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- Volume 25, Issue 6, 2007
First Break - Volume 25, Issue 6, 2007
Volume 25, Issue 6, 2007
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PGS tests fibre optic 4C seabed cable for permanent reservoir monitoring
By S. MaasRecent advances in fibre optic sensing technology have provided the oilfield service industry with a new tool for reservoir monitoring in deep water. Steve Maas of Petroleum Geo-Services (PGS) describes the development and testing of a prototype permanent seabed cable system now due to be commercialized.
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Venerable Hungarian institute celebrates 100 years
By L. VeróThis year the Eötvös Loránd Geophysical Institute (ELGI) based in Budapest, Hungary celebrates its centenary. László Ver ˝ o , who spent his career at the Institute retiring as deputy director (and was also technical programme officer for EAGE at one time), tells the story of the Institute from its beginnings under the direction of the world famous geophysicist Eötvös Loránd to its modern incarnation as an important research and geophysical services centre.
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Meeting the Third Trillion challenge
By T. MeggsTony Meggs, BP group vice president, technology, was a keynote speaker at SPE’s recent Research & Development Conference in San Antonio, Texas. He addressed the subject of ‘The Third Trillion: where are the resources and how will we obtain them?’ We present here an edited version of his speech.
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Innovations in time
Authors V. Aarre, H.J. Hansen, J. Herwanger, J. Marshall, J. O. Paulsen, S. Pickering and M. TangVictor Aarre, Henrik Juhl Hansen, Jörg Herwanger, Julie Marshall, Jens Olav Paulsen, Stephen Pickering, and Michael Tang of WesternGeco describe the company’s experience with time-lapse (4D) seismic using its proprietary Q-Marine technology. Time-lapse or 4D seismic technology has existed for quite some time; the first 4D seismic survey was acquired in 1981 onshore Canada. Today, 16% of Q-Marine single-sensor seismic surveys are related to the monitoring of reservoir production. One reason for the growth of seismic reservoir monitoring programmes is that, in the last five years, the industry has responded to 4D seismic imaging challenges through a number of significant enhancements in repeatability. This, combined with innovations in 4D analysis and interpretation, has caused time-lapse seismic technology to become an integral part of the business process of many oil companies.
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Developments in the transient electromagnetic method
More LessAnton Ziolkowski describes how his interest in the use of transient EM for hydrocarbon exploration and production developed initially through research and more recently with the formation of a company to commercialize the method.
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Another look at full-wave seismic imaging
By J. CrissJason Criss of Input/Output explains the rationale of full-wave seismic imaging and provides some examples from recent surveys to illustrate the benefits of this rapidly evolving technology. In its purest form, the concept of full-wave (multicomponent) seismic imaging has been with our industry for several decades. It is only within the last few years that seismic recording equipment and processing methods have advanced enough to make the concept viable. The introduction of high channel-count systems in the late 1990s enabled certain aspects of full-wave imaging; when high channel counts were combined with three component (3C) digital sensors, the first fully compliant full-wave surveys became a practical reality. The full-wave concept is actually very simple. The idea is to record the reflected seismic data with precision and in a manner that reflects true particle motion in the subsurface. In other words, we want the acquisition, the instruments, and the operational methods to be as transparent as possible while, at the same time, faithfully recording the entire seismic signal that the earth can provide. If this goal is achieved, then data processing, analysis, and interpretation will not be fundamentally limited by the data acquisition step itself. Recording instruments, therefore, are a vital aspect of fulfilling the promise of full-wave imaging and of obtaining higher quality, higher utility seismic data in virtually every region of the world.
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The sensitivity for the weak signals: geosciences from a different view point
More LessIn this discussion on the nature of scientific thinking, Paolo Dell’Aversana defines what is involved in induction, deduction, and abduction processes before arguing that abduction is the most neglected approach in the search for original solutions to familiar problems.
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3D VSP in the deep water Gulf of Mexico fills in subsalt ‘shadow zone’
Authors B.E. Hornby, J.A. Sharp, J. Farrelly, S. Hall and H. SugiantoOne of the biggest challenges that exists for seismic imaging is subsalt. In the Mad Dog field, a complex salt body creates illumination problems with surface seismic imaging, resulting in ‘shadow zones’ where the surface seismic is blind to areas of subsalt structure. Figure 1 is a representative seismic section. Here the red line indicates the area around the crest of the structure that is poorly imaged by surface seismic. For subsalt imaging - it is well known that the salt geometry will strongly affect whether or not seismic signals can pass through the salt twice and so potentially be recorded at the surface and used to image the subsurface. A dipping base of salt has a strong effect here - as the dip of the base of salt increases beyond the critical angle no rays transmit through the top of salt twice and so will not be received by surface seismic acquisition systems (Muerdter et al., 2001). In this case one possibility to fill in these illumination holes is to place the receivers below the salt, resulting in only one travel path through the salt. In this paper we look at the use of 3D VSP using geophones placed below the obscuring salt to image structure at Mad Dog where the surface seismic is blind.
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Key Issues in integrated seismic exploration
More LessFull seismic inversion, i.e. transforming seismic shot records into geologically oriented subsurface parameters, may be performed by three separate processing modules. In the first module the surface information, i.e. the source input signal and the detector output signals, respectively, are transformed into the downgoing source wavefield and the upgoing reflected wavefield at the surface. Next, the influence of the source wavelet and the surface reflectivity are removed from the wavefields. In the second inversion module, the source wavefield and the reflected wavefield are extrapolated from the surface into the subsurface, and for each subsurface grid point (depth point) the reflectivity is computed. Finally, in the third module, the reflectivity information is transformed into velocity and density maps, and, optionally, into rock and pore parameters. The last step is only feasible if a significant amount of non-seismic information is available. This means that, particularly in the last inversion module, an integrated approach is required. An outline is given of the requirements of an exploration and production (E&P) information management system. It is argued that a fast, single-model database is a prerequisite for management of all related exploration and production data.
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Volumes & issues
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Volume 43 (2025)
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Volume 42 (2024)
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Volume 41 (2023)
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Volume 40 (2022)
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Volume 39 (2021)
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Volume 38 (2020)
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Volume 37 (2019)
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Volume 36 (2018)
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Volume 35 (2017)
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Volume 34 (2016)
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Volume 33 (2015)
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Volume 32 (2014)
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Volume 31 (2013)
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Volume 30 (2012)
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Volume 29 (2011)
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Volume 28 (2010)
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Volume 27 (2009)
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Volume 26 (2008)
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Volume 25 (2007)
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Volume 24 (2006)
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Volume 23 (2005)
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Volume 22 (2004)
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Volume 21 (2003)
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Volume 20 (2002)
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Volume 19 (2001)
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Volume 18 (2000)
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Volume 17 (1999)
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Volume 16 (1998)
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Volume 15 (1997)
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Volume 14 (1996)
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Volume 13 (1995)
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Volume 12 (1994)
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Volume 11 (1993)
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Volume 10 (1992)
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Volume 9 (1991)
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Volume 8 (1990)
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Volume 7 (1989)
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Volume 6 (1988)
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Volume 5 (1987)
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Volume 4 (1986)
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Volume 3 (1985)
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Volume 2 (1984)
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Volume 1 (1983)
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