Oil and Gas
Oil and Gas | Geophysics and Seismic Interpretation
Seismic Acquisition Principles and Practice (Houston, USA)
Format and Duration:
5 days
This course is for geoscientists seeking to gain a practical understanding of the underlying principles and current industry practices regarding seismic data acquisition from high land to marine environments. Participants will obtain a working knowledge of significant issues related to survey design, invitations to bid, the process of data acquisition, supervision/QC including field data processing, and Health/Safety/Environmental compliance.
Feedback
Excellent course - very "real life" in execution and outcome, highly recommended.
Schedule
Duration and Training Method
This is a five-day field course that includes classroom lectures, but the majority of the time is dedicated to practical field exercises dealing with both land and marine seismic recording operations. Field exercises include line layout, testing impulsive and vibroseis recording parameters, recording 2D/3D data, VSP recording, and marine streamer operations. Optional activities include surveying and the collection of gravity data along a seismic profile.
Course Overview
Learning Outcomes
Participants will learn to:
- Evaluate the fundamental differences between various types of seismic sources, select source/instrument confi gurations and parameters to meet project objectives.
- Assess imaging challenges for specific project areas, apply technical knowledge of spatial sampling, migration aperture, offset/azimuth distribution, and fold in preliminary survey design specifications.
- Supervise contractor-specialists in the design of 2D and 3D seismic surveys that satisfy project requirements in land/wetland/marine environments,
- Prepare survey specifications, outline operational constraints for acquisition contracts, prepare tender invitations for seismic acquisition projects,
- Design/supervise/evaluate field tests to optimize data quality,
- Acquire a Vertical Seismic Profile (VSP) and compare it to surface seismic.
- Implement a field QC process designed to insure contract compliance as well as a successful outcome of the acquisition project.
Course Content
Day 1:
Overview of seismic acquisition
1. Land/swamp operations
Sources; explosives, vibroseis, air guns, weight drop
Sensors, arrays, seismic noise
Recording instruments
Examples of typical surveys
2. Marine operations
Streamer, node, and OBC operations
Air gun array design
Sensors, noise considerations
Recording instruments
Examples of typical survey designs
3. Land exercises – Noise spread layout, tests with impulsive sources
Day 2:
Review of exercise data from previous day
Overview of seismic acquisition, continued
1. Planning a survey
Assessment of project imaging challenges
Review of existing data sets
Factors affecting seismic resolution
Choice of source configuration
Sampling/binning/fold requirements
Azimuth & offset considerations
Migration aperture
2. Geodesy, projections, grids, survey practice
3. Land exercises – 2D Line layout, surveying, gravity measurements (optional), vibroseis sweep tests
Day 3:
Review of exercise data from previous day
Project planning & execution
1. Tender process
Contract considerations, required inputs
Parameter testing (things you can change in the field)
2. HSE compliance overview
3. Field supervision & QC
Instrument testing
Permit issues
Contract compliance
Monitor production
4. Field exercises – 2D line recording, VSP recording
Day 4:
1. Review of exercise data from previous day
3D survey design practices
Specifications
Design software
2. Examples; land, swamp, & marine
Field exercises – Layout, record 3D patch using vibroseis
Day 5:
Review of exercise data from previous day
Marine recording practices
1. Air gun arrays
2. Streamer design
3. Marine 3D designs
4. Marine recording exercises in Galveston Bay
Sub-bottom profi ling (Seafl oor to 100+m)
Bubble gun 2D recording using a short marine streamer
Who Should Attend and Prerequisites
This course should be of interest to all geoscientists using seismic data in their work, especially those planning to acquire seismic data in the future.
Instructors
Rob Stewart
Background
Rob Stewart has been employed with Chevron’s Oil Field Research Lab, California; Atlantic-Richfield in Dallas, Texas; and Veritas Software Ltd., Calgary.
Rob was a Professor of Geophysics at the University of Calgary and held the Chair in Exploration Geophysics for a ten-year term. He co-founded and was Director of the CREWES Project, an industry-university consortium of 30 companies studying advanced seismic methods in resource exploration. He joined the University of Houston in 2008 as a Professor of Geophysics, holds the Cullen Chair in Exploration Geophysics, and is Director of the Allied Geophysical Laboratories. Rob teaches Geophysical Field Acquisition courses at the University of Houston and founded UH’s Geophysical Field School in Montana. Rob is a licensed geoscientist in Alberta (P. Geoph.) and Texas (P.G.).
Rob served as President of the Canadian Society of Exploration Geophysicists and received the CSEG’s Honorary Membership Award in 2004. Rob has led geophysical expeditions to the High Arctic with NASA’s Haughton Mars Project, surveyed Maya archaeological ruins in Central America with the Program for Belize, and leads the Geoscientists Without Borders effort in Haiti, seismically searching for the blind fault that caused the 2010 earthquake. He was recently inducted into the Explorers Club of New York and was named by Hart’s Exploration & Production Magazine as an Industry Icon – the most influential people in the energy industry: 2010-2019. He was made an Honorary Member of the Geophysical Society of Houston in 2011.
Affiliations and Accreditation
PhD Massachusetts Institute of Technology - Geophysics
BSc University of Toronto - Physics and Mathematics
GENNIX Technology Corporation - President
Sonderra, PLC, - President
SEG’s Distinguished Educator and awarded their Lifetime Membership (2006)
Courses Taught
N286:Seismic Acquisition Principles and Practice (Houston, USA)
Accreditation and Certification
CEU: 4.0 Continuing Education Units
PDH: 40 Professional Development Hours
Certificate: Certificate Issued Upon Completion
RPS is accredited by the International Association for Continuing Education and Training (IACET) and is authorized to issue the IACET CEU. We comply with the ANSI/IACET Standard, which is recognised internationally as a standard of excellence in instructional practices.
We issue a Certificate of Attendance which verifies the number of training hours attended. Our courses are generally accepted by most professional licensing boards/associations towards continuing education credits. Please check with your licensing board to determine if the courses and certificate of attendance meet their specific criteria.