The Value of CSEM Data in Exploration "Best of EAGE"

Buland, Arild ¹; Løseth, Lars Ole ²; Becht, Andreas ¹; Roudot, Malgven ¹; Røsten, Tage ²
(1) Statoil, N-4035 Stavanger, Norway. (2) Statoil, Trondheim, Norway.

Statoil invented in the late 1990’s the use of the controlled source electromagnetic (CSEM) method for remote identification of hydrocarbons in marine settings. The method was successfully tested offshore Africa in 2000, and subsequent pilot tests proved CSEM as a tool with the potential to predict hydrocarbons before drilling. The early technical successes of the first test surveys, in particular the Troll calibration survey from 2003, created an enormous commercial interest. The industry quickly adopted the new technology and pushed applications into far more challenging areas. Among the success cases, also several vague and non-conclusive results followed, and the total commercial interest declined. In retrospect, we asked the question: Is CSEM data worth the money?

A recent internal Statoil review of the CSEM performance in exploration shows a clear progress with time from the first early surveys to the more recent surveys. CSEM in hydrocarbon exploration has a short commercial history of less than ten years, and the progress can be explained by improvement during these years in acquisition, processing, interpretation techniques, experience, skills and tools. The economical value of CSEM data can be predicted for specific exploration settings using standard decision analysis. Based on performance tracking and review of the prediction strength, conservative estimates of the economical value of CSEM data can be more than 10 times above the typical costs for a CSEM survey and analysis.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90135©2011 AAPG International Conference and Exhibition, Milan, Italy, 23-26 October 2011.