First Break July 2020 - Machine Learning

VO L U M E 3 8 I I S S U E 7 I J U LY 2 0 2 0

SPECIAL TOPIC

Machine Learning TECHNICAL ARTICLE Source wavelet estimation error in acoustic time domain full waveform inversion CROSSTALK What you would have learnt at the EAGE Annual INDUSTRY NEWS Oil majors to cut shipping emissions

Porosity prediction using multi-linear regression

Porosity prediction using deep neural networks: lower misfit at blind well and higher correlation to well control

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FIRST BREAK® An EAGE Publication

CHAIRMAN EDITORIAL BOARD Peter Rowbotham (Peter.Rowbotham@apachecorp.com) EDITOR Damian Arnold (editorfb@eage.org) MEMBERS, EDITORIAL BOARD • Paul Binns, consultant (pebinns@btinternet.com) • Patrick Corbett, Heriot-Watt University (patrick_corbett@pet.hw.ac.uk) • Tom Davis, Colorado School of Mines (tdavis@mines.edu) • Anthony Day, PGS (anthony.day@pgs.com) • Peter Dromgoole, Equinor UK (pdrum@equinor.com) • Rutger Gras, Oranje-Nassau Energy (gras@onebv.com) • Hamidreza Hamdi, University of Calgary (hhamdi@ucalgary.ca) • Ed Kragh, Schlumberger Cambridge Research (edkragh@slb.com) • John Reynolds, Reynolds International (jmr@reynolds-international.co.uk) • James Rickett, Schlumberger (jrickett@slb.com) • Dave Stewart, Dave Stewart Geoconsulting Ltd (djstewart.dave@gmail.com) • Femke Vossepoel, Delft University of Technology (f.c.vossepoel@tudelft.nl)

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What is the shear equivalent of a P-wave? A semantic analysis of geoscientific corpi

Editorial Contents 3

EAGE News

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Crosstalk

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Industry News

Technical Article

MEDIA PRODUCTION MANAGER Thomas Beentje (tbe@eage.org) ACCOUNT MANAGER ADVERTISING Peter Leitner (plr@eage.org) PRODUCTION Saskia Nota (layout@eage.org) Ivana Geurts (layout@eage.org) EAGE EUROPE OFFICE PO Box 59 3990 DB Houten The Netherlands • +31 88 995 5055 • eage@eage.org • www.eage.org EAGE RUSSIA & CIS OFFICE EAGE Russia & CIS Office EAGE Geomodel LLC 19 Leninsky Prospekt 119071, Moscow, Russia • +7 495 640 2008 • moscow@eage.org • www.eage.ru EAGE MIDDLE EAST OFFICE EAGE Middle East FZ-LLC Dubai Knowledge Village Block 13 Office F-25 PO Box 501711 Dubai, United Arab Emirates • +971 4 369 3897 • middle_east@eage.org • www.eage.org EAGE ASIA PACIFIC OFFICE UOA Centre Office Suite 19-15-3A No. 19, Jalan Pinang 50450 Kuala Lumpur Malaysia • +60 3 272 201 40 • asiapacific@eage.org • www.eage.org EAGE AMERICAS SAS Calle 93 # 18-28 Oficina 704 Bogota, Colombia • +57 1 4232948 • americas@eage.org • www.eage.org EAGE MEMBERS CHANGE OF ADDRESS NOTIFICATION Send to: EAGE Membership Dept at EAGE Office (address above)

33 The influence of source wavelet estimation error in acoustic time domain full waveform inversion

Paschalia Pavlopoulou and Ian F. Jones

Special Topic: Machine Learning

41 Leveraging deep learning for seismic image denoising Elena Klochikhina, Sean Crawley, Sergey Frolov, Nizar Chemingui and Tony Martin 49 Application of post-stack Rune Inversion for reservoir rock properties estimation in comparison with conventional seismic attribute analysis: a case study from the Paleocene formation, Middle Indus basin, onshore Pakistan Muhammad Zahid Afzal Durrani, Maryam Talib, Vita Kalashnikova, Musharaf Sajjad, Rune Øverås, Carl Fredrik Gyllenhammar, Bakhtawar Sarosh and Syed Atif Rahman 57 Leveraging High Performance Computing to enhance subsurface uncertainty management: Eni’s experience

