Abstract
The seismic method has been instrumental in finding and delineating oil and gas reservoirs inside the Earth for nearly a century. The method consists of acquiring seismic data, processing those data, and interpreting the processed results to help predict the best drilling locations. I present an overview of these steps, and I emphasize the pitfalls arising from failure to recognize limitations in the steps, individually or in combination. Most or all the material will be familiar to geophysicists, but the conclusions I draw might be surprising.
Biography
Sam Gray
- PhD math, long ago
- Joined the oil and gas industry (Amoco), 1984. Learned about seismic imaging.
- Moved to Canada, 1994. Learned about land seismic.
- 1994-1999: Amoco – BPAmoco – BP
- 1999-2016: Veritas – CGGVeritas – CGG
- Retired from CGG 2016
- Best Paper awards: SEG, CSEG
- SEG Distinguished Lecturer, 2012
- SEG Reginald Fessenden Award (2010), SEG Maurice Ewing Medal (2017)
