CHAPTER TWO

VSPPRINCIPLE AND TECHNIQUES

VSP Principle and Techniques

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VSP Principle:
Well velocity surveys are made by using a seismic energy source (dynamite, Vibroseis, air gun, etc.) at or near the surface normally within 300 meters of a deep borehole and recording the initial direct wave and short leg reflected waves with a special downhole geophone (Figure 2-1).

Figure 2-1. Well velocity survey, vibrator source The geophone (velocity tool) is lowered into the hole and clamped at incremental depths, the interval of sounding ranging from 50 ft to 1000 feet, depending on the type of survey and the geophysical requirements. Consideration is given to important geological markers by positioning the sonde just above the horizon and just below it. Zones of borehole washout are investigated in the previously run caliper / gammaray log so that when the sonde approaches that zone, its clamp depth can be adjusted up or down to avoid it. Observed downhole arrival times are corrected to vertical times from a selected datum elevation. A well velocity survey is the most accurate method for determining vertical travel times to the depths at which downhole times are recorded. It is therefore the best method of measuring average velocities to those depths and the interval velocities between them. A time-depth graph from a well velocity survey showing average and interval velocities are shown in Figure 2-2.
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VSP Principle and Techniques

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Figure 2-2 .Time-depth graph from well velocity survey (checkshot) with Vavg and Vint

VSP Techniques
The members of the family of borehole seismic measurements differ in the number and location of sources and geophones used in how they are deployed.

Checkshot
The simplest of all services-in common practice by 1940- is the check shot, sometimes called a velocity survey. Check shots measure direct travel times from source to receiver, with no reflections along the way. This provides a measure of seismic velocity near the well and relates seismic time to well depth. The check shot services deploys a stationary seismic source, while a single downhole geophone is moved to locations in the well indicated by the well logs, measuring the travel time to specific reflector. The first arrivals- or first breaksrecorded on the seismic traces are picked to deliver the time-to-depth information. This geophone and source configuration is similar for the next member of the family, the zero-offset VSP.

VSP Principle and Techniques

chapter 2

Zero-offset VSP
The zero-Offset VSP is defined as vertical survey geometry with source on the rig and receiver in a vertical well. The zero- offset VSP has its origins in the 1950s. the source is located directly above the receiver. However, to obtain an image of subsurface reflector, a higher density of receiver positions is used than in check-shot survey and trace recordings extend beyond the first breaks to include later time reflections. Figure 2-3. Zero-offset VSP geometry. Some of the Zero Offset VSP applications are listed below: - Seismic tie between borehole measured seismic data and surface seismic or OBC. - Establishment of a precise link between the surface seismic results and well logs, since the VSP is a high resolution measurement. - Improved resolution, since the seismic waves only pass the highly absorptive low-velocity layers near the surface once. - Look-ahead-of-the-bit; Predict distance to reflectors below the current total depth of the well. - Measure average and interval velocities. - Ability to accurately distinguish multiple reflections present in the surface seismic data. - Estimation of Q-factor.

Offset VSP
Next in the family comes the offset VSP, in which a single surface source is positioned at substantial distance- termed offset- from the well. This shifts the reflection point away from the well and extends the subsurface coverage, helping to detect faults, for example. Some of the Offset VSP applications are listed below: Figure 2-4. Zero-offset VSP geometry.

VSP Principle and Techniques

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- Seismic tie between borehole measured seismic data and surface seismic or OBC . - High-resolution seismic data, since the seismic waves only pass the highly absorptive low-velocity layers near the surface once. - Delineate faults and other stratigraphic features. - Reservoir delineation and characterization. - Ability to accurately distinguish multiple reflections present in the surface seismic data. - Structural imaging. - Anisotropy estimation. - AVO.

Walkaway VSP
The check shot and the two above VSP techniques described above are multireceiver, single- source techniques. The walkway VSP departs from this. In its simplest form, a receiver array of five to seven geophones collects data from multiple surface source locations along a line that extends from the well.

Figure 2-5.walkaway VSP geometry.

Each line typically has hundreds of source positions. Reflections from each horizon below the geophone offer an umbrella-shaped coverage of the information alongside and beneath the well. These data may then be processed to create an image that usually has higher resolution than that from surface seismic surveys. The acquisition of 3D VSP involves multiline walkaway VSP profiles.

