Resolving Messinian Salt in the East Mediterranean with elastic full-waveform inversion using narrow-azimuth towed-streamer data

The East Mediterranean is a key region for hydrocarbon exploration, but imaging subsurface structures is challenging due to the complex Messinian salt formations. Traditional seismic imaging struggles with these irregular salt geometries and rapid velocity variations, leading to inaccurate deep images. This study applies elastic fullwaveform inversion (EFWI) using narrow-azimuth towedstreamer data to address this issue. Unlike conventional layer-based model building, the FWI-based workflow treats velocity updates as a global inversion process. Iterative updates to salt geometry and velocity result in better presalt imaging and reduced uncertainties. This case study, offshore Egypt, demonstrates the effectiveness of this approach. EFWI reshaped the salt geometry and modeled velocity variation, leading to improved shot matching, clearer seismic reflections, and enhanced subsurface continuity. The results, validated by reverse time migration (RTM) images and surface-offset gathers, confirm the accuracy of the updated velocities. These techniques significantly reduce exploration risks, providing a more reliable foundation for hydrocarbon exploration in the region.