Industry

Title: Induced Polarization effects in Electromagnetic data: opportunity or waste of time?

Speaker: Francesco Dauti, PhD student at University La Statale of Milan

Date/Time: 30/03/2023 @ 1645

Zoom Registration: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_6tN9sU_uQNmzPI0s3EaWow

Abstract: 

The possibility to model the Induced Polarization (IP) effects from the time-domain Airborne Electromagnetic (TD-AEM) data has gained considerable interest in the last two decades from both industry and academia. 

Recently, it has been physically demonstrated that IP effects can distort AEM data that, if not recognized and properly treated, can lead to artefacts in the modelled resistivities.   What it is still unclear though is if these distortions can be robustly recovered and modelled, providing useful information on polarisation effects within the ground.

Results on two aspects of airborne IP (AIP) modelling will be discussed:

(i) if modelled AIP effects can give significant information for exploration, and

(ii) if it is possible to measure and model AIP in AEM fixed-wing systems.

Francesco Dauti is a Ph.D. student in exploration geophysics at University La Statale of Milan. He took a bachelor’s and a master’s degree at University of Pisa, in geological sciences and in exploration and applied geophysics. His current research field is about the integration of galvanic and inductive Induced Polarization techniques for mineral exploration, both in terms of modelling, inversion, and interpretation.

Bio:

Francesco Dauti is a Ph.D. student in exploration geophysics at University La Statale of Milan. He took a bachelor’s and a master’s degree at University of Pisa, in geological sciences and in exploration and applied geophysics. His current research field is about the integration of galvanic and inductive Induced Polarization techniques for mineral exploration, both in terms of modelling, inversion, and interpretation.

Title: Surface and borehole seismic monitoring of CO2 geological storage

Speaker: Professor Roman Pevzner

Date and time: 27 April 2023, 5:30pm

Location: The Shoe Bar and Cafe 376 - 420 Wellington Street Perth, WA 6050

Registration: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/aseg-wa-special-tech-night-prof-roman-pevzner-tickets-599937548357

Abstract:

Geological carbon capture and storage (CCS) or sequestration is a critical component of CO2 emission reduction, which aims to alleviate global climate change. Geological carbon storage always requires a subsurface monitoring program to address two main goals: (1) surveillance at the reservoir level to verify compliance of the growing CO2 plume with the original plan and (2) early detection of adverse effects, such as leakage of the injected fluid from the containment zone or significant induced seismicity associated with the injection.

Seismic methods play an important role in achieving both goals. Change in CO2 saturation in the pore space inside of the storage reservoir or in the overburden results in the change of elastic properties detectable through changes in seismic reflectivity or travel times. Induced seismicity generates a direct signal usually associated with the propagation of the pressure front.

The range of seismic methods — which can be deployed — includes surface and borehole active time-lapse seismic surveys with re-deployable or permanently mounted source and receiver arrays and passive monitoring, e.g. using any components of the wave field that originated from the seismic sources beyond our control. Many CO2 geosequestration sites are located near large sources of CO2 emission, such as populated areas with existing infrastructure. As such, the monitoring strategy must accommodate sharing the land (or ocean) with other users and have a minimal environmental impact. Furthermore, geosequestration is a form of waste disposal that must be cost-efficient. All these factors make CCS a leader in innovation, being an early adopter of such disruptive technologies as distributed fibre optic sensing and permanent reservoir monitoring. Small-scale demonstration projects focusing on the testing and development of CCS technologies play a critical role in this innovation.

This lecture is based on Australian CCS projects, such as the CO2CRC Otway Project and CSIRO In-situ Lab Project, which showcase the evolution of the seismic monitoring technology from conventional land 4D seismic to continuous or on-demand monitoring using permanent downhole and near-surface geophone and distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) arrays. We discuss how monitoring objectives can be achieved using various acquisition geometries, including land 4D, 4D vertical seismic profiling (VSP), and offset VSP, all of which can be implemented using conventional and permanently mounted seismic sources. Also covered is the automation of data acquisition and analysis, as well as passive data analysis.

Drinks and nibbles will be available from 5:30pm - 6:15pm. The talk will commence promptly at 6:15pm. ASEG would like to thank our sponsors for their continued support.

