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Join the SUT Learning Breakfast which includes an International Webinar!
"New Technologies for Detecting Deepwater Gas Bubbles from Natural Seeps, Leaky Pipes, and Induced Fractures"
Presented by: Dan McConnell, Fugro
Fugro, 6100 Hillcroft, Houston 77081 ; Room 100
REGISTER HERE!
Thursday, July 24th
7:00 a.m. breakfast / check in
7:30 a.m. Presentation and webinar begins
Inludes a 45 minute presentation and 15 minute Q & A.
NOTE: Webinar Available!
You will be contacted by Lori Smith, SUT Administrator
(via the e-mail you provided us on your registration)
on webinar log in guidelines
Tuesday, July 22nd
Webinar guests can type questions during the webinar through GoToWebinar chat
which will be addressed during the last 15 minutes of the presentation.
"Walk ups" the day of the breakfast will be charged $50.00 and only available if space permits.
Apologies for any inconvenience.
Abstract:
There is a remarkable resurgence underway in the use of geochemical surveys in the marine petroleum exploration industry. This resurgence has been driven by a confluence of: advances in and application of acoustic survey technology; the advent of the “digital bubble”; and market drivers that are pushing for smarter and less expensive exploration decisions in deep water. Applications of related sonar technology are also now being used for engineering and environmental monitoring of deepwater facilities and seabed conditions at developed fields.
For almost 15 years, a few scientists have been helping innovative, early-adopter, oil companies use seafloor seep detection and precision sampling techniques to find and take geochemical samples at seeps to improve their exploration success. Now, multibeam echosounder (MBES) technology developed by the defense industry is rapidly being adopted to greatly improve the reliability and utility of these smart geochemical surveys.
A recent step-change improvement in MBES technology is the vastly enhanced ability to image streams of gas bubbles in the water column, and hence improve seafloor seep detection. Echosounder technology had always been able to image gas bubbles, but as the data moved from paper records to digital processing and interpretation, choices made to address data processing and storage limitations resulted in data reductions that no longer included water column data. The new multibeam technology and processing choices have reintroduced water column bubble detection (WCBD), now in the form of a “digital bubble”, to the interpreter’s toolbox.
Today, market forces are driving the need to reduce costs for deep water exploration. Exploration teams are realizing that smart geochemical surveys can help guide where to shoot expensive 3D surveys. Others are taking the bubble-detection ability further and want to use remotely-operated vehicles and robot submarines to directly sample and analyze the natural seeps.
The inexpensive bubble-detection technology is now also being used to help: define baseline environmental conditions before field development commences; monitor deepwater developments for gas leaks in infrastructure; and identify and characterize induced leaks and other changes in seafloor conditions resulting from production activities. Improved application of this technology will be part of operators’ regular production field monitoring, maintenance, and environmental stewardship programs going forward.
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BIO:
Dan McConnell began his geoscience career with Scott-Pickford, a British geoscience consulting group. He began to focus on marine geology and geophysics when he joined Fugro-McClelland Marine Geosciences in Houston in 1997. There, he interpreted offshore 3D seismic data, high-resolution survey, geochemical, and geotechnical data in support of offshore engineering and drilling operations. Dan left Fugro in 2003 to start a Houston-based geohazard consulting group at AOA Geophysics, which would augment their seafloor mapping and seep survey business. Dan returned to Fugro in 2011 when AOA Geophysics was acquired and integrated with Fugro’s offshore consulting group. For a brief time, Dan managed Fugro’s Houston-based offshore consulting business. He now works on aligning and integrating Fugro’s service offerings across the Americas.
Dan has written numerous articles about deepwater site conditions. His main contribution has been the identification and quantification of gas hydrate deposits from seismic data that culminated with the landmark Chevron- US Department of Energy drilling expedition in the Gulf of Mexico in 2009. Dan holds two degrees, History and Geology, from the University of Texas at Austin.
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About SUT:
This multi-disciplinary learned society brings together organizations and individuals with common interests in underwater technology, ocean science and offshore engineering. The SUT was founded in 1966 in London and has members from more than 40 countries including engineers, scientists, other professionals and students working in these areas.
The SUT was founded to promote the further understanding of the underwater environment to encourage cross fertilization and dissemination of ideas, experience and information between workers in academic research, applied research and technology, industry and government development of techniques and tools to explore and study oceans, proper economic and sociological use of our resources in and beneath the oceans, further education of scientists and technologists to maintain high standards in marine science and technology.
Regards,
Jackie Portsmouth
2013-2014 APSG Houston Chapter Chair
Association of Petroleum Surveying & Geomatics
W: www.apsg.info
O: +1 214 389 7058
M: +1 972 854 1625
E: jackiep@santosinc.com
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