Nicola Bienati and Davide Calcagni 61 What is the shear equivalent of a P-wave? A semantic analysis of geoscientific corpi

Claire Birnie and Matteo Ravasi 69 The evolution of structural interpretation from 2D to AI; the reinterpretation of the Cheviot Field

Ryan M. Williams, Peter Szafian and Penelope A. Milner 75 Comparing Bayesian and neural network supported lithotype prediction from seismic data Sabine Klarner, Dmitriy Kirnos, Natalya Ivanova, Aleksey Gritsenko, Olga Malinovskaya 81 A multi-disciplinary approach to establish a workflow for the application of machine learning for detailed reservoir description — Wisting case study

Sharareh Manouchehri1*, Nam Pham1, Terje A. Hellem1 and Rocky Roden 89 Adding Hyperknowledge-enabled data lineage to a machine learning workflow management system for oil and gas Leonardo Guerreiro Azevedo, Renan Souza, Rafael Brandão, Vítor N. Lourenço, Marcelo Costalonga, Marcelo de O.C. Machado, Marcio Moreno and Renato Cerqueira 94

Calendar of Events

FIRST BREAK ON THE WEB www.firstbreak.org ISSN 0263-5046 (print) / ISSN 1365-2397 (online)

cover: The Khor Kalmat lagoon branches off the Arabian Sea and spills into the southern Pakistan landscape near the Makran Coast Range. On p 49 we have a case study from the Paleocene formation, Middle Indus basin, Pakistan, on the application of post-stack Rune Inversion for reservoir rock properties estimation (Photo courtesy of USGS).

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European Association of Geoscientists & Engineers

Board 2020-2021

Everhard Muijzert President

Dirk Orlowsky Vi c e-President

Pascal Breton Secretary-Treasurer

Near Surface Geoscience Division Alireza Malehmir Chair Esther Bloem Vice-Chair George Apostolopoulos Immediate Past Chair Micki Allen Contact Officer EEGS/North America Riyadh Al-Saad Oil & Gas Liaison Hongzhu Cai Liaison China Albert Casas Membership Officer Eric Cauquil Liaison Shallow Marine Geophysics Deyan Draganov Technical Programme Officer Ranajit Ghose Editor in Chief Near Surface Geophysics Hamdan Ali Hamdan Liaison Middle East Vladimir Ignatief Liaison North America / Russia Andreas Kathage Liaison Officer First Break Musa Manzi Liaison Africa Myrto Papadopoulou Young Professional Liaison Andreas Pfaffhuber Liaison Infrastructure & BIM Koya Suto Liaison Asia Pacific Catherine Truffert Industry Liaison

Oil & Gas Geoscience Division

Caroline Le Turdu Membership and Cooperation Officer

Ingrid Magnus Publications Officer

Colin MacBeth Education Officer

Michael Peter Suess Chair; TPC Lucy Slater Vice-Chair Caroline Jane Lowrey Immediate Past Chair; TPC Erica Angerer Member Wiebke Athmer Member Xavier Garcia NSGD Liaison Juliane Heiland TPC Tijmen-Jan Moser Editor-in-chief Geophysical Prospecting Ann Muggeridge IOR Committee Liasion Francesco Perrone YP Liaison Philip Ringrose Editor-in-chief Petroleum Geoscience Conor Ryan REvC Liaison Martin Widmaier TPC Aart-Jan van Wijngaarden Technical Programme Officer Michael Zhdanov NSGD Liaison

SUBSCRIPTIONS First Break is published monthly. It is free to EAGE members. The membership fee of EAGE is € 50.00 a year (including First Break, EarthDoc (EAGE’s geoscience database), Learning Geoscience (EAGE’s Education website) and online access to a scientific journal.

Companies can subscribe to First Break via an institutional subscription.

Every subscription includes a monthly hard copy and online access to the full First Break archive for the requested number of online users.

Aart-Jan van Wijngaarden Technical Programme Officer

Alireza Malehmir Chair Near Surface Geoscience Division

Michael Peter Suess Chair Oil & Gas Geoscience Division

Orders for current subscriptions and back issues should be sent to EAGE Publications BV, Journal Subscriptions, PO Box 59, 3990 DB, Houten, The Netherlands. Tel: +31 (0)88 9955055, E-mail: subscriptions@eage.org, www.firstbreak.org.

