High Resolution Anisotropic Earth Model Building on Conventional Seismic Data Using Full Waveform Inversion: A Case Study Offshore Australia

Abstract

We present a case study from the North West Shelf of Australia where the complexity of the overburden consists of several thin multi-level channel systems filled with a combination of anomalously high or low velocity sediments. Not accounting for these strong velocity variations accurately, can lead to subtle image distortions affecting the underlying section down to and including the reservoir level. This can have significant impact on the volumetric estimates of reserves in place. To resolve these complexities in the overburden, full waveform inversion (FWI) was utilized to generate an updated earth model exploiting both early arrivals and reflection events. One caveat to using full waveform inversion is the need for low frequencies to be present in the seismic data, or, the initial starting velocity model must contain the correct low wavenumber components. However, conventional seismic data acquired at shallow tow depths are usually band limited particularly at the very low frequencies. Our case study will discuss these issues along with other limitations that this "conventional data" presented along with the workflows and quality control methods adapted to this data in order to converge to a plausible, high resolution earth model.