EXPLORATION METHODS
Visible surface features such as oil seeps, natural gas seeps, pockmarks (underwater craters caused by escaping gas) provide basic evidence of hydrocarbon generation. However, most exploration methods depend on highly sophisticated technology to detect and determine the extent of these deposits using exploration geophysics. Areas thought to contain hydrocarbons are initially subjected to a gravity survey, magnetic survey or regional seismic reflection surveys to detect large scale features of the sub-surface geology. Features of interest (known as leads) are subjected to more detailed seismic surveys which work on the principle of the time it takes for reflected sound waves to travel through matter (rock) of varying densities and using the process of depth conversion to create a profile of the substructure. Finally, when a prospect has been identified and evaluated and passes the oil company’s selection criteria exploration well is drilled in an attempt to conclusively determine the presence or absence of oil or gas.
Oil exploration is an expensive, high-risk operation. Very large corporations or national governments generally undertake offshore and remote area exploration. Typical Shallow shelf oil wells (e.g. North sea) cost $10 – 40 Million, while deep water wells can cost up to USD$100 million plus. Hundreds of smaller companies search for onshore hydrocarbon deposits worldwide, with some wells costing as little as $200,000 USD.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
BakhtarRadar Forced-Resonance Imaging (FRI) is a novel technique for oil/gas exploration in land and marine environments. It uses the BakhtarRadar platform designed based on Radar principle in which the electromagnetic energy is forced-resonated at an extremely low-power (below 10 dBm) using a pair of specially designed
