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Exploration
Thepracticeoflocatingnaturalgasandpetroleum
depositshasbeentransformeddramaticallyinthelast
20yearswiththeadventofextremelyadvanced,
ingenioustechnology.Intheearlydaysoftheindustry,
theonlywayoflocatingundergroundpetroleumand
naturalgasdepositswastosearchforsurfaceevidence
oftheseundergroundformations.Thosesearchingfor
naturalgasdepositswereforcedtoscourtheearth,
lookingforseepagesofoilorgasemittedfrom
undergroundbeforetheyhadanycluethattherewere
depositsunderneath.However,becausesuchalow
proportionofpetroleumandnaturalgasdeposits
actuallyseeptothesurface,thismadeforavery
inefficientanddifficultexplorationprocess.Asthedemandforfossilfuelenergyhasincreased
dramaticallyoverthepastyears,sohasthenecessityformoreaccuratemethodsoflocatingthese
deposits.
SourcesofData
Technologyhasallowedforaremarkableincreaseinthesuccessrateoflocatingnaturalgas
reservoirs.Inthissection,itwillbeoutlinedhowgeologistsandgeophysicistsusetechnologyand
knowledgeofthepropertiesofundergroundnaturalgasdepositstogatherdatathatcanlaterbe
interpretedandusedtomakeeducatedguessesastowherenaturalgasdepositsexist.However,it
mustberememberedthattheprocessofexploringfornaturalgasandpetroleumdepositsis
characteristicallyanuncertainone,duetothecomplexityofsearchingforsomethingthatisoften
thousandsoffeetbelowground.
Explorationfornaturalgastypicallybeginswith
geologistsexaminingthesurfacestructureoftheearth,
anddeterminingareaswhereitisgeologicallylikelythat
petroleumorgasdepositsmightexist.Itwasdiscovered
inthemid1800sthatanticlinalslopeshadaparticularly
increasedchanceofcontainingpetroleumorgas
deposits.Theseanticlinalslopesareareaswherethe
earthhasfoldeduponitself,formingthedomeshape
thatischaracteristicofagreatnumberofreservoirs.By
surveyingandmappingthesurfaceandsubsurface
characteristicsofacertainarea,thegeologistcan
extrapolatewhichareasaremostlikelytocontaina
petroleumornaturalgasreservoir.Thegeologisthasmanytoolsathisdisposaltodoso,fromthe
outcroppingsofrocksonthesurfaceorinvalleysandgorges,tothegeologicinformationattained
fromtherockcuttingsandsamplesobtainedfromthediggingofirrigationditches,waterwells,and
otheroilandgaswells.Thisinformationisallcombinedtoallowthegeologisttomakeinferencesas
tothefluidcontent,porosity,permeability,age,andformationsequenceoftherocksunderneaththe
surfaceofaparticulararea.Forexample,inthepictureshown,ageologistmaystudythe
outcroppingsofrocktogaininsightintothegeologyofthesubsurfaceareas.
FormoreinformationongeologyingeneralvisittheUnitedStates
GeologicalSurvey.Formoreinformationonpetroleumgeologyvisitthe
AmericanAssociationofPetroleumGeologists(AAPG).
Oncethegeologisthasdeterminedanareawhereitisgeologically
possibleforanaturalgasorpetroleumformationtoexist,furthertestscan
beperformedtogainmoredetaileddataaboutthepotentialreservoir
area.Thesetestsallowforthemoreaccuratemappingofunderground
formations,mostnotablythoseformationsthatarecommonlyassociated
withnaturalgasandpetroleumreservoirs.Thesetestsarecommonly

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performedbyageophysicist,onewhousestechnologytofindandmapundergroundrockformations.
Arguablythebiggestbreakthroughinpetroleumandnaturalgasexplorationcamethroughtheuseof
basicseismology.Seismologyreferstothestudyofhowenergy,intheformofseismicwaves,moves
throughtheEarthscrustandinteractsdifferentlywithvarioustypesofundergroundformations.In
1855,L.Palmieredevelopedthefirstseismograph,aninstrumentusedtodetectandrecord
earthquakes.Thisdevicewasabletopickupandrecordthevibrationsoftheearththatoccurduring
anearthquake.However,itwasntuntil1921thatthistechnologywasappliedtothepetroleum
industryandusedtohelplocateundergroundfossilfuelformations.
