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➔ science made simple Savvy seismic With future oil and gas reservoirs increasingly likely to be found under overhanging salt formations, the development of new seismic techniques to ‘see’ through this salt are proving invaluable. I n the oil and gas business, impaired vision is an increasing challenge, all thanks to salt. In the Gulf of Mexico, for instance, 80% of future oil and gas reserves are expected to be found lying beneath a layer of salt – up to several thousand metres thick in some places – and in Angola, 60% of the BPoperated Block 31 is covered with it. The trouble is that trying to ‘see’ through salt is like looking through frosted glass. Seismic surveying generates images of the geological structure deep beneath the surface by transmitting soundwaves into the earth and detecting and analysing their reflections. But salt distorts these images, preventing conventional seismic 08 Issue 1 2009 BP MAGAZINE Report> Nic Welsh Illustration> Magic Torch Towed streamers acquisition techniques from giving a clear picture of what is underneath. The salt’s presence increases the risk of unsuccessful, yet costly, exploration and development activities. With so much potential lying under these formations, BP is getting creative with seismic technology in order to clear away some of the frosting. Traditional marine seismic imaging builds a picture of a reservoir by acquiring data in one orientation. By accessing many lines, a cube of data can be built to produce a three-dimensional (3D) image. Even the large advances in 3D imaging over the past decade have difficulty in delivering a good image. To get a clearer view, you have to find a way to look at the target from several different orientations, or ‘azimuths’, and Source vessel B combine the data. In other words, you need to go through it in a number of directions. BP has led the development in multiazimuth seismic approaches, creating a toolkit of techniques designed to illuminate reservoirs with ever-greater clarity. While new processing and modelling techniques are helping to generate more detail about reservoirs using seismic acquired by conventional, or ‘narrow azimuth’, techniques, BP has developed proprietary technologies to model and process ‘wide azimuth’ data. This multi-azimuth image can be obtained by acquiring conventional data in several orientations, a technique developed and applied by BP in Egypt’s Nile Delta. Another technology, known as Wide Azimuth Towed Streamer (WATS), uses a conventional seismic vessel with streamers of receivers towed behind it to collect the reflected soundwaves. But rather than using sound sources generated from the recording vessel, two source vessels are positioned to one side, at the front and tail
of the streamers. The three vessels then travel for a set distance collecting data. After returning to their starting point, the source vessels are offset from the receiver vessel and repeat the journey. This process takes place several times, collecting data from many azimuths – creating the width – to generate a much clearer image. BP has developed another technique – Ocean Bottom Seismic Nodes – to help understand reservoirs lying under deep water. A series of nodes – pressure vessels containing recording equipment to detect vibrations on the seafloor – is placed on the seabed, allowing the source vessel at the surface to travel freely, shooting energy into the nodes from any direction on the compass. The hardware was adapted from instruments more commonly used to record earthquakes, and is currently being used to make field management decisions Source vessel A at the Atlantis field, in the Gulf of Mexico. BP believes advanced seismic imaging has the potential to contribute to the delivery of more than 1 billion barrels of reserves, along with enabling access to more acreage, reduced exploration risk, lower costs and improved recovery. Indeed, advanced seismic imaging on narrow azimuth data has contributed to significant discoveries in Azerbaijan, while multi-azimuth seismic has enabled appraisal of reservoirs in Egypt, and wideazimuth seismic methods are supporting the appraisal and development of BP’s deepwater assets in the Gulf of Mexico. ■ WATS uses a standard 3D seismic vessel with receivers incorporated into towed streamers to collect the data, but rather than using a sound source mounted on the recording boat, additional source boats are deployed. This ‘wide azimuth’ approach yields enhanced detail of the subsurface geology obscured by salt deposits. Recording vessel Seismic stats ➔80% The amount of future exploration and production expected to lie under salt in the Gulf of Mexico ➔60% The amount of the BP-operated Block 31 in Angola that is covered by salt ➔1 billion The number of barrels of reserves to which BP believes advanced seismic imaging has the potential to contribute. BP MAGAZINE Issue 1 2009 09
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