Taken from GEO ExPro Vol. 16, No. 2: focusing on rejuvenating oil and gas exploration; machine learning and artificial intelligence; and geomechanics.
Taken from GEO ExPro Vol. 16, No. 2 – April 2019
Sercel Seismic Vibrator Auto-Guidance
Source: Sercel.
Sercel, a leading designer and manufacturer of innovative seismic equipment and reservoir monitoring instruments, recently launched the world’s first automatic guidance system for vibrator trucks. This optimizes a truck’s travel time between vibrating points by adjusting and controlling its deceleration automatically, thus reducing its travel time, as well as any operator-induced delays. Additional savings are made by reducing dead time spent on deploying and recovering the baseplate, because the descent of the baseplate is anticipated by the system and commences before the truck has come to a complete standstill. It is believed that this system will increase vibroseis productivity by up to 10%.
Accuracy will also be improved, as the auto-guidance can position the vibrator within 1m of the surveyed position, to ensure that the data collected is of the highest possible quality.
The device can be fitted to all Sercel Nomad vibrator trucks, which are renowned for delivering high performance broadband vibroseis in the harshest environments. Boasting the latest innovations in shaker and hydraulic circuitry design, they are recognized for their environmental credentials, with low-emission engines and an intelligent power management system, which optimizes engine efficiency to reduce fuel consumption.
iSeismic: New OBN Contractor Driven by Efficiency
iSEISMIC AS is a new Ocean Bottom Seismic (OBS) acquisition specialist led by some of the most experienced pioneers in the industry. Formed in 2018, restructured in the beginning of 2019 and part of the iSURVEY Group, whose track record in seabed mapping, ROV operations, accurate subsea positioning and multi vessel operations complements OBS operations, the new iSEISMIC company is focused on meeting the increasing demand for OBS data as the future of oil and gas relies ever-more on higher quality seismic data.
The team at iSEISMIC has an unparalleled track record within the OBS industry and is introducing new state-of-the-art fully automated handling technology. This will drive forward Ocean Bottom Node (OBN) deployment and recovery efficiency and therefore allow exploration seismic to benefit from the OBN technique and not just the development and production phases.
With a fleet of dual-purpose cable and ROV deployment vessels being planned, industry-leading expertise in acquisition geophysics, seismic processing, 4D/reservoir monitoring and OBS sensor technology, iSEISMIC is combining efficiency and quality in order to make OBS far more accessible and the predominant technology in the offshore seismic sector.
Johan Sverdrup: A Record Breaking Milestone
The Johan Sverdrup Oil Field. Source: Equinor.
Johan Sverdrup, discovered in 2010, is one of the five largest oil fields on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. With expected resources of between 2.1 and 3.1 Bboe, it will also be one of the most important industrial projects in Norway in the next 50 years – a major engineering undertaking.
An important step in this development was made in mid March when the last four pieces of the Phase 1 platform – the two final platform topsides, a bridge and a flare stack – were lifted into place, creating a record in the process, as moving the 26,000 tonne processing platform into place was the heaviest lift ever performed offshore. It was undertaken by the specialist heavy lift vessel Pioneering Spirit and took just four hours. During the same period, the final flare stack and the bridge that links the processing platform to the drilling platform were put in place by the heavy lift vessel Thialf. The final bridge that will connect the utility and living quarters topside to the rest of the field center will be installed soon.
This means that Johan Sverdrup looks to be on track to start producing in November 2019 as planned.
Major Brazil Survey
Shearwater’s Amazon Warrior Vessel.
Seismic companies TGS and Shearwater GeoServices are working together to undertake a major multi-client survey in Brazil to provide contiguous 3D coverage over the highly prospective Brazil Round 16 blocks located in the outer Campos Basin. The data will be acquired by Shearwater’s Amazon Warrior, which has a unique vessel design created for the purpose of high-capacity seismic operations in any environment, including the South Atlantic, where the stable vessel design enables low noise data to be acquired through an extended operational window.
The survey will cover 11,200 km2 and is expected to last approximately eight months including transits. The data will be acquired using industry-leading single sensor Qmarine technology and will be processed by TGS using advanced imaging (RTM) and velocity model building (FWI) technologies to create accurate and high-resolution images of the prolific pre-salt objectives.
GEO ExPro Vol. 16, No. 2
The full issue of GEO ExPro Vol. 16, No. 2 can be downloaded for in PDF format for FREE here.
