Integrating long-offset transient electromagnetics (LOTEM) with seismics in an exploration environment1

The applications of electromagnetics have increased in the past two decades because of an improved understanding of the methods, improved service availability, and the increased focus of exploration in the more complex reservoir characterization issues. For electromagnetic methods surface applications for hydrocarbon Exploration and Production are still a special case, while applications in borehole and airborne research and for engineering and environmental objectives are routine. In the past, electromagnetic techniques, in particular deep transient electromagnetics, made up a completely different discipline in geophysics, although many of the principles are similar to the seismic one. With an understanding of the specific problems related to data processing initially and then acquisition, the inclusion of principles learned from seismics happened almost naturally. Initially, the data processing was very similar to seismic full-waveform processing. The hardware was also changed to include multichannel acquisition systems, and the field procedures became very similar to seismic surveying. As a consequence, the integration and synergism of the interpretation process is becoming almost automatic. The long-offset transient electromagnetic (LOTEM) technique will be summarized from the viewpoint of its similarity to seismics. The complete concept of the method will also be reviewed. An interpretation case history that integrates seismic and LOTEM from a hydrocarbon area in China clearly demonstrates the limitations and benefits of the method.     

Controlled-Source Electromagnetic Approaches for Hydrocarbon Exploration and Monitoring on Land

Electromagnetic methods that utilize controlled sources have been applied for natural resource exploration for more than a century. Nevertheless, concomitant with the recent adoption of marine controlled-source electromagnetics (CSEM) by the hydrocarbon industry, the overall usefulness of CSEM methods on land has been questioned within the industry. Truly, there are few published examples of land CSEM surveys carried out completely analogously to the current marine CSEM standard approach of towing a bipole source across an array of stationary receivers, continuously transmitting a low-frequency signal and interpreting the data in the frequency domain. Rather, different sensitivity properties of different exploration targets in diverse geological settings, gradual advances in theoretical understanding, acquisition and computer technology, and different schools in different parts of the world have resulted in a sometimes confusing multitude of land-based controlled-source EM surveying approaches. Here, I aim to review previous and present-day approaches, and provide reasoning for their diversity. I focus on surface-based techniques while excluding airborne EM and well logging and on applications for hydrocarbon exploration. Attempts at the very demanding task of using onshore controlled-source EM for reservoir monitoring are shown, and the possible future potential of EM monitoring is discussed.     

Petroleum Electromagnetic Prospecting Advances and Case Studies in China

Remarkable progress has been made in electromagnetic (EM) techniques as applied to the petroleum industry in instruments, data acquisition, and processing and interpretation in China. Included here is equipment, such as high-power Controlled Source EM (CSEM) acquisition systems, acquisition methods, such as the three dimensional small-bin Continuous Electromagnetic Array acquisition method, Time and Frequency Domain Controlled Source Electromagnetic, Borehole-to-surface Electromagnetic technique and marine magnetotelluric method. Data processing methods, such as fast three dimensional inversion using nonlinear conjugate gradients, and data interpretation methods, like Induced Polarization and Resistivity anomalies for hydrocarbon detection, are also included. These new techniques have been applied in petroleum survey and many cases are in complicated areas. They have successfully served the investigation of deep igneous rock reservoirs, and prediction of potential hydrocarbon targets. The cases indicate that electromagnetic techniques can help seismic survey to effectively detect hydrocarbon reservoir and remarkably improve drilling successes.     

Drill‐bit seismic interferometry with and without pilot signals*

We use different interferometry approaches to process the seismic signals generated by a drill‐bit source in one well and recorded by seismic receivers located both in a second borehole and at the surface near the source well. We compare the standard interferometry results, obtained by using the raw drill‐bit data without a pilot signal, with the new interferometry results obtained by using the drill‐bit seismograms correlated with a reference pilot signal. The analysis of the stationary phase shows that the final results have different S/N levels and are affected by the coherent noise in the form of rig arrivals. The interferometry methods are compared by using different deconvolution approaches. The analysis shows that the results agree with the conventional drill‐bit seismograms and that using the reference pilot signal improves the quality of the drill‐bit wavefields redatumed by the interferometry method.     

