Optimization of Seismic Reconnaissance Surveys in Petroleum Exploration

Jerrold M. Pachman
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Jerrold M. Pachman: Pan American Petroleum Corporation, Tulsa, Oklahoma

Management Science, 1966, vol. 12, issue 8, B312-B322

Abstract: The seismic reflection method employed in petroleum exploration is described, after which the problem of selecting the optimum cell size for a uniform rectangular seismic reconnaissance search pattern is stated in terms of elementary search theory. The search effectiveness for each pattern is estimated by a Monte Carlo approach due to the probabilistic nature of target geometry. The problem of allocating a limited amount of search effort to a number of regions to be searched simultaneously is formulated as a dynamic programming problem in which the decision variables are the search pattern parameters and the inter-shot point spacing along the survey lines. The approach is easily generalized so that pattern morphology and orientation also become decision variables.

Date: 1966
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:inm:ormnsc:v:12:y:1966:i:8:p:b312-b322

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