From creekology to rocket science the evolution of remote sensing gis in oilgas exploration

From Creekology to Rocket Science:

The Evolution of Remote Sensing/GIS

in Oil and Gas Exploration

A Presentation for

2011 Texas GIS Forum

October 26, 2011

Austin, Texas

David G. Koger

Fort Worth

Becoming an Expert

takes 10,000 hours, timing & luck

Becoming an Expert


and the desire to show up

Becoming an Expert


the desire to show up

and learning “dialogues of business”

Becoming an Expert




and learning after school‟s out

Becoming an Expert




and learning after school‟s out

e.g. the expert mortician

Creekology: Seeing into the Earth

Creekology: Seeing into the Earth

„Seepology‟...Native Americans extracted medicinal goo

The first oil wildcatters drilled at the bends in streams

Early USGS maps showed rough stream drainage patterns

Creekology

Satellite data—large scale and highly accurate—merged creekology with geology.

Photogeologic work was now possible without troublesome mosaicking.

Remotely sensed data are spatially and spectrally better than airphotos, and has

A greater variety of sun angles, moisture conditions, and seasonal samplings.

How this will work

Agenda: • Part 1: Case studies (natural disasters;

environmental; damages & liabilities; exploration; logistical support)

• Part 2: Photogeology; how images work

• Part 3: Field work: it costs a lot. Getting better data; saving time and money on your surveys

• Part 4: Other stuff to know, time permitting

Part 1: Case Studies

...Liabilities, Damages,

Operations and

Planning…

Case study #1

Put it back the way you found it. (not an unreasonable request…)

What is a weed, after all? (everybody knows what a weed is, right?)

Causing damage to the bushes

and what‟s beneath the bushes (USLE).

Putting it back (how hard can that be?)

Case study #2

300,000 acres burned up

Whose land was damaged?

What portions were grassland, crops, trees?

Where‟d the fire actually start?

Who‟s responsible?

Mapping Wildfire

Wildfire 6 hrs later

Wildfire Damage Outline...LS5

Wildfire Burn Severity

Fire Severity on Property

Boundaries

High Water Marks

Creating up-to-date information.

A word about coastlines, tides, erosion (and where the fish are).

Freshwater or Ocean; currents and

thermal differences for fishing

Exploration Examples

Nebraska

Fayetteville Shale

Marcellus Shale

Romania

Paraguay

Costa Rica

Kansas DOE three times

Large-scale Data Management:

Photogeology Mapping of Nebraska

The goal was to foment exploration, so we conducted a photogeology study of Nebraska at medium scale, using satellite imagery, gravity and magnetics.



We acquired topographic maps at 1:250,000 and 1:100,000 scales) for spatial reference with the satellite imagery.



Structural interpretations were made from and overlaid onto the imagery.



The interpretations were overlaid onto topo maps to provide a universal map reference display.



A merge of imagery, map, and interpretation.


Nebraska

Fayetteville Shale

Marcellus Shale

Romania

Paraguay

Costa Rica


Landsat

bands 7, 4,

and 2;

composited

as color on

the following

slide

Landsat

composites

from two

different

dates. Also,

the

geometry

differs.

Regional (250K+) Interpretations

Regional + Local (24K)

Interpretations


Nebraska

Fayetteville Shale

Marcellus Shale

Romania

Paraguay

Costa Rica


Romania

Identify features of exploration interest (e.g. fault/frax, structures, tonal anomalies)

Update WWII-era maps

Identify high-cost damage areas (e.g. vineyards....)

Data Types & Sources: Multi-sensor merge

(Landsat + SPOT)

The area had only WWII-era maps....


(Landsat + SPOT)

This is the 5-meter panchromatic SPOT image that supplied the spatial detail in the study, while 28.5m Landsat data provided the spectral information.


(Landsat + SPOT)

The multi-band Landsat was encoded to hue and saturation, while the higher resolution SPOT was assigned to intensity.

Data Types & Sources: Multisensor merge

(Landsat + SPOT)

The photogeology interpretations are overlaid.

