The Inverse-Scattering Sub-Series For The Removal Of Free-Surface And Internal Multiples: Status, Open Issues And Plans

The industry trend to deepwater has raised the bar on<br>seismic effectiveness due to a confluence of higher<br>cost and technical challenges. Imaging beneath<br>complex overburdens, e.g., salt, basalt, or karsted<br>sediments, are high economic priority for<br>hydrocarbon exploration and production and<br>represent technical challenges without an<br>immediately available effective response.<br>A prerequisite for the imaging of primaries is the<br>removal of multiples. Traditional multiple elimination<br>techniques typically assume a 1-D earth, or<br>periodicity of multiples, or move-out differences, or<br>they require: velocity analysis, or interpretive<br>intervention, or event picking. However, the level of<br>technical challenge represented by the types of plays<br>described above cause traditional methods to bumpup<br>hard against their assumptions with a concomitant<br>degradation or cessation of effectiveness.