Night School – Development Geophysics (Virtual Course)

Part 1  | Geophysics for Reservoir Appraisal and Field Development Planning
Facilitator: Alan Foum
Date: Tuesday 25 May 2021
6:00pm – 8:00pm

Hydrocarbon field appraisal is the area where E&P companies can make the biggest wins but also the biggest mistakes. Geoscientists have a vital input to making these decisions on how and if a discovered oil and gas field is developed.  This course aims to enable geologists and geophysicists to effectively take part in the appraisal process. The course will cover:

1. What is field Appraisal – decision management systems, project classification and development concepts
2. Brief overview of reserves, resources and Economics – how does the geologist fit into this process
3. What are the main uncertainties in field appraisal and what can we do to manage them?
4. Brief overview of the value of information

Part 2  | Seismic Attributes
Facilitator: Jason Sutton
Date: Thursday 27 May 2021
6:00pm – 8:00pm

Provision of geoscientists with a grounding in seismic attributes for Development Geophysics. Designed to provide and stretch your understanding of attributes to use. In this 2-hour session, you will learn attributes from a historical basis, the technologies that have driven the success in some hydrocarbon discoveries. A practical approach on how to use, when/where to apply.

• What is a seismic attribute?
• The detection and delineation of geological/hydrocarbon features in the seismic world
• Seismic interpretions for horizon/fault/geobody extraction to identify DHI, reservoir delineation and well placement
• Assessed by autotracking, manual interpretation, volume rendering, geobody extraction
• Step changes in approach to calculations

Part 3  | Visualization
Facilitator: Jason Sutton
Date: Tuesday 1 June 2021
6:00pm – 8:00pm

For individuals to interrogate 3D seismic datasets and reinforce ideas and concepts. Learning historical perspectives of the science driving its success. Step changes in hardware and software within the Industry. To introducing key workflows for today’s challenges of adding value. A key tool for the presentation of information to management/colleagues and partners.

• What is 3D visualization?
• What drives the success of visualization – the hardware and software
• Big data
• Using visualization.
• When/where to use.

Part 4  | Seismic Inversion and Qualitative Interpretation 
Facilitator: Ashley Francis
Date: Thursday 3 June 2021
6:00pm – 8:00pm

1. Basic inversion principles – converting reflectivity to impedance
2. Explanation of the basic inversion methods
   1. Relative impedance methods including coloured inversion
   2. Deterministic inversion to absolute impedance using low frequency models
   3. Stochastic (geostatistical) inversion to generate non-unique absolute impedance realisations
3. Pre-stack inversion – extracting more information from seismic
   1. 2-term and 3-term approximations including Schuey, Aki-Richards and Fatti equations
   2. Extended elastic impedance (EEI) approach
   3. EEI and AVO comparison
4. Seismic Data conditioning
   1. Pre-stack inversion – sensitivity to data problems
   2. Seismic conditioning examples
5. Deterministic Inversion – the issue of low frequency models
6. Quantitative prediction of rock properties using impedance
7. Tuning and amplitude corrections – Seismic Net Pay and DT-AMP
8. Using seismic inversion output in reservoir models
   1. General pro and cons
   2. Specific issues related to support and scale of measurement

Who should attend:
Aspiring, future leaders in the oil and gas industry who want to acquire skills beyond the academic and technical and obtain insights into the commercially orientated analysis. Acquire the global perspectives essential to professional success.

To access member-only events or to benefit from the reduced member fees please visit https://www.ges-gb.org.uk/membership/ to find out how to become a PESGB member.

Alan Foum is a geophysicist with 26 years experience gained at BG Group. a major gas company. During his career he has been a key technical advisor on Exploration, Appraisal. Field development and production projects. He has worked on projects both, UK and International, operated and joint venture. Clastic and carbonate, oil, dry gas and condensate. He was BG’s subject matter expert on depth conversion and velocity modelling and has provided many peer reviews and assists as well as running internal technical and non-technical courses. Alan is a fluent Russian language speaker with technical translation experience. Alan Has a BSc in Geology from Imperial College, London and a MSc in Geophysics from the university of Birmingham

A geophysicist for Cairn Energy, working in New Ventures and Asset teams. Degree in Geology, and MSc in Petroleum Geology and Geophysics.

A career spanning 30+ years capturing many geoscience disciplines. Industry background of seismic acquisition, well logging, seismic processing, seismic interpretation, seismic attributes, sequence stratigraphy, geomorphology, visualization. Experienced in many areas of the world, with companies ranging across different spectrums of geoscience, from software-based to small contracting, to mid/big sized international Oil companies.

Active within the PESGB SIG’s Geophysics and Africa, co-chair of the PESGB Geophysics Conferences. Participated in presentations, papers and posters for the SEG, EAGE, PESGB and SEPM. Topics range from 3D visualization, seismic interpretation, seismic attributes, spectral decomposition, geomorphology, deepwater turbidites, mass transport deposits. Previous courses provided in Seismic Visualization, and Depth Conversion.

Ashley is a geophysicist and geostatistician whose career has encompassed over 36 years world-wide oil industry experience of exploration, development and production geophysics. He has also consulted to the nuclear and engineering sectors on subsurface description and uncertainty. Since 1993 he has specialised in geostatistics in addition to geophysics.

Ashley has worked in or on behalf of service companies, consultancies and oil companies in North and South America, Europe, Africa, Middle East, Far East and Australia. He spent 5 years with LASMO plc in Technical Services assisting and advising asset teams worldwide in geophysics (particularly inversion), geostatistics, risk and uncertainty.   After leaving LASMO in 2001, Ashley co-founded Earthworks with Julie Francis.  Earthworks is a consultancy specialising in subsurface geoscience, based in Salisbury, Wiltshire, UK. His innovative ideas have been developed both in services and in new and ultra-fast stochastic seismic inversion software at Earthworks.  Recently he has pioneered novel techniques for the removal of thickness related tuning effects directly from seismic traces.

He lectured in Borehole Geophysics to Honours Graduates at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa 1989-90 and was a Visiting Research Fellow at the Post Graduate Institute in Sedimentology, University of Reading, UK 1995-97. He was a visiting lecturer in geostatistics to MSc Petroleum Geoscience students at Imperial College, London, from 1999 – 2014. His current industry geostatistical and advanced property modelling course has been running successfully since 1996 and the newer seismic inversion course since 2000. Both courses are also run as part of the Geoscience Training Alliance (GTA) consortium in London and in Houston and are widely acclaimed by participants.  In 2011 GTA commissioned Ashley to present a brand new course for industry on stochastic depth conversion and volumetric uncertainty, a course that is also proving to be very popular.

Ashley has presented regularly at EAGE conferences and workshops and was author of the “Understanding Stochastic Inversion” tutorial series in First Break.  Ashley is a committee member and regular attendee at the SEG Development and Production Forum and chaired the 2000 and 2003 D&P Forum conferences.  He was an SPE Distinguished Lecturer for 2006 – 2007, presenting worldwide to reservoir engineers on the benefits and pitfalls of seismic inversion data in reservoir modelling.  In 2011 the EAGE presented him with the Anstey Award for his “very substantial, original and diverse contribution to seismic inversion and geostatistics, and to the quantifying of uncertainty and risk.”

Ashley is a member of SEG, EAGE, IAMG, BSSS, IPSS and PESGB.  He is a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society.