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Concept Systems to play key technology role
in BP's pioneering permanent 4D seismic project at Valhall field
Stavanger, 3 June: Concept Systems, the oil industry software and IT solutions
company, has won a contract to work with supermajor BP on next generation
technology to increase production from its Valhall field in the Norwegian North
Sea. The initial 18 month agreement, announced today at the Annual Conference
and Exhibition of the European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers (EAGE)
in Stavanger, is the latest recognition of Concept's leading role in developing
solutions for advanced seismic operations.
BP has contracted Concept to fast track develop key positioning, QC control and
data management elements of a pioneering '4D seismic' reservoir management
project for the company's Valhall field in the Norwegian sector of the North
Sea. If successful, the emerging technology is expected to have worldwide
applications as oil companies seek to squeeze more oil and gas out of their
existing reservoirs.
Welcoming the BP contract, Alastair Hay, managing director, Concept Systems,
said: 'We are delighted to be associated with technology innovation which can
help prolong the life of the Valhall field. This is also a reward for our
investment in R&D over the past four years in anticipation of the demands of
4D seismic.'
BP is a front-runner in the oil industry's efforts to realise the potential of
4D seismic, an advanced application of 3D seismic technology which over the last
15 years has become an essential tool in the search for oil and gas. 4D seismic
is a reservoir management tool based on carrying out a series of repeatable 3D
seismic surveys at regular intervals over a producing reservoir in order to
'image' the movement of hydrocarbon fluids. The information derived from
comparing different surveys over time will allow petroleum engineers to focus
production drilling and other hydrocarbon recovery measures which can hopefully
net millions of dollars from additional reserves.
For the Valhall project, BP intends to lay around the field's platform a network
of permanent buried cable equipped to record 3D seismic and is expected to shoot
a number of surveys in the years to come. A key goal of the project is to
demonstrate that this approach can substantially decrease the time taken from
the point at which an acquisition is started, to the point where the interpreted
data is influencing business decisions of the asset team. The goal for this
project is to acquire seismic on-demand and reduce the turnaround time
significantly. Arnfinn Baerheim, technology advisor for BP's Valhall field,
said: 'This is an important project which will not only help to deliver improved
recovery from Valhall but will be a step towards proving the value of this
innovative technology for use in other BP assets. We chose Concept for its
proven abilities to work closely with our team to deliver and deploy technology
quickly into the field.'
Concept's task within the project will be to work with BP geoscientists and
engineers to address the basic technological issue in 4D seismic, namely
repeatability. BP is looking to Concept to develop a high degree of automation
to both improve repeatability and reduce costs. Every survey has to be acquired
with known 'repeatable' parameters so that the results provide an accurate
picture of the behaviour of the hydrocarbons in production. Burying the cable
will take away the uncertainty of positioning the seismic cables, which is a
complication when a vessel shoots a conventional 3D seismic survey towing eight
or more seismic streamers.
The positioning of shooting vessels during the 4D seismic surveys planned will
still be subject to the vagaries of weather, tide and survey geometry, as well
as variations in equipment. More significantly, the amount of data is much
greater and the handling is more complex than on conventional marine-towed
surveys. The recording cable in ocean bottom 4D seismic is 'multicomponent',
using a combination of hydrophones and geophones while normal streamer-based
seismic is shot with hydrophones only.
Concept's solution will be based on modifying its proven technologies from its
'Gator' data command and control suite used in ocean bottom cable seismic survey
applications, as well as its industry leading infield QC and analysis tools such
as its Reflex attribute analysis solution and Sprint data processing suite.
Gator is expected to provide the means to synchronise the shooting and recording
activities in the surveys as well as provide vital navigation and positioning
data. Communications will be co-ordinated via an advanced radio network to be
devised by Concept engineers.
Valhall is operated by BP Norge on behalf of partners Amerada Hess, Shell and
Total.
