The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Sep. 10, 1996
Filed:
Dec. 19, 1994
James R Booth, New Orleans, LA (US);
Michael C Jacobi, New Orleans, LA (US);
Arlette C Nunez, St. Bernard, LA (US);
Jonathan S Smith, LaPlace, LA (US);
Peter R Tauvers, New Orleans, LA (US);
Earl H Doyle, Jr, Sugar Land, TX (US);
Fredric A Diegel, Jr, Bellaire, TX (US);
Thomas M Kratochvil, Metaire, LA (US);
Brenda G Gaudin, New Orleans, LA (US);
Shell Oil Company, Houston, TX (US);
Abstract
A method is disclosed to identify existence of near-surface drilling hazards in the vicinity of a sea floor location comprising the steps of: obtaining 3D seismic data for the seafloor in the vicinity of the sea floor location; preparing high resolution 3D vertical profiles from the 3D seismic data; preparing an artificially-illuminated rendered surface based on the 3D seismic data; and identifying existence of near-surface hazards in the vicinity of the sea floor location by visual analysis of the rendered surface with reference to the high resolution 3D vertical profiles. Deep tow and geohazard surveys, which are expensive and time consuming are not required in the practice of the present invention. 3D seismic surveys that are used in the practice of the present invention have often been prepared for other purposes.