Retrieving virtual reflection responses at drill‐bit positions using seismic interferometry with drill‐bit noise

In the field of seismic interferometry, researchers have retrieved surface waves and body waves by cross‐correlating recordings of uncorrelated noise sources to extract useful subsurface information. The retrieved wavefields in most applications are between receivers. When the positions of the noise sources are known, inter‐source interferometry can be applied to retrieve the wavefields between sources, thus turning sources into virtual receivers. Previous applications of this form of interferometry assume impulsive point sources or transient sources with similar signatures. We investigate the requirements of applying inter‐source seismic interferometry using non‐transient noise sources with known positions to retrieve reflection responses at those positions and show the results using synthetic drilling noise as source. We show that, if pilot signals (estimates of the drill‐bit signals) are not available, it is required that the drill‐bit signals are the same and that the phases of the virtual reflections at drill‐bit positions can be retrieved by deconvolution interferometry or by cross‐coherence interferometry. Further, for this case, classic interferometry by cross‐correlation can be used if the source power spectrum can be estimated. If pilot signals are available, virtual reflection responses can be obtained by first using standard seismic‐while‐drilling processing techniques such as pilot cross‐correlation and pilot deconvolution to remove the drill‐bit signatures in the data and then applying cross‐correlation interferometry. Therefore, provided that pilot signals are reliable, drill‐bit data can be redatumed from surface to borehole depths using this inter‐source interferometry approach without any velocity information of the medium, and we show that a well‐positioned image below the borehole can be obtained using interferometrically redatumed reflection responses with just a simple velocity model. We discuss some of the practical hurdles that restrict the application of the proposed method offshore.     

Theoretical Developments in Electromagnetic Induction Geophysics with Selected Applications in the Near Surface

Near-surface applied electromagnetic geophysics is experiencing an explosive period of growth with many innovative techniques and applications presently emergent and others certain to be forthcoming. An attempt is made here to bring together and describe some of the most notable advances. This is a difficult task since papers describing electromagnetic induction methods are widely dispersed throughout the scientific literature. The traditional topics discussed herein include modeling, inversion, heterogeneity, anisotropy, target recognition, logging, and airborne electromagnetics (EM). Several new or emerging techniques are introduced including landmine detection, biogeophysics, interferometry, shallow-water electromagnetics, radiomagnetotellurics, and airborne unexploded ordnance (UXO) discrimination. Representative case histories that illustrate the range of exciting new geoscience that has been enabled by the developing techniques are presented from important application areas such as hydrogeology, contamination, UXO and landmines, soils and agriculture, archeology, and hazards and climate.     

Advances in alternating electromagnetic field data processing for earthquake monitoring in China

The alternating electromagnetic(EM) field is one of the most sensitive physical fields related to earthquakes. There have been a number of publications reporting EM anomalies associated with earthquakes. With increasing applications and research of artificial-source extremely low frequency EM and satellite EM technologies in earthquake studies, the amount of observed data from the alternating EM method increases rapidly and exponentially, so it is imperative to develop suitable and effective methods for processing and analyzing the influx of big data. This paper presents research on the self-adaptive filter and wavelet techniques and their applications to analyzing EM data obtained from ground measurements and satellite observations, respectively. Analysis results show that the self-adaptive filter method can identify both natural- and artificial-source EM signals, and enhance the ratio between signal and noise of EM field spectra, apparent resistivity, and others. The wavelet analysis is capable of detecting possible correlation between EM anomalies and seismic events. These techniques are effective in processing and analyzing massive data obtained from EM observations.     

Marine Electromagnetic Studies of Seafloor Resources and Tectonics

The past decade has been a period of rapid growth for marine electromagnetic (EM) methods, predominantly due to the industrial adoption and promotion of EM as a valuable tool for characterizing offshore hydrocarbon reservoirs. This growth is illustrated by a database of marine EM publications spanning from the early developments in the 1960’s to the present day; while over 300 peer-reviewed papers on marine EM have been published to date, more than half of these papers have been published within the last decade. This review provides an overview of these recent developments, covering industrial and academic use of marine EM for resource exploration and tectonic investigations, ranging from acquisition technology and modeling approaches to new physical and geological insights learned from recent data sets.     

