Conventional seismic imaging fails to obtain reliable images of oil-bearing sediments under salt structures because the salt layers with higher seismic velocities than the surrounding sediments distort the traditional seismic data. In salt basins like the Gulf of Mexico (GOM), salt deposits of various shapes and layers of complex salt structures cover extensive areas of the basin that hinder reliable imaging of sediment formations below the salt with available data processing technology. A large untapped resource lies beneath the deep waters of the GOM and other similar basins around the world. The recoverable reserves in the GOM are estimated to be about 40 B/bo with potential reserves in countless other salt basins amounting to several billion more. New, cost-effective seismic migration technology (the seismic data processing technology used to generate images of earth's subsurface) is needed for exploration of this vast resource by improving image resolution for assessing the size and location of oil resources beneath the salt structure. Improved subsalt imaging will help to eliminate some subsalt dry holes, each of which costs around $12 MM to drill. In this project, Los Alamos National laboratory, in collaboration with a consortium of oil and gas companies, has used the highly popular and widely used Kirchhoff Migration approach to correct for the wave distortions in processing the seismic data. One approach used for improving imaging capability was the use of the ray tracing method that allows the calculation of multiple-valued travel timetables and amplitudes and phases that can be used in imaging. The use of the multiple valued travel time tables and amplitudes and phases has provided substantial improvement in image quality that is comparable to what can be obtained by applying the sophisticated Wave Equation Migration technique, although the later method is very time consuming and may be prohibitive for large datasets. The improvements in seismic migration using the Kirchhoff approach should find useful applications in tapping the vast subsalt oil and gas resources in the Gulf of Mexico and other salt basins. Even if a hundredth of the estimated offshore domestic reserves are recoverable by the application of the new migration technology then it will help to add at least 400 MMBLS of oil and 568 BCF of natural gas to the National reserves. The sale of this resource will generate $471 and $1.111 million in tax and royalty incomes that will have a ripple effect on the economy by adding millions of dollars to the economy and creating new jobs across all sectors of the National economy.