For exploration: what about "electromagnetic imaging"? is this technology fairly accurate or reliable? Is it very expensive? I would imagine it's fairly expensive, and fairly accurate. But with oil hoovering at $63 a barrel it might be worthwhile to invest in that expense. the return on investment would be substantial.
Anybody know anything about it?
Are you talking about electroseismic? I am working on something in this field so I will have to leave the discussion if it gets technical.
Pressure waves cause differences in electrical conduction in porous rocks if there is a nonconductor like oil or a conductor like water inside it. Think of oil holding apart two grains of relatively conductive rock and when a pressure wave goes through, the rocks touch and conduct electricity. If the pore holds water instead, then the electricity will conduct at all times instead of only when the pressure wave is going through.
It is much more complicated than that, though.