Bio:

Professor Roman Pevzner joined Curtin University (Perth, Western Australia) in 2008 as an associate professor in the Discipline of Exploration Geophysics, progressing to professor in 2018. Previously he headed the software development department at DECO Geophysical service company from 2002–2008. At the same time, Roman has also conducted research and teaching at the Geological Faculty of Lomonosov Moscow State University, Seismometry and Geo-acoustics Department. Roman Pevzner received his PhD in Geophysics (2004), Masters of Science in Geophysics (2001), and Bachelor of Science in Geology (1999) from Lomonosov Moscow State University.

His main areas of interest include subsurface monitoring using active and passive seismic methods, borehole seismic, distributed fibre optic sensing for geophysical applications, and CO2 geosequestration. Roman has co-authored 75 journal papers and more than 170 refereed conference publications.

Title: REBIRTH OF A MATURE OIL FIELD IN EASTERN CARPATHIANS, CENTRAL-EASTERN EUROPE: A SYNERGETIC APPROACH.

Speaker: Prof Victor Mocanu,

Registration:  ASEG WA Special Tech Night - Prof Victor Victor Mocanu Tickets, Wed, Mar 22, 2023 at 5:30 PM | Eventbrite

Location: The Shoe Bar and Cafe 376 - 420 Wellington Street Perth, WA 6050

Date and time: Wed, Mar 22, 2023, 5:30 PM AWST

Details:

We demonstrate the effectiveness of using complementary geophysical and geological methods to better understand the structure and petroleum potential in a mature, late life producing oil field in the internal part of the Romanian Eastern Carpathians, in the so-named Tisza-Dacia block, an area in Central-Eastern Europe.

161 years ago exploration work indicated positive results and several wells were drilled. Crude oil extraction started as early as 1899 and continues until present, with several interruptions. Without serious advanced exploration activities and mainly based on interpretation of poor well cores, the extraction was a temptation despite the not-so-significant production.

Several wells reported basement at shallow depth between two major crustal faults and so the hydrocarbon prospective was considered as limited.

Some 15 y ago the new 2D seismic was of modest quality, so resistivity, gravity and magnetics plus MT data were added over geochemical sampling and geological re-mapping. This is an example of how a historic production could be boosted by integration of geophysical with non-geophysical methods so that the resulting geological model is modernly calibrated. The seismic data reprocessing by better velocity picking, statics and migration was based on a mixture of geodata. But the real original approach is represented by carefully looking into complex methodology with positive results in a mature field of over 100 y of production history.

Drink tokens and nibbles will be available from 5:30pm - 6pm. Technical presentation will start shortly after 6pm. ASEG would like to thank our sponsors for their continued support.

Title: Geologically constrained level-set inversion with null-space analysis for evaluation: application in the Western Pyrenees.

Presenter: Jeremie Giraud

Date: 02/03/2023

Time: 1730-1900

Location: The Shoe Bar and Cafe 376 - 420 Wellington Street Perth, WA 6050

Registration: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/aseg-wa-tech-night-jeremie-giraud-ticket...

Details:

We present and apply an algorithm integrating automated geological modelling into geometrical gravity inversion. The method we employ is based on a generalized, iterative level-set inversion scheme where geological units are deformed automatically to fit geophysical data. The proposed approach is formulated to account for geological data and principles during geophysical inversion. This is achieved by incorporating an automated geological modelling scheme in the regularization term of the geophysical inverse problem’s cost function. The geological modelling term provides model-dependent geological constraints and encourages geological realism during inversion. After summarizing the method that we employ, we present a field application where we refine a pre-existing 3D geological model which is locally inconsistent with geophysical data. The objective of this application case is to automatically resolve this inconsistency by improving geophysical data fit (i.e., the Bouguer anomaly) in selected areas while maintaining consistency with some geological observations (e.g., contact locations, orientation data) and principles (e.g., are relationships, structural rules). We consider a subduction zone generated during the Iberian and Eurasian intraplate collision with a partial uplift of the upper mantle located in the Western Pyrenees Mountain range across France and Spain. We focus on the structure of the upper crust and investigate the presence of abnormally dense material. We also use our algorithm to explore alternative geological scenarios and assess their consistency with geophysical data using the concept of 'null-space shuttle' to derive geophysically equivalent models.

