Global mapping deep-water hydrocarbon plays of the continental margins

Abstract

Since 1993 GETECH has been involved in developing new methods and techniques to recover gravity from satellite altimeter data with the specific aim of improving oil exploration methods in deep-water areas of the continental margins, worldwide. By a combination of new processing methods, we can recover anomalies that are accurately and reliably representing geological structures down to 10 km in wavelength. These improvements have been possible by applying: advanced seismic repicking methods to recover the onset of ERS-1 radar waveforms; a range of more accurate and globally consistent wet and dry Troposphere propagation and tidal corrections; careful data editing and validation based on data visualisation techniques; micro-levelling to resolve discrepancies between satellite tracks in order to derive a reliable geoid surface; and the ?Geoid to Gravity? conversion method which has significant advantages over existing methods. The methodology has allowed us to map to within 2 and 5 km of the coast and significantly suppress noise that is prevalent and dominates existing solutions at 30 to 40 km wavelength. At these and shorter wavelengths the geological signal is effectively masked by the noise. Examples of the resolution for Gulf of Mexico and Sulawesi, Indonesia are shown.