3D OBC seismic survey geometry optimization offshore Abu Dhabi

The flexibility of 3D ocean bottom cable (OBC) seismic survey design allows a variety of survey geometries. Among the infinite variations, we naturally seek higher survey efficiency within operational constraints whilst satisfying the geophysical requirements. We have analysed several geometry and shooting options, such as zippers between panels, source line interleave, flip-flop shooting, outboard shooting, and distance-separated simultaneous shooting (DS3), to show how the survey geometry may be optimized to yield higher productivity within the limitations of the available equipment.