Ok- things seem bad for new exploration,

but it may be a great time to look at old data we’ve already got.

This show covers 3 major areas where substantial improvement

is highly probable.

COHERENT NOISE is typically pervasive, intertwines itself with signal and is almost
impossible to see. Since each type has its own arrival pattern, sophisticated, highly
iterative software is needed to detect and lift off separate events. Remarkable results
from a refraction removal program follows a few inversion examples. At the end are two
shows on removing multiples.

PREVIOUSLY UNDETECTED STRIKE SLIP FAULTS control many reservoirs. Here,

the ability of the inversion to bring out bed thicknesses improves the lithologic
correlation so that difficult fault patterns become more visible. Examples are shown
from the North Sea and the gulf coast.

SIMULATION OF LITHOLOGY IS BADLY NEEDED. Since the stack sums primaries

from bed tops, bottoms & all in-between, the resulting trace shape is highly erratic.
The “before and after” on the following slide illustrates an extremely effective
conversion from the common stack to the simulated sonic log section. Another example
shows how the logic Is still effective in the presence of coherent noise.
 AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH –
If you’ve mapped on the common stack. Expect your horizon to change polarity.
Stack (input) Inversion (output}
The best the client
T
could do –
The unadulterated input stack.

Watch this zone while you

click on the arrow.
ADAPS inverted & integrated output.

And on this one to toggle back.

The refraction removal miracle explained.
Below are six of the hundreds of refractions lifted off by my iterative. Logic. The
startling effect (shown on the next slide) was the sharp outline of the target salt dome
and the uncovering of a completely new set of flank events

Note that these refractions reach up into what is thought of as the “ground roll” zone!
 SALT

NEW FLANK EVENTS -

PROOF
The
.
yellow lines indicate the overlap with the older prospect shown at the left.
Stack feom older run Paige’s stack of traces de-noised at shot

You must trust

me that the two
displays are
very carefully
aligned,
even though the
differences are
so
hard to believe.
And here are two pairs of before and after’s.

The salt
outlines
are mine.

On inputs,
notice the
noise that
has been
removed
to the right
of the salt..
And here are two more pairs of before and after’s. The outlines in yellow show the approximate comparison sections.
What can I say? If this
pair of examples does not
convince you that we are
looking at a new world of
enhanced resolution I may
have to give up.

For my convenience
I will henceforth refer to the
conventional processing as
“they”, and to the de-noised
output as “my”.

So: Where I show strong,

stratigraphically believable
events, they mostly show
nothing. Where they show
their best continuity, my
results most often remove
their events. This pair of
examples shows multiple
cases of this phenomenon.

I thank anyone who

thinks I’m smart enough
to engineer this contrast
artificially. In other words
I claim this to be a logical
proof that overlying noise
and signal can produce a
very confused picture.
By the way – This data
is still raw – no inversion
/integration was run.

End
And here are two pairs of before and after’s.

?
Another before and after, some distance away,

I circle the hopes

of the client. This
dip pattern is what
he had planned to
exploit.
He assumed that
my noise removal
would fine tune the
high dip data.
Unfortunately my
de-noising logic has
a mind of its own,
and it completely
wiped those targets
out. This left him
no payout, and he
lost interest.
ON THE NORTH SEA STRIKE SLIP DICOVERY.
The story of an independent study that accidentally discovered
the fault phenomenon while trying to sell an innovative inversion
system.

The client’s final section is shown below left. My inversion is at

the right. After a brief discussion of the problems, I present a
series of slides showing my interpreted fault pattern. The client
later abandoned the project, ignoring my work.
 To the left is a gather from the data
A B C
used for the clients interpretation. I was
given
A access to prove my inversion
capabilities.
THE EXPLOSION OF ENERGY AT
THE RIGHT TURNED OUT TO BE A
SYSTEM ERROR IN THEIR OLD
MIGRATION LOGIC. (It could not handle the
refractions generated by the energy void).