The electromagnetic response of a horizontal electric dipole buried in a multi‐layered earth

The electromagnetic response of a horizontal electric dipole transmitter in the presence of a conductive, layered earth is important in a number of geophysical applications, ranging from controlled‐source audio‐frequency magnetotellurics to borehole geophysics to marine electromagnetics. The problem has been thoroughly studied for more than a century, starting from a dipole resting on the surface of a half‐space and subsequently advancing all the way to a transmitter buried within a stack of anisotropic layers. The solution is still relevant today. For example, it is useful for one‐dimensional modelling and interpretation, as well as to provide background fields for two‐ and three‐dimensional modelling methods such as integral equation or primary–secondary field formulations. This tutorial borrows elements from the many texts and papers on the topic and combines them into what we believe is a helpful guide to performing layered earth electromagnetic field calculations. It is not intended to replace any of the existing work on the subject. However, we have found that this combination of elements is particularly effective in teaching electromagnetic theory and providing a basis for algorithmic development. Readers will be able to calculate electric and magnetic fields at any point in or above the earth, produced by a transmitter at any location. As an illustrative example, we calculate the fields of a dipole buried in a multi‐layered anisotropic earth to demonstrate how the theory that developed in this tutorial can be implemented in practice; we then use the example to examine the diffusion of volume charge density within anisotropic media—a rarely visualised process. The algorithm is internally validated by comparing the response of many thin layers with alternating high and low conductivity values to the theoretically equivalent (yet algorithmically simpler) anisotropic solution, as well as externally validated against an independent algorithm.     

A land controlled‐source electromagnetic experiment using a deep vertical electric dipole: experimental settings,processing, and first data interpretation

A multichannel borehole‐to‐surface controlled‐source electromagnetic experiment was carried out at the onshore CO₂ storage site of Hontomín (Spain). The electromagnetic source consisted of a vertical electric dipole located 1.5 km deep, and the electric field was measured at the surface. The subsurface response has been obtained by calculating the transfer function between the transmitted signal and the electric field at the receiver positions. The dataset has been processed using a fast processing methodology, appropriate to be applied on controlled‐source electromagnetics (CSEM) data with a large signal‐to‐noise ratio. The dataset has been analysed in terms of data quality and repeatability errors, showing data with low experimental errors and good repeatability. We evaluate if the induction of current along the casing of the injection well can reproduce the behaviour of the experimental data.     

环状刻槽钻铤中随钻方位电磁波响应的混合算法

为了提高随钻电磁波测井仪器的抗震能力,仪器传感器中所有发射与接收线圈均安装在柱状金属钻铤上的环状刻槽中,同时槽中充填高磁导率的铁氧体,以提高发射和接收效率.本文针对多环状刻槽钻铤中发射与接收线圈分布,研究建立一套随钻电磁响应的混合模拟算法.首先,根据环状刻槽几何尺寸以及轴向边界,将整个钻铤与外部的井眼和地层划分成多个不同电导率和磁导率分布的轴对称非均质各向同性层状模型,并应用混合法建立层状非均质地层中电磁场的半解析解与各个线圈上感应电动势的计算方法.其次,利用摄动原理给出随钻电磁测井中振幅比与相位差的空间灵敏度计算公式.然后,通过数值结果考察铁氧体磁导率和地层电导率变化对发射线圈的发射功率和接收线圈上感应电动势的影响,并确定各个接收线圈上感应电动势的动态变化范围,为仪器设计过程中选择合适的铁氧体提供理论依据.最后,通过空间灵敏度分布特征考察振幅比与相位差在探测特征上的差异.     

海洋天然气水合物的地球物理探测高新技术

海洋天然气水合物是一种潜在的巨大能源,在资源环境、灾害方面处于非常重要的地位。发展海洋天然气水合物的地球物理探测高新技术一蕴藏量估算技术、深水区高分辩率地震技术、井中地球物理技术、海洋电滋法探测技术,准确了解天然气水合物的分布与蕴藏量,对我国海洋天然气水合物产业的建立具有关键作用。     

海底可控源电磁接收机及其水合物勘查应用

海洋可控源电磁法在国外已成为海底天然气水合物调查的有效手段之一.为实现我国海域深水条件下水合物的海洋可控源电磁探测,本文从方法原理出发,采用低功耗嵌入式控制、前端低噪声斩波放大、高精度时间同步和水声通讯等技术,设计并开发了由承压舱、玻璃浮球、采集电路、电场与磁场传感器、姿态测量装置、声学释放器、USBL定位信标、测量臂、水泥块等部件组成的海底可控源电磁接收机,实现了海洋微弱电磁场信号的高精度采集.海底可控源电磁接收机具有高可靠性、低噪声、低功耗和低时漂的特点.利用研制的海底可控源电磁接收机,在琼东南海域进行水合物勘查,采集得到了可靠的人工源电磁场数据.通过数据处理及反演,获得了研究区海底的电阻率模型,结合地震资料,对高阻异常体进行推断解释,其结果为天然气水合物钻探井位布置提供了电性依据.     

