Maximizing the Seismic Survey Investment

Any acquisition of seismic data has some deficiencies in the geophysical measurements and hence inherent uncertainties in the seismic image. This impacts the confidence of the interpreter to arrive at the most appropriate interpretation. The industry has yet to acquire a full-fold, fully imaged survey with line spacings that equal station spacings; the desire for ever increasing resolution requirements makes this even more difficult to achieve. Compromises in acquisition parameters need to be made as most companies simply cannot afford such high-effort surveys. The recent dramatic reduction in oil prices makes achieving this target even more difficult. Therefore it is more import today than ever that we understand the geophysical risks and how well we can mitigate them with higher effort designs. In this abstract we outline a workflow that can be applied to help rank 3D seismic survey designs by addressing 5 key elements of the decision process: the geophysical risks, acquisition parameters, methods of risk reduction, geological targets and financial impact.