ION Geophysical Corporation has announced that North Sea operators selected ION in-field Acquisition Optimization Services for all time-lapse, or 4D, towed streamer projects for the 2016 North Sea season. Experience and proprietary technology were key to the award of five 4D projects, which include real-time survey line planning and quality control for fields in the North Sea offshore the United Kingdom, Norway, and Denmark.

ION acquisition specialists have in-field experience on over 100 4D programs in a variety of environments around the world including the North Sea, West Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Australia, and the Gulf of Mexico. A variety of proprietary tools are employed to optimally manage 4D surveys in real time. The marine current model in Orca Optimizer delivers accurate predictions to most efficiently acquire survey lines to match the prior survey. The addition of Marlin, ION’s custom simultaneous operations management tool, to the 4D solution allows seismic plans to be represented alongside planned and actual activity for all operations in the area, enabling better real-time survey line planning while minimising operational disruption.

Vice President of ION’s Optimization Software and Services, Stuart Darling, comments, “Towed streamer 4D acquisition remains one of the most complex operations for the seismic industry. 4D surveys require precise marine current predictions to accurately match past receiver positions and focused simultaneous operations management to ensure the vessel and equipment navigates around field infrastructure in a safe, efficient manner. It is testament to our technology and in-field acquisition specialists that key E&P operators in the region have all chosen to deploy our services in the current climate. It demonstrates the true value that we can deliver in terms of both operational efficiency and quality.”

Tags: ION Geophysical Corporation