The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and Total will collaborate to deploy the world’s first automated seismic acquisition system in Abu Dhabi. The pilot project, performed with Total’s Multiphysics Exploration Technology Integrated System (METIS), uses autonomous drones and a ground vehicle to drop off and retrieve seismic sensors without human intervention, lowering costs. It will be deployed throughout the emirate of Abu Dhabi, to contribute to onshore exploration and appraisal campaigns—a first in the region, said Total.
Following successful trials of METIS conducted by Total in 2017 in Papua New Guinea, the new pilot project will be undertaken by ADNOC Onshore to test the versatility and upscaling ability of the system in a 36-km2 desert environment. Thousands of seismic sensors will be dropped by a fleet of six autonomous aerial drones and later be retrieved by an unmanned ground vehicle instead of conventional manual deployment and recovery by ground-based teams.
“Total is focusing on innovation in seismic acquisition to minimize surface impact of petroleum activities and improve the quality of subsurface images, while increasing our overall operational efficiency. We are proud to have this opportunity to collaborate once again with ADNOC to share advanced technological know-how and expertise,” said Dominique Janodet, vice president R&D of Total Exploration & Production.
“The ultimate purpose of this collaboration is to be able to jointly develop a safer, faster, more efficient and cost-effective acquisition system to acquire 3D and 4D high-resolution seismic images of the subsurface, which can be processed in real time to build a clearer understanding of the subsurface, lowering geoscience and drilling uncertainties and optimizing field production,” said Khadija Al Daghar, vice president research and technology development at ADNOC.