The oil and natural gas industry has long known that the best “view” it can get of how subsurface rock formations look and how reservoir fluids behave is from seismic data gathered from within a wellbore.

Borehole seismic provides precise and detailed pictures of the subsurface, enhancing surface-seismic resolution, correlating depth to well logs, and imaging stratigraphic and structural anomalies.

DOE has been supporting research in borehole seismic technology that includes vertical seismic profiling ( VSP ), reverse vertical seismic ( RVSP), and crosswell seismic. VSP has been used widely, whereas RVSP and crosswell seismic have seen limited use. Using small-diameter (slimhole) or ultrasmall-diameter (microhole) wellbores to deploy VSP may be a cost-effective way to greatly expand the use of this borehole seismic technology.

Even though borehole seismic has been used for 20 years, progress has been lacking in industry’s ability to thoroughly process and interpret borehole seismic data. Thus this highly promising technology has failed to reach its full potential through industry efforts alone—particularly with regard to 3-D multicomponent VSP technology, where new application areas are emerging.

DOE research has covered all aspects of the acquisition, processing, and interpretation concepts of borehole seismic technologies. Currently, NETL research continues in the development and application of 3-D VSP, multilevel and multicomponent seismic, and shear (S)-wave imaging. Successful results from these efforts will find applications in conventional oilfield infill development, reservoir monitoring for improved oil recovery, and carbon dioxide sequestration technologies.

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