Being Nimble in a Fluid Industry

If there's one thing seismic contractors understand it's change. Technology, terms of contracts, markets, customers, even the companies themselves - nothing about this business stays static for long.

So they know about earth-shaking activity; talk to them about change, and you're on solid ground.

Here's what they say: Today, while nobody is prepared to proclaim that the most recent severe downturn is over for seismic contractors, companies are beginning to see a light at the end of the tunnel.

That means they're also trying to predict what their roles will be in the next new world of oil.

Not surprisingly, industry spokesmen see shifts in their business that will open new markets for 3-D seismic data.

"We are moving into what I call the 'solutions period' of our business in which we will be providing information for the reservoir and production side of the business," said Steve Ludlow, vice chairman of Veritas DGC and president of the International Association of Geophysical Contractors.

"We as an industry have to highlight and prove the value of 3-D seismic data beyond the exploration phase and make that attractive to our customers.

"Today most reservoir studies are based on geology and petrophysical data," Ludlow continued. "We believe seismic can enhance and spread information further over a reservoir. In most cases reservoirs are much more heterogeneous and complex than initial models indicate, and we think we can work in a collaborative environment with clients to more clearly delineate that heterogeneity."

Historically, seismic data gets left behind and engineering takes over at some point in reservoir and field development.

"(But) if we can produce seismic images with superior resolution, it becomes quite valuable in the production phase and can help define the best way to produce a reservoir," he said.

Gary Jones, president of WesternGeco, agreed.

"Without question reservoir applications are where the new growth in our industry will be," Jones said.

"Deep-water potential has been pushing exploration in the Gulf of Mexico and other places around the world for well over 10 years, and now that some discoveries have been made companies are looking at appraisal and development plans. They are recognizing the value of 3-D seismic in that stage because they need to get it right on these projects where they are investing billions of dollars."

Jones said he was "seeing more commercialization of time-lapse 3-D seismic" on the Gulf of Mexico shelf and the North Sea, which are mature provinces.

"This technique provides fluid monitoring information that can maximize and extend reserves through additions and revisions rather than through new exploration," he said, "as well as increase the recovery factor."

Big Things in Smaller Packages

Offshore seismic operations has kept the geophysical industry afloat during good times and bad. Indeed, the seismic industry has gone through good times and bad times during the past decade, and while no one in the industry is too eager to declare the most recent downturn ended, officials agree that a light can be seen at the end of the tunnel. Their question now is: What's next?

Over the past decade, a tremendous amount of 3-D seismic data was shot, and oil companies spent a great deal of money on 3-D seismic. That effort was primarily aimed at widespread, relatively coarse, exploration coverage.

"The ballgame in the 1990s was speed, wider tows on the cables in the offshore, and getting costs down to cover large areas so people could look at regional sets of seismic data," WesternGeco's Jones said. "The industry recognized that basin-wide coverage did provide a tremendous amount of value."