THIS MALFUNCTION led me to re-think the critical angle theory. Careful analysis of
the whole set of gathers led to the following conclusions.
1. Getting the down-wave energy through the low velocity North Sea salt (A-C) was
the main problem.
2. The split to horizontally traveling refractions began before the actual cutoff.
3. Additional refractions were spawned at the end of the good reflections (from the
far side., where down-wave energy had gotten through.
4. A deep mute (yellow line) put the refraction problem off for the time being.
The increased system
resolution allowed me
to see strong evidence
of strike slip faulting.

However the pattern was

not clear. This is where
3D visualization became
necessary.

The goal, of course, is a

pattern that fits the largest
data radius.

Generally, the way to do

.this is to draw in the most

obvious (such as the

green fault), and start
from there.

Once I was satisfied with

the current slide, I copied
the faults to the next in
the series, adjusting them
to fit the new data.

Follow the starred marker

shale. It helps delineate
the fault breaks.
See the shale break
up.
.
Their seismic interpretation at the

Now it’s coming

time was on-lapping sands nestled against
a major thrust? fault, as below.

back together.

Hopefully you can remember how

lousy the input was as we move along..
Click to see the main fault, then again for
the ancillary detail.
.

Discovery well.

FINALLY, A LAST
LOOK A THE LOG
CORRELATION AND
THEN ON TO GULF
COAST FAULTING..
Before After
 Series start –
GULF
I suggest you tab through
quickly to see how the fault
pattern holds for the eight
COAST
in-lines. At the end you will
be given a repeat option.

FAULTS.
Next time through take
the time to see the geologic
reasonableness I spoke of,.
Sine this is a form of logical
proof.
Notice the cases where
the event correlation is
good across a fault, yet
there is a big change in
amplitude. Could it be the
bright spots were missed?
Keep running through
the series, noticing how the
bright spots carry from one
in-line to the next. This is
direct reservoir detection!

?
? ?
 #2
CONSISTANCY
OF PATTERN
Note the remaining
bright
PROVES spots holding
steady.
FAULT
EXISTANCE.

NOTE HOW
ATTITUDES
REMAIN
CONSTANT
WITHIN FAULT
BLOCKS.

?
?
?
#3
#4
 #5
.
A #6
#7
 #8

.
REPEAT SERIES
COHERENT NOISE IS
ALMOST EVERYW HERE. It may add or
subtract, or it may stack all by itself,
confusing interpretations no end.

Each type has it’s own arrival pattern. To

the left we see a removal of multiples
using iterative “search and lift-off” logic.

On first glance, it would appear that the

input had a statics problem, along with
serious random noise. The presence of
inter-bed multiples was not at all evident.

The output clearly shows that neither of

these assumptions were true.

Since I only had this data for this initial

study, I go on to a project where I was
given access to the complete data.

While my initial sales effort was to promote my

simulated sonic log inversion logic, I ended up
having to fight hard convincing the client
representative that his problem was caused
primarily by the presence of very strong inter-
bed multiples.
The Morrow story – tracking reservoir drainage.

This is a secondary recovery project on

an old field. I was told the producing
Morrow formation was difficult to map,
since it changed character in the middle
of the spread. When I expressed doubt,
the client rep replied that there was valid
industry documentation on this supposed
fact. The next few slides prove otherwise.
Before
Click on red arrow
to toggle back to
input.
Before
 Click on circle to review gathers.

DISCUSSION –
Because this is a producing field, drawdown of
hydrocarbons will have affected velocities,
lowering amplitudes of the key beds.

Hopefully we can use that knowledge to track

production effectiveness.
We are guessing this symbol covers
the Atoka – Morrow combo. where the
production has been effective.

We have also inserted some fracturing (or

minor faulting) which seems to separate
the produced areas from what might be
fresh areas. Admittedly some of this is wild,
but it is room for thought.

In any case, you will see that the total

processing seems to have been a success.