What are they looking for with seismic testing in Eastern Ohio

Here in the Eastern Guernsey county area we are seeing a company use a helicopter to lower seismic testing supplies into remote areas.

This area is being drilled, or rather was before oil prices fell, so my question is what are they looking for ?

A representative of the company doing these surveys/testing came to our house last summer asking for permission to our land, which we had already denied them over the phone and by mail.

He told me quite frankly that if we were leased it was in our best interests to allow them on our property. I told him of the high drilling activity even though I am sure he was aware of it and asked him what they were looking for since the presence of the Utica is already a sure thing.

He would not straightly answer my question or even address it so I asked them to leave and not come back. I don't regret that decision nor do I question why others allowed them access to their property for these tests.

But to this day no one has been able to tell me what they are looking for.

By the way, the monetary compensation for allowing access to test on our property was the generous sum of $5 an acre.

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Permalink Reply by Brett on April 13, 2015 at 5:57am

I'm not sure. I signed four years ago and was green as grass. CHK has a clause that states that if they are conducting operations or exploring for oil/gas, the  lease can automatically renew. I worry that they will show up and pound a pipe in the ground and call it exploration.

They have more money to pay lawyers than I do. I hope that Ohio makes a ruling on what constitutes "exploration" and "operations", but I fear I may just be stuck.

Permalink Reply by Craig Cooper on April 15, 2015 at 5:07am

Brett,

Seismic data can be generated via a number of different energy sources depending on surface conditions, location (i.e. rural, suburban, urban, environmental sensitivity, etc.) and / or needs of the O&G company(ies) underwriting the program. The energy sources fall into two general categories, explosive or vibration. 

With explosive sources, vertical holes are drilled and 'loaded' with small explosive charges which are detonated during the acquisition process. With vibration sources, trucks lower a rectangular 'pad' onto the ground and vibrate / shake over a range of frequencies during the acquisition process. 

Regardless of energy source, the generated energy propagates down into the subsurface where some of it reflects off of geologic boundaries back to the surface while the remainder continues propagating deeper into the subsurface. The reflection / propagation process continues until the energy completely dissipates.

The reflected energy (aka 'signal') is detected by geophones at the surface where it is then recorded on a disk drive; either locally (on/near the geophone) or remotely (transmitted to a central computer located in the 'dog house').

The data can then be organized & processed via computer to generate an acoustic image or representation of the subsurface geology, which is the primary purpose of seismic data. 

Geologists, geophysicists and engineers interpret the processed data and derive a number of properties of the subsurface rocks which are or may be useful for identifying potential rock types (e.g. limestone, sandstone, shale), potential reservoirs & reservoir 'sweet spots', potential hydrocarbon source rocks, faults & natural fracture systems, etc. 

While it is often possible to directly detect & identify hydrocarbons in conventional reservoirs (e.g. porous sandstone), as a general rule, it is extremely difficult (if not impossible) to do so in 'tight' rocks such as shale (e.g. Marcellus, Utica).

Permalink Reply by INVICTUS on April 16, 2015 at 3:25pm

I'm curious as to what kind of void would be caused by the explosive charges?

Permalink Reply by Craig Cooper on April 17, 2015 at 2:08am

INVICTUS,

I'm not sure I understand what you mean by 'void'. Would you be kind enough to clarify? Thanks.

Federal, state and local regulations dictate how the explosives are handled as well as how the holes are loaded and sealed prior to detonation. In general, the sausage shaped explosive charges are placed at the bottom of the hole which is then filled with a water-absorbing material (e.g. bentonite) to create a seal. So there should be no open space or void in a loaded hole prior to detonation.

The explosive charges are small so, in a properly sealed hole, no or very little void is created by the detonation. 

The goal is to direct all of energy associated with the detonation downward.

Permalink Reply by INVICTUS on April 17, 2015 at 4:05am

Your answer was full of the additional detail I would have asked about as well as the original answer I was looking for. The folks in charge of our particular project don't seem to be able to provide the level of detail I want. Not really their fault, they're just not used to picky Leaseholders like me.

