Wide-azimuth TTI imaging at Tahiti: Reducing structural uncertainty of a major deepwater subsalt field

The Tahiti field is a recent major development in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. The field’s prolific Miocene reservoir section lies below a thick salt canopy with structural dips as high as 80 degrees, adjacent to a near-vertical salt root. Successful appraisal and initial development was enabled by interpretation of proprietary depth imaging products generated from narrow-azimuth seismic data. However, reservoir-scale mapping and fault definition remained problematic due to seismic imaging and illumination challenges. In 2009–2010, the Tahiti partnership initiated a reimaging project using multiclient wide-azimuth seismic data. The project employed current technologies for multiple attenuation, tilted transverse isotropy velocity modeling, and migration. Increased azimuthal coverage and inherent multiple suppression provided by wide azimuth acquisition delivered significant imaging enhancements. Advanced noise and multiple attenuation techniques provided cleaner data with improved signal-to-noise. Earth ...