Gazprom Neft Develops Green Exploration Technologies
Gazprom Neft is implementing the Green Seismic 2.0 environmentally friendly exploration technology. In the 8 years since the creation of the first generation of an innovative approach to exploration, the company has saved more than 7.5 million trees.
The Green Seismic technology was created by Gazprom Neft for forest areas: lightweight technical means and wireless data recording systems make it possible to study the structure of the subsoil with minimal environmental impact. Last season, the company carried out exploration work on an area of over 1.3 thousand square meters. km – in areas in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug, Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, Tomsk and Orenburg Regions. In all forest areas, seismic exploration was carried out using “Green seismic”.
In 2022, at the Lugovoi site in the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug, the company for the first time used a new generation of technology – Green Seismic 2.0. The approach includes the use of advanced lightweight drilling rigs and compact mobile equipment. Airborne laser scanning was additionally used to increase the efficiency of seismic survey planning in hard-to-reach areas. Thus, the analysis of the landscape features of the Vorgensky area in Yamal helped geologists to build optimal schemes for the delivery and placement of equipment and personnel in a wooded and swampy area. Gazpromneft-Geo has tested the high-density seismic technology with pulsed sources for the first time at the Severo-Vorgensky block. The approach developed by Russian specialists made it possible to obtain detailed information about the structure of the subsoil with the involvement of a smaller number of employees and equipment than with traditional seismic.
Since 2020, all Gazprom Neft seismic surveys have been carried out using a digital twin, an online platform for planning, implementing and analyzing exploration. Since the introduction of the system, the project cycle of search programs has been reduced by a quarter, which has also improved the quality of interaction between the company and oilfield service organizations.
“The Green Seismic technology we developed has changed approaches to seismic exploration and today has become the quality standard for the entire industry. The creation of a digital twin – an innovative ecosystem for exploration programs – is the next stage in the evolution of exploration projects. This is not just a step towards improving the accuracy of geological forecasts and investment decisions, but also a completely new level of safety for large-scale oil and gas projects – for nature and humans.” – Yuri Masalkin, Director for Geological Exploration and Resource Base Development, Gazprom Neft
