INTRODUCTION TO CSEM

Terje Eidesmo
Founder & Executive Vice President

CSEM AND RESISTIVITY

BASIC PRINCIPLES

CONTROLLED SOURCE ELECTRO MAGNETIC

MEASURING RESISTIVITY
In CSEM Controlled Source Electro Magnetic we measure the electrical properties of the
formation where the end result is 3D resistivity volume of the formation
Why is this important?
1.
2.
3.
4.

Resistivity is related to hydrocarbon saturation in sediments

Can be used to map important geological structures like salt, basalt and basement
Helping Geologists defining the geological sequence
Map gas hydrates both for evaluating if we have commercial quantities and avoiding
drilling hazards.

CONTROLLED SOURCE ELECTRO MAGNETIC

MEASURING RESISTIVITY

WHY RESISITIVTY

Archie's Equation:
Water saturation
True Resistivity
Formation porosity
Formation water resistivity
a,m,n = formation dependent constants

Measuring formation resitivity gives us the

HC saturation together with other parameters

Introduction to CSEM
2500

EM anomaly

1500

1000

No EM anomaly
500

Gas Saturation (%)

P-Wave Velocity [m/s]

2000

CONTROLLED SOURCE ELECTRO MAGNETIC

MEASURING RESISTIVITY
A geophysical method for remote subsurface resistivity mapping

Movie

CSEM MAPPING OF GEOLOGICAL STRUCTURES

Initial model with

different resistivities

Water
Overburden
Basalt
Sediments
Basement

Modeling result,
Inverted

Water

Overburden
Basalt
Sediments
Basement

SEISMIC AND CSEM, COMPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

Seismic Acoustic properties structure

CSEM

Resistivity fluids (+structure)

EMGS HISTORY AND EXPERIENCE

EMGS HISTORY
1997 First idea in Statoil research centre
2000 First full scale test Girasol (Angola)
2002 EMGS established by Statoil
2003 First commercial EMGS survey
2004 First commercial discovery
announced
2004 First 3D and scanning projects

2007 Listed on Oslo Stock Exchange

2010 150 MUSD contract signed with
Pemex
2011 90 MUSD contract signed with
Petrobras
2011 Acquired OHM

WORLDWIDE EXPERIENCE

Delivered over 500 surveys for national oil companies, majors, independents and
national regulators
Water depths range from approximately 30 to 3500 metres

WORLDWIDE PRESENCE

CUSTOMERS AND TRACK RECORD

Delivered over 500 surveys
Unmatched technology, knowledge and experience
Staffed with the worlds leading experts in EM
Global Frame Agreements with ExxonMobil, Shell and others

GOING FROM 2D TO 3D

2.8

-900

2.6

-800

TWGP

2.4
2.2

-700
-600

2.0

-500

1.8

-400

1.6

-300

TWOP?

1.4
1.2

-200
-100

1.0

0.8

100

0.6

200

0.4

300

0.2

400

0.0

500
-10

-5

10

15

20

Distance relative to first receiver [km]

25

30

35

Water depth [m]

Normalised Electric Magnitude

GOING FROM 2D AND ATTRIBUTE ANALYSES TO INVERTED 3D

RESISTIVITY CUBES THE TROLL CASE EXAMPLES

TWGP

TWOP

2.8

-900

2.6

-800

TWGP

2.4

-700

2.2

-600

2.0

-500

1.8

-400

1.6

-300

TWOP?

1.4

-200

1.2

-100

1.0

0.8

100

0.6

200

0.4

300

0.2

400

0.0

500
-10

-5

10

15

20

Distance relative to first receiver [km]

Source Receiver distance(km)

10

25

30

35

Water depth [m]

Normalised Electric Magnitude

2D TROLL CASE EXAMPLE 2003

3D TROLL CASE EXAMPLE 2008

2.8

-900

2.6

-800

TWGP

2.4

-700

2.2

-600

2.0

-500

1.8

-400

1.6

-300

TWOP?

1.4

-200

1.2

-100

1.0

0.8

100

0.6

200

0.4

300

0.2

400

0.0

500
-10

-5

10

15

20

Distance relative to first receiver [km]

25

30

35

Water depth [m]

Normalised Electric Magnitude

THE BIG DIFFERENCE

CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS

GOING FROM 2D TO 3D

CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS GOING FROM 2D TO 3D

Acquisition
3D EM vessels
Improved equipment
Processing
2.5D and 3D anisotropic inversion
Sparse grid inversion
Modeling
Robust 3D modeling

CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS GOING FROM 2D TO 3D

High capacity 3D EM vessels

150 receivers (capacity for up to 200)

Fully redundant source systems
Sheltered operations and improved operational
weather window

CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS GOING FROM 2D TO 3D

3D EM vessels High capacity and redundancy

CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS GOING FROM 2D TO 3D

Surface-towed source
Ideal for shallow water acquisition (< 100 m)
Quality / repeatability
Constant depth
Stable pitch
Direct dynamic GPS positioning - More
accurate source position, length and feather
angle
Data uncertainty reduction

Productivity
Increased towing speed (up to 4kts)
Maneuverability - Reduced line change time
Safety
No risk of impact with seabed or subsea
installations

CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS GOING FROM 2D TO 3D

Standard Attributes (2002-2007)
Qualitative approach
Lateral distribution well described
Vertical distribution not well described
Struggles in complex settings

Inversion (2007- )
Quantitative approach
Good description of lateral and vertical resistivity distribution
Resolve complex settings

IN-HOUSE EMGS INVERSION ALGORITHMS

Isotropic and anisotropic

2.5D Inversion

3D Inversion
500 m

500 m

1500 m

1500 m

Horizontal crosssection at 1500 m

depth

Horizontal crosssection at 1500 m

depth

3D EM TECHNOLOGY UPDATE
Coarse grid inversion Speeds up time from acquisition to first prelim results
Handling large receiver spacing through multi-component azimuthal data & rigorous data
uncertainty modeling
Coarse 3D
grid:
2.5 km x 2.5
km
N-S towlines
only

Dense 3D grid:
1.25 km x 1.25
km
N-S and E-W
towlines

Q&A