2. INTRODUCTION
o The purpose of seismic processing is to manipulate the acquired data into an image that can
be used to infer the sub-surface structure.
o Only minimal processing would be required if we had a perfect acquisition system.
o Processing consists of the application of a series of computer routines to the acquired data
guided by the hand of the processing geophysicist.
o There is no single "correct" processing sequence for a given volume of data.
3. Processing routines generally fall into one of the following
categories:
o Enhancing signal at the expense of noise.
o Providing velocity information.
o Collapsing diffractions and placing dipping events in their true subsurface
locations.
o Increasing resolution.
4. CONTRACTORS
o Today most processing is carried out by contractors who are able to perform most jobs quickly and cheaply
with specialised staff, software and computer hardware.
o There are currently five main contractors who are likely to have an office or an affiliation almost anywhere in
the world where oil exploration is taking place.
o In addition there are many smaller localised contractors principally in London and Houston, and also some
specialised contractors who concentrate on particular processing areas.
o A large contract would typically be tendered to all the major and a subset of the minor contractors and the
successful bid chosen by the contracts engineer and processing manager using criteria such as cost, turnaround,
quality and specialised knowledge.
o A typical 2D project may take 4-12 weeks to complete.
o A typical 3D project 4-12 months to complete.
