Saudi Arabian Oil Company

Mohammed Mubarak

Constantinos Tsingas

Tong Wang Fei

Dongliang Zhang

Ferhan Y Ahmed

Yi Luo

Yi He

Yimin Sun

Hong Liang

Ali Ameen Almomin

Victor Dolgov

Systems and methods for automated first arrival picking are disclosed. The method includes obtaining a seismic dataset composed of a plurality of seismic gathers and determining a pilot for each gather, where the pilot includes a position on an ordinate axis for each seismic trace representing a first arrival. The method continues iteratively until a stopping criterion is met by creating a preconditioned gather using the pilot, determining a differential pilot using global path tracing subject to a constraint and incrementing the pilot using the differential pilot to create a total picked first arrival. Once the stopping criterion has been met, the method further includes determining a final picked first arrival based on the total picked first arrival, determining a seismic velocity model from the final picked first arrival using a tomographic inversion and creating a seismic image using the seismic velocity model and the seismic dataset.

Method for iterative first arrival picking using global path tracing

Methods and systems for estimating converted-wave statics are disclosed. The methods include obtaining a multicomponent seismic dataset for a subterranean region, determining an array of PP-source statics and an array of PP-receiver statics for the PP-seismic dataset, generating a PP-receiver stack based on the PP-seismic dataset, the array of PP-source statics, and the array of PP-receiver statics, and generating a PS-receiver stack based on the PS-seismic dataset and the array of PP-source statics. The methods also include identifying a PP-target event on the PP-receiver stack, forming a space-time window of the PS-receiver stack guided by the PP-target event, determining an objective function, and determining an array of PS-receiver statics based on an extremum of the objective function. The methods further include forming a statics-corrected PS-seismic dataset based on the array of PS-receiver statics and the array of PP-source statics, and forming a seismic image based on the statics-corrected PS-seismic dataset.

Method and system for estimating converted-wave statics

A method and apparatus of locating subsurface geohazards in a geographical area that includes: receiving a plurality of seismic trace signals in the geographical area based on a shot gather from a seismic shot source; isolating and stacking the plurality of seismic trace signals to generate a windowed trace signal associated with refraction traces from the seismic shot source; transforming the windowed trace signal to a frequency domain; calculating a low frequency to high frequency ratio for the transformed trace signal; outputting the calculated ratio to a two-dimensional array representing the geographical area at a source location and at a mean receiver location; repeating the steps for a plurality of other shot gathers in the geographical area; and multiplying each source location ratio with one or more mean receiver location ratios on the two-dimensional array to generate a final frequency ratio map.

Method, apparatus, and system for identifying surface locations corresponding to subsurface geohazards based on frequency ratios among seismic trace signals

A method for determining an internal multiple attenuated seismic image is disclosed. The method includes obtaining a seismic dataset composed of a plurality of seismic traces and for each seismic trace determining an internal multiple trace based, at least in part, on a nested truncated correlation and a bounded convolution of the seismic trace with itself. The method further includes determining an internal multiple attenuated seismic trace based, at least in part, on subtracting the internal multiple trace from the seismic trace and combining the internal multiple attenuated seismic trace to form the internal multiple attenuated seismic image. A system including a seismic source, a plurality of seismic receivers, and a seismic processor for executing the method is disclosed.

Generalized internal multiple prediction

Techniques for determining a wellbore drilling path includes identifying input seismic data associated with a subterranean zone that includes a wellbore drilling target. The input seismic data includes primary seismic events and multiple seismic events. The input seismic data is processed to remove the multiple seismic events and at least one of the primary seismic events from the input seismic data. An orthogonalization of the processed input seismic data is performed to recover the at least one primary seismic event into a seismic image of the subterranean zone that excludes at least a portion of the multiple seismic events. A wellbore path is determined from a terranean surface toward the wellbore drilling target for a drilling geo-steering system based on the seismic image of the subterranean zone.

Providing seismic sections for drilling systems

Methods and systems for determining an interbed multiple attenuated pre-stack seismic dataset are disclosed. The methods include forming a post-stack seismic image composed of post-stack traces from the pre-stack seismic dataset and identifying a first, second, and third post-stack horizon on each of the post-stack traces. The methods further include for each pre-stack trace, generating a first, second, and third multiple-generator trace based on the first, second and third post-stack horizon and determining a correlation trace based, at least in part, on a correlation between the first multiple-generator trace and the second multiple-generator trace. The methods still further include predicting an interbed multiple trace by convolving the correlation trace and the third multiple-generator trace, determining an interbed multiple attenuated trace by subtracting the interbed multiple trace from a corresponding pre-stack seismic trace, and determining the interbed multiple attenuated pre-stack seismic dataset by combining the interbed multiple attenuated traces.

Method and system for target oriented interbed seismic multiple prediction and subtraction

A method includes generating a seismic shot by a seismic source, the seismic shot directed at a geological subsurface, and receiving, by one or more receivers, a plurality of reflected seismic traces from the seismic shot. The method further includes generating a correlogram of each reflected seismic trace to generate a plurality of correlograms, isolating a coda wave train of each correlogram of the plurality of correlograms, and computing an energy ratio between an energy of the coda wave train of each correlogram and a total energy of a corresponding correlogram of the plurality of correlograms to generate a plurality of energy ratios. The method further includes determining an average of the plurality of energy ratios to generate an average energy ratio of the seismic shot and determining a likelihood of striking a subsurface geohazard when drilling into the geological subsurface based on the average energy ratio.

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Dhahran, Saudi Arabia

Mohammed Mubarak