Today Guralp Systems announced the delivery of a life of field seismic monitoring system to the Kashagan field.
The Kashagan field is located in the Kazakhstan zone of the Caspian Sea and is one of the world’s largest discoveries in the last 30 years. Located in the northern extremities of the Caspian Sea, the water depth varies between 3m and 10m. The field is part of the North Caspian Sea Production Sharing Agreement (NCSPSA) operated by North Caspian Operating Company (NCOC) on behalf of a consortium consisting of KazMunayGas, ENI, Shell, ExxonMobil, Total, ConocoPhillips, and Inpex. A Shell / KMG joint venture, named NCPOC, has responsibility for NCSPSA production operations, of which the first phase will be from the Kashagan field.
Guralp is to supply a life of field monitoring system to NCPOC, which comprises eleven CMG-3T borehole instruments. Each instrument houses a three component broadband seismometer capable of detecting low frequency seismic events down to 0.03Hz. Six instruments are located in boreholes close to the coast on the mainland of Kazakhstan, whilst the other five are located in boreholes drilled in the offshore artificial islands constructed specifically for producing the Kashagan field. All instruments are located approximately 100m below the surface.
Mark Volanthen, Managing Director of Guralp’s Oil & Gas division stated, “I am delighted that NCPOC has selected Guralp equipment for Kashagan’s life of field monitoring system. Our broadband passive instrumentation delivers information that cannot be obtained using standard seismic equipment. Guralp’s oil & gas division continues to grow rapidly, fuelled by a demand for increased seismic monitoring for risk mitigation, production optimisation, exploration and legislative compliance.”
The Guralp system operates continuously and detects passive seismic waveforms including both microseismic events generated in the field and more distant regional seismic events. Data from the instruments will be transmitted in real time to an operations centre.
The Guralp system will be installed in the coming months.
For more information email sales@ideaasgroup.com