Step Change in Efficiency and Economies of Scale in OBN Seismic

Summary Technology developments have driven the seismic industry since its inception. 50 years ago, surveys consisted of a maximum of 500,000 traces. The Utsira OBN survey, acquired over two seasons in 2018 and 2019, using the latest multi-source, multi-vessel, high node count acquisition techniques and employing a multiclient business model, achieved a step change in seismic efficiency, generating 57.6 billion seismic traces and almost 1.5Pb of field data. Further improvements in efficiency in 2019 were achieved by applying lessons learned from 2018. Recognising the attributes of a good survey and the best approaches to field acquisition was important to understanding how these efficiencies could be delivered through the optimisation of scheduling, design, and technological advances. Costs per trace of OBN have fallen rapidly as a consequence.