Criteria for the selection of reservoirs suitable for monitoring have been developed based on either theoretical principles or discussions around the water cooler.

In general, it is concluded that the optimum case for advanced characterization and monitoring is for low-dip, low-velocity strata that have a low-modulus fluid moving during the production process coupled with a high signal-to-noise ratio on the seismic data. Given these assumptions there is a strong tendency for the selection of reservoirs suitable for monitoring and advanced seismic characterization to be clastics associated with high GOR oils, or with gas movement on marine seismic data.

A more aggressive strategy using multi-component acquisition, alone or in combination with permanent installations, offers the opportunity to break these rules and develop methods for reservoir description extending across a wide range of traps in more challenging signal-to-noise provinces. To accomplish this goal, advancements are required in several areas:

Results from Geld experiments demonstrate that there are significant developments suggesting that future surveys will capitalize on improved coupling, multi-component analysis, and new algorithms. Combining multi-component recording with new acquisition and processing concepts provides the opportunity to improve both the characterization and monitoring of reservoirs that are outside conventional wisdom for seismic work. New results extend the concept of reservoir work to include fracture mapping, detection of sand/shale ratios, and monitoring of non-gas fluid movement.

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