Offshore staff
BERGEN, Norway – Vår Energi and Lundin Energy will join Shearwater GeoServices and Equinor in the development of a marine vibratory source technology, designed to improve results from seismic data acquisition.
The project builds on the existing collaboration between Shearwater, Equinor, and the Norwegian Research Council.
“The joint ambition is to acquire better quality seismic data, faster and with low sound energy by harvesting the untapped potential of marine vibratory sources,” said Massimo Virgilio, CTO of Shearwater.
Geophysical subsurface imaging involves use of sound energy to generate reflections from subsurface formations. Marine vibroseis involves selecting only the required sound frequencies and emitting gradually over time and space, potentially enabling optimal signal strength and direction toward subsurface targets.
This means surveys can be conducted quicker with low sound emissions.
Nick Ashton, Equinor’s vice president Subsurface Solutions Technology Development, said the new source technology “has potential to reduce the environmental impact of marine seismic surveys further and to increase survey efficiency. With better control of the frequency, phase and amplitude of the emitted signal, the new source should also provide an improvement in data quality.”
Vidar Danielsen, head of Geophysical Operations at Lundin Energy Norway, added: “This technology allows tuning of the signal direction and also the combination of several vibroseis sources to reduce the time a survey takes to acquire, in other words, acquiring a seismic survey faster and more efficiently.
“The new source may also be used in environmentally restricted areas, where the reduced sound emission levels are favored."
Monitoring carbon storage is one of the targeted markets.
01/25/2022
