Apache gets environmental award for seismic

The Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission has awarded its Chairman’s Stewardship Award to Apache Alaska Corp. for the company’s nodal seismic survey program in the Cook Inlet basin. On Nov. 5 the commission announced Apache as the winner in the small independent category of the award.

The award recognizes achievements in environmental stewardship by the oil and gas industry.

“We are immensely proud of this award because it formally recognizes what Apache Alaska practices every day — an unwavering commitment to protect the environments in which we operate,” said John Hendrix, general manager of Apache’s Alaska operations.

Kara Moriarty, director of the Alaska Oil and Gas Association, the organization that nominated Apache for the award, said that the association’s members take operating safely and responsibly very seriously.

“Apache’s award is just another example of how they are achieving that goal,” Moriarty said. “Apache has been an industry leader on this project and they deserve the recognition.”

The seismic technology that Apache has been using in the Cook Inlet region involves the use of wireless seismic nodes that independently record seismic signals for later download into a computer system, with precise timing and satellite positioning used to synchronize the recordings from multiple nodes.

On land, cylindrical shaped nodes can be backpacked to their location, with the wireless technology eliminating the need for ground cabling or the cutting of seismic trails through vegetation. Offshore, the nodes are disk shaped and are laid on the seafloor without cabling, rather than being towed behind a seismic vessel.

—Alan Bailey