Jan 18th-Downtown Tech Lunch: SEG 2017 Distinguished Lecture: Getting more for less: Frequent low-cost seismic* ...
Complete Title: Getting more for less: Frequent low-cost seismic monitoring solutions for offshore fields. Sponsor DDN
Meeting Location:
Petroleum Club of Houston
1201 Louisiana, 35th
Houston, TX 77004
(Valet parking entrance off Milam; UH & Rice students are encouraged to use Metro Rail)
Meeting Time: 11:00 to 1:00 pm
Registration Begins at 11:00
Lunch Served at 11:30
Presentation starts at Noon
NOTE: You Must Be Logged In to Register.
Speaker: Paul Hatchell, Shell and 2017 SEG Distinguished Lecturer
Time-lapse seismic reservoir surveillance is a proven technology for
offshore environments. In the past two decades, we have seen this
technology move from novel to necessary and enable us to monitor
injection wells, water influx, compaction, undrained fault blocks, and
bypassed reserves. Value is generated by influencing the management of
our field operations and optimizing wells to reduce cost, accelerate
production, and increase ultimate recovery.
Significant advances in technology are improving the quality of our
data. Errors in acquisition repeats are nearly eliminated using
permanently installed systems or dedicated ocean- bottom nodes. We now
routinely obtain surveys with such a high signal-to-noise ratio that we
can observe production-induced changes in the reservoir after months
instead of years. This creates a demand for frequent seismic monitoring
to better understand the dynamic behavior of our fields. Increasing the
frequency of seismic monitoring will have a proportionate cost
implication, and a challenge is how to design a monitoring program that
maximizes the overall benefit to the field.
Reducing individual survey costs is important to enable frequent
monitoring. Several techniques are considered for lowering these costs
such as:
• Reducing the number of shots and/or receivers to minimize offshore
vessel time. This includes shooting targeted (i4D-style) surveys on a
frequent basis in between full-field surveys that are acquired
infrequently.
• Use of smaller source arrays towed by less-expensive vessels.
• Semi-permanent ocean-bottom nodes that can be left on the seafloor for multiple on-demand surveys.
• Time-lapse VSPs that use permanent distributed acoustic sensors (DAS) in well bores.
• High-resolution 4D surveys that monitor shallow reservoirs cost
effectively using low-cost vessels towing arrays of short-streamer
cables (e.g., P-cable).
There is no single solution that works for every field, and we need to
understand the pros/cons of the various technologies to select the best
option for a specific field. Some results of applying these techniques
to deepwater fields will be discussed.
Speaker Biography: Paul Hatchell, Shell and 2017 SEG Distinguished Lecturer
Paul Hatchell joined Shell in 1989 after receiving his PhD in
theoretical physics from the University of Wisconsin. He began his
career at Shell’s Technology Center in Houston and worked on a variety
of research topics including shear-wave logging, quantitative seismic
amplitude analysis, and 3D AVO applications. Following a four-year oil
and gas exploration assignment in Shell’s New Orleans office, Paul
returned to Shell’s technology centers in Rijswijk and Houston where he
is currently a member of the Areal Field Monitoring team and Shell’s
principal technical expert for 4D reservoir surveillance. His current
activities include developing improved 4D seismic acquisition and
interpretation techniques, seafloor deformation monitoring, and training
the next generation of geoscientists.
Price List:
|
Pre-Registered |
Late/Walk-Up
|
Member
|
$35 |
$45 |
Non-Member |
$45 |
$55 |
Student Member
|
$0 |
$10 |
Thank you to our Generous Sponsor!