W-13: Low-cost Monitoring for Oil and Gas Production and Emerging Energies

Geophysical monitoring plays a crucial role in the safe and efficient development of future energy resources. In established oil and gas operations, as well as in newer domains such as geological energy storage and geothermal systems, monitoring provides the practical evidence needed to understand reservoir behavior, verify containment integrity, and assess long term performance.

In practice, however, the scope of monitoring is often constrained by cost, logistics, and operational complexity. Even where the value-of-information is well understood, these constraints can limit spatial coverage and reduce the frequency with which measurements can realistically be repeated. Over the last decade, this balance has begun to shift. Advances in sensing technologies, acquisition strategies, and data integration have made it increasingly feasible to design monitoring programs that are both technically robust and economically sound. Permanent and semi permanent sensor installations, purpose designed seismic acquisition programs, and the growing integration with multi physics approaches are now being applied to track subsurface change with greater accuracy, continuity, and confidence.

At the same time, new deployment concepts are expanding the range of practical monitoring options. Distributed sensing, drone based surveys, and the use of autonomous vehicles are enabling targeted measurements in settings where conventional approaches would be difficult or prohibitively expensive. These methods are particularly relevant for specific onshore monitoring programs and for reducing operational overhead in offshore and marine environments.

Taken together, these developments point towards a more pragmatic and scalable approach to geophysical monitoring—one that emphasizes fit for purpose solutions, wider areal coverage, and cost realism across the energy sector.

This SEG post convention workshop will bring together researchers, industry practitioners, and technology developers to examine recent progress in low cost, safe, sustainable, and scalable monitoring solutions for both conventional and emerging energy applications. The program will focus on field experience, real world case studies, and integrated monitoring strategies, with the aim of sharing lessons learned from successes, surprises, and failures - highlighting approaches that are already transitioning from research into operational use.

Lead Organizer

Nimisha Vedanti, National Geophysical Research Institute

Co-Organizer(s)

Joel Le Calvez, SLB
Shiva Maitra, Viridien
Matthias Imhof, Consultant
Erkan Ay, Consultant