First Break is published by EAGE Publications BV, The Netherlands.

However, responsibility for the opinions given and the statements made rests with the authors.

COPYRIGHT & PHOTOCOPYING © 2020 EAGE All rights reserved. First Break or any part thereof may not be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transcribed in any form or by any means, electronically or mechanically, including photocopying and recording, ­without the prior written permission of the Publisher.

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HIGHLIGHTS

EAGE MEMBERS

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ROAD TO

YPs help Smart Exploration and vice versa

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How first online short course worked out

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Conference focus on Papua New Guinea after 20 years

Getting ready for the big event in December

In March this year we made the difficult decision to postpone the 82nd EAGE Annual given global health concerns and the travel and isolation restrictions adopted in most countries to contain the COVID-19 virus.

We are now cautiously optimistic that the EAGE Annual 2020 will proceed as already announced on the rescheduled dates of 8-11 December 2020 in Amsterdam. We have been particularly encouraged by the Dutch government’s decision to gradually reopen the country with most restrictions currently set to be lifted by September.

Our priority continues to be the health and safety of our geoscience and engineering community while continuing with our mission to support scientific advancement and professional development. We are closely monitoring developments and will issue an immediate notice if advised that

the event is no longer appropriate in the current conditions.

Attendance in Amsterdam will be a decision that companies and individuals will have to take. We recognize that the pandemic and subsequent economic downturn is taking an extraordinary toll on the industries in which so many of our member serve.

One very encouraging indicator is that already 85% of presenters and speakers listed in the original Technical Programme have indicated their willingness to attend with the new December date. Our feedback also suggests that many members are looking forward to what will be the first major gathering where our geoscience and engineering members can get together to discuss the implications of the turmoil caused over the past few months.

We would like to assure intending participants that we are exploring all FIRST

the measures needed to ensure you can safely attend our flagship event. We are in continuous discussion with the RAI Amsterdam Convention Centre about the application of the guidelines set out by the Dutch national health authorities for carrying out events such as ours.

Over the summer trial events are being planned to test various ways all participants - delegates, exhibitors and visitors - can interact to provide the full meeting experience.

We appreciate that many of you may have questions and concerns in the lead up to the event. After all, this will be a conference like no other. You can expect frequent updates from our side in the months to come. Our advice is to make regular visits to the website – www. eageannual2020.org - to find out the latest updates about the event.

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EAGE NEWS 

Our Annual Technical Programme continues to evolve

ROAD TO

By Aart-Jan van Wijngaarden, technical programme officer, EAGE The Annual Meeting of the EAGE offers our members a world class quality overview of all the activities in the fields of geophysics, geology and engineering.

Both for shallow and deep subsurface, and varying from very specialized topics to multi-disciplinary integration, from detailed scientific papers to environmental and society impact. This broad scope together with the combination of the Technical Programme and the Exhibition with examples of applications, makes the EAGE Annual unique.

The scientific programme is always evolving, following the needs and proposals from our members, as well as developments in the market. Starting out from a programme in the previous century

focused on exploration geophysics, it has changed in the last decades featuring increasing integration with reservoir engineering and geology. If you want to split it out between the three disciplines there is a division of roughly 50% geophysics, 25% geology and 25% engineering. But a strong point of the programme is the large portion of integrated subsurface studies, where all disciplines are present. This year we received close to 2000 submitted papers. An extensive peer review process resulted in a programme consisting of 775 oral presentations and 480 interactive e-poster presentations.

A large part of the programme focuses on petroleum exploration and production, but it also includes shallow subsurface

characterization for construction (civil engineering and oil and gas platforms), high performance computing, geothermal energy, shallow and deep mineral mining and education. Most breakthroughs happen at the interfaces of disciplines, when existing ideas are applied in a different setting. That’s what makes the total programme so valuable.

New trends in the last few years are clearly the use of machine learning in relation to the large amount of digital data available and the developments of algorithms outside our industries. Dedicated sessions and workshops on this topic and the large number of papers in the regular technical sessions are reflecting this. Another rising topic is energy transition. This is in regard to the importance for society as well as the change in focus of oil and gas companies as they address renewable energy sources.

Finally, the forum sessions are a great opportunity to see the relation between governmental politics and the strategic view of companies, to catch up with technical developments in our industry and to discuss future trends and scenarios.

