Analyzing three-component 3D vertical seismic profiling data

Abstract A three-component 3D vertical seismic profile (VSP) was acquired over the Blackfoot oil field in Alberta, Canada. The VSP survey was recorded simultaneously with a surface seismic program. The objectives of the VSP were to develop recording logistics, data handling, and processing procedures and to determine if the 3D VSP volumes could image the glauconitic sand reservoir of the Blackfoot field. Dynamite shots from the surface seismic survey, which fell within a 2200-m offset from the recording well, were used in the VSP analysis. The shots were recorded by a string of three-component borehole receivers that was moved seven times, resulting in a receiver depth range of 400 to 910 m. The borehole data were processed using basic VSP processing techniques that included hodogram analysis, wavefield separation using median filters, and VSP deconvolution. The final P-P and P-S image volumes were obtained by VSP common-depth point and VSP common-conversion point stacking the upgoing wavefields followed by f-xy deconvolution. The P-P and P-S images from the VSP correlate well with those from the surface seismic survey. Time slices from the VSP also indicate the trend of the sand channel of the Blackfoot field.