In geophysics Amplitude Versus Offset (AVO) is a variation in seismic reflection amplitude with change in distance

between the shotpoint and receiver.An AVO anomaly is most commonly expressed as increasing (rising) AVO in a
sedimentary section. This is often where the hydrocarbon reservoir is "softer" (lower acoustic impedance) than the
surrounding shales. Typically amplitude decreases (falls) with offset due to geometrical spreading, attenuation and
other factors. An AVO anomaly can also include examples where amplitude with offset falls at lower rates than the
surrounding reflective events.The most important application of AVO is the detection of hydrocarbon
accumulations. Rising AVO is typically more pronounced in oil-bearing sediments (and more so in gas-bearing
sediments). Particularly important examples are those seen in deepwater turbidite sands and other major clastic
deltas around the world. Most hydrocarbon filled sedimentary traps are tried to be visualized and detected with
AVO. Almost all major companies use AVO routinely as a tool to "de-risk" exploration targets and to better define
the extent and the composition of existing hydrocarbon reservoirs.
An important thing to remember is that the existence of abnormal (rising or falling) amplitude anomalies can
sometimes be caused by other factors, such as alternative lithologies and residual hydrocarbons in a breached gas
column. Modeling of the petrophysical properties and good understanding of the sedimentary succession is
paramount for successful hydrocarbon detection using AVO. Not all oil and gas fields are associated with an
obvious AVO anomaly and AVO analysis is by no means a failsafe method for gas and oil exploration.
Seismic inversion, in Geophysics (primarily Oil and Gas exploration/development), is the process of transforming
seismic reflection data into a quantitative rock-property description of a reservoir. Seismic inversion may be pre-or
post-stack, deterministic, random or geostatistical, and typically includes other reservoir measurements such as
well logs and cores.
Introduction
Geophysicists routinely perform seismic surveys to gather information about the geology of an oil or gas field.
These surveys record sound waves which have traveled through the layers of rock and fluid in the earth. The
amplitude and frequency of these waves can be estimated so that any side-lobe and tuning effects[1] introduced
by the wavelet may be removed.
Seismic data may be inspected and interpreted on its own without inversion, but this does not provide the most
detailed view of the subsurface and can be misleading under certain conditions. Because of its efficiency and
quality, most oil and gas companies now use seismic inversion to increase the resolution and reliability of the data
and to improve estimation of rock properties including porosity and net pay.[2]
There are many different techniques used in seismic inversion.[3] These can be roughly grouped into two
categories: pre-stack or post-stack andseismic resolution or well-log resolution
The combination of these categories yields four technical approaches to the inversion problem, and the selection
of a specific technique depends on the desired objective and the characteristics of the subsurface rocks. Although
the order presented reflects advances in inversion techniques over the past 20 years, each grouping still has valid
uses in particular projects or as part of a larger workflow.
Components of inversion
Inversion includes both seismic data and well data, where well data serves to add the low frequency below the
seismic band and to constrain the inversion. Well logs are first conditioned and edited to ensure there is a suitable
relationship between impedance logs and the desired properties. The logs are then converted to time, filtered to
approximate the seismic bandwidth and edited for borehole effects, balanced and classified by quality.
Seismic data is band-limited, reducing resolution and quality. To extend the frequency band available, low-
frequency data is derived from log data, pre-stack depth or time migrated velocities and/or a regional gradient.
[4]

High frequency can be derived from well control or geostatistical analysis.
Initial inversions are often run with relaxed constraints, starting with the seismic and then adding limited-trend
data from the wells. This provides a rough overview of the reservoir in an unbiased manner. It is critical at this
point to evaluate the accuracy of the tie between the inversion results and the wells, and between the original
seismic data and the derived synthetics. It is also important to ensure that the wavelet matches the phase and
frequency of seismic data.
Without a wavelet, the solution is not unique. Deterministic inversions address this problem by constraining the
answer in some way, usually to well log data. Stochastic inversions address this problem by generating a range of
plausible solutions, which can then be narrowed through testing for best fit against various measurements
(including production data).