Mini basin amplitude play looked for seismic anomalies, ponded sands: during the past two decades, converging technologies have dramatically lowered exploration risk and cost. Widespread use of 3-D seismic technology has steadily made it more affordable, and exploding computer power has made analysis of huge volumes of seismic data possible.(Devils Tower )

Publication: Oil and Gas Investor

Bookmark this article Print this article Link to this article Email this article Digg It! Add to del.icio.us RSS

COPYRIGHT 2005 Hart Publications, Inc.

Neither concept was new when this convergence began. Seismic signals were first used in the early part of the last century to create a picture of the sub surface; primitive computers came along soon after. Three-dimensional seismic technology, could not have reached the value it has today as an exploration tool without the exponential growth of computing power that began in the mid-1980s. Together, these technologies form a powerful tool for finding oil and gas and monitoring reservoir performance.

The steadily decreasing cost of computing power and seismic surveys has contributed to lower finding costs and higher exploration drilling success rates, putting more companies in reach of more opportunities.

Dominion E&P and its predecessor CNG were among the first independents to enter the Gulf of Mexico's deep water. Since then, the industry has greatly enhanced its impressive array of exploration tools. Much of the Gulf is now covered with 3-D seismic surveys and the technology has become the driving force behind deepwater exploration.

Anomalous amplitude

Today, Dominion E&P takes flail advantage of seismic technology and other imaging techniques as well as sophisticated analysis and interpretation methods wherever they work. That embrace of technology gets a large part of the credit for its enviable 45% success rate since beginning its deepwater exploration program.

Most of the prospects that have been drilled under its deepwater program are part of what is referred to as the Gulf of Mexico's "mini basin amplitude play."

"Throughout our deepwater exploration program, our strategy has been to focus on those prospects that are shown on seismic records to have anomalous seismic attributes," said Rich Smith, general manager of deepwater exploration. The attribute in which the company's geophysicists are most interested is amplitude, a measure of the strength of the seismic signal.

"In other words, we are searching for oil and gas trapped in sandstone reservoirs that are encased in low permeability shales," Smith said. "This situation provides a great contrast on the seismic image, producing anomalous amplitudes."

That focus on amplitude anomalies paid off with the Devils Tower discovery in 1999. Mariner Energy,...

Read the full article for free courtesy of your local library.