Offshore staff
LONDON – A new algorithm developed by S-Cube is designed to improve accuracy of subsurface reservoir imaging.
According to the company, the XWI algorithm’s predictive power can match rock measurements pre-drilling with an accuracy of up to 90%.
This capability should reduce the risk and uncertainty in identifying deepwater hydrocarbons and lessen the likelihood of dry holes, the company claimed.
A ‘Proof of Concept’ study was conducted close to an already drilled well on Chevron acreage in northwest Australia.
XWI, supplied by raw seismic data, is said to have iterated from a basic starting model and was tested at each iteration against the sonic log from the wellbore, which remained “unseen” by the algorithm.
The service is available on demand via the Amazon Web Services cloud. It is designed to potentially scale to thousands of square kilometers while restricting iteration cycle times to minutes, rather than hours or days.
XWI integrates proprietary adaptive waveform inversion, full waveform inversion (FWI), reflection and constrained FWI and additional methodologies to deliver detailed and accurate subsurface models.
Using data generated from active seismic surveys, it allows the user to view the subsurface with sharper definition, focus, accuracy, and certainty, S-Cube claimed, adding that models tested against wellbore measurements have provided accurate predictions that align with downhole measurements up to 3 km (2 mi) deep.
The cloud-based automated digital model generation (data-in-model-out solution) is said to cut months of 3D processing time of seismic data, allowing faster construction of detailed models faster without the need for in-house supercomputing capability.
Dr. Nikhil Shah, COO and co-founder of S-Cube, said: “Our technology is helping world-renowned energy firms to use artificial intelligence in their exploration and production processes to improve drill-or-not decision making, optimize workflows, enhance safety, and reduce costs.
“We like to call this a ‘Think more, drill less’ mindset and are proud to now offer it on a pay-as-you-go basis.”
05/30/2019
