To address the growing need to reduce onboard processing turnaround time, WesternGeco has introduced Q-Xpress. The system integrates marine acquisition systems with onboard quality control (QC), quality assurance and data processing activities, and those workflows are optimized by improving throughput while simplifying parameterization.

It also enhances communications between the vessel, the onshore data processing center and the asset owners. Satellite links allow sharing of select test lines and QC results with the various stakeholders. Project planning for data processing can now start ahead of, rather than concurrent with or after, acquisition.

In addition, the early stages of the full production-processing route can also be completed. There is no need for repeat work in the onshore processing center, which saves time without sacrificing final data quality. And the system offers the option to generate seismic reservoir attributes such as relative acoustic impedance cubes, amplitude vs. offset products and 4-D difference images on the vessel.

For more information, visit www.westerngeco.com.