Depth imaging and regional exploration in Northeast Garden Banks, Gulf of Mexico

摘要

Since 2002, Kerr-McGee has been using regional (several hundred OCS blocks) 3D prestack depth migrations for exploration in Northeast Garden Banks, located in the deep-water Gulf of Mexico (Figure 1). Advances in prestack depth imaging technology, as well as the experience learned in sub-salt imaging in the Gulf of Mexico, have impacted ways we evaluate and explore in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico in the past few years. The regional 3D prestack depth migra?tion provided better understanding of the petroleum sys?tems (salt tectonics, sediment fairways, traps, etc.) and reduced exploration risks.