You can still register for the EAGE Annual 2020 with the Early Bird fee until 15 September! Take advantage of this great opportunity and experience our Annual - and Amsterdam - during the wonderful seasonal time of December.

Events advisory EAGE is carefully monitoring the possible impact of Coronavirus (COVID-19) concerns on all our scheduled events. Our first priority is the health and welfare of the wider EAGE community. Our decisions on the staging of upcoming events will be based on the advice of the World Health Organization, as well as appropriate national and local authorities. We are treating each meeting on a case by case basis with all options including online participation on the table. If you are planning to attend an event with EAGE, please consult the specific event website for the most up-to-date information and guidelines.

Find your event at events.eage.org.

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THIS IS THE NEW GREEN. You’re looking at the greenest data centre on the planet. Its green technology is cooling the massive supercomputer that is DUG McCloud. Using DUG’s own cooling technology,* all DUG McCloud nodes are completely submerged in a special dielectric-fluid cooling solution. Compare the DUG McCloud data centre to a typical HPC rack-filled data centre and the results are truly startling. DUG McCloud uses an incredible 46% less power than a typical data centre, with 81% less refrigerant use and an 81% reduction in embodied carbon dioxide. That’s up to 58,500 tonnes less C02 emissions per annum. Making you green with envy? Visit www.dug.com for more info. (*Patent Publication WA 2017/091862 AI)

Discover more at www.dug.com/ dug-mccloud/

EAGE NEWS

Near Surface Geoscience 2020 moves forward Support for the upcoming Near Surface Geoscience Conference & Exhibition 2020 scheduled for Belgrade on 30 August to 3 September is proving much stronger and enthusiastic than we could have expected in these challenging times.

We are excited to announce that we received over 180 quality paper submissions! We want to thank everyone that submitted a paper and especially the three scientific committees, which have worked tirelessly to incorporate as many papers submitted to create a first class Technical Programme. You can see

the full schedule now on our website at www.NSG2020.org.

The welcome interest in Near Surface Geoscience 2020 gives us confidence to believe that the event can match the successes of the recent annual gatherings in Porto in 2018 and last year in The Hague. We are continuing the very successful formula combining related conferences to the main event to enhance our delegates experience by facilitating crossover of shared ideas and technology. This year our 4th Applied Shallow Marine Geophysics Conference

and 3rd Conference on Geophysics for Mineral Exploration and Mining will be held alongside the 26th European Meeting of Environmental and Engineering Geophysics.

Three world class technical programmes, workshops, and our always much anticipated exhibition offer the near surface geoscientists a much needed opportunity to meet and get research and scientific development back on track.

Register for the conference and exhibition and benefit from the Early Bird Registration fee up until 22 July.

Mineral Exploration Geophysics: our latest special interest community is born

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The EAGE portfolio of special interest communities continues to expand.

Since the launch of the concept in 2014, EAGE has been steadily adding new groups and topics.

This makes the third topical community, and fifth community overall.

The MEG SIC is the first online community originating from the near surface geoscience discipline and com-

After the creation of the Women in Geoscience and Young Professionals communities, we followed with the two topical communities on Artificial Intelligence and Decarbonization and Energy Transition. Now we have launched Mineral Exploration Geophysics Special Interest Community (MEG SIC).

plements one of our longest running parallel conference series. Mineral exploration is a topic of growing interest within the Association. The first parallel conference on Geophysics for Mineral Exploration and Mining in Barcelona was held in 2016 and proved that the topic has a growing

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body of interest and appeal to a global audience of our members.

In addition, mineral exploration relates to other EAGE-driven initiatives, such as participation in the Smart Exploration project, our journal Near Surface Geophysics, and various workshops and conferences around the globe. Building on the evident appeal within the Association, combined with the need for mineral resources to help power energy transition, we’re excited to get this latest community going.

The committee working on the development of MEG SIC reflects its wide appeal combining expertise from Finland, Sweden, Canada (Toronto, Vancouver) as well as South Africa. This, combined with a diverse number of career paths amongst our committee members, provides a fertile foundation for a new special interest community to flourish.

Curious to learn more about the committee and the work already done?

Make sure to check out the community at its new home on the LinkedIn page ‘EAGE - Mineral Exploration Geophysics’.

