3D VSP imaging under a complex salt finger at Atlantis, Gulf of Mexico

To improve image resolution in the vicinity of the well, 3D VSP data was acquired at the Atlantis field in the Gulf of Mexico to complement the existing towed-streamer and OBN data. Two unique data challenges require special consideration and innovative techniques in order to unlock the full imaging potential at the Atlantis field: (1) illumination issues related to the receivers being placed in a well that goes through a complicated salt finger; (2) receiver reorientation issues related to the survey’s two-phase acquisition due to receivers being pulled out and placed back into well. We demonstrate how we mitigate the impact of these challenges through improved XYZ vector fidelity reorientation and least-squares RTM.