Why 4D Broadband is the Next Standard for Reservoir Monitoring Studies

For the last ten years, the seismic industry has been offering broadband 3D seismic. Broadband acquisition and processing technologies are appealing for 4D time-lapse surveys. As for any 4D requirement, they must deliver seismic signal repeatability for an extended frequency range to be qualified as a 4D broadband solution. Multisensor streamer systems offer an optimum platform for acquiring 4D broadband data in an efficient way. Deeper tow depths give a better signal-to-noise ratio and allow an improved acquisition weather window. In addition, multi-sensor recording provides receiver ghost-free data insensitive to the sea state. We will discuss the different options for introducing a new broadband dataset into the 4D reservoir cycles. In a genuine 4D broadband acquisition context, we will describe how the repeatability of broadband streamer data can compete with the repeatability of 4D OBN and why an extended bandwidth 4D signal allows to better characterize the seismic image variations due to reservoir production. Finally, we conclude that 4D broadband acquisition, processing and interpretation can complete the challenge of quality and efficiency improvement.