Second FireFly project underway for Apache in northeast Texas

Input/Output Inc. announced that the second FireFly project is underway, this time for Apache Corp. in northeast Texas. The project involves the FireFly field station units (FSUs) and VectorSeis digital full-wave sensors included in the previously announced multi-year agreement involving Apache, BP and Seismic Equipment Solutions (SES).

Marty Williams, senior vice president of FireFly Solutions, commented on the project, “We learned a great deal from the first FireFly project at BP’s Wamsutter field and are leveraging our newly gained experience to improve the system. Deployment for Apache is progressing, with our Connex software system having been used to plan the survey. Field crews are now using Connex to navigate to planned receiver points and to deploy the acquisition equipment. On an average day, six field crews are deploying more than 600 FSUs. This is consistent with the deployment statistics on the BP Wamsutter project and is a remarkable achievement given the relatively high vegetation in the area of the Apache survey.

“The recording phase of the project will begin shortly, and the team expects to record approximately 5,100 shot points in the weeks ahead. I/O is excited to be working together with Apache and its designated acquisition contractor, PGS, on applying this revolutionary seismic system.”

The Apache survey involves recording approximately 55 million traces in a 77 square-mile survey area. The resulting seismic data should allow Apache to better characterize the target reservoirs and to measure the productivity of FireFly-enabled vs. conventional seismic acquisition in this agriculturally sensitive area.

Over the next several years, both Apache and BP will be utilizing the initial FireFly system to efficiently acquire densely sampled seismic data on their key assets around the world.