Seeing Hydrocarbons Under Salt Domes:

Seismic Interferometric Imaging

Great quantities of oil and gas reserves are trapped up against the edges of underground salt domes. Many of these salt domes are located offshore in the Gulf of Mexico. Conventional seismic methods create images of the subsurface very much like medical sonography creates imaging of babies in the womb of a pregnant mother. However, the seismic properties of salt create tremendous distortion in conventional images. Using Vertical Seismic Profiling (VSP) methods seismic energy is created at the surface of the earth and sensors are placed down a well near the edge of a salt dome. Our new methodology allows us to mathematically move the surface sources to be as if they had been located the well with the receivers. This means that we can create a much more accurate image of what is underneath the salt dome. The ability to mathematically bypass the rocks between the surface sources and the borehole allows for better estimates of the reserves and proper field development planning.