Demonstration of high-resolution inverse VSP for reservoir characterization applications

The objective of this project is the determination of inverse vertical seismic profiling (VSP) measurements using new experimental field instrumentation capable of providing at least an order of magnitude improvement in the resolution of structural details in comparison with conventional seismic images. This two-year project will entail instrumentation tests under controlled field conditions during the first year followed by full-scale field demonstration tests in a representative oil-bearing reservoir formation during the second year. An automatic time-picking program and a tomographic inversion program developed for processing interwell seismic data were generalized for processing reverse VSP data. A technical paper was submitted for publication to Geophysics. The paper is entitled; A Wax-Embedded Borehole Seismic Detector for High-Resolution Measurements.'' A copy of this manuscript is enclosed in the Appendix. 3 figs., 1 tab.