Optiseis Solutions Ltd.

Plug and Play Canada Spring 2023

Andrea Crook — Thu, 01 Jun 2023 17:18:38 +0000

OptiSeis attended and presented at Plug and Play Canada, Spring 2023.

Thank-you to Plug and Play Canada and their corporate partners, advisory panel, and mentors for all the support we have received during the last 12 weeks. Also, Thank you to all the other speakers, participants, and audience for attending our pitch at the Sustainability EXPO yesterday!

About the Conference

We drive innovation by connecting the brightest minds. We want to build a smart future. To achieve that, we’re building a unique ecosystem that connects change-makers and leading organizations. Our network consists of 50,000 startups, 500+ world-leading corporations, and hundreds of venture capital firms, universities, and government agencies across multiple industries. Together with our partners, we are creating a unique ecosystem designed to develop and implement the technologies of tomorrow.

Geoconvention May 15 – 17, 2023

Andrea Crook — Wed, 10 May 2023 15:54:37 +0000

OptiSeis attended and presented at the annual Geoconvention May 15-17, 2023.

Thank-you all who attended our talks and stop by the booth. We had an excellent time at the GeoConvention Partnership 2023 and we are looking forward to seeing you all next year!

Our team talked about Seismic Design, Environmental footprint, Fresnel Fold and more. Here is a list of our presentations:

Monday, May 15

8:35 - 9:00 AM Glen 201-201

Choosing the Right Seismic Acquisition Geometry for Your Survey
Mostafa Naghizadeh

9:00 - 9:25 AM Glen 201-202

What does Fresnel fold mean
Michael Hons

Tuesday, May 16

10:15 - 10:35 AM Seisware booth

Case study: Validating seismic survey geometries to improve ecological impact using SeisWare
Michelle Montano

11:00 - 11:25 AM Telus 106

EcoSeis: Can Lower Environmental Footprint Seismic Provide Accurate Rock Properties and be Operationally Efficient?
Alyson Birce

2:30 - 3:00 PM Showcase Stage

EcoSeis: An Innovative Solution for Accurate, Cost-Effective, Environmentally-Friendly Seismic Acquisition
Alyson Birce

Wednesday, May 17

10:15 - 10:35 AM Seisware booth

SeisWare Case Study: Making waves in the world of seismic
Fernando Cerda – MBA, MSc Geophysics

10:10 - 10:30 AM Board number 79 (Poster)

Choosing the Right Seismic Acquisition Geometry for Your Survey
Mostafa Naghizadeh

10:35 - 11:00 AM Glen 208-209

Sustainable and Innovative Geophysics Acquisition
Andrea Crook (Remote)

About the Conference

GeoConvention is an annual technical conference and exhibition produced, in partnership by the Canadian Energy Geoscience Association (CEGA), formerly Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists and Canadian Well Logging Society and the Canadian Society of Exploration Geophysicists (CSEG). For 2023, the conference will be hosted live in Calgary at the Telus Convention Center and virtually through our online conference platform. GeoConvention offers delegates and attendees the opportunity to network, knowledge share and learn with fellow industry professionals, visit exhibitors and give back to the earth science community.

Mining Now: Unveiling Cutting-Edge Seismic Software Capabilities with OptiSeis™ Solutions

Andrea Crook — Mon, 24 Apr 2023 20:53:02 +0000

About Mining Now

Learn about the latest innovations in operating mines to increase energy efficiency and production. Join us to look into modern mining and processing equipment including autonomous vehicles and IOT technology. Listen to experts tackle everything from skilled labour shortages to team building to meeting evolving safety regulations. This is the mining of today that will shape the mines of tomorrow.

“Eleven years on, OptiSeis’ suite of services continues to expand as we push geophysical boundaries in local markets and abroad."

Andrea Crook

OptiSeis Solutions Ltd. was founded in 2011 in response to a rapidly changing seismic exploration landscape. Field equipment was getting smaller, data was getting bigger, processing was getting faster, and advanced reservoir characterization was quickly becoming a competitive advantage.
OptiSeis answered with high-quality, integrated customer service that provided trusted, data-driven designs for high-resolution seismic images. Clients embraced the OptiSeis advantage, due to the care and attention their programs received, especially around increasing infrastructure constraints. Clients continue to return to OptiSeis for the target focused results, and cost-effective technology driven answers they trust.

