Exxon Mobil Deepwater Solutions

Seismic surveys - listening to the earth.


				Milestones 1972 Pioneered three-dimensional seismic technology, now the most widely used method to interpret subsurface geology. 1991 Led the industry toward dual-sensor technology, a technique that improves the quality of seismic data by measuring both motion and pressure on the ocean floor. 1993 First to use massive parallel processing (MPP) computing techniques to process seismic data faster than ever before. 1994 First to use six streamers at the same time to record seismic data, which saves time and money by capturing data quickly. 1997 Participated in the first use of 12 streamers to record seismic data, saving time and money by collecting data faster. 1999 Received the Distinguished Achievement Award from the Society of Exploration Geophysicists for the invention of 3-D seismic exploration – an achievement the Society noted as “the most important geophysical innovation of the past 30 years.” 2000 ExxonMobil’s combined technology and experience significantly strengthens the company’s portfolio of proprietary technology, offering unprecedented opportunity to explore and develop the world’s most promising deepwater basins.

Vessels towing long streamers of listening devices record low-frequency sound waves bounced off layers of rock far below the ocean floor. We process and interpret this seismic data with proprietary computer software to create high-resolution images that give us much more information than the images used by most of the industry.

ExxonMobil’s ability to produce sharp three-dimensional images of rock formations deep in the earth, including those in deepwater basins, is an important competitive advantage. It’s one way we have reduced our average cost of finding oil to less than $1.20 a barrel while adding billions of barrels to our resource base.

A laboratory technician cuts a core plug from a rock taken from an oil reservoir off the coast of West Africa. An analysis of how well fluids flow through the porous core plug will be used to predict the rate of production and the life expectancy of a new field.

Specks of liquid just four-millionths of an inch across trapped millions of years ago in this rock sample provide clues to the history of oil movements in the earth.

A geologic team studies an outcrop of rocks that holds clues about rock formations in distant deepwater basins. Using sequence stratigraphy - a technique we pioneered - we can predict the location and properties of rock layers in any basin in the world.

ExxonMobil geoscientists study this global gravity map to evaluate oil and gas prospects in new frontiers.

Cores are cylindrical rock samples taken as a well is being drilled. This oil-saturated core came from an exploration well in deep waters off West Africa. The earth in 3-D Geoscientists peer miles into the earth via three-dimensional seismic pictures to interpret the secrets of geological formations that may lead to discoveries of oil and gas. ExxonMobil's ability to develop three-dimensional images of subterranean formations has helped raise its rate of discoveries in wildcat exploration wells to more than 50 percent.

The earth in 3-D
Geoscientists peer miles into the earth via three-dimensional seismic pictures to interpret the secrets of geological formations that may lead to discoveries of oil and gas. ExxonMobil's ability to develop three-dimensional images of subterranean formations has helped raise its rate of discoveries in wildcat exploration wells to more than 50 percent.