Data Types & Sources: Multisensor merge

(Landsat + SPOT)


Nebraska

Fayetteville Shale

Marcellus Shale

Romania

Paraguay

Costa Rica


Paraguay Information Needed

Where are existing roads that can be used for moving equipment and laying out field work equipment,

Where are the tracks of previous field work?

Update maps...collect detailed knowledge of the area,

Find water sources: rivers, ponds, springs.

Gold = Your New, Geometrically

Accurate Roadmap


Nebraska

Fayetteville Shale

Marcellus Shale

Romania

Paraguay

Costa Rica


Stress-Strain Ellipsoid

Compression at 100K Scale

Stress-Strain @6K Scale


Nebraska

Fayetteville Shale

Marcellus Shale

Romania

Paraguay

Costa Rica


“Remote Sensing Image Analysis

Toward Understanding

Sequestration Potential of

Southern Kansas” DE-FE0002056 – “Modeling CO2 Sequestration in Saline

Aquifer and Depleted Oil Reservoir to Evaluate Regional CO2

Sequestration Potential of Ozark Plateau Aquifer System,

South-Central Kansas”

by

David G. Koger

Ralph N. Baker, PhD

Fort Worth

Information needed:

Is it safe to inject CO2?

Will it come back up?

How quickly?

Where?

Where might it get trapped?

What are the cost trade-offs?

Remote Sensing to the Rescue

• Help map the subsurface

Conduits / Compartments;

Migration fairways / Sealing mechanisms

• Define structural & stratigraphic elements

these affect Fluid Movement

(Information, continued)

All of which supports:

Environmental Risk Analysis and

Helps determine reservoir suitability for CO2 storage

Because knowing the contrasts of

Conduits vs. Compartmentalization and

Migration Pathways vs. Sealing Factors

Must be understood & modeled to predict Fluid Movement and reservoir integrity

because this is how we can know

how and where groundwater flows and, therefore,

How/if CO2 injections might affect the water table (e.g. we expect some CO2 leakage along fractures; high porosity/permeability zones are especially noteworthy….

Regional Gravity & Magnetics

Define Major Basement Block Boundaries, Structural Grain

Regional Satellite Photogeology

Local on top of Regional


Nebraska

Fayetteville Shale

Marcellus Shale

Romania

Paraguay

Costa Rica


“Remote Sensing Image Analysis of the

Bemis-Schutts Field,

Ellis County, Kansas”

in support of U.S. Dept of Energy/KS Geological Survey’s

DE-FE0004566 – “Prototyping and testing a new volumetric curvature tool for

modeling reservoir compartments and leakage pathways in the Arbuckle

saline aquifer: reducing uncertainty in CO2 storage and permanence”

by

David G. Koger

Ralph N. Baker, PhD

Koger Remote Sensing, Fort Worth

Stress/Strain Model

Regional-scale work

Local-Scale work

Local-scale interpretations

How this will work






How satellites work:

They collect their data with scanners. Other scanners are:

•video cameras,

• fax machines,

•barcode readers,

•Magnetic Resonance Imaging machines,

•video game characters‟ vision...

Part 2 (how images work)

About satellite data

• How it collects & organizes data

• Attributes of these data

Spectra, spatial, temporal

Photogeology for exploration



• How data are collected & organized

• Attributes of these data



WorldView-2

Docks and Cranes pre-quake

Docks and Cranes Collapsed in

Water (after quake)

Presidential Palace, post-quake

Relief Supplies Arrive

Haiti Damage Severity Map



• How it works

• Attributes



ROY G BIV

Digital Image Processing

“Pixel” = “picture element” ...one spatial unit plus the spectra.



• How it works

• Attributes



Landsat TM footprint

Reducing Data to Information

A typical project area encompasses: •2-6 Landsat scenes (600MB to 1.8 GB raw data) •12-36 USGS raster topo sheets (500 Mb to 1.5 Gb) •Ancillary magnetics and gravity surveys (200 MB) •High resolution aerial imagery (800MB to 2 GB) For a total of 2.1 to 5 GB of raw data Color composites, PCAs, structural interpretations, and ancillary data can make 12-15 GB of additional files All this fuss over data selection, processing, and analysis is because the process must deliver the information needed to make decisions.

