Three-Dimensional Seismic Program Detailing Structures in an Operating Oil Field

James A. Musser, David R. Martinez, James H. Ligon

A three-dimensional seismic program was conducted in ARCO's South Cuyama oil field in southern California. The objective of this survey was to identify a complex fault pattern with throws of as little as 30 ft at depths of up to 5,000 ft over an area of about 150 ac. The high resolution required, the level of production activity, and economic constraints combined to present some challenging seismic data acquisition problems. Careful iterative planning of the seismic acquisition effort was done to cost-effectively and optimally meet the geophysical requirements in a limited amount of time and with minimal impact to the producing facility. The resulting survey used a 768-channel recording system and two groups of vibrating seismic sources to acquire broad-band 40-fold three dimensional seismic data in bins measuring 30 ft by 30 ft over the 150-ac image area. The acquisition effort required six days. Cooperation between the oil-field engineers and the seismic crew resulted in minimizing the oil-field activity detectable at the active geophone spread during the recording of seismic data. Thus, the background noise level in the final data volume was minimized. Considerable care was also taken to avoid any damage to pipes or pump jacks due to the seismic-source activity. The resulting three-dimensional data volume was processed and interpreted. The complex fault pattern was well imaged, with the interpreters placing a confidence factor of 80% on faults with throws of 30 ft.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #91030©1988 AAPG Annual Convention, Houston, Texas, 20-23 March 1988.