American Oil and Gas Reporter - January 2020 - 71

Tech Trends
FIGURE 2
Increased Traces per Square Mile with High-Density Survey Designs
Channels and Sources per Square Mile
14,000
Sources per Square Mile

12,288

12,000

2,500
1,000
96

Today, geophysics is used to help engineers improve well completion designs
and optimize hydraulic fracturing treatments. This represents a paradigm shift
in the resolution requirements of seismic
data. Seismic data density is dramatically increasing to provide the level of
detail necessary to better image small
faults and structures, and to distinguish
between the different lithologies that are
being targeted in stacked plays.
Operators are beginning to adopt
customized completion designs, with
sequencing, stacking and spacing plans
that vary depending on the prospect
area. This is a big move away from previous cube development strategies,
where the same well pad completions
design was repeated across a play and
even across basins. This customization
has led to the increased need for seismic
data and its integration with other geophysical data that can help improve the
operator's understanding of the reservoir prior to drilling new wells to minimize drilling risks and reduce
completion costs. The integration of
multiple measurements-3-D seismic,
wellbore information, petrophysics,
geomechanics, microseismic, vertical
seismic profiling, distributed acoustic

20
19

-
20
10
-2
01
8

20
00
-2
00
9

19
90
-2
00
0

96

200

204

rt
effo
sed
crea
x in
> 10

8,000,000
6,000,000
4,000,000

1,622,010
56,000

2,000,000
-

sensing, etc.-has quickly become commonplace in unconventional reservoir
development.
The multiclient seismic data market
has been directly impacted by these
trends. Only a few years ago, most onshore U.S. acquisition projects were
being processed with prestack time migration algorithms. To fulfill today's
market needs, most multiclient seismic
projects extend beyond PSTM imaging
to include depth imaging, rock property
estimates, and even pore pressure and
stress prediction.
This requires surface-consistent signal processing technology, and carefully
handling seismic wavelets to provide
quantitative interpretation-compliant
gathers for inversion. It is through inversion that 3-D seismic can be used to predict lithology and fluid content away
from the wellbore. For example, Figure
1 shows acoustic impedance data from a
newly acquired multiclient project in the
northern Delaware Basin that is providing PSTM volumes and prestack inversion products.
Data Integration
The integration of different measurements is hardly a new concept in the

240,000

20
19

400

20
10
-2
01
8

4,000

10,000,000

20
00
-2
00
9

600

12,000,000

19
90
-2
00
0

6,000

14,000,000
# of Traces

800

Sources per Square Mile

1,200
1,000

7,920

8,000

-

16,822,272

18,000,000
1,400
16,000,000

1,369

10,000

2,000

C-Ranch &
Mud City

1,600
Channels

# of Channels

Traces per Square Mile

oil and gas industry, but the tools to accomplish that integration have not always been available or practical. That
is no longer the case, however, with
technological advancements such as
machine learning and artificial intelligence. The takeoff of cloud computing
has enabled the processing of everlarger and ever-denser seismic datasets
and the use of more complex imaging
algorithms, including high-frequency
reverse time migration and full-waveform inversion techniques.
Some of the most tedious and laborious processing tasks are now being
computed much more efficiently (and
more cost-effectively) with machine
learning algorithms. A good example is
utilizing machine learning algorithms to
predict missing curve responses in well
logs, or to interpret horizons and salt
bodies. In fact, the interpretation of
small faults-which are crucial in planning the spacing and design of wells in
stacked pay-can be achieved in a fraction of the time required from an interpreter, thanks to machine learning and
AI algorithms. What used to take an interpreter months to accomplish can now
be achieved in only a couple of hours,
allowing the interpreters to spend their
JANUARY 2020 71
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