In a presentation at the PPROA Annual Convention, eField Exploration LLC (eField) unveiled the results of the first direct detection survey of a producing gas reservoir by a passive electro-magnetotelluric (EMT) platform. The high-resolution EMT airborne survey mapped the Rhombochasm Field at a depth of 8,200 ft (2,500 m) while flying 1,000 ft (305 m) over the Texas Palo Duro Basin in Cottle County.


Ed Johnson, president of eField, announced that this breakthrough in applied airborne geophysics is based on a research and development effort spanning 10 years. Johnson further noted that "eField’s technology enables airborne exploration of up to 100 sq miles (386 sq km) a day that can accurately detect the presence of hydrocarbons to depths of more than 20,000 ft (6,100 m).” The projected savings in cost and time, as well as the elimination of environmental damage caused by conventional surveying, will potentially enable the oil and gas industry to enter a new phase of exploration that has thus far been cost-prohibitive.



eField’s EMT System


eField’s new generation of airborne electro-magnetotelluric technology leverages advances in airborne geophysics, remote sensing and forward modeling. Management anticipates that the 3-D maps and advanced geophysical analysis generated by the eField system will be much more effective than alternative technologies in efficiently and cost-effectively isolating geophysical structures and rendering images of oil and gas.


The underlying technology of the eField system detects the presence of hydrocarbons by reading patterns associated with natural electric currents known scientifically as telluric currents. Telluric currents are induced by solar energy and lightning that penetrate deep into the earth. eField’s airborne EMT system captures electronic anomalies that occur at the interface of water and dissolved hydrocarbons -- an effect called Natural Field Induced Polarization (NFIP).


This approach is significantly different than technologies that rely on spectral imaging, gravity or magnetic measurements. These and other indirect measurement systems, like seismic, require time-consuming data gathering and interpretation methodologies that identify anomalies or prospects which may or may not contain oil or gas.

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