HPC is increasingly being used in solid Earth Geophysics in Europe and AuScope has organised this Special Seminar with Arnau Folch, leader of the EU ChEESE Program

ChEESE is the EU Centre of Excellence for Exascale in Solid Earth and develops translational research capabilities in High Performance Computing to the Exascale in geophysics, enabling multiscale, multiphysics and multi-hazard analysis.

In this seminar, Arnau will present the results of ChEESE-1P Exascale Pilot Demonstrators, including:

·  Rapid probabilistic forecasts of tsunami inundations; 

·  Earthquake source prediction; and

·  The atmospheric volcanic ash dispersal models validated in real time against high-resolution geostationary satellite data.

And, introduce ChEESE-2P and highlight its role in an ecosystem of projects that are shaping Europe’s Digital Future, including:

·  A Digital Twin for GEOphysical Extremes (DT-GEO);

·  Destination Earth (DestinE); and 

·  European Plate Observing System (EPOS)

Date: February 6th from 12 pm to 1:30 pm AEST.

Please register here via Eventbrite.

Background

The first phase (ChEESE-1P) ran from 2018-2022 and addressed scientific and technical computational challenges in moving existing systems to Exascale in seismology, tsunami science, volcanology, and magnetohydrodynamics. ChEESE-1P initiated the optimisation of 10 Community flagship European codes for the European pre-Exascale and Exascale supercomputers and developed 12 Pilot Demonstrators (PD) that enabled services oriented to critical aspects of geohazards, including hazard assessment, urgent computing, and early warning forecasting.

Following the success of ChEESE-1P, a second 4-year phase (ChEESE-2P) with funding of € 7.8 million was launched in January 2023. Arnau will lead a team of Earth and Computer Scientists across multiple programs that will further develop the ChEESE-1P codes and new codes in geodynamics and glaciology.

We are delighted to be hosting Arnau and welcome you to join us in what will surely be a great seminar.

This month PESA and ASEG welcomes Dr Moritz Ziegler to present a technical luncheon entitled “The Good, the Bad and the Uncertainties – A model of the stress state”.

The Technical Lunch will be held at the Brisbane Hilton Hotel, in room the Victoria Room.

For detailed directions, see explanation below.

Presentation:The Good, the Bad and the Uncertainties – A model of the stress state

Venue: Hilton Hotel Brisbane, 190 Elizabeth Street, Brisbane QLD 4000
Victoria Room
(Detailed directions below)

Date & Time: Friday, 24th February 12:15 PM

Presentation Abstract:

The Good, the Bad and the Uncertainties – A model of the stress state

A profound knowledge of the undisturbed stress state is the basis for an understanding and prediction of effects that occur during subsurface operations. These issues, from wellbore stability to the potential for injection or production induced seismicity are relevant for safety. Safe operation is particularly important with the public as a stakeholder. An increase in subsurface usage in urban areas (for geothermal district heating) is expected in Europe due to the need to become independent from energy imports and meet the climate goals.

The limited availability of stress (magnitude) data records usually doesn’t allow a significant prediction of the stress state in an area of interest. Therefore, geomechanical-numerical modelling is applied. Available stress data records are used to calibrate a model of the subsurface that predicts the stress state at the area of interest. However, the models are subject to large uncertainties due to limited knowledge on rock properties, 3D geology, and stress magnitude data. To allow for a significant interpretation of the model results the uncertainties are quantified. Therefore, a range of different possible stress scenarios that are supported by data are modelled.

To reduce the uncertainties, additional indirect observations of the stress state are used. They are data from boreholes such as Formation Integrity Tests or the observation of Borehole Breakouts, recorded seismicity, or injection-induced stress rotations. The different stress scenarios are compared for their agreement with the indirect data. The more indirect data is in agreement with a certain scenario, the higher is the scenarios probability. Eventually, a Bayesian approach is applied to assign probabilities to individual stress scenarios. This leads to an increase in significance of the model which adds value to the interpretation.

Tickets for the Technical Luncheon can be obtained here:

Early bird pricing will remain available up until Thursday, 16 February 11:30 PM after which, standard pricing will come into effect.