EAGE NEWS

Young Professionals community benefit from Smart Exploration participation

Students and YPs during field work at the Ludvika Mine, Sweden.

Katerina Polychronopoulou at Near Surface Geoscience 2019.

The Smart Exploration (SE), the project funded by the European Commission under its Horizon 2020 programme has provided a positive experience for EAGE’s Young Professionals Special Interest Group (YP).

YP engagement has played a central role since the project’s inception in 2017.

Some 25 YPs have been employed or worked in the project, and it is accepted by all the partners that their contribution has been vital. The YP group is quite diverse, involving a wide range of career paths and educational background.

Katerina Polychronopoulou, who has been in the industry for a few years as a geophysicist and is currently pursuing her PhD at the National Technical University of Athens, stresses the importance of this diversity in the scientific achievements of the project: ‘The mixture of cultures, ideas, approaches, as well as the concept of combining our arsenals of expertise and efforts in the scope of achieving a common goal, makes us all wiser. It is the exchange of knowledge – and not the knowledge itself – that makes science advance.’ For

Polychronopoulou, the project has provided the focus to achieve one of her own career targets, a long delayed PhD. PhD students, post-doctoral researchers, industry professionals and numerous MSc students get involved in all the activities from data acquisition to processing and interpretation. The results of their work and its significance are collectively discussed with other professionals and the mining companies. Mutual respect while being critical to each other’s work has been a great learning opportunity.

The project has also created a constructive environment for bridging the gap between academia and industry. Federico Da Col, a former post-doctoral researcher of Politecnico di Torino, describes his experience of designing, acquiring and processing the passive seismic data survey at the Siilinjärvi mining site in Finland, owned by Yara International: ‘The continuous mediation between industry and academia was definitely the most challenging and fascinating part of my job. I can now look at both the academic and industrial worlds with good knowledge of the way they operate, their expectations and priorities’. Da Col, now at a research institution, also testifies to the team-building spirit with the more experienced members of the acquisition crew guiding younger members while taking into account their contributions to the survey logistics.

Many YPs testify to the value of the SE project’s innovation. Bláthnaid McKevitt, now a geophysicist working in Ireland, joined the project while undertaking her MSc thesis at the University of Helsinki.

She says, ‘Attending meetings and hearFIRST

ing presentations on new innovative and cost-effective approaches to mineral exploration provided me with the latest knowhow in this field and helps me to employ an innovative approach to in my job today’.

Brij Singh, a PhD student at the Polish Academy of Sciences, pays tribute to the collaboarative environment. ‘Three unique features, are the research, innovation and entrepreneurship, with the guidance of the top researchers in my field. I also met friends whom I would like to keep throughout my future journey as a professional’.

Awareness regarding gender balance has been a priority since the project began.

According to Florencia Balestrini, a PhD student at TU Delft, ‘SE addresses gender balance, not only by creating awareness about it through discussions held at every meeting, but also by recruiting and encouraging women in order to tackle this issue. Currently, around 50% of the YP group are female’.

The International Advisory Board acknowledges the benefit of the environment provided by the SE project compared with an isolated/un-networked PhD/ post-doc project and is pleased that YPs are taking advantage of the opportunity.

Meantime EAGE’s Near Surface Geoscience Division committee hopes that the SE project serves as a source of success stories for YPs and will hopefully inspire further initiatives.

YPs during field research in Finland.

YPs lining up for their rapid fire talks.

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EAGE NEWS

First online workshop in Latin America led by women Here in Latin America we are introducing an online workshop which for the first time will be led by women. The event will be held virtually on 22-23 July entitled ‘Latin America Workshop: A Multi-disciplinary Approach Led by Women’.

The idea is to provide an opportunity for distinguished professional women who participate in many remarkable projects worldwide to

set the agenda and lead the discussion on future energy developments in Latin America. This will cover a broad range of topics including offshore oil and gas developments, seismic technology, digitalization, geothermal prospects and much more.

You can register for this unique online event at events.eage.org, deadline for signing up is 20 July 2020.

Virtual student lecture tour is a hit across Latin America EAGE’s first online Student Lecture Tour in Latin America, presented between 11-15 May, proved a big success for which we have to thank Prof I. Yucel Akkutlu, professor of petroleum engineering, Texas A&M University.

