Cablefree Land Acquisition Technologies: Choices, Benefits and Case Studies

Robert G. Heath¹* and William Ayres^2
1Ascend Geo, USA
²Ayres Group, UAE
*[email protected]

Internationally, a growing section of the oil industry acknowledges that cable-free land seismic systems are here to stay. Such technology economically answers the demand for improved HSE exposure and massively increased channel counts for better geophysical imaging, especially of mature fields. However, for viable operations with 15–50,000 live channels, it is imperative to review what can be expected from the latest hardware. This study researches cable-free recording, while looking at new approaches to acquisition, both active and passive. It offers an appraisal of the benefits of this new approach, especially as it applies to the challenges affecting the Middle East. We demonstrate that planning surveys and operating cable-free systems offer opportunities to implement new approaches and methodologies which make the most of what this new technology has to offer. With this knowledge, we can plan to use its advantages for maximum effect, and increase competition in the market. Results will be presented, including data acquired with cable-free hardware and case studies of systems used internationally in real field conditions. Knowledge and experience of the cable-free’s pros and cons are growing. Some experts predict that more than half the channels sold by 2010 will be cable-free. We offer real data presentations and recommendations of the way forward for active and permanent (4-D) recording. We conclude that the cable-free approach to, land exploration geophysics opens up new possibilities for making progress in all of these areas.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90077©2008 GEO 2008 Middle East Conference and Exhibition, Manama, Bahrain