Final numbers to venue required by Tuesday, 21 February 12:00 PM – To avoid disappointment please register before that date and time.

The venue location can be accessed by two means:

1) Entry from Queen Street Mall
Enter the lifts located just to the left of Mick O’Malley’s Irish Pub, and take the lifts to Level 6.  Once you exit the lifts, the Victoria Room is immediately to the left.

2) Entry from Elizabeth Street
Enter the foyer located on 190 Elizabeth Street, and take the lifts to Level 6 (Main Foyer).  The Victoria Room is located in the back of the main foyer towards the right as you walk past Vintaged Restaurant.

The first Australian Society of Exploration Geophysicists (ASEG) QLD branch event for the year will be a student welcome and social evening, generously supported by Anglo American.

Please join us to learn about geophysics and what ASEG does, catch up with other geophysicists and enjoy some musical entertainment.

When: From 4pm on Thursday 16th February

Where: Stock Exchange Hotel, 166 Charlotte Street, Brisbane (upstairs in the Charlotte room)

Cost: Free for members and students and $20 for non-members; includes food and two free drinks

RSVP by 10/02/22 to recieve your drinks!

Title: Exploring the structure, composition and resources of the New Caledonia peridotite ophiolite (SW Pacific): Contributions of geophysics and land-to-sea drilling

Presenter: Marguerite Godard

Date: Monday 13th February 2023

Time: 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm AEDT

Registartion: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_FUG7jMeQQXeiBg-uae2xvA

Abstract:

The New Caledonia (NC) ophiolite extends over more than 900 km at the northeastern limits of the Zealandia submerged continent, along the Australia – Pacific convergent plate boundary. It comprises large peridotite massifs forming the Island of Grande Terre (GT) and its recently discovered off-shore extension to the south. The subaerial NC ophiolite is of strategic importance for mineral resources (mainly Ni, Cr and Co from peridotites). Several subaerial and submarine alkaline, and H2-rich hydrothermal vents are observed along the NC ophiolite, the most famous being the Prony Bay Hydrothermal Field. The New Caledonia Ophiolite Land-to-Sea Drilling Project (NCDP), submitted to the International Continental Scientific Program (ICDP) and the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP), aims at (1) sampling the peridotites and associated lithologies on-land, in coastal waters, and the deep oceanic sub-seafloor, and (2) developing borehole observatories to measure in situ the hydrogeological and (bio-)geochemical processes controlling serpentinization driven hydrothermal systems from continental to marine environments. NCDP will provide a unique sampling to quantify interplays between serpentinization, H2 production, CO2 mineralization and ore mobilization over the different stages of obduction.

Bio:

Dr. Marguerite Godard is Senior Researcher at the French National Centre for Scientific Research. She is a geochemist, specialist of the study of magma- and fluid-peridotite interactions in the oceanic and ophiolitic lithosphere; she (co-)authored more than 100 publications in international scientific reviews and books. She coordinated and participated to several European and French academic and industrial projects on serpentinization and carbon trapping in peridotite basements and their impact on resources, environment and life (e.g., TotalEnergies 2017-2021; ANR LISZT 2018-2023). M. Godard is one of the main PIs of the New Caledonia Ophiolite Land-to-Sea Drilling Project.

More details to follow

Industry Mentoring Program Sundowner

When: Tuesday, 29th November 2022 5:30-7:30pm

Location: The Globe, 495/497 Wellington St, Perth

Cost: $10 for members of any of the participating associations

Ticket sales close Monday 28th November 5pm

Registration: https://pesa.com.au/events/industry-mentoring-program-sundowner/

The joint Industry Mentoring Program is a collaboration between nine professional associations: Petroleum Exploration Society of Australia (PESA), Australian Society for Exploration Geophysicists (ASEG), Energy Club of WA (ECWA), Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), Engineers Australia (EA), Society for Underwater Technology (SUT) and Subsea Energy Australia (SEA), and Professional Petroleum Data Management Association (PPDM).

We’re inviting the members of the participating associations to join us for the mentoring program wrap-up. This will be an opportunity to network with mentors, mentees, and members of the participating clubs and associations. There will be networking activities, nibbles and drinks to encourage meaningful networking and connections in a friendly environment.