FireFly in Action

1. FireFly in Action Version 2.0 System – Moffat County, Colorado USA August, 2008 FireFly was formerly an ION Land Acquisition Product

2. Version 1.0 of FireFly was field trialed by BP and Apache in late 2006 / early 2007. Based on learnings from these field trials, significant refinements have been made to a number of ecosystem components – notably the datacom, power management, and command & control sub-systems. FireFly Version 2.0 took the field in northwestern Colorado in July 2008. What follows is a snapshot of the early stages of the deployment of Version 2.0 as part of a multi-client Integrated Seismic Solutions (ISS) project managed by ION in which East Resources is the primary underwriter. Background [ 2 ]

3. Durham RanchMoffat County, Northwestern Colorado Satellite image courtesy of Google Earth

4. The Durham Ranch seismic survey comprises a 31 square mile area about 40 miles west of Steamboat. Durham Ranch has significantly varying topography, ranging from irrigated farmland to exposed cliffs to high mountain meadows. Livestock and wildlife are prevalent at Durham Ranch, which is a prime hunting location in Colorado. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has numerous restrictions in place to protect native species, including birds-of-prey, deer, and black bear. The staging area for the survey area is located at ~7,500 feet above sea level, with portions of the survey approaching 9,000 feet in elevation. Durham RanchA Closer View Satellite image courtesy of Google Earth

5. FireFly Version 2.0 with 6,100 full-wave VectorSeis sensors Connex command & control software from ION’s Concept Systems group 10,597 receiver points (comprising 327 ‘line miles’) 7,271 dynamite source points (comprising 223 ‘line miles’) Source and receiver density = 346 per square mile Nominal fold = 240(acquired with a 30 x 96 patch) Survey ParametersDensely Sampled, Full-wave Data Program BLM controlled area is shown in yellow.

6. A crewmember is visible in the far background (center of photo) deploying FireFly Field Station Units (FSUs) on an irrigated alfalfa patch. The survey extends up the cliff in the background, which lies beyond a river in the vicinity of the trees. Ranchers who own this land want to minimize damage to their crops and the numerous pipes that comprise the irrigation infrastructure in the area. Varying TopographyIrrigated Farmland

7. Both private ranchers and the BLM are dedicated to conducting seismic operations with minimal environmental disturbance in this wild area. The BLM has strict guidelines in place regarding when and how areas can be accessed so as to minimize the disturbance to local flora and fauna. The cableless, stakeless approach enabled by FireFly ensures seismic operations accommodate the needs of both ranchers and the BLM for speed and environmental sensitivity. Varying TopographyEnvironmentally Sensitive Lands

8. Upper Left: Crew has navigated to the receiver point using the NavTool (left) and is now drilling the hole for the VectorSeis sensor (middle). Once the sensor is in place, the FSU (right) will be connected in order to record and store the acquired data. Lower Right: Sensors and FSUs are also deployed on the buttes lining the valley, requiring professional climbers for layout and retrieval. VectorSeis’ tilt insensitivity is critical on this steeply sloping topography. Varying TopographyRugged Exposed Cliffs

9. Upper Left: An FSU and VectorSeis along the road, seemingly having no effect on the native residents! Lower Right: One of the helicopter drop-points for the bags containing FSUs and VectorSeis. Unlike most cable-based seismic surveys, the cows have not been chewing on the equipment! Varying TopographyHigh Mountain Meadows with Livestock

10. The Durham Ranch area contains a number of oil wells that average between 50-100 barrels per day. However, multiple dry holes have also been drilled since the field was discovered in the 1950’s, primarily because the techniques to properly image the subsurface and drill and stimulate wells in a highly variable, fractured formation were not perfected. East Resources recently leased the mineral rights to the property and plans a large-scale re-development program at Durham Ranch and in surrounding areas throughout Colorado and Wyoming. Varying TopographyProducing Oil Wells on the Survey Grid

11. An outcrop of the target Niobrara reservoir alongside the Green Mountain Reservoir, just north of Silverthorne, CO. In the bottom photo, one can see the thin laminations (left) of a section of the carbonate reservoir that is not highly fractured. In the middle and on the right side of this same bottom photo, fracturing becomes more intense. Within the Niobrara (and many fractured reservoirs), individual well productivity can be optimized by targeting horizontal wells to connect pockets of high fracture intensity within the reservoir interval. Densely sampled, full-wave seismic data plays a key role in mapping reservoir fracture intensity, optimizing horizontal well drilling programs, and maximizing hydrocarbon production and reserves. The Reservoir TargetFractured Carbonates in the Niobrara Formation