Landsat TM processing

Landsat Band 7 raw data

with brightness and contrast stretches applied


Same area: Band 1 raw data

stretched


Band 3-2-1 composite of raw data

Same, stretched


Band 7-5-4 composite of raw data

Same, stretched


Multitemporal Principal Components Analysis (or De-correlation Stretch).

Spatial Resolution…detail

Part 2


• How it works

• Attributes



At left, March 12 shows vegetation patterns in the early spring (bright greens). At right, December 23 vegetation is dormant. Both images are “true.”

Palo Pinto Landsat multi-temporal comparisons

September and March

Multi-temporal 1m data comparison for tax appraisal purposes

Part 2


• How it works

• Attributes



You can never have too

much information

What you do have:

production trends,

a regional framework,

well logs here and there, and

maybe some field work.

Available information is massive:

Surface and subsurface geology maps

Current and historic well logs

Topographic maps

Seismic analyses

Gravity surveys

Magnetic surveys

Satellite and aerial imagery

Geochem surveys

The ideal tool would:

1) fill in every empty space of the mosaic

2) highlight anomalous conditions, and map structure: large folds and astroblemes or localized fracturing

and reefs.

An even better tool would:

a) sample at intervals in time (all seasons, wet and drought conditions, over decades), and

b) offer adaptive scale to support either frontier or mature basin analysis.

Two Kinds of Tools:

• Those that find structure

• Those that find anomalous conditions

Remote sensing does both

The Crust of Earth is:

• Thin, unstable, and floats

• Bombarded with energy daily

• Generates soil @ 3 tons per acre per year

• Washed down and compacted daily

Remote sensing photogeology

is a blend of several disciplines:

optics

physics

electronics

cartography

natural science

computer sciences

Patterns: Their causes and effects

Subsurface activity imprints the surface for many reasons :

constant micro-earthquakes,

settling,

erosion,

micro-seepages.

Microbes are everywhere!

We are 1/10th us; 9/10th microbes.

H.pylori causes 90% of peptic ulcers.

Antibiotics fight harmful microbes.

Yogurt has good ones.

They‟re in amber, meteorites, Mars rocks, and 250 million-yr-old crystals.

A billion microbes in 1 gram of topsoil.

Dead microbes make topsoil.

Other microbes clean up oil spills.

A trillion are on each of your feet.

Healthy topsoil…

retains water better,

resists erosion,

has more oxygen,

better nutrients,

Microbes and earthworms like it,

compacts less, and

is friendlier to roots.

Hydrocarbon-eating microbes

Thrive above oil and gas reservoirs.

Create a magnetic residue.

Are counted.

Deplete oxygen in soil.

Do not build good soil.

Seeps are mostly vertical; dynamic.

These conditions have been recorded for 39 years....

Finding Structure: Astrobleme

Astrobleme with magnetics

The Information in Photogeology

Lineaments: Faults, fractures, fracture orientation and joints can

have surface expression as: Linear escarpments. Changes in the directions

they face can mean strike-slip faults. Linear and right angle bends in drainage courses. Drainages running in parallel. Aligned drainages on opposing sides of a drainage

divide. Tributaries entering main streams in direct

opposition. Moisture accumulation in linear patterns; alignment

of water bodies


Lineaments (continued): Linear vegetation patterns due to water

availability. Aligned notches on ridge crests. Subtle dip changes, varying lithologies or

changes in rock texture. Variation in thermal signature. Large topographic trends align with

basement lineaments. High fracture densities enhance

hydrocarbon mobility at depth


Positive Structures at Depth can appear as…

Surface tonal anomalies.

Circular features can indicate buried structure.

Vegetation differences: health, leaf water content, population distribution.

Differential compaction, loading, increased fracture density over and adjacent to buried structure.

Soil color and texture alterations…staining, bleaching, cobbling.

Local, slight topographic highs or lows.

Subtle variations in moisture accumulation on the flanks of buried structure.

Mapping and GIS: making it all fit

Google Earth: “cans” and “can’ts”: Very popular new web tool;

•Fast and easy for finding places and routes

•Reasonably accurate cartographic information;

•High resolution imagery in some locations;

•Excellent 3D visualization tool

However: •Not accurate enough to be used as an exploration map

•Image dates unknown

•Most areas outside cities and large towns in low resolution

•Color imagery not good enough for photogeologic analysis

How this will work






Field Work

Support

Requires Leadership…

Knowing where you‟re going….