Thebasicconceptofseismologyisquitesimple.AstheEarthscrustis
composedofdifferentlayers,eachwithitsownproperties,energy(intheform
ofseismicwaves)travelingundergroundinteractsdifferentlywitheachofthese
layers.Theseseismicwaves,emittedfromasource,willtravelthroughthe
earth,butalsobereflectedbacktowardthesourcebythedifferent
undergroundlayers.Throughseismology,geophysicistsareabletoartificially
createvibrationsonthesurfaceandrecordhowthesevibrationsarereflected
backtothesurface,revealingthepropertiesofthegeologybeneath.
Ananalogythatmakesintuitivesenseisthatofbouncingarubberball.A
rubberballthatisdroppedonconcretewillbounceinamuchdifferentway
thanarubberballdroppedonsand.Inthesamemanner,seismicwavessent
undergroundwillreflectoffdenselayersofrockmuchdifferentlythanextremelyporouslayersofrock,
allowingthegeologisttoinferfromseismicdataexactlywhatlayersexistundergroundandatwhat
depth.Whiletheactualuseofseismologyinpracticeisquiteabitmorecomplicatedandtechnical,
thisbasicconceptstillholds.
Hereisamoredetailedoverviewofseismicexploration.
OnshoreSeismology
Inpractice,usingseismologyforexploringonshoreareasinvolves
artificiallycreatingseismicwaves,thereflectionofwhicharethen
pickedupbysensitivepiecesofequipmentcalledgeophonesthat
areembeddedintheground.Thedatapickedupbythese
geophonesisthentransmittedtoaseismicrecordingtruck,which
recordsthedataforfurtherinterpretationbygeophysicistsand
petroleumreservoirengineers.Thedrawingshowsthebasic
componentsofaseismiccrew.Thesourceofseismicwaves(inthis
caseanundergroundexplosion)createsthatreflectoffthedifferent
layersoftheEarth,tobepickedupbygeophonesonthesurfaceand
relayedtoaseismicrecordingtrucktobeinterpretedandlogged.
Althoughtheseismographwasoriginallydevelopedtomeasure
earthquakes,itwasdiscoveredthatmuchthesamesortofvibrations
andseismicwavescouldbeproducedartificiallyandusedtomap
undergroundgeologicformations.Intheearlydaysofseismic
exploration,seismicwaveswere
createdusingdynamite.Thesecarefullyplanned,small
explosionscreatedtherequisiteseismicwaves,whichwere
thenpickedupbythegeophones,generatingdatatobe
interpretedbygeophysicists,geologists,andpetroleum
engineers.
Recently,duetoenvironmentalconcernsandimproved
technology,itisoftennolongernecessarytouseexplosive
chargestogeneratetheneededseismicwaves.Instead,most
seismiccrewsusenonexplosiveseismictechnologyto
generatetherequireddata.Thisnonexplosivetechnology
usuallyconsistsofalargeheavywheeledortrackedvehiclecarryingspecialequipmentdesignedto
createalargeimpactorseriesofvibrations.Theseimpactsorvibrationscreateseismicwavessimilar
tothosecreatedbydynamite.Intheseismictruckshown,thelargepistoninthemiddleisusedto
createvibrationsonthesurfaceoftheearth,sendingseismicwavesthatareusedtogenerateuseful
data.
