"The geologic nature of a resource play tends to involve variations in the reservoir rock that are quite subtle. Imaging these variations with traditional seismic technologies is challenging, at best, and downright impossible in some instances. Positioning 'resource-play wells' so that they encounter optimum porosity and permeability demands new standards of data density and seismic resolution. In terms of field equipment, this will require some combination of high-channel recording systems, single-sensor recording, and multicomponent sensors. Using multicomponent data, it may eventually be common practice to image tight gas rock properties such as fracturing, permeability, pore contents, and pressure changes."
Stuart Wright, VP of Applied Geophysics, Dawson Geophysical, American Oil & Gas Reporter, May 2007
"I think the future is digital [phones]. The industry will go to digital in the end. We are at the early stage, but we are going to see some rapid advancement in this area in the next five years and, in the end, I think we will all be using digital phones. If we can use the horizontal components [from these 3C digital phones] to better remove the noise of the vertical component, we can actually get better data. As we move to point receiver, we are going to replace our arrays with finely-sampled individual phones."
Dave Monk, Director of Geophysics, Apache, CSEG Recorder, September 2006
"I'm totally confident if you look 3 to 5 years, certainly 10 years out, that multicomponent is going to be the key part of not only reservoir development, but exploration as well. I think we're finally using P and S [waves] together to give reservoir engineers some fo the key reservoir parameters that they could really use."
Steve Roche, Principal Geophysicist, Veritas, Hart's E&P, July 2006
"From an acquisition standpoint, maybe in 5 to 10 years it will be standard procedure that every onshore survey will be multicomponent. From a processing standpoint, I think we're very much farther along and, in 5 years, I don't think there will be many processing isues that we haven't addressed."
Rich van Dok, Senior Geophysicist, WesternGeco, Hart's E&P, July 2006
"Customers are growing increasingly interested in technologies and methodologies that provide further clarity and illumination to the subsurface. This means increasing channel counts and increasing demand for new technologies such as multicomponent [full-wave] data acquisition and 4-D."
Mike Laurin, VP of North and South America Land Acquisition, Veritas DGC, Hart's E&P, June 2006
"We have one particular client that utilized the [I/O VectorSeis multicomponent] system when we first bought it, and are repeat users. They were an early adopter of the technology and they absolutely swear by it. They feel it gives them a little bit of an edge over their competition. If you're going to put data on the shelf, and I can get you as good if not better P-wave data with one of these multicomponent systems, then it's absolute foolishness if you don't take advantage of putting the shear component on the shelf as well."
Jim White, President, Quantum Geophysical Inc., Hart's E&P, June 2006
"Future imaging technology will use advanced processing techniques that will capture multiple types of data. "In many cases we only record and use pressure wave data. The next generation of seismic processers will use all returning energy to develop more accurate images."
Stephen Cassiani, President ExxonMobil Upstream Research Company, Rigzone.com, May 2006
On VectorSeis Ocean Bottom Cable Recording System:
“The initial results of the newly acquired data have shown significantly improved data resolution over the existing data in the area.”
TGS NOPEC Geophysical Company, Company Press Release, May 22, 2006
“Enthusiasts of multicomponent technology believe it is an emerging breakthrough in the seismic industry that should have an impact on oil and gas exploitation equivalent to that of 3D seismic technology. Shear waves were once considered just noise in compressional-wave surveys, and had to be filtered out. As has happened often before with seismic technology, what was once noise can become signal. Now, with proper recording, S-waves can be captured and made to deliver the important information they contain about rock and fluid properties.”
Schlumberger, Oilfield Review, Summer 2004