The Void would be a cavity left behind by the charge. I worry this cavity might later lead to some kind of subsidence later on. It's one reason why I want to know quantitatively how much energy one of these detonations had.

Looks like these are "shaped charges"?  I guess that makes sense if one is propagating sonic radiation down instead of sideways (why would you go sideways???) . At least, that's my incomplete mental picture of the process.

Thank you!

Permalink Reply by Craig Cooper on April 17, 2015 at 5:24am

I understand your concern. 

Ideally, there would be no or a very small void left behind by the charge. In addition to the obvious drawbacks you mention, creating any kind of a void during detonation has a detrimental impact on seismic data quality. For that reason a fair amount of effort is made to optimize charge size in order to eliminate or minimize cavity creation. 

When & where possible, charge-size & hole-depth tests are conducted before an actual seismic program begins in order to optimize source parameters.

The link below may provide additional, useful info. A discussion of explosive sources begins on the third page of the article (i.e. labeled page 30).

https://www.slb.com/~/media/Files/resources/oilfield_review/ors10/s...

Permalink Reply by Brett on April 13, 2015 at 4:33am
As for testing what has already been drilled, my guess would be that getting a reading on high producing wells would be used as a bench mark to measure future seismic results.
Permalink Reply by David Allen Lilly on April 13, 2015 at 5:19am

I had not considered that possibility.

Permalink Reply by INVICTUS on April 14, 2015 at 1:36am

Just so everyone is aware, you are under no obligation to provide POST-PRODUCTION access to your property for this testing, unless specifically written into your lease.

Implied consent? Ask them to show legal precedent with respect to something at or beyond the appellate level in Ohio. That bit of law is very murky.

If you have an indemnity clause in your lease that compels the O/G producer to pay for any legal expenses (indemnify you, their fault, your fault, nobody's fault) all the better.

Those with arbitration clauses will have a harder time.

Finally, ask the nice lawyer who may call and threaten you to provide in writing the relationship between the seismic people (TGS in this case) and the O/G producer.

Their is still the question as to whether TGS has been paid by the O/G producers for this work yet, or whether they are trying to get the O/G producer to purchase (in the future) these results. The answer to this may be very important.

Apparently TGS is working with or attempting to work with several of the O/G producers concurrently.

None of this knowledge should be used or construed to necessarily block seismic testing - Rather, it should put control back in the hands of the Leased Landowner, both for pricing and terms for access.

All this logic should also apply to many pipeline row issues and negotiations (not all, though).

Permalink Reply by frank speaker on April 15, 2015 at 1:16pm

This is not a "spec shoot"as I understand it. A company spent millions doing a seismic survey on speculation a couple years ago in East Ohio, and they went bankrupt. Chesapeake could have purchased the info for little money, but  they want their own survey. Companies are very interested in the layers below Utica. When a company drilled a unit near mine, they first drilled to lower layers, then made a U turn and came back up to the Utica before going horizontal.

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Permalink Reply by Craig Cooper on April 15, 2015 at 2:30pm

frank, 

Just an fyi: spec shoots are conducted all the time so there was probably no correlation between spec shooting & bankruptcy. 

Any reasonably sized survey will cost millions though spec surveys, because of their lower-quality design, will usually be the least expensive. 

Permalink Reply by David Allen Lilly on April 15, 2015 at 10:47pm

I received a phone call last night from a man well respected in the field who told me these are most likely spec shoots looking into the possibility of developing other formations like the Utica.

He seemed pretty sure of his opinion, having been in the industry for many years.

He saw the discussion and called me instead of writing a comment on the thread, which I have never seen him do. We have had a friendship over the last few years and I have relied on his opinions and interpretations of the oil and gas business.

I am now pretty certain there is more coming to be developed. Please consider this if you are considering the selling of your minerals in regards to surface to core.

Thank you to all who have contributed.

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