Strategies for Repeating Seismic Acquisition in Onshore Congested Oil Fields

Repeating 3D seismic survey in congested oil fields has been a major challenge in onshore desert oil field in the middle east. A strategy to reproduce legacy 3D seismic survey, using modern acquisition design with less geophones or single sensor nodes, less vibrator per fleet but more fleets together with modern high production acquisition techniques is achievable. Applying an adaptive acquisition design that can optimize the source and receiver locations based on the available surface access and the subsurface objectives, using techniques such as simulated annealing. The study provided recommendations to acquire faster at less cost considering the application of mitigation techniques, customization of survey layouts, and the use of simulation software for planning to overcome the challenges posed by these environments. Simulation software is deployed to improve 3D survey design and parameter attribute analysis, helping to establish safe shooting distances for surface infrastructure. In addition, the study demonstrates that the current congestion of producing oil field is not a limiting factor to repeat the legacy seismic, but surface facilities (pipelines and wellheads) especially outside the field’s central area where there are lesser facilities. The need to work around these limitations to avoid Irregular deployment of shots and receivers which can lead to variations in noise which often affects the ability to attenuate noise during processing. In conclusion, repeatability is not restricted by the field’s current congestion.