Surface Seismic Techniques for the Recovery of Heavy Oil

This paper shows the results from a number of experiments conducted using single-sensor and single-vibrator techniques to image heavy-oil sands at a depth of 300 m to 600 m in an existing oilfield in the Partitioned Neutral Zone between Kuwait and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The aim of the experiments was to investigate whether surface seismic techniques can obtain the bandwidth required to be able to image the thick heavy-oil layers in the near surface in the presence of high-amplitude coherent noise that masks most of the reflected energy from the target. Further complications are introduced by the presence of high acoustic impedance layers above and below the heavy oil deposits and the presence of high ambient noise levels from the oilfield infrastructure.<br>An 800-m x 800-m 3D seismic grid was acquired over an area that will be the site of pilot long-term steam-flood in 200X. This heavy oil (18 API) reservoir currently produces 78,000 barrels of oil per day. For efficient steam injection, knowledge of the heavy oil reservoir is essential.