Walk-above VSP
Somewhere between single-source and walkaway VSP is the VSP in deviated and horizontal wells- often called walk-above VSP. In this technique a source may be positioned directly over the receiver to map a deeper reflector and to map a deviated well onto a seismic section. Three special members of the VSP family are salt-proximity surveys, shear-wave VSPs and drill-noise VSPs. Figure 2-6.walkaway VSP geometry.
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Salt-proximity survey
Salt-proximity surveys, which originated in the 1930s, are recorded in wells adjacent to salt domes with the source placed immediately above the salt dome. Travel-time information and the polarization of the first arrivals are measured by the downhole geophone at various locations in the well. Knowing the location of the receivers and the source, the velocity of the salt, the velocity of the sedimentary layers and the distance to the top of the salt dome, a traveltime inversion may be performed to determine the location of points where rays exit the salt dome.

Figure 2-7.Salt-proximity VSP geometry.

This allows a profile of the salt dome to be constructed, which may be used to determine the lateral distance from the well to the salt, and also to identify possible over-hangs and potential traps along the salt flank.

Shear-wave VSP
As the name suggests, shearwave VSPs are VSPs recorded with shear-wave sources, usually shear-wave viberators. These may be used in a manner similar to P-wave VSPs to create a highresolution image of reflectors. However, another application is to measure a phenomenon known as shear-wave splitting. This is associated with anisotropy due to stress or vertically aligned fracture systems.

Figure 2-8. Shear-Wave VSP geometry

Shear waves travel faster when their particle motion is polarized in the plane of fractures then when it is perpendicular to the fracture plane. Shear-waves VSPs have been used to determine the expected orientation of natural fractures and stress directions, and a qualitative indication of fracture density.
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Drill-noise VSP
The drill bit seismic technique, sometimes called drill-noise VSP or seismic-while drilling, reverses the geometry of the source and receiver. The drill bit itself is the seismic source, and receivers are placed on the surface. Cleaver processing can image the reservoir or a drilling hazard, such as overpressure, as the well is being drilled.

Figure 2-9. Prediction to depth of a drilling hazard, continuously updated with drill bit seismic wellsite processing.

3D VSP
VSP imaging surveys, such as walkaways, have been used for a number of years to image structural complexity away from the borehole. These walkaway profiles are essentially two-dimensional, confined to the vertical plane containing the surface source and borehole. Because of the proximity if the receivers to the target, like all VSPs, these 2 D images usually have the advantage of being of higher resolution than their surface counterparts. But, by definition, 2D walkaways don't describe the full volume of the reservoir. Fortunately, the acquisition principle may be extended to cover three dimensions by repeated profiling in parallel lines-in effects, by collecting a series of 2D walkaway surveys similar to marine 3D seismic data acquisition. The progression from 2D to 3D in VSP survey is similar to the progression in the surface seismic technique, and offers equivalent benefits. Thus, 3D VSPs allow highresolution imaging to augment surface 3D surveys and make it possible to obtain
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VSP Principle and Techniques

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images beneath surface obstacles, such as platforms, and near-surface obstructions, such as shallow gas zones. In addition, because the acquisition conditions and processing steps of VSP surveys are accurately reproducible, 3D VSP opens up the possibility of time-lapse, or 4D seismic surveying.

Figure 2-10. Marine 3D VSP acquisition sail lines are planned to minimize turning, and satellite navigating systems track the shot points. However, processing from 2D to 3Dsunstantially increases the need for planning and logistics control. Similarly, the processing requirements are almost an order of magnitude greater. The first 3D VSP survey was run in 1987 in the Adriatic Sea Brenda field, operated by AGIP. Since then, there have been two 3D VSP surveys in the Norwegian Ekofisk field for Phillips Norway- where a large gas plume over the center of the structure prevents imaging using conventional 3D surface seismic techniques. Other Norwegian surveys probe the Eldfisk and Oseberg fields. In the UK North Sea, a 41-line, 3D walkaway VSP survey has been carried out in Shell Expro's Brent field. In this case, the aim was to acquire a survey with improved resolution compared with the 3D surface seismic survey. The image was then to be used to produce an accurate structural map to aid the planning of horizontal development wells in the Brent slump-a crestal zone of complex faulting and collapse field's remaining oil reserves.

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