Purposeful seismic imaging for subsalt Wilcox stratigraphy

Ideal datasets for stratigraphic interpretation have high resolution, high level of continuity, high S/N, and high amplitude fidelity. In the deep water Gulf of Mexico (DW GOM), detailed geologic interpretation, like faults and channels, for subsalt Wilcox reservoirs is challenging due to complex salt overburden, poor illumination, and low resolution. However, it is becoming more feasible in recent years with advances in geophysics, i.e., new seismic data acquisition (e.g., WAZ, staggered WAZ with long offsets, and OBN) (Ourabah et al., 2015; Michell et al., 2017), velocity modeling technology (e.g., diving wave FWI, reflection FWI) (Peng et al., 2018), and more advanced imaging technology (e.g., LSRTM) (Schuster, 1993; Wang et al., 2016). In this paper, we present the customized workflow and results from a comprehensive reimaging project, with the purpose of preparing seismic data to reveal subsalt Wilcox stratigraphy.