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Expert says seismic technology may be a breakthrough in oil exploration New technology could reveal drilling targets not seen by conventional 3-D seismic; downside is that it’s twice as expensive by The Associated Press
A geophysical expert says a breakthrough in seismic technology could result in the discovery of billions of additional barrels of oil in the Permian Basin and other oil-producing regions of the United States.
Jasha Cultreri, exploration manager for Vecta Exploration Inc. of Midland, said the breakthrough is the result of a three-year, $15 million research project conducted by Vecta Exploration, the University of Texas and a consortium of industry partners.
In a presentation April 18 to the Midland Society of Independent Earth Scientists, Cultreri said new technology will allow oil and gas operators to find potential drilling targets that could not be seen by conventional 3-D seismic technology.
Cultreri said 3-D seismic, the major seismic breakthrough 20 years ago, was responsible for finding billions of barrels of oil in structural traps, but could not show porosity. Porous sections The new technology, he said, would allow producers to actually get images of the more porous sections of rock formations where oil and gas are found.
“I think we are on the edge of a whole new era,” Decker Dawson, of Midland-based Dawson Geophysical, said in April 19 editions of The Midland Reporter-Telegram. “This technology is where 3-D seismic was 20 years ago. We still have as much oil in the ground as has been produced. It’s just a matter of finding it.”
Dawson Geophysical Vice President Howell Pardue said the process would allow geophysical companies to image compartmentalized areas of a reservoir.
The new technology is roughly double the cost of conventional 3-D seismic, but is expected to reduce drilling risks and result in more discoveries.
So far, the seismic breakthrough has been proven only in field tests and has not been tested with a real drilling project.
Armand Chip Smith, a principal in Vecta Exploration, said the company was in the process of identifying industry partners to drill three projects and the first one would be about six months away.
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