A method of acquiring full azimuth data for carbonate reservoirs exploration in Tarim basin, western China

Summary Full azimuth (FAZ) data is essential to accurately imaging and characterizing of subsurface caves, ho les and fractures, which is important in the successful exploration and development of fractured-cavernous carbonate reservoirs. However, FAZ acquisition is seldom carried out due to the much higher cost. Here we present a case study of obtaining near FAZ data in the carbonate reservoirs exploration in Tarim basin, western China, by orthogonally acquiring a second WAZ dataset over an existing WAZ data and combining them together. The results show that this method can improve the imaging of the reservoirs significantly and it is an economically feasible way of providing FAZ data for land seismic surveys.