Paradigm™ Customer Newsletter, Vol.2 Ed.3 June 2009

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Paradigm™ introduces the new Paradigm™ StratEarth™ Rock & Fluid Canvas™ 2009 introduces Paradigm™ StratEarth™, the next generation software for well correlation and geologic interpretation within its seismic interpretation environment.StratEarth combines seismic data with geologic cross section data resulting in more intuitive, multidisciplinary interpretation of subsurface features [...] Learn more about Paradigm StratEarth here. Do you wear many hats? Paradigm has created a special bundle from the new release of Paradigm™ SKUA® 2009. Designed for the reservoir modeler/geoscientist who wears many hats - performs multiple functions. Through step-by-step workflows, you can create accurate, unbiased, and geologically realistic reservoir models, facilitating the investigation of alternative scenarios and the quantification of uncertainty in hydrocarbon volumes for reliable development planning and reserve evaluation. Contact a Paradigm representative to learn more about this discount. Offer ends 30 June 2009.  Paradigm Debuts Rock & Fluid Canvas 2009 | Epos 4.0 at AAPG in Denver and EAGE in Amsterdam Paradigm is pleased to have introduced our next-generation platform and application suite to the EAGE and AAPG communities.  Based on extensive design, development, and customer and industry input, Rock & Fluid Canvas™ 2009 | Epos™ 4.0 provides an open and scalable framework to support a continuum of multidisciplinary solutions that transform field data to high quality subsurface images and earth models. At EAGE, Paradigm featured its latest advances in seismic imaging, seismic and geologic interpretation, reservoir modeling, formation evaluation, and geosteering. EAGE guests attended the See More. Share More. Produce More. media event where Paradigm President and Chief Executive Officer, John W. Gibson, Jr., formally introduced the Rock & Fluid Canvas 2009 │ Epos 4.0 software suite. At AAPG, Paradigm highlighted its latest advances in multi-survey interpretation, well log correlation and sectioning, structural and stratigraphic framework determination, and geologic and reservoir modeling. AAPG attendees were also given the opportunity to see a presentation by Williams® on the successful use of Paradigm Geolog® Geosteer™ inside the Barnett Shale and a special overview of Rock & Fluid Canvas 2009 │ Epos 4.0 at 4:00 pm. We thank everyone for visiting us during EAGE and AAPG. For more information regarding Rock & Fluid Canvas 2009 | Epos 4.0, visit Paradigm online at www.askparadigmhow.com. New Geolog Training Courses for Rock & Fluid Canvas™ 2009 | Epos™ 4.0 ! Paradigm is pleased to announce the creation of two new courses designed to broaden our customer's knowledge of Paradigm™ Geolog®  as part of the Rock & Fluid Canvas™ 2009 | Epos 4.0 release. The new Geolog Site Administration and Geolog Data Management courses were created after listening to customer feedback on training evaluation surveys. If you want to learn more about the new courses that your regions will soon have in stock, continue on reading here!  Paradigm™ 3D Canvas New Features in Epos™ 4.0 3D Canvas is one of the most widely used application in the Paradigm™ suite for viewing and interacting with regional subsurface data assembled from different surveys, different disciplines, and different sources. The most visible change in 3D Canvas for Paradigm Rock & Fluid Canvas™ 2009 | Epos™ 4.0 is the new user interface which uses the Qt interface toolkit also used by Paradigm GOCAD® based applications [...] To read more about all the new features and enhancements of 3D Canvas 2009, continue here! Recent Events Technology Evening in Edinburgh The Radisson in Edinburgh played host to our Technology Evening in April. The focus was to present how Paradigm technology can add value to your subsurface understanding and reduce exploration and development risk. The presentations highlighted Paradigm structural, stratigraphic and quantitative interpretation solutions via a workflow. Paradigm Geolog® Workshop - Stavanger On a balmy day in Stavanger on 28 April in  the Clarion Hotel,  28 people from 10 different companies attended our Geolog Workshop. The workshop was able to demonstrate to potential clients how existing clients use the product, as well as an opportunity for the exchange of valuable feedback. The day was a great success and a special thanks to those clients that took part and presented. Upcoming Events Rock & Fluid Canvas 2009 | Epos 4.0 Technology Days, Aberdeen and London Dates and Locations: Tuesday June 16, Palm Court Hotel, Aberdeen Tuesday June 23, Paradigm Office, Woking Wednesday June 24, Paradigm Office, Woking Paradigm will be showcasing its next generation software solutions at EAGE in Amsterdam.  We are following this with a series of presentations in UK highlighting the features and benefits that come from this exciting new technology. The presentations will cover our entire range of solutions, including: Processing and Imaging Seismic Interpretation Geological Modelling Depth Conversion Reservoir Characterisation Drilling For a full agenda or if you would like to attend any of these days, please contact Sam Hammond, Improving accuracy of formation evaluation by quantifying petrophysical uncertainty The goal of formation evaluation is to identify the nature and volume of fluids contained in a given formation.  