Lessons Learned from the First Exploration WATS Data Processing

Previous to now, Wide Azimuth marine surveys have generally been organized along prospect development scale. This paper concerns a 2007 Deep Water Gulf of Mexico Wide Azimuth Towed Streamer (WATS) project executed on much larger exploration scale. The size of the data volumes and the challenges introduced by WATS acquisition geometries demand a pragmatic approach to processing the data. In this paper, data processing insights and results are presented which have been achieved to date. Comparisons between seismic images from initial results to legacy Narrow Azimuth Towed Streamer (NATS) are shown, as well as imaging utilizing various classes of acquired traces. Furthermore, significant experiences in applying processing technologies such as tomography and 3-D SRME are also reviewed.