Seismic Data Acquisition Quality Control in the Nigerian Offshore Environment

This study examines quality control practices for marine seismic data acquisition in the Nigerian offshore environment and assesses their effectiveness in ensuring data quality for reservoir characterisation and exploration decisions. Marine seismic data quality is critical for accurate subsurface imaging in the deepwater Niger Delta, where high-value development decisions are based on seismic interpretation. Quality control failures during acquisition produce artifacts and data gaps that compromise interpretation reliability and can lead to costly misidentification of drilling targets. This study analyses the acquisition quality documentation for five marine 3D seismic surveys conducted in the Nigerian deepwater between 2019 and 2023, obtained from NUPRC regulatory submissions. QC dimensions assessed include feather angle monitoring, source signature consistency, noise monitoring, navigation accuracy, dead trace management, and in-field processing QC metrics. Industry benchmarks from the SEG technical standards and IAGC guidelines are used for assessment. Findings reveal that navigation accuracy and inline positioning consistency meet international standards in all five surveys. However, three of five surveys show suboptimal receiver depth control that creates variable ghost notch frequencies affecting data bandwidth. Cross-line sampling irregularities are observed in one survey due to acquisition vessel incident, creating illumination gaps in the final migrated image. Near-surface multiples are inadequately suppressed in two surveys due to insufficient quality control on SRME application. The study concludes that deepwater seismic acquisition QC in Nigeria is generally adequate but would benefit from real-time processing QC enhancement. It recommends standardised QC metric reporting requirements in NUPRC seismic acquisition permits.

Keywords: seismic acquisition quality control, marine seismic, Niger Delta deepwater, data quality, NUPRC.