Enhanced Imaging with Seafloor Seismic Compared to Towed Streamer

Elevated energy costs have caused reserves in increasingly challenging environments to be deemed commercial. This has led to rising expectations for seismic image quality: better illumination, better resolution, better well ties, more reliable amplitudes etc. In the marine environment, towed streamer technology remains the most common acquisition method, and techniques such as "single sensor recording"(1), "over-under"(2) and "wide azimuth"(3) have delivered impressive results. These techniques have added cost and complexity to traditionally "simple" towed streamer operations. Recent developments in seafloor seismic have delivered significant improvements in image quality. Furthermore, the cost differential between towed streamer and seafloor seismic has narrowed considerably.<br><br>In this paper, we will show the results of an investigation into the relative value of four inherent differences between towed streamer and seafloor seismic. The differences considered here are (1) sensor type and performance (2) towed array vs. static point receiver (3) PZ summation and (4) geometry.<br>