Principles and Survey aspects of Geophysical data acquisition (3D, 4D & OBC)

Workshop Hydrographic Society Benelux

Amsterdam 7th December 2011

Rob Kok

Senior Offshore Surveyor Shell UIE (NAM Assen)

Geodesy ?

Geodesy probably ranks as one of the top 25 words of which nobody knows the meaning.

Helmert (1880): the science of the measurement and mapping of the earths surface

Content

Introduction New Energy Future 2D / 3D seismic Binning / Data Management

4D seismic
OBC High Resolution seismic Seafloor Geodesy Taking Land Survey Techniques Offshore Q&A

New Energy Future

The world in 2050 9 billion people 2.5 billion more than today 4-5 times richer with most extra wealth coming from developing countries Double the energy using twice as much energy as now; emerging markets (China) Challenges as well as Opportunities Moving to lower carbon intensity including energy efficiency and carbon capture and storage Ensuring safety and environmental responsibility more difficult surface and subsurface conditions Cost reduction for wide variety of development projects technology as key lever

Twice as efficient using half the energy as now to produce each dollar of wealth
6-10 times more energy from renewable sources

Our Operating Environment

We are expected to deliver:
MORE ENERGY, SECURE ENERGY, RESPONSIBLE ENERGY

More Mega Projects Increasing Complexity

More Integrated Technology & Engineering Solutions More difficult Hydrocarbons Minimising Environmental Footprint

Increasing Pace of Technology Development

Cost Pressure

Conventional Hydrocarbons

Enhanced Oil Recovery

Difficult Reservoirs

Tight Oil & Gas

Coal Bed Methane

In-situ Heavy Oil Production

Gas Shale
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2D / 3D seismic

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2D / 3D seismic

2D / 3D seismic
Basics
2D

Basic 1 streamer Cheap Reconnaissance Speculative

3D

2 -16 streamers Careful planning of acquisition parameters Multiple sail lines (swaths) ... multiple streamers recording source data

2D / 3D seismic

2D / 3D seismic
Considerations / Issues
Vessel selection
Instrument room (location, recording equipment) Back deck facilities

Streamers (number, spacing, length, towing depth, hydrophone grouping)

Compressors / airgun arrays Positioning of in-sea equipment
Tailbuoy
Source

(active DGPS or RTK)

(compasses, acoustic ranging units)

floats

Streamers

Multi vessel operation

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2D / 3D seismic

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2D / 3D seismic
Operational Constraints
Survey location
Time or year Survey size, line length

Acquisition parameters
Excessive feathering Currents

Other activity in area (fishing)

Time sharing Marine mammals Equipment breakdown

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Binning / Data Management

Binning
Processing of 3D seismic based on grouping seismic traces Referenced to a point (bin node) which form a matrix Bin Nodes are referenced to its location in the real world

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Binning / Data Management

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4D seismic
4D seismic is time-lapsed 3D seismic Acquired at different times (in productive life of reservoir)

Additional data required to optimise value (time-lapse logs, cores,

VSPs, pressures etc.)

REPEATABILITY

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4D seismic

How are we influencing projects ?

Making

better decisions on redevelopment unforeseen possibilities

Exploiting

Avoiding
Avoiding

unforeseen problems
unnecessary infill

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4D seismic

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4D seismic

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4D streamer seismic

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OBC (Ocean Bottom Cable)

OBC is an advanced method of acquiring 4D seismic data Cables in much more stable position than when towed

Cables may be trenched for positioning repeatability

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Seismic Acquisition (ocean bottom cable)

Retrievable normally for 3D imaging issues Platform obstructing streamer acquisition Permanent (often trenched) normally for 4D Better positioning repeatability than streamer Large upfront costs evened out

Picture courtesy of WesternGeco

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OBC sparse acquisition

Acquisition of low fold, but highly repeatable data, resulting in relatively small data volumes. Sparse OBC concept minimizes the number of receiver cables deployed.

Viable for permanent systems.

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High Resolution seismic

Dedicated survey vessels

Acquiring the highest quality data to provide exceptional interpretation

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High Resolution seismic

Shallow Gas (High Resolution) Surveys are undertaken to minimise the risk of encountering shallow gas Executed ahead of drilling operations Grid of 2D lines, normally 1-1.5 km long Small - high-frequency source Weather sensitive operation (tow depth)
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High Resolution seismic

Survey Area differences HiRes and 3D
SHALLOW GAS SURVEY
Discrete lines, 100 m spacing Survey area 1000 x 1000m (UKOOA Guidelines) Acquired to 2 Secs

3D EXPLORATION SEISMIC
Grid of data typically 25 x 25m bin spacing Survey area 20 x 20km Acquired to circa 7 Secs

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High Resolution seismic

Acquisition Parameters

SOURCE TYPE SOURCE VOLUME BANDWIDTH (-6dB) SHOT SPACING CABLE LENGTH GROUP LENGTH CMP SPACING NEAR TRACE OFFSET TOW DEPTH SAMPLE RATE ANTI-ALIAS FILTER

3D EXPLORATION SEISMIC AIRGUN 3000 cu in 4 - 90 Hz 25m 4000m+ 25m 12.5m 150m+ 7m 2 - 4ms 180 Hz

SITE SURVEY SLEEVE GUN 160 cu in 5 - 250 Hz 6.25m 600m 12.5m 6.25m <50m 2.5m 1ms 306Hz

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High Resolution seismic

Vertical Resolution

Approx. 550m

3D Exploration Seismic Data

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2D High-Resolution Seismic Data

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High Resolution seismic

The cost of getting it wrong is very high (HSE !)

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High Resolution seismic

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Seafloor Geodesy Taking Land Survey Techniques Offshore

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Seafloor geodesy aims

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The proven land techniques

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What can we measure?

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Displacements

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Seafloor geodesy aims

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The challenges offshore

Business Challenges
To monitor depletion and determine compartmentalisation
Enhanced reservoir management Future development planning

Operational Challenges
Network Design Seabed Conditions

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GIS Analysis for Network Design

Fishing Data +

Slopes

Seabed Conditions Hard Soft Dubious

No compatts shallower than max. fishing depth

25 cm Bathy Peaks Line of Sight Inclination

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Operational 1/2

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Operational 2/2

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Q&A

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