CSEG Symposium – Honouree Andrea Crook, April 18, 2023

Andrea Crook — Wed, 29 Mar 2023 16:54:23 +0000

OptiSeis attended the CSEG Symposium, April 18, 2023.

Thank you to all participants of the 2023 Canadian Society of Exploration Geophysicists – CSEG Symposium and the committee for organizing this great event. Thank-you to the speakers for their excellent presentations. Also, thank you to the sponsors for their support. Finally, thank-you to all volunteers who make this event possible. It was a special day for all of us! We are honored to work with Andrea Crook and continue supporting her.

PS: Thank you to the person who selected the gifts. Andrea really likes them. She is already planning the gardening season!

The 2023 CSEG Symposium committee is proud to announce Andrea Crook the next Symposium Honouree. Andrea is the founder and President of OptiSeis Solutions, a leading-edge geophysical acquisition design & software company. Her extensive geophysical experience in seismic processing and geophysical operations was established at Shell Canada and Boyd PetroSearch/RPS. Andrea is an active participant in the Geophysics community where she is an instructor for the SEG and the CSEG DoodleTrain, and a frequent contributor in the field of geophysics with numerous papers and presentations. In 2019, Andrea received the 2019 CSEG Technical Achievement Award. Please join us in congratulating Andrea as the 2023 CSEG Symposium honouree.

The Symposium committee is enthusiastically planning for 2023 CSEG Symposium, which will take place April 18th at the Hudson Lofts in Calgary. This year’s event will honour accomplished geophysicist and businesswoman, Andrea Crook.

The 2023 Symposium will focus on ‘Sustainable and Innovative Geophysics’ and highlight the diversity of contributions geophysicists have to offer. The theme reflects the outstanding contributions of our honoree in this space. Attendees can expect to see high-quality talks, with an emphasis on case studies, given by invited speakers.

Australasian Exploration Geoscience Conference, March 18, 2023

Andrea Crook — Sat, 18 Mar 2023 23:08:36 +0000

OptiSeis will be attending the 4th Australasian Exploration Geoscience Conference, March 18, 2023.

Under the conference theme of Geoscience – Breaking New Ground, the AEGC will attract many local and international delegates and organisations from across the spectrum of Australasian geosciences representing industry, government and academia. The conference will have dedicated streams designed for geoscientists. These will include the opportunities and challenges ahead for the energy transition, advances in sustainable exploration and resources recovery, data sciences, geoscience and multi-disciplinary integration.

The AEGC has quickly established itself as the foremost petroleum, mineral and water resource industry conference in the region, incorporating the ASEG-PESA International Geophysical Conference and Exhibition, and jointly hosted by the Australian Institute of Geoscientists (AIG), Australian Society of Exploration Geophysicists (ASEG), and Petroleum Exploration Society of Australia (PESA).

OptiSeis™ Wins the HETI Energy Ventures Pitch Competition, March 8, 2023

Andrea Crook — Wed, 08 Mar 2023 07:24:23 +0000

OptiSeis won the HETI Energy Ventures Pitch Competition at CERAWeek, March 8, 2023.

We are very excited to announce that we won the HETI Energy Ventures Pitch Competition at CERAWeek. Thank-you to all the Optiseis team for your hard work. Also, thank-you to all the volunteers, organizers, and participants. Andrea Crook, Cameron Crook and Leeloo had an excellent week in Houston!

Thanks to PTAC for acknowledging our win!

About the Conference

This pitch competition brings together key members of the energy industry, investors, and startups to showcase the critical innovations and emerging technologies that create value from the world’s transition to low-carbon energy systems.

Start-ups and entrepreneurs with businesses providing cleaner and more sustainable energy while also meeting global energy needs reliably and affordably will compete for non-dilutive cash prizes and awards from TEX-E/Greentown Labs, SLB, HX Ventures, and more supporters to be announced soon. In addition, Chevron will consider all finalists for inclusion in their CTV Catalyst program, as they did in the inaugural year of the competition.

Land Seismic Data: Why you should keep everything you paid for!