Field Work Support in Three Parts

1) Strategies to get you the best possible data

2) Logistical hoops to jump through ($), and

3) Tools that will help you

Wait a second: has your

area been shot already?

“Earth Detective” work on an unusual application for

(free) satellite data....

Has your area been shot?

Google Earth

Landsat 5

Landsat 7

Airphotos in archive

• Military

• DOT

• USDA

• Farm Service

Has the area been shot?

The trouble with airphoto coverage: • it is spotty • often monochromatic • often mono-temporal

Satellite data • have an archive that goes back 29 years • they‟re inexpensive…mostly free • they cover 10,000 square miles • you get to choose:

the right sun angle the right soil moisture the right vegetation cover

No shoots as of 29Jan95

No shoots as of 21Oct05

No shoots as of 30Oct08

No shoots as of 29Nov09

Has the area been shot?

The trouble with airphoto coverage: • it is spotty • often monochromatic • often mono-temporal

Satellite data • have an archive that goes back 29 years • they‟re inexpensive…mostly free • they cover 10,000 square miles • you get to choose:

the right sun angle the right soil moisture the right vegetation cover

Yes, there were shoots in the area

as of 18July06

Only six months later, seeing it is

difficult due to the low sun angle:

What you should know about

supporting field work

Somebody is responsible. Apparently, it‟s you.

Good information won‟t just happen…it demands good planning.

List all the things that can go wrong in the field. Plan for them.

Field work is expensive. Your project will go over budget unless good information supports your plan....

Collecting the best quality field data results from

a good plan.

Field work Support in Three Parts




The Subsurface

...is where the treasure—water or oil—is: how can we

see down there?

On the Geology Side:

Expensive subsurface surveys are useless unless they produce a proper image of the subsurface.

Advanced modeling—before the shoot design—of the strata below will dictate your:

• receiver and source spacing,

• the location and spacing of lines

• the geometric organization of the signal source and receiver locations, i.e. the design.

Magnetics: “basement topography”

Regional Drainages

Topo on DEM

Satellite data on DEM: slippery slopes

Surface composition: i.e. slippery soils

The Subsurface in 3-D

Generate a model of the earth at depth using:

• surface & subsurface structure maps,

• velocity information, and

• other seismic data.

Ray tracing from the target horizons will identify your optimum shoot parameters

3-D Earth Model

Initial Design

Test it to ensure that subsurface coverage is not compromised.

A full patch, 3D ray tracing shows:

• which parameters will best image your target.

3-D ray tracing may be re-run after “no permit areas” or other obstacles are found.

3-D Ray Tracing

Final Design

Subsurface model is in place

Offset sources & receivers have been ray traced in the model

Hazards are identified

Protocol for handling offsets is established

…meaning: geophysical decisions are not left to the field crew

We‟re now ready to go to the field

Field Support in Three Parts




Knowing What’s in

Real World…

Dealing with it.

Realities of Designing Field Work

The goals of field work and land owners are often in conflict.

It takes knowledge, effort, and time, to:

• identify the project‟s requirements and

• endure the permitting process.

A third party consultant will save you time and money.

Two Costly Philosophies

Being Rigorous: • a strict technical design w/o regard for

obstacles on the ground… Your field personnel have to deal with whatever

obstacles they encounter.

Being Serendipitous: • personnel are sent to the field w/no

coordination... They wander around—on your dime—until a

solution develops You get degraded results, waste your time and

money, and you never establish professional proficiency.

Five steps to planning

(and permit approval):

Establishing the boundaries of the field work

Locating sensitive sites and hazards

Determining how you will avoid or minimize effects to sensitive areas (i.e. establish protocols)

Instructing your working teams about how they‟ll implement the protocols

Monitoring in-the-field performance (somebody must be the “Coach”)

The Project begins. Money’s

on the line. Somebody has to:

Find the landowners

Establish their correct tract boundaries (for permitting and ground control)

And you: must assume that all the information that you carefully collected is incorrect.

assume that all information is

incorrect, regardless of source

All sources have incorrect data:

• Tax assessors,

• Land companies,

• Digitized plats,

• Other public and private domain data.

