The value of high-density blended OBN seismic for drilling and reservoir description at the Tangguh gas fields, Eastern Indonesia

Abstract

The Tangguh gas fields in Eastern Indonesia are overlain by a complex overburden, including a thick, heavily faulted, and intensely karstified carbonate interval that tends to scatter and attenuate seismic energy. Development drilling is challenging, with the potential for pack-offs and stuck pipe when drilling into unstable, partially collapsed caves or karstified fault planes while on total losses. Ideally, these karst features are to be avoided when planning and drilling wells, but avoiding them depends on having a well-resolved seismic image. Historical towed-streamer and sparse ocean-bottom cable seismic is low fold and does not give a satisfactory image for well planning. Advances in ocean-bottom node technology, computer processing, and capacity coupled with efficient survey design and blended acquisition utilizing multiple source vessels allowed a step change in data density. This provided a new high-quality seismic image to support future development activities. The advantages of densely sampled, full-azimuth data include rapid delivery of fast-track products (because high-quality images can be constructed with relatively simple processing flows), greatly improved overburden imaging, and a corresponding uplift in deeper imaging leading to enhanced reservoir characterization.