Enhancing exploration results and reducing the risk in reservoir development
WesternGeco is the industry leader in multicomponent seismic technology and has completed many major 2D and 3D surveys worldwide. Multicomponent seismic has been demonstrated to be an effective technology for risk reduction in exploration and development. In an exploration setting multicomponent measurements offer improved imaging, direct hydrocarbon and lithology indication and multiple attenuation over conventional P-Wave seismic. In a development setting multicomponent measurements facilitate improved reservoir illumination and characterization.
Acquisition
Conventional surface seismic surveys record only compressional, or P-waves. Multicomponent seismic surveys record both P-waves and shear, or S-waves, this is achieved by recording all components of the returning wavefield. Each sensor within a multicomponent recording cable comprises three orthogonally oriented geophones for land acquisition, plus a hydrophone for marine acquisition (hence four-component or 4C). P-waves are detected primarily by the Z-component geophone and the hydrophone, while S-waves are detected primarily by the X- and Y-component geophones.
Marine multicomponent acquisition operations typically consist of two or three vessels, one acting as a source vessel and the others as a cable deployment and recording vessels. A seabed recording cable is required because S-waves cannot travel through water. The source vessel generates P-waves; however, at every interface, S-waves are reflected as well as P-waves. These are often referred to as mode-converted S-waves, or PS-waves.
Land multicomponent acquisition can utilize either conventional P-wave sources (dynamite or vibroseis) or S-wave sources, depending on the specific survey requirements.
Multicomponent teams
WesternGeco land and offshore multicomponent seismic acquisition crews use state-of-the-art equipment and are available throughout the world. Our 4C ocean-bottom cable (OBC) crews are the most experienced in the industry and utilize the most advanced seafloor sensor technology available.
With the tools and experience to handle difficult multicomponent seismic processing challenges, our staff has processed many multicomponent surveys from around the world and can access a knowledge base to help deal with all types of acquisition and processing situations.
The Omega Seismic Processing System contains the most comprehensive and sophisticated multicomponent processing algorithms available, they include:
- PZ summation options
- CCP scanning capabilities
- Vp/Vs and S-wave splitting analysis tools
- Prestack time and depth migration
- Tomography ic inversion algorithms
- Anisotropic parameterization and imaging
WesternGeco also offers borehole-calibrated multicomponent processing services to extract the most from all your available subsurface information.
Related services and products
Request More Information
|