Recent Advancements in Caspian OBN Seismic

The Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea has witnessed transformative advancements in ocean-bottom node (OBN) seismic acquisition, particularly at the giant ACG field, since 2020. Development quality seismic is required at this giant oil field for effective reservoir management and enhanced production, enabled by ocean-bottom seismic. Geophysical imaging and characterization challenges are many: steep dips, deep targets, shallow gas, and fluidized mud volcano feeder pipes, along with the Geohazards some of these represent. Over time, the field has evolved from traditional seismic methods—TS, OBC, and LoFS—to high-density OBN surveys. Recent efforts include a hybrid HR and OBN survey, with 150 Hz FDR imaging, a full-field HDOBN survey, and a landmark five-year 4D seismic program. This 4D initiative, bp’s largest seismic commitment to date, aims to enhance reservoir management and production through annual survey repeats over five years ( bp, 2023 ). These recent developments have significantly improved shallow hazard and reservoir imaging, enabled through applying the latest OBN acquisition and processing technologies, along with strategic long term commitments.