Abstract
For many years Crosswell seismic profiles (XSP) has promised high-resolution images for purposes of reservoir characterization and monitoring. Designed to fill the gap in coverage and resolution that exists between surface seismic and borehole logs, the crosswell seismic profile has overcome numerous hurdles in technology development, operations, and commercialization. Where is crosswell technology today and how is it being used? In this talk, I'll review the recent history and the state-of-the-art of modern crosswell seismic profiling. I'll cover the major aspects of data acquisition techniques, data processing for velocity, attenuation and reflectivity, and image interpretation. Is the promise realized? I'll attempt to answer this question with case studies from reservoir imaging and process monitoring studies. Finally, I'll use this recent experience to identify some possible future applications of crosswell seismic profiles to problems found in natural resource management, groundwater systems and geotechnical engineering.
Biography
Jerry M. Harris received the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from CalTech in 1980. He worked on atmospheric attenuation of microwaves for three years, then after completing the Ph.D. he joined Exxon Production Research Company. At Exxon he worked on adaptive seismic beam steering and polarization methods for use in areas with seismically poor data. He moved to the Standard Oil Company (later BP), where he developed crosswell technologies for reservoir imaging. In 1988 Dr. Harris joined Stanford University where he is currently Professor and Chairman of the Department of Geophysics. In 1992, Professor Harris founded TomoSeis Corporation (now a part of CoreLabs) to commercialize crosswell seismic profiling. His current research interests include experimental methods in high-resolution borehole geophysics, seismic attenuation, and acoustical resonance spectroscopy.
