Reprocessing project wraps up for ‘largest OBN survey on Norwegian Continental Shelf’

A tripartite partnership has completed the reprocessing project for what is said to be the largest ocean bottom node (OBN) survey conducted on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS).

Viridien, TGS and Aquila Holdings, under its subsidiary Axxis Multi-client, announced on November 4 the completion of the Utsira OBN reprocessing project, which had received significant industry support.

Marked as the largest OBN survey on the NCS, the Utsira project required the deployment of over 144,000 nodes and over 5.5 million shots, covering an area of 2,077 square kilometers in a mature part of the North Sea. The survey was acquired in 2018 and 2019, with the initial processing results delivered in 2020.

TGS describes that the reprocessing project started with raw offshore field data and leveraged the latest technology in time-lag full waveform inversion and advanced velocity model-building techniques, yielding significant improvements in image resolution and frequency content for fault interpretation and reservoir characterization workflows. The reprocessed products are expected to advance the Utsira OBN survey and better assist clients with existing petroleum production and reservoir management. 

Nils Haugestad, Interim CEO of Aquila Holdings, said: “We are pleased to have partnered with Viridien and TGS to develop this next generation ocean bottom node data set in this mature and prolific petroleum basin. We are confident that our significantly improved image of the area will maximize our clients’ prospects for making new discoveries as well as optimizing existing production.”

The Utsira area holds several significant oil & gas fields, including Edvard Grieg, Ivar Aasen, Balder, Gina Krog, Gudrun and Johan Sverdrup, along with a number of undeveloped discoveries and prospects, Viridien noted.

“As the world’s leading OBN seismic imaging company, we are delighted to have been able to bring our technology and expertise to this major OBN reprocessing project undertaken together with our partners, Aquila Holdings and TGS,” said Dechun Lin, EVP, Earth Data at Viridien.

“The new time-lag FWI model and resulting high-resolution images improve fault interpretation and reservoir characterization, enabling operators to make more informed exploration, production, and reservoir management decisions.”