Andrea Crook — Fri, 03 Mar 2023 17:41:22 +0000

Seismic surveying is a method of creating pictures of the earth’s subsurface with recorded sound waves. Seismic can be used to help characterize any subsurface resource, including oil & gas, geothermal reservoirs, CO2 storage (CCS), ore bodies for mining of critical minerals, valuable brines (lithium), and more. Acquiring new seismic data on location (i.e., a ‘seismic program’) is a major capital investment for companies that develop these resources. Besides the program operator, there are other stakeholders like government regulators, local landowners, local indigenous peoples, and environmental groups who must all be considered when planning and carrying out a program. To satisfy the needs of all key stakeholders, we must use what we’ve learned from existing seismic data to design new exploration programs that derive the maximum benefit with the lowest possible impact and cost. We also need to demonstrate, even years later, adherence to all permits and conditions and our impact during field operations. Unfortunately, in current practice, often only a small subset of the data products generated by a seismic program has been archived. The meaning of ‘Seismic Data’ should be expanded beyond the records of the sound waves to include many other kinds of associated data.

Here we further explain what a land seismic program is, what files are generated through the seismic lifecycle and why it is important to preserve all types of seismic data for the future.

Seismic Method

Introduction

Seismic is a key method for imaging and monitoring the subsurface
Seismic involves laying out a set of sources to produce strong sound waves, and a set of receivers to record the vibrations
Reflected sound energy is processed to generate an image of rock layers, similar to how sonar is used by animals and submarines, or how ultrasounds are used in medicine
A ‘Source Point’ is a single sound wave source
A ‘Receiver Point’ is a single vibration measurement station

Seismic Method

Survey Types

Seismic programs can be done in several modes:

2D Seismic

Straight lines with source and receiver points along the same direction
Result: Single 2D image of geology below the line of points on the surface

3D Seismic

Arrangement of source points along source lines and receiver points along receiver lines to cover an area of the surface
Result: Full 3D volume of geology below the layout of equipment on the surface

4D Seismic (time-lapse)

Near-exact repeat of the same source and receiver positions as an earlier 3D seismic survey (baseline) – used after production to track changes over time
Result: Difference between baseline survey and monitor survey, to highlight changes

Vertical Seismic Profile

This arrangement uses receivers deployed vertically in a well (geophones or distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) using optical fibers) with sources on the surface
Result is a 2D or 3D cone-shaped image of geology surrounding the well

Seismic Programs

Equipment and Field Operations

Seismic programs can have many phases to allow the deployment of source and receiver equipment:

Utility Locating
Like any project related to the subsurface, it is essential to locate pipelines, buried powerlines and other underground infrastructure.
Line clearing
Combination of mulchers and hand-cut (chainsaws) creates usable access trails for later phases. Crews are equipped with GPS devices to guide them and track the cutting locations (lines) – if this is not possible then they work alongside surveying crews who mark and identify the cutting locations. Clearing is not needed in the desert and minimally in farmland areas.
Surveying
Specialists with professional-grade GPS systems, who mark the individual point locations for later crews. Sometimes GPS-enabled source and receiver equipment can be used to eliminate the need for specialist crews to visit each point (stakeless).
Drilling (if explosive source points)
Small drilling units that create the boreholes for loading explosive charges – generally 10-60 ft depth (3-20m). In very rugged areas, drills can be lifted using helicopters, or power augers can be carried on foot.

Recording A seismic recording crew may have 10-50 individuals, who lay out receiver equipment, initiate the source points, and generate the digital seismic traces. There are many roles within a recording crew.
- Layout Teams of 2-5 individuals carry recording equipment to receiver points and plant vibration sensors (geophones) in the ground. Most systems today record and store the vibration data at each receiver point continuously.
- Sources (Shooting) Once enough geophones are laid out, other crew members start initiating the source points one at a time, either by detonation of explosives or activating Vibroseis equipment. Source activation is initiated over radio from a source control unit (doghouse), by a crew member called the ‘Observer’.
- Pickup Recording equipment is picked up after all source points near that receiver are complete. For most modern systems, the continuous vibration records are downloaded from each receiver at a data management trailer, and the seismic traces are created by selecting the relevant time intervals based on source times in the Observers Log.

Data Flow in Seismic Survey Design

The design process determines how many source and receiver points and lines are needed to create a quality seismic image at the minimum cost. The survey design sets out how much work needs to be done, which is the largest impact on the cost.