Prof Akkutlu’s inspiring lecture on ‘Resource Assessment and Environmental Considerations of Petroleum Recovery from Organic-rich Source Rocks’ was greeted with great enthusiasm by students from north and south of Latin America.

More than 15 recognized universities in Latin America and around 100 students joined this online session reflecting that our EAGE members are always keen to learn, exchange knowledge and interact with the community despite the current challenges the world is facing.

As an online experience, we managed to complete a precise Latin America tour, starting in the Vaca Muerta land of Argentina. Then it travelled through the picturesque and mining environment of Bolivia, passed through Mexico, country of deep water exploration wonders, then Brazil, the pre-salt reservoirs giant and, finally, this engaging course concluded in an oil recovery location, Colombia. It was an online tour that allowed participants and organizers to have a close multi-cultural experience as well.

Students learned about basic differences in behaviour of hydrocarbon mixtures (oil and gas) quantitatively using a multi-scale approach coupling atomistic modelling and molecular simulations to reservoir engineering analysis, more spe-

cifically, to volumetric calculations and reserve estimation.

The discussion was tied to oil/gas recovery limits from source rocks. A shale well production history-matching and optimization study was presented using a new-generation multi-scale reservoir flow simulator including molecular effects and geo-mechanical considerations plus fracture closure stress and proppant embedment calculations. With this, students could resolve their doubts and also discuss the major environmental considerations in drilling horizontal wells and hydraulic fracturing.

Prof Akkutlu made this engaging course applicable for EAGE’s typically multi-disciplinary audience for which we heartily thank him.

EAGE Education Calendar 1-3 JUL

SHORT COURSE ‘MIGRATION, VELOCITY MODEL BUILDING’, BY PIET GERRITSMA

ONLINE

7-8 JUL

SHORT COURSE ‘MACHINE LEARNING FOR GEOSCIENTISTS WITH HANDS-ON CODING’, BY EHSAN NAEINI

ONLINE

9-10 JUL

SHORT COURSE ‘CARBONATE RESERVOIR CHARACTERIZATION’, BY LAURA GALLUCCIO

ONLINE

18-21 AUG

SHORT COURSE ‘INTEGRATED METHODS FOR DEEP-WATER RESERVOIR CHARACTERIZATION’, BY JON ROTZIEN

ONLINE

31 AUG 3 SEP

SHORT COURSE ‘BOREHOLE SEISMIC FUNDAMENTALS AND INTRODUCTION TO ADVANCED TECHNIQUES’,

BY ALLAN CAMPBELL

ONLINE

PLEASE ALSO CHECK THE CALENDAR OF WEBINARS ON THE LEARNING GEOSCIENCE WEBSITE. FOR MORE INFORMATION AND REGISTRATION PLEASE VISIT WWW.EAGE.ORG AND WWW.LEARNINGGEOSCIENCE.ORG.

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EAGE NEWS

Meet one of our first online short course instructors The EAGE Interactive Online Short Courses is a new format. It brings carefully selected courses of experienced instructors from industry and academia online to give participants the possibility to follow the latest education in geoscience and engineering remotely. Participants will have the possibility to interact live with the instructor and ask questions. We did the first course in this series on 13-14 May with Piet Gerritsma on ‘Seismic Data Processing Steps’. We took the chance to ask him about his work and teaching. face together with the practical relevance for the industry is what makes seismic data processing attractive.

Piet Gerritsma graduated in physics at the University of Groningen and joined Shell in 1969 as a research geophysicist in Rijswijk and Houston. He saw operational experience as a processing and special studies geophysicist in Brunei and in Canada. He has been Shell’s representative in international research consortia such as SEP (Stanford), DELPHI (Delft University of Technology) and IFP (Institut Francais du Petrole). He also served as associate editor of Geophysical Prospecting on migration, modelling and inversion. He left Shell in 1999 and since then has been a lecturer at the Centre for Technical Geoscience (CTG) at the Delft University of Technology. He presents courses on behalf of EAGE and CSEG and also teaches courses for national and international oil companies and service companies.

How did seismic data processing come important for you?

Seismic data processing is intimately related with data acquisition and data interpretation and as such the processor is automatically involved with the possibilities and requirements of these other disciplines. It has also its own physics-based theories as signal analysis, elasticity and rock physics and the wave equation (to various amounts of sophistication). Being an essential part in the cooperation of all these disciplines to arrive at better resolved images and more accurate parameters of the subsur10

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Are there any particular breakthroughs you would like to see in your area of seismic research?