12. The Niobrara was deposited in Cretaceous times in the Western Interior Seaway, a shallow body of water that extended from the Gulf of Mexico, up through the Permian Basin of West Texas, north along what became the Rockies, and on into the present-day Arctic Ocean. The Cretaceous Seaway was anoxic (lacking oxygen) and therefore limited in terms of fish population. However, anoxic algae thrived in the warm waters and provided the organic material that matured into oil when the seaway closed and the organics were buried and heated within the thermal generation window. Cretaceous SeawayWestern Interior Covered by a Shallow Sea

13. Like many seismic surveys, the Durham Ranch project is time pressured. The area is renowned for hunting, with the season starting on September 1. All seismic acquisition operations must be completed by this date. East Resources invited several seismic contractors to bid on the project, with many submitting ‘no-bids’ because of the time sensitivity and their belief that traditional, cable-based acquisition methods would be unable to complete the project in the allotted time and budget. The contractors however, believed that it could complete the survey, but only if the cableless FireFly system were utilized. Back to Modern Times…The Timeline for the FireFly Survey at Durham Ranch

14. Upper Left: Two crews are drilling shot holes for the dynamite energy source being used at Durham Ranch. In traditional seismic surveys, an advance team would have to come out to the site, survey, and ‘stake and flag’ the locations. However, this increases costs, cycle time, and HSE risks, and also increases the chances that shot holes end up in locations other than those intended. At Durham Ranch, the shot-hole crews are navigating to the source points using Connex-enabled command & control software from ION’s Concept Systems group. The Technologies Making it PossibleStakeless Drilling (Energy Source Deployment)

15. One of the many screen views made possible by Connex showing source and receiver locations in a portion of the survey area, along with roads, waterways, and exclusion zones. Connex software enables survey designers to input decision rules (e.g., “no source points within 600 feet of an eagle’s nest”) to optimize source-receiver placement while maximizing crew safety and productivity. No other seismic technology provider has the power of Concept Systems behind their cableless recording technology, making ION stand out in a world where everyone else is just a ‘box manufacturer.’ The Technologies Making it PossibleConnex Command & Control Software

16. One of the deployment crews at work. Similar to the method of source deployment, the traditional method of deploying sensors relies on surveying, staking, and flagging. FireFly has been designed to eliminate these steps so that crews can deploy receivers in the exact locations intended, thereby eliminating guesswork and added cycle time in pre-processing. Connex command & control software is the brain behind the stakeless operation, with specific location data downloaded to the NavTool being used by the crew member on the left. The Technologies Making it PossibleStakeless Deployment (VectorSeis and FSUs)

17. The Staging Trailer enables multiple tasks in the acquisition operation. It provides the initial charge to the FireFly systems when they arrive in the field, and ongoing power boosts as required. At the same time they are charging, the FSUs receive the latest firmware updates, are quality controlled before deployment, and download any acquired data for quick-look, QC reviews by observers in the field. The Technologies Making it PossibleStaging Trailer for Power and Data Management

18. Although taken on two separate days, these photos give you a feel for how bags filled with FSUs and VectorSeis sensors get from the Staging Trailer area to deployment crews in the field. In the Durham Ranch survey, helicopters are used to speed up deployment, cope with variations in terrain and topography, and minimize traffic on the gravel and dirt roads in the survey area. Completing the Picture…Bags in Staging Area, Heading out for Deployment

19. Perched on a bluff roughly 1,000 feet above the valley floor, the Recording Trailer acts as the command & control center once acquisition operations begin. The Recording Trailer is outfitted with proprietary recording software, providing a detailed picture of the entire operation on the ‘seismic battlefield.’ The Recording Trailer powers FSUs on and off and monitors the shooting crews in the field (who ultimately set off the dynamite charges) for maximum safety and productivity. It also receives selected attributes of the recorded data to provide a high level of comfort in the integrity and quality of the operation. Completing the Picture…FireFly Recording Trailer

20. Acquisition Approach:Deploy FireFly Version 2.0 in a full-scale, full-scope commercial program managed by ION 6000+ FireFly Field Station Units and VectorSeis sensors Concept Systems command & control software Advanced data processing and fracture detection by GX Technology Licensable data library, underwritten by East Resources End-to-end program management by ION’s ISS group, with field acquisition services provided by Geokinetics Anticipated Results:Comprehensive ‘ecosystem approach’ enables hard-to-execute acquisition program Densely sampled, full-wave data for fracture detection and horizontal well optimization Minimal system footprint (no cables) and stakeless methods enable low-touch access to environmentally sensitive public and private lands Cableless recording system, single-point sensors, and advanced command & control software ensure the productivity needed to quickly ‘get in and get out’ according to mandated 3rd party timelines Program SummaryDurham Ranch FireFly Project