HP, Shell developing high-res seismic sensors

 

BY ALAN BAILEY FOR GREENING OF OIL

Hewlett-Packard Co. and Shell announced Feb. 15 that they are developing a new wireless sensing system for acquiring high-resolution seismic data.

When searching for new oil and gas fields, or planning new drilling in existing fields, oil and gas companies obtain seismic data by bouncing sound waves off subsurface rock formations. The sound echoes, detected at the surface using small but sensitive sound detectors and processed through sophisticated computer programs, create images of the subsurface, enabling geologists and geophysicists to pinpoint suitable locations for drilling wells.

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Improved and increasingly powerful computer technology has over the years enabled the seismic images to become increasingly precise, with the possibility of deploying thousands of sound detectors, often in a grid pattern that enables geophysicists to build a three-dimensional image of the subsurface.

HP says that the new seismic sensing system will further increase the resolution of a seismic survey by greatly increasing the number of separate

  sound channels available to a seismic crew, and by increasing the range of sound frequencies that the sound sensors can detect.

“These advances in technology to discover energy resources could transform the ability to pinpoint abundant new oil and gas reserves,” said Joe Aazor, senior vice president and general manger, HP Enterprise Services. “HP is uniquely positioned to offer Shell a complete sensor system that delivers innovation to address key technical seismic challenges.”

More oil with fewer wells


The heightened precision of the seismic data obtained through the new sensing system will enable Shell to more accurately determine the optimum locations for new wells, thus reducing the environmental footprint of the drilling of oil wells by discovering and producing more oil with less wells, HP told Greening of Oil.

Moreover, the wireless technology involved in the sensors will enable a seismic crew to place the sensors on the ground without the need for long strings of sensor cabling, thus enabling flexible sensor positioning for optimum data collection, eliminating the environmental impact of laying cabling and

reducing the power requirement of the seismic data acquisition system.

Links of interest

Press release: HP and Shell to develop ultrahigh-resolution seismic solution

Press release: Faster decision making with breakthrough sensing technology


Contact Alan Bailey at abailey@petroleumnews.com