ONS 2016: CGG launches TopSeis for imaging shallow reservoirs

Aug. 29, 2016
At ONS 2016, CGG introduced TopSeis, a broadband seismic solution designed to overcome the intrinsic lack of near offsets inherent in 3D towed-streamer seismic.

Offshore staff

STAVANGER, Norway– At ONS 2016, CGG introduced TopSeis, a broadband seismic solution designed to overcome the intrinsic lack of near offsets inherent in 3D towed-streamer seismic.

TopSeis is the latest outcome of eight years of collaboration betweenLundin Norway AS and CGG to develop innovative broadband solutions to improve subsurface understanding and increase exploration success.

Its dual-vessel acquisition design, which places CGG’s broadband source over a customized receiver spread, combined with proprietary imaging, is claimed to be an industry first. Extensive field trials have shown TopSeis, the company says, to be a highly-effective solution which delivers unsurpassed broadband imaging of shallow targets.

“Exacerbated by the use of progressively wider spreads to meet the industry’s quest for greater efficiency, the lack of near offsets leads to an inability to image shallow geological features, such as faults, gas pockets, channels and stratigraphic pinch-outs, effectively. By overcoming this shortcoming, TopSeis enables exploration and development teams to make critical investment decisions on the basis of superior high-density broadband data delivered at a lower cost compared to other techniques, notablyocean bottom seismic,” CGG said.

Turning the concept of shooting-over-the-spread acquisition into reality required a team of experts from multiple CGG business lines, including marine, multi-client, subsurface imaging, and Sercel equipment.

TopSeis will play a key part in an upcoming integrated geoscience study, including an extensive commercial survey CGG plans to acquire in the Barents Sea in 2017. This will offer other early adopters of this new technology the opportunity to benefit from the anticipated step-change in image quality for exploration and development in this region.

Halvor Jahre, Exploration Manager, Lundin Norway AS, said: “Results from a testoffshore Gabon appear to confirm the data uplift indicated by modeling studies and we plan to move forward with full-scale TopSeis surveys on the Loppa High in the Barents Sea during 2017.”

Jean-Georges Malcor, CEO of CGG, said: “We are delighted to have had the opportunity to work so closely with Lundin on the development of TopSeis and look forward to seeing how this solution will open the door to a better understanding of shallow reservoirs to help oil and gas companies extract the full potential of these highly prospective fields in the Barents Sea and beyond.

“As we have seen withStagSeis, the full-azimuth solution that we purpose-designed for subsalt imaging in the Gulf of Mexico, these made-to-measure approaches can prove very successful and reap dividends for the industry as a whole.”

08/29/2016