Foster Findlay Associates (ffA) and Statoil have announced a continuation of their ongoing research and development collaboration. This is the sixth phase of the collaboration, which has allowed the companies to work together in producing state-of-the-art 3D seismic analysis capabilities. These capabilities are deployed within the Statoil ‘AVI’ Advanced Volume Interpretation software application that has resulted from this ongoing collaboration.
ffA and Statoil's collaborative work to date has successfully produced a range of new techniques that have dramatically increased the clarity and detail with which geological features can be imaged and delineated from 3D seismic datasets. This has been shown to add significant value to seismic interpretation in a range of settings including carbonates environments.
Within this phase of collaboration, best practice workflows to aid interpretation, imaging and modelling utilising the range of technologies with AVI will be defined. To further enhance AVI, important new capabilities are being developed aimed at calibrating 3D seismic derived analyses to enable easy integration into modern interpretation workflows that also leverage rock physics capabilities. To further enhance AVI, this new phase of the R&D collaboration will develop and give Statoil preferential access to new capabilities aimed at calibrating 3D seismic derived analyses to enable easy integration into modern interpretation workflows that also leverage rock physics capabilities. An important aspect of the collaboration is definition of Statoil specific best practice workflows designed to enable Statoil to obtain competitive advantage through utilisation of these new techniques.
Steve Purves, ffA’s technical director, said: 'Our collaboration with Statoil has been a great success, because of the quality and range of expertise it brings together. The result of which has been the development of game changing capabilities for interpreting and analysing geological features within a simple-to-use system that can be deployed easily. The workflows and technology delivered out of the next phase of this collaboration will, I believe, seriously increase the value that these tools add to the interpretation process.'