Print this pageWALTER, J. BRIAN, and K. G. SPRAGUE
The phrase "NO 3D! No DEAL!" has become more and more prevalent in our industry.
While the actual voiced phrase may differ at times, the meaning is the same.
As the Petroleum Industry becomes more and more comfortable with using 
3-D
technology, prospects submitted without this technology will become more
difficult to sell.
How to economically apply 3-D to your onshore prospects is the focus of this
paper. Most independents can afford to shoot prospect oriented 3-Ds of less than
10 square miles. The key is cost control. Cost controlling measures are
presented from one independent's empirical experiences.
Cost controlling measures start with the planning process. Your objective as
a seismic prospector is to achieve the highest quality data at the lowest cost.
In a 3-D design, cost must be controlled; however, not at the expense of
quality. Shooting parameters such as bin size, fold, source and receiver line
spacing, shooting geometry, and source selection affects both the quality and
cost of a 3-D survey. The 3-D
cost and quality relationship are driven by the
selection of shooting parameters. These shooting parameters are discussed in
detail.
Multiple data examples are given.