Stochastic imaging of oil and gas reservoirs

This is the final report of a three-year, Laboratory-Directed Research and Development (LDRD) project at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). In this project, we have been developing and testing methods for modelling and inversion of wave propagation through complex media. We have developed methods for modelling wave propagation in media that is characterized by both deterministic and stochastic components. Four methods have been successfully developed and tested to date: (1) an efficient but approximate method to model wave propagation in complex media, (2) an exact method for modelling wave propagation in complex media using a boundary integral approach, (3) a method for determining properties of a one-dimensional (lD) media composed of a sequence of thin layers each with random thickness and velocity, and (4) modelling of diffraction and resonance due to a low-velocity body. Our most recent efforts focused on extending the approximate method for modeling wave propagation in complex media to include the effects of singly reflected waves, which is essential for modeling seismic data collected by the petroleum industry. In addition, an effort has been made to quantify the limitations of the method