Three-dimensional Inversion of Sea-Bottom MT Data for Petroleum Exploration

We investigate the feasibility of sea-bottom MT observations for petroleum exploration. The<br>resistivity of petroleum reservoirs and of salt structures is usually on an order greater than those<br>of surrounding sea-bottom sediments. That is why these structures can be considered easily<br>detectable targets for marine MT methods. We consider the schematic model of an offshore<br>Angola sea-bottom petroleum reservoir. The 3-D inversion results show that even in the case of<br>complex sea-bottom geological structures, where the reservoir response is strongly distorted by<br>the salt dome effect, the inversion generates a clear image of the reservoir. These results<br>demonstrate that the sea-bottom MT survey can be a powerful tool for offshore petroleum<br>exploration.