PRUDHOE BAY, Alaska — New technology is being used to search for untapped oil in an Alaska bay that is already an established source of fossil fuel.
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The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported Saturday that oil and gas company BP is employing “3D seismic” technology to locate small pockets of previously undiscovered oil in Prudhoe Bay in northern Alaska.
The newspaper reports the area has been an oil source for more than four decades, but in recent years its flow has slowed.
Company officials say the technology involves metal platforms mounted to trucks, which send sonic energy into the ground that returns as three-dimensional data about the geology below, including hidden pockets of oil.
The company says the 3D seismic survey from January through April will sweep over 450 square miles (about 1,166 square kilometers.)
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