SEC Form 4

FORM 4		UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20549 STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP Filed pursuant to Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 or Section 30(h) of the Investment Company Act of 1940	OMB APPROVAL OMB Number: 3235-0287 Estimated average burden hours per response: 0.5
	Check this box if no longer subject to Section 16. Form 4 or Form 5 obligations may continue. See Instruction 1(b).

1. Name and Address of Reporting Person* MELLON FINANCIAL CORP (Last) (First) (Middle) ONE MELLON CENTER (Street) PITTSBURGH PA 15258 (City) (State) (Zip)	2. Issuer Name and Ticker or Trading Symbol SEITEL INC [ SELA ]	5. Relationship of Reporting Person(s) to Issuer (Check all applicable) Director X 10% Owner Officer (give title below) X Other (specify below) Adviser can designate 2 Dirs
	3. Date of Earliest Transaction (Month/Day/Year) 11/17/2004
	4. If Amendment, Date of Original Filed (Month/Day/Year)	6. Individual or Joint/Group Filing (Check Applicable Line) Form filed by One Reporting Person X Form filed by More than One Reporting Person

Table I - Non-Derivative Securities Acquired, Disposed of, or Beneficially Owned
1. Title of Security (Instr. 3)	2. Transaction Date (Month/Day/Year)	2A. Deemed Execution Date, if any (Month/Day/Year)	3. Transaction Code (Instr. 8)		4. Securities Acquired (A) or Disposed Of (D) (Instr. 3, 4 and 5)			5. Amount of Securities Beneficially Owned Following Reported Transaction(s) (Instr. 3 and 4)	6. Ownership Form: Direct (D) or Indirect (I) (Instr. 4)	7. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 4)
			Code	V	Amount	(A) or (D)	Price
Common Stock	11/17/2004		X		50,700	A	$1.027	15,151,138	I	See Footnotes(1)(2)
Common Stock	11/18/2004		X		205,700	A	$1.0503	15,356,838	I	See Footnotes(1)(2)

Table II - Derivative Securities Acquired, Disposed of, or Beneficially Owned (e.g., puts, calls, warrants, options, convertible securities)
1. Title of Derivative Security (Instr. 3)	2. Conversion or Exercise Price of Derivative Security	3. Transaction Date (Month/Day/Year)	3A. Deemed Execution Date, if any (Month/Day/Year)	4. Transaction Code (Instr. 8)		5. Number of Derivative Securities Acquired (A) or Disposed of (D) (Instr. 3, 4 and 5)		6. Date Exercisable and Expiration Date (Month/Day/Year)		7. Title and Amount of Securities Underlying Derivative Security (Instr. 3 and 4)		8. Price of Derivative Security (Instr. 5)	9. Number of derivative Securities Beneficially Owned Following Reported Transaction(s) (Instr. 4)	10. Ownership Form: Direct (D) or Indirect (I) (Instr. 4)	11. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 4)
				Code	V	(A)	(D)	Date Exercisable	Expiration Date	Title	Amount or Number of Shares

1. Name and Address of Reporting Person* MELLON FINANCIAL CORP (Last) (First) (Middle) ONE MELLON CENTER (Street) PITTSBURGH PA 15258 (City) (State) (Zip) Relationship of Reporting Person(s) to Issuer Director X 10% Owner Officer (give title below) X Other (specify below) Adviser can designate 2 Dirs

1. Name and Address of Reporting Person* Mellon HBV Alternative Strategies Holdings LLC (Last) (First) (Middle) ONE MELLON CENTER (Street) PITTSBURGH PA 15258 (City) (State) (Zip) Relationship of Reporting Person(s) to Issuer Director X 10% Owner Officer (give title below) Other (specify below)

1. Name and Address of Reporting Person* MELLON HBV ALTERNATIVE STRATEGIES LLC (Last) (First) (Middle) ONE MELLON CENTER (Street) PITTSBURGH PA 15258 (City) (State) (Zip) Relationship of Reporting Person(s) to Issuer Director X 10% Owner Officer (give title below) Other (specify below)

1. Name and Address of Reporting Person* Mellon HBV CO Ltd. (Last) (First) (Middle) ONE MELLON CENTER (Street) PITTSBURGH PA 15258 (City) (State) (Zip) Relationship of Reporting Person(s) to Issuer Director X 10% Owner Officer (give title below) Other (specify below)

Explanation of Responses:

1. As indicated in its amended Schedule 13D filing, each of the joint filers, Mellon Financial Corporation ("MFC"), Mellon HBV Alternative Strategies Holdings LLC ("Holdings"), Mellon HBV Alternative Strategies LLC (the "Adviser"), Mellon HBV Company, Ltd. (the "GP") and Mellon HBV Master Multi-Strategy Fund L.P. (the "Fund"), beneficially owns, as defined in Rules 16a-1(a)(1) and 13d-3 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, more than 10% of the outstanding Common Stock of Seitel, Inc. The Fund has direct ownership interests, and the other joint filers have indirect ownership interests. The "Amount of Securities Beneficially Owned" in Table I is applicable for each of MFC, Holdings and the Adviser.

2. Beneficial ownership as defined in Rule 16a-1(a)(2) for each of the filers is limited to their respective pecuniary interests, if any, in the funds which hold the Common Stock of Seitel, Inc.

	Michael E. Bleier, General Counsel	11/19/2004
	Peter Sullivan, as Power of Attorney for Mellon HBV Alternative Strategies Holdings LLC	11/19/2004
	Peter Sullivan, as Power of Attorney for Mellon HBV Alternative Strategies LLC	11/19/2004
	Peter Sullivan, as Power of Attorney for Mellon HBV Company, Ltd.	11/19/2004
	** Signature of Reporting Person	Date
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