Shell Exploradora y Productora de Guatemala, a unit of the Royal Dutch/Shell Group, has started seismic surveys on a 3,000 sq km block in the Lake Izabel region of Guatemala.
The block, held under a production sharing agreement with the Ministry of Energy and Mines, covers the lake and a substantial area of swamps and some dry farmland. After an environmental impact study of the area, Shell decided to use air guns to generate seismic impulses offshore and reduced explosive charges onshore.
The pulses were picked up offshore by a Digiseis cableless radio telemetric system, described by Shell as a flexible, environmentally friendly alternative to cause less disruption to fishermen than more conventional cable arrays would cause.
Shell said one advantage of Digiseis is the ability to anchor radio-transmitter receiving stations in shallow water of the lake and use the system in swampy areas without the problems of leaking cables sometimes encountered using other systems.
The Digiseis system also is used onshore to allow direct comparability of data received.
Copyright 1992 Oil & Gas Journal. All Rights Reserved.
