Improving seismic data for detailed structural interpretation

Over the years, I have frequently observed that hydrocarbon accumulations are well image (to the point where the trapping mechanism is relatively clear) only years, if not decades, after their discovery. Put another way, new fields are often found at or beyond the limits of seismic detectability. Thus, to the explorer, every detail of a seismic data set can be crucial. Every little piece of information has to be considered and either given geologic significance or dismissed as a geophysical artifact. Of course, misinterpretations are easily made: A geologic “story” is developed for a feature observed in the data which turns out to be related to, say, acquisition footprint. Alternatively, a particular anomaly in the data is dismissed only to be drilled later by a “low‐tech” company that makes a significant discovery.