HOUSTON – March 10, 2010 – MicroSeismic, Inc. (MSI), a leading geophysical service company providing 3-D passive seismic imaging for energy exploration and production, today announced that it has completed installation of a Buried Array system in the Williston Basin’s Sanish Field for Whiting Oil & Gas Corporation, the wholly-owned subsidiary of Whiting Petroleum Corporation (NYSE: WLL).
This expansive Buried Array spans an area of more than 150 square miles in Mountrail County, North Dakota and uses more than 1200 geophone channels. The Buried Array will enable microseismic monitoring, mapping and analysis of the hydraulic fracturing operations for Whiting’s Sanish Field development program. It will also permit Whiting to monitor the primary, secondary and tertiary activity, in a variety of reservoir conditions, for their Bakken and Three Forks Formation wells on a long-term basis.
“I am extremely proud of our operations team who completed the installation of this project ahead of schedule despite adverse weather conditions and temperatures of 20 degrees below zero,” said Peter Duncan, Ph.D., CEO of MicroSeismic, Inc. “We have established an analysis team dedicated to Whiting’s program that will be able to apply the extensive knowledge learned from the numerous projects we have completed.”
MicroSeismic, Inc. invented and perfected both the surface based array, known as FracStar<sup>®</sup>, and the Buried Array microseismic monitoring methods. These methods have proven to provide more accurate and comprehensive results when compared to down hole monitoring methods. The Buried Array is the ideal solution for fields containing multiple wells, or for long-term development and reservoir monitoring. Both systems apply MSI’s proprietary PSET® processing and analysis to the seismic data collected by MSI’s Buried Array as the reservoir undergoes fracture stimulation.
The company has developed its expertise in these monitoring methods through the completion of more than 200 FracStar® and Buried Array mapping and analysis projects performed for more than 60 domestic and international clients. As a result, MSI has gathered, processed and analyzed immense amounts of microseismic data from the major shale plays and has developed a better geological and geomechanical understanding of these plays along with a knowledge of the unique fracture networks associated with them. The knowledge gained from these projects has also been incorporated into the PSET® processing application to improve its performance, functionality and precision of results.
MicroSeismic, Inc. has completed the installation of more than 325 square miles or more than 200,000 acres of buried arrays in the Haynesville, Marcellus, and Bakken shale basins, consisting of more than 3,100 geophone channels. Additional Buried Arrays are being installed in the Haynesville Shale and the Midland Basin in West Texas during the first quarter.
About MicroSeismic, Inc.
MicroSeismic, Inc. is the leading provider of passive seismic and microseismic data acquisition, analysis and interpretation to the global oil & gas industry. MicroSeismic’s technology and services enable E&P operators to better manage their reservoirs, increase their production rates and decrease their completion costs and risks. The company is based in Houston, Texas with offices in Denver, Colorado and Calgary, Alberta. For more information visit: www.microseismic.com.
About PSET®
PSET®, Passive Seismic Emission Tomography, is a passive seismic monitoring, mapping and analysis process invented by MicroSeismic. PSET® utilizes a FracStar® array or a Buried Array of surface detectors to locate very low level acoustic energy emissions associated with hydrocarbon producing activities. Mapping of these energy fields can yield valuable information to optimize frac treatments and other processes.