OffshoreSeismology
Thesamesortofprocessisusedinoffshoreseismicexploration.Whenexploringfornaturalgasthat
mayexistthousandsoffeetbelowtheseabedfloor,whichmayitselfbethousandsoffeetbelowsea
level,aslightlydifferentmethodofseismicexplorationisused.Insteadoftrucksandgeophones,a
shipisusedtopickuptheseismicdataandhydrophonesareusedtopickupseismicwaves
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underwater.Thesehydrophonesaretowedbehindtheshipinvariousconfigurationsdependingon
theneedsofthegeophysicist.Insteadofusingdynamiteorimpactsontheseabedfloor,theseismic
shipusesalargeairgun,whichreleasesburstsofcompressedairunderthewater,creatingseismic
wavesthatcantravelthroughtheEarthscrustandgeneratetheseismicreflectionsthatare
necessary.
Magnetometers
Inadditiontousingseismologyto
gatherdataconcerningthe
compositionoftheEarthscrust,the
magneticpropertiesofunderground
formationscanbemeasuredto
generategeologicalandgeophysical
data.Thisisaccomplishedthrough
theuseofmagnetometers,whichare
devicesthatcanmeasurethesmall
differencesintheEarthsmagnetic
field.Intheearlydaysof
magnetometers,thedeviceswere
largeandbulky,andonlyableto
surveyasmallareaatatime.
Gravimeters
InadditiontousingvariancesintheEarthsmagneticfield,geophysicistscanalsomeasureand
recordthedifferenceintheEarthsgravitationalfieldtogainabetterunderstandingofwhatis
underground.Differentundergroundformationsandrocktypesallhaveaslightlydifferenteffecton
thegravitationalfieldthatsurroundstheEarth.Bymeasuringtheseminutedifferenceswithvery
sensitiveequipment,geophysicistsareabletoanalyzeundergroundformationsanddevelopclearer
insightintothetypesofformationsthatmayliebelowground,andwhetherornottheformationshave
thepotentialforcontaininghydrocarbonslikenaturalgas.
ExploratoryWells
Thebestwaytogainafullunderstandingofsubsurfacegeologyandthepotentialfornaturalgas
depositstoexistinagivenareaistodrillanexploratorywell.ThisconsistsofdiggingintotheEarths
crusttoallowgeologiststostudythecompositionoftheundergroundrocklayersindetail.Inaddition
tolookingfornaturalgasandpetroleumdepositsbydrillinganexploratorywell,geologistsalso
examinethedrillcuttingsandfluidstogainabetterunderstandingofthegeologicfeaturesofthe
area.Logging,explainedbelow,isanothertoolusedindevelopedaswellasexploratorywells.
Drillinganexploratorywellisanexpensive,timeconsumingeffort.Therefore,exploratorywellsare
onlydrilledinareaswhereotherdatahasindicatedahighprobabilityofpetroleumformations.For
moreinformationontheprocessofdrillingnaturalgaswells,clickhere.
Logging
Loggingreferstoperformingtestsduringorafterthedrillingprocesstoallowgeologistsanddrill
operatorstomonitortheprogressofthewelldrillingandtogainaclearerpictureofsubsurface
formations.Therearemanydifferenttypesoflogging,infactover100differentloggingtestscanbe
performed,butessentiallytheyconsistofavarietyofteststhatilluminatethetruecompositionand
characteristicsofthedifferentlayersofrockthatthewellpassesthrough.Loggingisalsoessential
duringthedrillingprocess.Monitoringlogscanensurethatthecorrectdrillingequipmentisusedand
thatdrillingisnotcontinuedifunfavorableconditionsdevelop.
Itisbeyondthescopeofthiswebsitetogetintodetailconcerningthevarioustypesofloggingtests
thatcanbeperformed.Varioustypesoftestsincludestandard,electric,acoustic,radioactivity,
density,induction,caliper,directionalandnuclearlogging,tonamebutafew.Twoofthemostprolific
andoftenperformedtestsincludestandardloggingandelectriclogging.
Standardloggingconsistsofexaminingandrecordingthephysicalaspectsofawell.Forexample,
thedrillcuttings(piecesofrockdisplacedbythedrillingofthewell)areallexaminedandrecorded,
allowinggeologiststophysicallyexaminethesubsurfacerock.Also,coresamplesaretakenbylifting
asampleofundergroundrockintacttothesurface,allowingthevariouslayersofrockandtheir
thicknesstobeexamined.Thesecuttingsandcoresareoftenexaminedusingpowerfulmicroscopes
thatcanmagnifytherockupto2,000times.Thisallowsthegeologisttoexaminetheporosityand
fluidcontentofthesubsurfacerock,andtogainabetterunderstandingoftheearthinwhichthewell
isbeingdrilled.
