Underground Storage Cavern Surveys

Sonar Surveys has earned an enviable reputation for reliable, accurate and cost-effective cavern integrity inspections since its inception in 2009. In addition to its sonar engineering teams with over 30 years of experience, it is Sonar Surveys' commitment to pushing the technology envelope in oil field applications that sets it apart. One such example would be the Cavern Surveyor™ III, the first long-line, color-modulated cavern inspection tool certified by Sandia National Laboratories for use in the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve. In the hands of the extremely experienced Sonar Surveys Sonar Engineers, the Cavern Surveyor III has proven itself to the perfect tool for high-reliability, high resolution cavern integrity inspection. Below is one example of the Sonar Surveys team’s commitment to providing our customers with unassailable data.

A large cavern owner was faced with a dilemma– trying to determine whether it was cost-effective to perforate the casing based on the amount of product trapped. Prior survey tools were unable to accurately survey the cavern roof through the brine/product interface. Sonar Surveys was called in and using the Cavern Surveyor III, the Sonar Surveys Sonar Engineers successfully measured the storage well, accurately ensonifying the cavern roof through the brine/product interface, as well as the 9⅝" pipe string at 616' and 13⅜" casing/product interface at 604'.

The Cavern Surveyor III Volume Capacity Report shows a product volume of 15,140.976 barrels of product trapped between the roof of the cavern at 591' and the 604' product interface. Given accurate, timely and unambiguous data, the cavern owner was able to make the decision to perforate the casing with confidence, recovering sufficient trapped product for a positive return on investment.