Coal top detection by conductively guided borehole radar wave imaging for open cut blast-hole drilling

Damage to the top of coal seams, caused by incorrect blast stand-off distances, results in coal losses of up to 10–15% to the Australian open cut coal mining operations. This is a serious issue to be addressed. Here we propose to use a new forward-looking imaging technique based on the borehole radar technology to predict the coal seam top in real time while drilling blast holes. This is achieved by coupling the conventional borehole radar waves on to a steel drill rod to induce a guided wave along the axial drill rod. The drill rod ahead of the borehole radar behaves as a forward-looking antenna for the guided waves. Both numerical modelling and field trials simulating a drill rod as an antenna are used to investigate the feasibility of the proposed technique for prediction of the coal top under typical open cut environments. Numerical modelling demonstrated that conductivity of the overburden is the most important factor affecting our ability to see coal seams ahead of the drill bit, the guided borehole radar waves could be used for top coal prediction and a theoretical prediction error less than 10 cm and a forward-looking capability of 4–6 m can be achieved. Field trials at Australian open cut coal mines also demonstrated that guided borehole radar waves can be observed and used for prediction of coal top ahead of drill bit during blast-hole drilling in resistive, open cut environments (the average resistivity should be higher than 75 Ωm).     

Extending electromagnetic methods to map coastal pore water salinities

The feasibility of mapping pore water salinity based on surface electromagnetic (EM) methods over land and shallow marine water is examined in a coastal wetland on Tampa Bay, Florida. Forward models predict that useful information on seabed conductivity can be obtained through <1.5 m of saline water, using floating EM-31 and EM-34 instruments from Geonics Ltd. The EM-31 functioned as predicted when compared against resistivity soundings and pore water samples and proved valuable for profiling in otherwise inaccessible terrain due to its relatively small size. Experiments with the EM-34 in marine water, however, did not reproduce the theoretical instrument response. The most effective technique for predicting pore water conductivities based on EM data entailed (1) computing formation factors from resistivity surveys and pore water samples at representative sites and (2) combining these formation factors with onshore and offshore EM-31 readings for broader spatial coverage. This method proved successful for imaging zones of elevated pore water conductivities/salinities associated with mangrove forests, presumably caused by salt water exclusion by mangrove roots. These zones extend 5 to 10 m seaward from mangrove trunks fringing Tampa Bay. Modeling indicates that EM-31 measurements lack the resolution necessary to image the subtle pore water conductivity variations expected in association with diffuse submarine ground water discharge of fresher water in the marine water of Tampa Bay. The technique has potential for locating high-contrast zones and other pore water salinity anomalies in areas not accessible to conventional marine- or land-based resistivity arrays and hence may be useful for studies of coastal-wetland ecosystems.     

Multi‐method virtual electromagnetic experiments for developing suitable monitoring designs: A fictitious CO2 sequestration scenario in Northern Germany

We present a numerical study for 3D time‐lapse electromagnetic monitoring of a fictitious CO₂ sequestration using the geometry of a real geological site and a suite of suitable electromagnetic methods with different source/receiver configurations and different sensitivity patterns. All available geological information is processed and directly implemented into the computational domain, which is discretized by unstructured tetrahedral grids. We thus demonstrate the performance capability of our numerical simulation techniques. The scenario considers a CO₂ injection in approximately 1100 m depth. The expected changes in conductivity were inferred from preceding laboratory measurements. A resistive anomaly is caused within the conductive brines of the undisturbed reservoir horizon. The resistive nature of the anomaly is enhanced by the CO₂ dissolution regime, which prevails in the high‐salinity environment. Due to the physicochemical properties of CO₂, the affected portion of the subsurface is laterally widespread but very thin. We combine controlled‐source electromagnetics, borehole transient electromagnetics, and the direct‐current resistivity method to perform a virtual experiment with the aim of scrutinizing a set of source/receiver configurations with respect to coverage, resolution, and detectability of the anomalous CO₂ plume prior to the field survey. Our simulation studies are carried out using the 3D codes developed in our working group. They are all based on linear and higher order Lagrange and Nédélec finite‐element formulations on unstructured grids, providing the necessary flexibility with respect to the complex real‐world geometry. We provide different strategies for addressing the accuracy of numerical simulations in the case of arbitrary structures. The presented computations demonstrate the expected great advantage of positioning transmitters or receivers close to the target. For direct‐current geoelectrics, 50% change in electric potential may be detected even at the Earth's surface. Monitoring with inductive methods is also promising. For a well‐positioned surface transmitter, more than 10% difference in the vertical electric field is predicted for a receiver located 200 m above the target. Our borehole transient electromagnetics results demonstrate that traditional transient electromagnetics with a vertical magnetic dipole source is not well suited for monitoring a thin horizontal resistive target. This is due to the mainly horizontal current system, which is induced by a vertical magnetic dipole.     

