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The Leading Edge; June 2001; v. 20; no. 6; p. 614-620; DOI: 10.1190/1.1439006
© 2001 Society of Exploration Geophysicists
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The challenge of permanent 4-C seafloor systems

Roger Entralgo

Energy Research Clearing House (ERCH), The Woodlands, Texas, U.S.

Simon Spitz

CGG, Houston, Texas, U.S.

Corresponding author: S. Spitz, sspitz@us.cgg.com

The first 20% of the full text of this article appears below.

Conventional large-scale 3-D seismic towed-streamer acquisition systems have had a significant impact on reducing deepwater exploration and production costs. However, the need to better characterize and monitor deepwater reservoirs has led oil companies to seek new ways to reduce the high cost of E&P in these environments. Permanent installations provide information about a reservoir during the production phase to help minimize risk and maximize returns. Characterizing and monitoring reservoirs in real time is one of the major drivers in implementing instrumented oil fields, particularly in deep- and ultradeepwater environments. (Figure 1).


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  		Figure 1. Real-time reservoir monitoring and characterization are key drivers for implementing instrumented oil field equipment.

 
Over the last several years, industry has shown that multicomponent (4-C) ocean-bottom acquisition systems can provide economic means of improving reservoir imaging and characterization in water depths less than 1000 ft. A recent 3-D time-lapse (4-D) 4-C pilot in the Gulf of Mexico has shown that both acquisition and processing are reliable enough for dynamic reservoir monitoring. However, there are limitations in the acquisition systems when deepwater conditions are introduced. This article gives a brief overview of permanently installed multicomponent acquisition systems on the seafloor and possible challenges when used in deepwater environments.


   Ocean-bottom cables
 
Permanently installed seafloor equipment has proven to be ideal and economically feasible for marine environments needing improved reservoir monitoring and characterization. It is also more economically feasible in areas with obstructions and limited access where coverage is not possible for traditional towed streamers. For the sake of brevity, we will ignore differences in design and will call a seismic system on the seafloor, as illustrated in Figure 2, an OBC regardless of its particular architecture. OBC equipment must be designed to be rugged enough to withstand deepwater pressures and the latest generation of deepwater deployment and retrieval systems. In . . . [Full Text of this Article]






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