Electricloggingconsistsofloweringadeviceusedtomeasuretheelectricresistanceoftherock
layersinthedownholeportionofthewell.Thisisdonebyrunninganelectriccurrentthroughthe
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rockformationandmeasuringtheresistancethatitencountersalongitsway.Thisgivesgeologistsan
ideaofthefluidcontentandcharacteristics.Anewerversionofelectriclogging,calledinduction
electriclogging,providesmuchthesametypesofreadings,butismoreeasilyperformedand
providesdatathatismoreeasilyinterpreted.
Anexampleofthedataobtainedthrough
variousformsofloggingisshownbelow.In
thisrepresentation,thedifferentcolumns
indicatetheresultsofdifferenttypesoftests.
Thedataisinterpretedbyanexperienced
geologist,geophysicist,orpetroleum
engineer,whoisabletolearnfromwhat
appearassquigglylinesonthewelldata
readout.
Thedrillingofanexploratoryordeveloping
wellisthefirstcontactthatageologistor
petroleumengineerhaswiththeactual
contentsofthesubsurfacegeology.Logging,
initsmanyforms,usesthisopportunityto
gainafullerunderstandingofwhatactually
liesbeneaththesurface.Inadditiontoprovidinginformationspecifictothatparticularwell,vast
archivesofhistoricallogsexistforgeologistsinterestedinthegeologicfeaturesofagivenorsimilar
area.
Togetmoreindepthandtechnicalinformationonwelllogging,clickhere.
DataInterpretation
Therearemanysourcesofdataandinformationforthegeologistandgeophysicisttouseinthe
explorationforhydrocarbons.However,thisrawdataalonewouldbeuselesswithoutcarefuland
methodicalinterpretation.Muchlikeputtingtogetherapuzzle,thegeophysicistusesallofthesources
ofdataavailabletocreateamodel,oreducatedguess,astothestructureofthelayersofrockunder
theground.Sometechniques,includingseismicexploration,lendthemselveswelltotheconstruction
ofahandorcomputergeneratedvisualinterpretationofanundergroundformation.Othersourcesof
data,suchasthatobtainedfromcoresamplesorlogging,aretakenintoaccountbythegeologist
whendeterminingthesubsurfacegeologicalstructures.Despitetheamazingevolutionoftechnology
andexplorationtechniques,theonlywayofbeingsurethatapetroleumornaturalgasreservoir
existsistodrillanexploratorywell.Geologistsandgeophysicistscanmaketheirbestguessesasto
thelocationofreservoirs,butthesearenotinfallible.
2DSeismicInterpretation
Twodimensionalseismicimagingreferstogeophysicistsusingthedatacollectedfromseismic
explorationactivitiestodevelopacrosssectionalpictureoftheundergroundrockformations.The
geophysicistinterpretstheseismicdataobtainedfromthefield,takingthevibrationrecordingsofthe
seismographandusingthemtodevelopaconceptualmodelofthecompositionandthicknessofthe
variouslayersofrockunderground.Thisprocessisnormallyusedtomapundergroundformations,
andtomakeestimatesbasedonthegeologicstructurestodeterminewhereitislikelythatdeposits
mayexist.
Anothertechniqueusingbasicseismicdataisknownasdirectdetection.Inthemid1970s,itwas
discoveredthatwhitebands,calledbrightspots,oftenappearedonseismicrecordingstrips.These
whitebandscouldindicatedepositsofhydrocarbons.Thenatureofporousrockthatcontainsnatural
gascouldoftenresultinreflectingstrongerseismicreflectionsthannormal,waterfilledrock.