If we can quantify the uncertainty associated with our evaluations these become even more valuable in the process of deciding whether a field contains viable prospects. Discussions with key clients at a series of "Uncertainty Workshops" helped define our initial research direction and now, following two years of original research work by Rick Aldred, we are able to preview the first version of our "Petrophysical Uncertainty Analysis" [...] To read more about this exciting new technology, click here. Using seismic data to guide geologic interpretation Taoufik Ait Ettajer and Huw James, E&P, June 2009. The Next Generation Subsurface Modelling Stephen Tyson, GEO ExPro, May 2009. Integrating seismic attributes to estimate transport properties of dual porosity reservoir rocks Evgeniy Kozlov, Nikolai Baransky, Ludmila Persidskaya, Oksana Kirseleva and Anton Bovykin, First Break, May 2009. Global Brainstorming New Technology Magazine, April 2009. (Paradigm StratEarth - continued...) This solution incorporates geologic cross sectioning and well-to-well correlation applications that are fully integrated with current seismic interpretation and well data applications. Results from this solution demonstrate that integration of geology, seismic and petrophysical data offers new opportunities for subsurface interpretation including improved seismic-to-well ties, confirmations of seismic facies classifications, marker constrained interpretations, and the initiation of reservoir model development. Fig. 1: Tiled StratEarth display with Cross Section at the top and Well Section at the bottom The recommended workflow in StratEarth begins with the creation of "lines of section" (LOS) in a Rock & Fluid Canvas 2009  shared base map. This LOS can be defined along 2D seismic lines, 3D inlines and crosslines, as well as through well locations (head, bottom hole or any marker) and free map points. When wells are deviated, the LOS is defined close to the zone of interest in each well so that seismic data extracted from 3D datasets will also be very close to the zone of interest. This minimizes errors caused by projecting wells onto seismic lines. Once the LOS is defined, cross section and well correlation panels will be automatically created. The cross section and correlation displays can extract seismic and well data directly from the Epos™ 4.0 data repositories together with seismic interpretation, synthetics and well interpretation data. The well data can include any processed or derived logs created by petrophysical applications as well as edited recorded logs. The seismic data accessed may be seismic amplitude data suitable for conventional seismic interpretation or it may be a seismic pore pressure prediction volume, porosity volume or hydrocarbon indicator volume. Fig. 2: Cross Section displaying interpretations, well logs, and geological units in a solid mode with seismic as the backdrop Cross Section: Once the well and seismic data are combined in the cross section view, the seismic intervals and the associated seismic interpretation can be used to constrain or guide well marker correlation when using manual and computer-assisted correlation methods. The backdrop of seismic data enables the display of seismic attributes defined in 2D and/or 3D surveys. Transparency rate and display style (wiggle, density) enable the display of multiple attributes in the views. The cross section can be used to edit previous seismic interpretations or create new interpretations. This new view enables new markers to be defined or edited, and the lithology or deposition environment along the well can be redefined. In addition, geo-cellular model data and well schematics can be added to the section. Interpreters of pore pressure prediction volumes often ask to see casing diagrams of real and proposed wells integrated into cross sections to aid interpretation. The interpreter may define fluid zones using well logs and seismic data and structural information provided by the interpretation. Geologists may find new ways to interpret once they have easy access to such data and can integrate it with all the well data in their cross sections and interpretation. The vertical domain of the cross section can be either time or depth..  Fig. 3: Well Section displaying geologic correlation, lithology, and engineering data. Well Correlation: Geologic Correlation in this type of geosciences software environment can be enriched with many features to aid correlation and increase productivity. Rules can be developed to perform computer-assisted correlation that incorporates any chrono-stratigraphic, litho-stratigraphic and bio-stratigraphic information available while comprehending geologic faults. Computer-assisted methods can highlight features such as dunes, channels and erosions to make interpretation easier. A well template editor that defines any number of tracks improves ease-of-use and consistency in the displays. Once the interpretation is complete, high-quality preview and hardcopy capabilities enable the asset team members to present their findings to colleagues. (Paradigm 3D Canvas - continued...) The primary goal of this initiative is to provide consistency among the interpretation and modeling applications. Qt also supports Windows, so a future port to that operating system is simplified. Fig. 1: Well marker correlation in 3D.  At the same time, the Help function is migrated to WebWorks and help buttons are added to most dialogs to provide improved context sensitive help. Qt supports user interface customization so workflows can be made more efficient. Hot keys are customizable and defined in an external file. Many shared functions, for example 3D Propagator, have a common control dialog that adjusts to the particular functions available in their host application This release of 3D Canvas supports well marker creation and editing. Fig. 2: Anti-aliased oblique 2D sections top left, transparent sections bottom right Users can correlate markers for deviated and horizontal wells in 3D views which avoids distortions caused by projecting from 3D to 2D. Dip markers can be displayed to show stratigraphic dip. (Fig.1: Boreholes with gamma ray log with interpreted markers at the top of a sand with a seismic well section extracted from a 3D volume.  An un-zoomed index view is at lower right).   