SEISMIC IMAGING TECHNOLOGY

About:

• Seismic imaging is a tool that bounces sound waves off underground rock structures to reveal possible crude oil– and natural gas–bearing formations. 
  
  
• Working: 
  • Seismologists use ultra-sensitive devices called geophones to record the sound waves as they echo within the earth. 
    
    
  • By studying the echoes, petroleum geologists seek to calculate the depth and structures of buried geologic formations. 
    
    
  • This analysis may help them identify oil- and gas-bearing reservoirs hidden beneath the earth's surface. 
    
    
  
  
  
• Recent discovery by BP: It used a software known as Full Waveform Inversion (FWI), which is run on a super computer and analyses reverberations of seismic sound waves to produce high-resolution 3D images of layers of rock under the sea bed, helping geologists locate oil and gas. 
  
  
• Significance: 
  • The success of technology marks a major leap forward for deep water exploration — a costly business known for its low success rate and high risk. 
    
    
  • It is an example of how technology is helping deep water make a comeback after a decade when the industry has focused on advances in onshore shale.