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Following Seismic Depth Imaging Technology for the Mexican Oil Industry: Experiences and Lessons Learned

Abstract

Abstract

We have followed seismic depth imaging technology for the Mexican oil industry (Instituto Mexicano del Petróleo, IMP, and Petróleos Mexicanos, PEMEX) for several years. As researchers and practitioners, getting to know the latest advances and the road ahead in geophysical technologies is always of paramount importance. Mostly, while following university research consortia and technical literature, and attending technical meetings and workshops. This paper outlines experiences and lessons learned from what did work and did not work for us when trying to facilitate communication between geologists and geophysicists. As technology followers, we provided a communication channel to catch up with the latest techniques and to understand the theory behind them, also provided technical assistance to IMP and PEMEX practitioners and researchers during the lapse 2009-2015. In particular, we focused on seismic imaging tools like RTM (reverse time migration) LSRTM (least squares RTM), layer-based and grid-based tomography, FWI (full waveform inversion), and methods of frequency enhancement during advanced seismic imaging. The vogue is to use available technology to obtain reliable images of the subsurface. Our objective is to improve the understanding of Mexican geoscientists about the fundamentals underlying such imaging tools and, thus, strengthen their judgment to select appropriate technologies suitable for their particular problems. We believe geoscientists can benefit from this discussion given the increasing availability of depth-migrated data in the Mexican oil industry.