Seismic data and interpretation can be used to aid correlation by indicating structure, the presence of faults and changes in seismic stratigraphy between the wells.   With this release, 2D seismic data is dynamically anti-aliased so that sections much larger than the screen, or viewed obliquely, yield quality displays. 2D seismic lines may be viewed with transparency so that fluid contacts, faults and channels can be correlated by viewing through the sections or enhanced by optical stacking.  Fig. 3: Triangulated fault with extracted amplitude drape Picking has been improved with better mechanics for multi-z horizons, pop-up sections when editing faults and multi-z horizons, and paintbrush mode in 3D Propagator which now saves extracted amplitudes for improved quality control and thresholding. Seismic displays of merged attributes are faster and have better quality. The triangulated surface model is improved to give faster displays and consume less memory. These surfaces may be draped with attributes extracted from seismic volumes. Map grid display performance is also improved. (New Paradigm Geolog courses - continued...) These surveys indicated that our customers want more in-depth infrastructure training, along with well data loading and management experience using Geolog. The classes were developed by members of the US Geolog Support Team and will be deployed globally. The Geolog Site Administration class is designed for Geolog administrators or experienced users of Paradigm Geolog products. This one day class covers Geolog installation, configuration, and specialized onsite customization issues. The course includes selected topics on project and database structure, custom menu and environment configuration, licensing, printing and plotting, as well as upgrading for Windows or Linux Workstations. The prerequisites for the course require prior completion of the Geolog Introduction course and working knowledge of Windows and Linux environments. The Geolog Data Management class is designed for Geolog data administrators, geotechnicians, geologists, and petrophysicists using well data. This two-day class teaches users the basics of data loading, data management, and data visualization utilities in Paradigm Geolog Connect. The course includes an overview of creating Geolog projects, loading well locations, loading checkshot data from ASCII files, loading logs from ASCII and LAS files, loading well markers, and creating and managing well lists. The prerequisites for the course recommend prior completion of the Geolog Introduction course. Both courses will be officially launched in August. Customers can register for these and other classes online at www.pdgm.com. Additional new courses will be announced soon. Susan Lockhart Global Training Director (Improving accuracy of formation evaluation by quantifying petrophysical uncertainty - continued...) Fig. 1: Uncertainty analysis outputs in log display. Petrophysical uncertainties can be  classified according to their source and can belong to one of three types. Random uncertainty equates to measurement noise where, for example, measuring the same formation multiple times with the same tool yields a range of values. In formation evaluation, this is generally accounted for by zone averaging. Systematic uncertainty represents a systematic shift between a measurement and the true value. In logging, this is due to calibration errors and environmental effects. For petrophysical parameters, this is usually due to insufficient knowledge of the formation or a lack of representative data. Model based uncertainty occurs when the interpretation model that is being used deviates from the formation being evaluated. Model based uncertainty generally has the greatest impact on the results, but is the hardest to quantify and is usually the least analyzed. An effective solution must be able to consider all three types of uncertainties. At the heart of most uncertainty analysis is Monte Carlo processing, in which input values are randomly selected from a user-defined range, resulting in a probability density function for every calculated value at every depth. The workshops produced two camps of thought with respect to the selection of values for Monte Carlo processing. "Horizontal processing" - in which a new parameter set is randomly selected for every depth to accurately model random uncertainty, without regard tothe "petrophysical reality".   "Vertical processing" - where each set of randomly selected parameters is applied to all computations over the entire log section to accurately model systematic uncertainty. We have chosen this as our principal method. Fig. 2: Track 3 and 4 show Probability Density Functions (PDF) for water saturation and bulk volume hydrocarbons from four different saturation models. By incorporating Monte Carlo processing at each step of our deterministic workflow, from environmental correction to reservoir summation, Paradigm™ Geolog® petrophysical uncertainty analysis workflow enables uncertainty to be quantified at every stage of the analysis. In addition to providing output uncertainties for a single petrophysical model (Figure 1), there is also a multi-model option where the results from multiple petrophysical models can be compared (Figure 2). A sensitivity analysis module enables the individual contribution of each input variable to uncertainty to be ranked. These new tools will enable users to quantify the uncertainties in their formation evaluations and have more confidence in their output results. Following a series of successful client visits in Europe and a presentation at the Scandinavian Geolog User Group Meeting in April, Rick Aldred will next present at the Calgary Geolog User Group Meeting (June 16, 2009) and the SPWLA in Houston (June 21-24. 2009). Richard Pelling Product Manager - Geolog   Comments on the newsletter   I  Contact us