Required Data
Many kinds of files are used as input to seismic survey design to optimize the planning:

Target Information
Specifics of the rock layers to be imaged. For example, the depth below the surface, the maximum slope of structures underground, physical properties of rock formations, etc.
- Data types: Text, Reports, Well Logs (LAS)

Existing Seismic Data
Key information about what equipment and parameters have been used before, and whether the program has major challenges to overcome. This includes the broadest definition of ‘Seismic Data’, including seismic traces as well as all reports, parameter sheets and records of design choices. Accurate locations are needed to repeat any stations, either for 4D time-lapse or merging with an adjacent seismic image.
- Data types: Reports, Logs, Spreadsheets, SEGP1 (positions), SPS (scripts), SEGY (raw, intermediate, and final processed traces, sections & velocity models), interpretations (horizons, inversions, data evaluations)

Exclusions & Access
Features that must be avoided – like roads, waterbodies, powerlines, pipelines, well pads and buildings. Often by regulation there is a source exclusion buffer distance, and some areas like sensitive environmental zones lock out all access including receivers. Additional features like key access routes and temporary storage sites are needed to produce a practical design for field crews.
- Data types: ESRI Shapefile, KML/KMZ, text (CSV), etc.

Images / Grids
Satellite or aerial imagery (higher resolution is better) has become essential for context to the exclusions and access files. LiDAR is also very helpful to provide a detailed elevation map and important information about landforms, steep slopes, forest canopy, etc. that are difficult to interpret from visual images alone.
- Data types: GeoTIFF, JPEG, GRD, XYZ, etc.

Information about the coordinate system (geodetic definition – datum & projection) for each file that stores mapping coordinates is essential to ensure coordinates are correct for the area and can be used by field personnel. Without accurate geodetic information, the positioning data (e.g. SEGP1, Shapefile, text coordinates, imagery) can range from confusing to useless. In the aerial photo below, Red & green circles represent the location of the same wells according to different coordinate systems. Errors in coordinate systems can be found using imagery if the coordinate system of the imagery is known.

Seismic Survey Design Output

Once the required data has been assembled, professional geophysicists will go through a process of determining sampling and data density requirements, resulting in a theoretical layout. Then they adjust around them utilizing exclusion, access, and imagery files, and create files for the initial program map, called the ‘Pre-plot’.

These maps show a standard 3D design, which requires a uniform density of lines appropriate to make the full 3D image at the target depth. A 2D seismic program map is similarly impacted by obstructions, but has far fewer lines.

The maps are optimized based on an imaginary grid that represents the sampling needed to produce the desired image, called a bin grid. From the hundreds or thousands of source and receiver points, each source-receiver pair is represented by one dot on the bin grid. The same concept is essential when processing the data, and it can be helpful to start with the bin grid used in designing and optimizing the seismic survey. The design bin grid is very difficult to determine later if it was not stored.

Fig 2.3.3: Bin Grids. Left: Theoretical design, right: Final design (fold plot)

Survey Design Outputs

SEGP1 Pre-plot: Contains Source and Receiver positions optimized to account for all exclusions. Generally, one file for sources, and separate one for receivers. The final exclusion files (shapefiles) are also provided to field crews to start their work. This is usually not the end of the design process, which overlaps with field operations. As new obstructions and constraints are discovered in the field, this is fed back to the survey designer for ‘remodeling’, which is exported as a new SEGP1.
SPS Recording Scripts: Once the source and receiver point positions are final, the last output is a set of text files for recording. This includes a file for source and receiver position (similar to SEGP1) and a ‘relational’ file that defines which receivers were live for each source. Together these 3 files are called SPS Scripts.

Generated Segp1s & Generated Recording Files

Survey Design Report

Description and justification of design decisions based on the area, budget, and the target information. Summary of final spacings, parameters and bin grid.

Data Generated During Seismic Program

Once the crew arrives on site and begins work on the seismic program, new data and reports arrive daily. The field crews generate a large volume of data products, summarized in Table 1:

Recommendations

All the data products described here are generated as part of a seismic program, and all were paid for by the client. All of these data products can be important in documenting the program and assisting designs of other nearby programs, or 4D time-lapse repeats. However, often much of the data generated is not retained for archive, resulting in substantial re-work on later programs. From Table 1, only two items, Final Post plot and Seismic Traces, are always kept. This is summarized below:

With today’s focus on environmental and societal impact, retaining the files to show what really happened during a seismic program is of increasing value. Landowners and environmental groups can misinterpret conditions on the ground and relate them with a past seismic program. Some issues discovered after a program, like a flowing shot hole (explosives shot that links to an aquifer), are related to seismic and should be remediated by the operator. To answer concerns, assign proper responsibility, and be ready for future programs in the area, every operator should archive their full seismic data, including all the files described above.

