Summary
This technical report discusses the application of elastic full waveform inversion (FWI) to legacy vertical seismic profile (VSP) data from the Mad Dog field in the Gulf of America. The report outlines the challenges associated with seismic imaging in subsalt fields, particularly due to complex salt geometries that distort seismic wave propagation. It presents a workflow that demonstrates how elastic FWI can enhance the resolution of seismic imaging by utilizing legacy VSP datasets, which retain higher-frequency content compared to ocean-bottom node (OBN) data. The report details the improvements achieved in background velocity accuracy and high-resolution reflectivity recovery, leading to better fault interpretation and reservoir characterization. The findings indicate that the application of elastic FWI to legacy data not only improves imaging quality but also provides critical insights for optimizing drilling strategies and understanding reservoir connectivity. The report concludes that repurposing legacy VSP data through modern elastic FWI techniques unlocks significant value in complex geological settings.
