives.

Data acquisition and processing objectives have progressed from producing accurate structural and stratigraphic maps to extracting reliable reservoir attributes. Imaging complex and deep reservoirs, intra-reservoir resolution and fracture detection are the main targets of 3D seismic acquisition and processing for both exploration and development of existing fields.

KOC Exploration continues to identify the geological and geophysical challenges that remain to be overcome as we progress towards our 2030 strategy, these include:

The increasing complexity of potential hydrocarbon traps.

- The combination of conventional and unconventional reservoirs

- Highly fractured reservoirs

- Deep, thin, stratigraphic traps

- Imaging deep formations

These multi-objectives need to be taken into consideration while processing seismic data, the huge investments in large high-resolution and wide-azimuth seismic acquisition surveys require significant investment in data processing technologies too. KOC is testing, evaluating and implementing several leading-edge technologies in 3D seismic acquisition and processing to maximize the extracted information.

Preserving amplitude, phase and azimuth is a key for successful reservoir characterization studies and require more oriented data processing workflows. In this talk I’ll be focusing only on three data processing aspects which are believed crucial for reservoir characterization oriented data processing; namely:

- Signal-protected noise attenuation techniques to improve S/N, vertical and horizontal resolution

- Effective multiple modeling and removal techniques

- Azimuthal Pre-Stack Time Migration