Conclusions

Seismic is a key method to explore and monitor the subsurface for many resource development projects. Seismic data should not be simplified to refer only to the traces that are processed into a subsurface image – there is an entire chain of files developed along the path of designing and carrying out a seismic program. Currently only a few items are identified as ‘seismic data’ for long-term storage, but all products noted in this article need to be retained. Several items would be of much greater use if digitized and ingested for analysis rather than left in individual reports (e.g. parameters & scope, daily production per team, schedule). With the expense and work that has gone into producing each of these steps toward the final product, there’s no reason not to keep what you’ve paid for.

2023 3D Seismic Symposium, March 2, 2023

Andrea Crook — Fri, 24 Feb 2023 18:13:44 +0000

OptiSeis attended the 2023 3D Seismic Symposium, March 2, 2023.

OptiSeis Solutions Ltd. wants to thank the Denver Geophysical Society for hosting the 2023 Seismic 3D Symposium. We would also like to thank all the speakers who did an excellent job presenting, and for allowing us to participate in all the detailed content and learnings. Dave and Michael Hons want to thank everyone who took the time to come by our booth and learn more about OptiSeis. They really appreciated all the interactions and discussions and look forward to next year’s event.

About the Conference

The Denver Geophysical Society (DGS) invites vendors with an interest in 3D Seismic acquisition, processing, interpretation, and leasing to participate in the 2023 3D Seismic Symposium. This year’s theme is Branching Out, with a program of talks ranging from seismic acquisition, processing and interpretation to growing branches of geophysical applications in CCUS, geothermal and induced seismicity.

EcoSeis™: Announcing the Safe Completion of the First EcoSeis™ 3D Field Acquisition

Andrea Crook — Thu, 02 Feb 2023 20:06:29 +0000

OptiSeis Solutions Ltd. is excited to announce the safe completion of their first EcoSeis 3D field acquisition!

We’d like to thank ConocoPhillips for providing a host location, Brad Gerl for his Acquisition Management expertise, and all the crews and equipment providers for their professionalism.

EcoSeis is an innovative land footprint reduction technology that allows operators to focus on their environmental, green house gas, and subsurface targets.

This project has been made possible by our supporting Partners within Canada’s Oil Sands Innovation Alliance (COSIA), Clean Resource Innovation Network (CRIN), Alberta Innovates and iRAP.

EcoSeis™: A Novel Acquisition Method for Optimizing Seismic Resolution While Minimizing Environmental Footprint

Andrea Crook — Wed, 01 Feb 2023 23:48:08 +0000

Article Excerpt

By Mostafa Naghizadeh, Peter Vermeulen, Andrea Crook, Alyson Birce, Stephanie Ross, Aaron Stanton, Maximo Rodriguez, and Warren Cookson.

Abstract

All exploration and production projects, whether for oil-and-gas, mining, or clean-technology applications, begin with an accurate image of the subsurface. Many technologies have been developed to enable the acquisition of cost-effective seismic data, with high-density land seismic programs becoming commonplace. However, as the industry progresses and the long-term surface footprint associated with these programs becomes better understood, new methods are needed to reduce the environmental impact of seismic data acquisition while maintaining sufficient subsurface resolution for accurate resource development. New acquisition geometries are typically easier to create than test in the field due to the high cost of field acquisition and processing. However, by using existing data acquired in a grid, one can decimate the original data set into multiple geometries and process them. This provides an opportunity to fully test new geometries without the expense of field acquisition. In this paper, we present processing, interpretation, and inversion tests from an existing ultra-high-density oil-sands seismic data set decimated based on ecologically improved program designs. We then measure and compare the results to understand the impact of these geometries on subsurface resolution.

Figure 2: (a) Original densely acquired real seismic data geometry (G0). (b) Orthogonal geometry (G1) decimated from (a). (c) and (d) Zigzag geometries G2 and G3 decimated from (a), respectively. (e)–(h) Fold distribution for G0, G1, G2, and G3 geometries shown in (a)–(d), respectively.

PUBLICATION DATA
© 2023 by The Society of Exploration Geophysicists
Publisher:Society of Exploration Geophysicists
History

Published Online: 03 Jan 2023
Published in print: 01 Jan 2023

CITATION INFORMATION
Mostafa Naghizadeh, Peter Vermeulen, Andrea Crook, Alyson Birce, Stephanie Ross, Aaron Stanton, Maximo Rodriguez, and Warren Cookson, (2023), “EcoSeis: A novel acquisition method for optimizing seismic resolution while minimizing environmental footprint,” The Leading Edge 42: 61–68.
https://doi.org/10.1190/tle42010061.1