Seeking Low Relief Structures: An Original Approach Applied in Western Oman

A multiple elimination technique was tested in Elf’s Butabul Concession in Western Oman. The multiples mask the main exploration target, the Permian-Carboniferous Haushi reservoir. The technique is based on inversion in a curvature-time domain. The common mid-point gathers are transformed into this new domain and a mute is then applied to eliminate the multiples. The resulting function is then transformed back to the space-time (x-t) domain. The technique was tested on a newly-acquired, high-resolution seismic line. The survey is approximately 100 kilometers and traverses a low relief seismic prospect south of the Rabkha-1 well. Special high-resolution field acquisition parameters were used to maximize the effective separation of real events from multiples. To prevent aliasing the source and trace spacing were 12.5 and 25 meters, respectively. The Rabkha-1 well was used to select the best mute in the curvature-time domain. The mute required only minor adjustments over the line. The technique proved effective in eliminating the multiples and the resulting interpretation convinced the explorationists not to drill the prospect.