Field Support in Three Parts



3) Tools that will help you get (and make...) correct information

Your Problem: Taxing agencies draw polygons to identify tracts, which is how they send tax bills…

So, the shape and location of the tract doesn‟t really matter to them.

Your Solution: current aerial photography or satellite imagery, ortho-rectified to obvious, photo-identifiable ground control points.

Example:

up-to-date satellite image vs. air

photo vs. topo map

Satellite data have greater detail and geometric fidelity. They are only a few days old, and they‟re cheap.

Air photos are old, don‟t show recent construction activity, new structures or ponds.

Topo maps are even more out of date.

Satellite Data

Aerial Photography

Topographic maps

Red = Good

Yellow = Costing You Money

Accurate Cadastral Boundaries

Corrected boundaries :

• Prevents trespass

• Builds confidence of landowners

• Plan source and receiver offsets in “no permit” areas

• Provides surveyors with correct mapping

• Provides client with correct land mapping

Field Conditions

that Explode Your Budget:

Terrain & relief (slope)

Soil type & erodeability

Vegetation (i.e. what it is, what it will cost if damaged)

Hydrologic features & drainage basins

Weather

Arrange to get the right equipment in position in advance of need.

Knowing Slope & Surface Geology

Avoids This....Vibes can’t maintain coupling

on steep, rocky slopes

Knowing hydrology will avoid running cables

through drainages multiple times

Know your hydrology & soil types

so you can identify liquefaction areas

(caused when vibes shake)

Know about new construction...without planning

ahead, your sampling points will have to be

dropped or offset “on the fly”.

How this will work






Independent Explorationists:

Lean operations, often rely on the work of consultants for photogeology.

Many could be using remotely sensed data interactively.

Work on hand is insufficient to support a remote sensing specialist of their own.

Some are familiar with photogeology.

One RSPg project can high-grade enough areas to support prospect-generation for two or three years.

Preparing for a Photogeology Study:

Objectives: frontier, previewing, to buy leases or evaluate existing leases?

What is the land type, topographic relief, jungle, arid....

Best platform.

Cost, budget, savings.

Time of year.

Scales.

Using same data for logistics and documentation

The Future of Photogeology

Image data is more accessible (in terms of speed and storage) with CDs, smaller computers, better software and training (more cross-pollenization with other disciplines).

Small, special-purpose satellites are taking the place of large, multipurpose systems.

There are no technological barriers to satellite data design or use; only markets are lacking.

Precision Agriculture will drive the remote sensing market even more.

Important Issues for Remote Sensing

Government space/business policy is unstable…short-term government budgetary processes make business‟ long-term planning needs treacherous.

Government interests are long-term but business has short-term profit motives.

Government/Industry partnerships are necessary if our nation is to stay competitive…other nations realize this critical need to cooperate and it is the U.S.'s critical shortcoming.

In Conclusion…. Seismic and well logs, gravity and basement magnetics can

confirm structures first detected photogeologically.

Detecting rising hydrocarbons and hydrocarbon-induced chemical changes in soils can be done remotely and cheaply, especially as a lead tool.

Select a contractor who speaks in terms you understand and impose the same standards you apply to other tools.

The need to constrain Landsat interpretations with all available geologic data cannot be overemphasized.

Remote sensing photogeology replaces no common tools; rather, it aids in the planning and layout of more expensive methods.

Oil industry observers say “new technologies” will help today‟s explorationist survive in the face of rising costs and regulations. Few specify how, but it is clear that remote sensing photogeology can lower finding costs.

From Creekology to Rocket Science:

The Evolution of Remote Sensing/GIS

in Oil and Gas Exploration

A Presentation for

2011 Texas GIS Forum

October 26, 2011

Austin, Texas

David G. Koger

Fort Worth

From creekology to rocket science the evolution of remote sensing gis in oilgas exploration

Technology

Transcript of From creekology to rocket science the evolution of remote sensing gis in oilgas exploration