Borehole Geophysics: Theory and Practice

by Richard D. Kuzmiski

Duration: Two days

Summary:
This course addresses the practical aspects of Vertical Seismic Profiles. This course is not research–this is what an explorationist does in the search for clastic and carbonate exploration results.

Each participant gains experience in the usage of VSP data, from the exploration design to the final interpretations where real exploration decisions are made. This course is designed for any explorationist who asks the question, "What is the value added to the exploration program?"

Attendees can be interpretive and processing geophysicists, geologists, and geological and production engineers. The bulk of the course is designed around SEG Special Publication #3, VSP Interpretive Processing: Theory and Practice. Several new and expanded topics have been included that go beyond the text. These are updates on acquisition and processing, links to other borehole seismics such as diploe shear logs and crosswell imaging, AVO, 3D P-P and P-SV, TIV and TIH, and Massive VSPs. Data examples are shown for all of the new updates. Throughout the course, the attendees learn and perform detailed interpretations on real datasets. Mathematical explanations are reserved for the textbook appendix, and the mathematical ideas used in the course are explained using conceptual models.

Course Outline:
Hands-on examples of real data are included throughout the course.

• Acquisition Tools and Survey Design
  • Acquisition considerations
  • Up- and downgoing VSP seismic events
  • NMO in surface seismic and VSP data
  • Designing sonde depth intervals
• VSP integrated interpretive processing
  • Wavefield separations and interpretive panels
  • VSP deconvolution
  • Far-offset processing
  • VSP far-offset deconvolution
  • Integrated displays
• AVO and VSP
  • Fundamental equations of AVO
  • How AVO work relates to VSPs
  • Designing the VSP to acquire AVO data
• 3-D VSP acquisition design and processing
  • Pre-processing
  • Polarizations and reflection points in offset space
  • Wavefield separation
  • Migration
  • 3-D VSP case study
• Case studies from play concept to final integrated interpretation
  • Exploration VSP case studies: clastic and carbonate
  • Geologic overview
  • Original interpretation and well results
  • VSP data acquisition
  • Near-offset interpretive processing
  • Far-offset interpretive processing
  • Integrated interpretation of all exploration data

Instructor Biographies:
Richard Kuzmiski