Controlled‐source electromagnetic monitoring of reservoir oil saturation using a novel borehole‐to‐surface configuration

To advance and optimize secondary and tertiary oil recovery techniques, it is essential to know the areal propagation and distribution of the injected fluids in the subsurface. We investigate the applicability of controlled‐source electromagnetic methods to monitor fluid movements in a German oilfield (Bockstedt, onshore Northwest Germany) as injected brines (highly saline formation water) have much lower electrical resistivity than the oil within the reservoir. The main focus of this study is on controlled‐source electromagnetic simulations to test the sensitivity of various source–receiver configurations. The background model for the simulations is based on two‐dimensional inversion of magnetotelluric data gathered across the oil field and calibrated with resistivity logs. Three‐dimensional modelling results suggest that controlled‐source electromagnetic methods are sensitive to resistivity changes at reservoir depths, but the effect is difficult to resolve with surface measurements only. Resolution increases significantly if sensors or transmitters can be placed in observation wells closer to the reservoir. In particular, observation of the vertical electric field component in shallow boreholes and/or use of source configurations consisting of combinations of vertical and horizontal dipoles are promising. Preliminary results from a borehole‐to‐surface controlled‐source electromagnetic field survey carried out in spring 2014 are in good agreement with the modelling studies.     

Research on 3D marine electromagnetic interferometry with synthetic sources for suppressing the airwave interference

In order to suppress the airwave noise in marine controlled-source electromagnetic （CSEM） data, we propose a 3D deconvolution （3DD） interferometry method with a synthetic aperture source and obtain the relative anomaly coefficient （RAC） of the EM field reflection responses to show the degree for suppressing the airwave. We analyze the potential of the proposed method for suppressing the airwave, and compare the proposed method with traditional methods in their effectiveness. A method to select synthetic source length is derived and the effect of the water depth on RAC is examined via numerical simulations. The results suggest that 3DD interferometry method with a synthetic source can effectively suppress the airwave and enhance the potential of marine CSEM to hydrocarbon exploration.     

The Application of Geotomography in Engineering

It seems that electromagnetic tomography is quite suitable to be used in metal and groundwaterexploration. especial for limestone areas where the absorption coefficient of electromagnetic wave is smalland geological body has a large property contrast with country rock it should be pointed out that there exitsome uncertainties in geological interpretation of EM tomogram, corresponding laboratory tests for rockphysical property are always necessary.Resistivity tomography provides us a new useful…     

可控源海洋电磁勘探中空气波影响的理论分析和数值模拟

可控源海洋电磁勘探(MCSEM)中空气波对海底电磁响应的影响已为业界所熟知,且已提出了多种压制方法.然而,由于空气波与海水层中其它信号相互作用的复杂性,至今其作用机理及对有效信号的影响方式尚未完全清楚,这也阻碍了浅水域MCSEM油气勘探的应用.本文在前人研究的基础上, 基于一维层状介质的电磁位和电磁场分析,采用电磁场的模式分解理论导出了空气、海水层和海底地层之间的相互作用关系.分析了MCSEM电磁响应的影响因素和空气波的作用机理.以无限水深假想模型、三层介质模型和四层介质模型为基础,导出了水平电偶极子(HED)的横电(TE)和横磁(TM)模式的电磁场关系,分析显示了前人提出的上下行波分离进行空气波压制所存在的缺陷.通过理论和数值模拟知道, 利用横电(TE)和横磁(TM)模式受空气相互作用影响的差异和电磁场水平分量与垂直分量受空气层相互作用影响程度的不同可减弱空气波对有效信号的影响,这将有助于实现浅水域海洋电磁勘探数据的有效利用.