Seismic Surveillance for Reservoir Delivery
Olav Inge Barkved, BP – Stavanger, Norway

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For course dates and registration, please refer to the EET 6 calendar.

Biography

Olav Inge Barkved graduated with a Geophysics degree from the Norwegian Institute of Technology in 1983. He spent the first part of his career with Geco, as a Research Scientist, working a variety of aspects related to seismic reservoir characterization, interpretation technology and processing.

In 1992 Olav joined Amoco, and remained through the merger with BP in 1998. His current role is an Advisor in Geophysics, located in Stavanger, Norway. He has been supporting the development of the Valhall field as a geophysicist, technology coordinator and team lead. From 2003 to 2008 Olav was the project leader of the Valhall Life of Field Seismic delivery program. In 2006 he received the Norwegian Geophysical Award for his technical contribution and ability to identify and implement emerging technologies to support business objectives in support of field development. BP’s Valhall Life of Field Seismic Project has been recognized by the industry by receiving the Norwegian Petroleum Directorates Improved Recovery award, the ONS innovation award and OTC’s Distinguished Achievement Award.

Olav has also, together with his colleagues, received The EAGE best paper award in 1997 and in 2009, the Louis Canard Award in 2008 and TLE best paper award in 2008.

Olav is a member of NGF, NPF, EAGE and SEG and served as an EAGE Distinguished Lecturer in 2010.

Course Overview

Time-lapse seismic surveys or 4D seismic provides snapshots of a producing hydrocarbon reservoir and its surroundings. The benefit of the technology in monitoring fluid and pressure changes and to point out bypassed oil or un-drained compartments has been well documented over the last 10-15 years. Still the technology is undergoing rapid development. One of the recent focuses has been the use of permanent seismic installation allowing for cost effective frequent surveying, and an added benefit of providing additional recordings which would not be available without the permanent array. In addition recent case studies have helped raise the awareness of how seismic monitoring techniques can be used to understand possible production induced effects outside the reservoir, often linked to geo-mechanical changes.

This course will provide some context on what is driving the dynamic changes linked to producing a hydrocarbon reservoir and what we should expect to observe using seismic technologies in the varied geological setting. It will address key issues that impact the feasibility of time-lapse seismic, and evaluate established methods. However, the focus will be on “new” technologies, use of permanent array, frequent seismic surveying and integration of the data.

Examples from the Valhall field will be used extensively to illustrate the potential of seismic data and to articulate issues related to interpretation and integration. This will include data examples from marine towed 4D, frequent surveying using permanently installed sensors, in-well recordings and analysis of passive data, including micro seismicity. Use of seismic surveillance information to support reservoir management, new well delivery and base management will be an central part of the presentation.

Course Objective

In the course we will aim at addressing:

• What type of fields and mechanism are candidates for seismic surveillance? 
• An overview over available technologies for seismic surveillance of producing reservoirs, with a primary focus on time lapse methods and permanent systems
• 4D seismic and linkage to geo-mechanics
• Application and Integration across the disciplines; challenges and benefits 
• Case stories 
• How we value the seismic surveillance
• How recent example of emerging technologies can tell us what the future will bring

Who Should Attend?

This course should be of interest to managers, geoscientist, reservoir and petroleum engineers who aim for integrating time-lapse seismic data into the next level of technical and business decisions and anyone else who sees the benefit of tracking changes in the subsurface in a wider sense.

The intention is to inspire, educate and possibly entertain individuals how to embark on a seismic surveillance project and stimulate new ideas for those with some experience in the topic.

The course will be biased towards marine seismic applications but this should not prohibit possible usage on land.

Prerequisites

Basic appreciation of geosciences and petroleum technical principles linked to producing hydrocarbon..

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