F.A.R.M: (Foinaven Active Reservoir Monitoring): Planning and Progress Towards 4-D Seismic

Ronnie S. Parr, Dave J. Howe, Mike T. Currie, Ron Masters, and Pal Kristiansen

Foinaven field is a new deep water development, West of Shetland, on the United Kingdom Continental Shelf. During 1995, it has become the subject of an intensive 3 year trial into the benefits of time lapse seismic technology. This paper describes the progress made towards actively monitoring the reservoir fluids during production.

The fast track appraisal and development of Foinaven has been facilitated by the use of direct hydrocarbon indicators from 3-D seismic. In theory, the same benign rock properties can be used to monitor the movement of the water flood or gas cap. It is expected that 4-D seismic could permit better prediction of field performance and pinpoint future infill drilling opportunities.

Reservoir monitoring using the seismic method relies upon frequent acquisition of high quality and repeatable 3-D data. The F.A.R.M. project, to date, has been involved in the installation of a permanent array of hydrophones on the seabed for the first "submarine" 3-D acquired across Foinaven. In addition, a high specification conventionally surface towed 3-D has been acquired for comparison. Both surveys will be repeated following several months of oil production.

This paper will describe the planning and current status of F.A.R.M. together with the perceived benefits of the 4-D technique.

AAPG Search and Discover Article #91019©1996 AAPG Convention and Exhibition 19-22 May 1996, San Diego, California