Therefore,inthesecircumstances,theactualnaturalgasreservoircouldbedetecteddirectlyfromthe
seismicdata.However,thisdoesnotholduniversally.Manyofthesebrightspotsdonotcontain
hydrocarbons,andmanydepositsofhydrocarbonsarenotindicatedbywhitestripsontheseismic
data.Therefore,althoughaddinganewtechniqueoflocatingpetroleumandnaturalgasreservoirs,
directdetectionisnotacompletelyreliablemethod.
ComputerAssistedExploration
Oneofthegreatestinnovationsinthehistoryofpetroleumexplorationistheuseofcomputersto
compileandassemblegeologicdataintoacoherentmapoftheunderground.Useofthiscomputer
technologyisreferredtoasCAEX,whichisshortforcomputerassistedexploration.
Withthedevelopmentofthemicroprocessor,ithasbecomerelativelyeasytousecomputersto
assembleseismicdatathatiscollectedfromthefield.Thisallowsfortheprocessingofverylarge
amountsofdata,increasingthereliabilityandinformationalcontentoftheseismicmodel.Thereare
threemaintypesofcomputerassistedexplorationmodels:twodimensional(2D),threedimensional
(3D),andmostrecently,fourdimensional(4D).Theseimagingtechniques,whilerelyingmainlyon
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seismicdataacquiredinthefield,arebecomingmoreandmore
sophisticated.Computertechnologyhasadvancedsofarthatitisnow
possibletoincorporatethedataobtainedfromdifferenttypesoftests,
suchaslogging,productioninformation,andgravimetrictesting,which
canallbecombinedtocreateavisualizationoftheunderground
formation.Thusgeologistsandgeophysicistsareabletocombineall
oftheirsourcesofdatatocompileoneclear,completeimageof
subsurfacegeology.Anexampleofthisisshownwhereageologist
usesaninteractivecomputergeneratedvisualizationof3Dseismic
datatoexplorethesubsurfacelayers.
3DSeismicImaging
Oneofthebiggestbreakthroughsincomputeraidedexplorationwasthedevelopmentofthree
dimensional(3D)seismicimaging.ThreeDimagingutilizesseismicfielddatatogenerateathree
dimensionalpictureofundergroundformationsandgeologicfeatures.This,inessence,allowsthe
geophysicistandgeologisttoseeaclearpictureofthecompositionoftheEarthscrustinaparticular
area.Thisistremendouslyusefulinallowingfortheexplorationofpetroleumandnaturalgas,asan
actualimagecouldbeusedtoestimatetheprobabilityofformationsexistinginaparticulararea,and
thecharacteristicsofthatpotentialformation.Thistechnologyhasbeenextremelysuccessfulin
raisingthesuccessrateofexplorationefforts.Infact,using3Dseismichasbeenestimatedto
increasethelikelihoodofsuccessfulreservoirlocationby50percent.
Althoughthis
technologyis
veryuseful,itis
alsoverycostly.
ThreeDseismic
imagingcancost
hundredsof
thousandsof
dollarsper
squaremile.The
generationof3D
imagesrequires
datatobe
collectedfromseveralthousandlocations,asopposedto2Dimaging,whichonlyrequiresseveral
hundreddatapoints.Assuch,3Dimagingisamuchmoreinvolvedandprolongedprocess.
Therefore,itisusuallyusedinconjunctionwithotherexplorationtechniques.Forexample,a
geophysicistmayusetraditional2Dmodelingandexaminationofgeologicfeaturestodetermineif
thereisaprobabilityofthepresenceofnaturalgas.Oncethesebasictechniquesareused,3D
seismicimagingmaybeusedonlyinthoseareasthathaveahighprobabilityofcontainingreservoirs.
Inadditiontobroadlylocatingpetroleumreservoirs,3D
seismicimagingallowsforthemoreaccurateplacement
ofwellstobedrilled.Thisincreasestheproductivityof
successfulwells,allowingformorepetroleumand
naturalgastobeextractedfromtheground.Infact,3D
seismiccanincreasetherecoveryratesofproductive
wellsto4050percent,asopposedto2530percent
withtraditional2Dexplorationtechniques.
Inadditiontobroadlylocatingpetroleumreservoirs,3D
seismicimagingallowsforthemoreaccurateplacement
ofwellstobedrilled.Thisincreasestheproductivityof
successfulwells,allowingformorepetroleumand
naturalgastobeextractedfromtheground.Infact,3D
seismiccanincreasetherecoveryratesofproductive
wellsto40to50percentorgreater,asopposedto25to
30percentwithtraditional2Dexplorationtechniques.
ThreeDseismicimaginghasbecomeanextremelyimportanttoolinthesearchnaturalgas.By1980,
only1003Dseismicimagingtestshadbeenperformed.However,bythemid1990s,200to3003D
seismicsurveyswerebeingperformedeachyear.In1996,intheGulfofMexico,oneofthelargest
naturalgasproducingareasintheU.S.,nearly80percentofwellsdrilledintheGulfwerebasedon
3Dseismicdata.In1993,75percentofallonshoreexploratorysurveysconductedused3Dseismic
imaging.
2DSeismicImaging
Twodimensional(2D)computerassistedexplorationincludesgeneratinganimageofsubsurface
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geologymuchinthesamemannerasinnormal2Ddatainterpretation.However,withtheaidof
computertechnology,itispossibletogeneratemoredetailedmapsmorequicklythanbythe
traditionalmethod.Inaddition,with2DCAEXitispossibletousecolorgraphicdisplaysgenerated
byacomputertohighlightgeologicfeaturesthatmaynotbeapparentusingtraditional2Dseismic
imagingmethods.
While2Dseismicimagingislesscomplicatedandlessdetailedthan3Dimaging,itmustbenoted
that3Dimagingtechniquesweredevelopedpriorto2Dtechniques.Thus,althoughitdoesnot
appeartobethelogicalprogressionoftechniques,thesimpler2Dimagingtechniqueswereactually
anextensionof3Dtechniques,nottheotherwayaround.Becauseitissimpler,2Dimagingismuch
cheaper,andmoreeasilyandquicklyperformed,than3Dimaging.Becauseofthis,2DCAEX
imagingmaybeusedinareasthataresomewhatlikelytocontainnaturalgasdeposits,butnotlikely
enoughtojustifythefullcostandtimecommitmentrequiredby3Dimaging.
4DSeismicImaging
Oneofthelatestbreakthroughsinseismicexplorationandthe
modelingofundergroundrockformationshasbeentheintroductionof
fourdimensional(4D)seismicimaging.Thistypeofimagingisan
extensionof3Dimagingtechnology.However,insteadofachievinga
simple,staticimageoftheunderground,in4Dimagingthechangesin
structuresandpropertiesofundergroundformationsareobservedover
time.Sincethefourthdimensionin4Dimagingistime,itisalso
referredtoas4Dtimelapseimaging.
Variousseismicreadingsofaparticularareaaretakenatdifferent
times,andthissequenceofdataisfedintoapowerfulcomputer.The
differentimagesareamalgamatedtocreateamovieofwhatisgoing
onundertheground.Bystudyinghowseismicimageschangeover
time,geologistscangainabetterunderstandingofmanypropertiesof
therock,includingundergroundfluidflow,viscosity,temperatureand
saturation.Althoughveryimportantintheexplorationprocess,4Dseismicimagescanalsobeused
bypetroleumgeologiststoevaluatethepropertiesofareservoir,includinghowitisexpectedto
depleteoncepetroleumextractionhasbegun.Using4Dimagingonareservoircanincrease
recoveryratesabovewhatcanbeachievedusing2Dor3Dimaging.Wheretherecoveryrates
usingthesetwotypesofimagesare25to30percentand40to50percentrespectively,theuseof4
Dimagingcanresultinrecoveryratesof65to70percent.
Nowthatwehavetakenalookathownaturalgasdepositsarefound,thenextstepinthenaturalgas
lineistheprocessofextraction.ClickheretolearnhownaturalgasistakenoutoftheEarthand
broughttothesurface.
September20,2013bynatgas

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