We all witness the ongoing developments in acquisition with the recording of lower frequencies, longer offsets and multi-azimuth, higher density and blended data and multi-component acquisition as enablers together with increased computer power to apply more sophisticated algorithms (e.g., elastic RTM, elastic FWI) to derive better images and more accurate parameters of the subsurface. Gains are also to be expected from improved inter-disciplinary cross-fertilization with petrophysicists, geologists, and reservoir engineers in time-lapse seismic via a shared earth model. With growing computer resources AI, big data handling and pattern recognition will enable faster and more exhaustive data extraction from the seismic data.

What inspired you to become a short course instructor?

Teaching has always been part of my job.

I consider it as the best way to familiarize myself with the material. Understanding the fundamentals is the first requirement for successful research. Moreover, there is the challenge to convey the message to other people.

What do you like participants to take away from your lectures?

I adhere to the dictum ‘Nothing is more practical than a good theory’. As mathematics is the language of the physicist, I make an effort to appeal as 2020

much as possible to the physics that underlies the formulae. Therefore, I hope that the participants take away a sound understanding of what really matters physically.

How did you find the experience of presenting your EAGE Short Course online?

Nothing surpasses physical contact between instructor and course participants and physical contacts between the participants amongst each other. A webinar is the next best way to present a course; it is also very efficient in terms of time and the handling of the logistics.

As such I am very positive about this medium.

Would you recommend other EAGE Short Course instructors to give their course online too?

Yes, I would certainly recommend to others to make use of this medium. As the instructor does not have to travel, there are no disadvantages, other than those mentioned above, Moreover, being able to contribute to the dissemination of your knowledge and experience is rewarding in its own right.

What inspires you to keep on teaching?

I still enjoy keeping myself up-to-date with the developments in the field of geophysics and subsequently incorporate these developments in my course material.

It is a moving target that never comes to an end. Especially, I enjoy the contact with young people, be it the students at TU Delft or the young professionals in the industry. I also enjoy the travelling that comes (came as a consequence of the coronavirus) with the live presentation of the courses.

EAGE NEWS

How do you advise course participants on their studies and future career in geophysics?

It cannot be denied that worldwide the interest among students in earth sciences is declining. However, the skills that are required to become a successful geophysicist can, in addition to the traditional applications, also be applied in other fields, e.g., engineering geophysics, CO2 sequestration, geothermal exploration, and acoustic (medical) imaging.

Therefore, there continue to be plenty of reasons to pursue a career in geophysics. Worth noting too, until very recently the world consumed 100 million barrels of oil per day.

Check out page 8 to see our upcoming Interactive Online Short Courses.

Site investigation proved worthy topic for London Chapter The latest London Chapter evening lecture on 28 May was presented online by Mark Vardy of SAND Geophysics. His talk on ‘In search of the quantitative ground model: The good, the bad and the ugly in site investigation’ covered intricate aspects of qualitative and quantitative subsurface model construction from geophysical and geotechnical data.

Vardy described the cultural shift towards more effective integration of data from the different disciplines that historically would be isolated having little effective inter-communication.

A key element of developing these so-called ‘quantitative ground models’ is making greater use of all the available geological, geotechnical and geophysical data. He showed some ways of effectively capturing quantitative information and communicating it to offshore infrastructure project stake-

holders to mitigate geohazard risks and to design structures with appropriate tolerance.

The webinar attracted over 70 attendees from geoscience, civil engineering, oil and gas, construction and mining industries. Interaction with the audience in the follow-up Q&A session highlighted the most interesting results in the presentation, practical aspects of the techniques used and the potential ways forward. The positive feedback from the community and worldwide attendance of the talk indicates a favourable outcome of these online initiatives.

EAGE Local Chapter London acknowledges Artem Kashubin of PetroTrace, Bingmu Xiao of CGG, Lok Lee of Schlumberger, Celina Giersz of Shearwater and, of course, Mark Vardy of SAND Geophysics for arranging this event.

EAGE groups inspire a global conversation On 27 May over 60 participants from countries including Brazil, Thailand and Kuwait attended the ‘Talents and Competencies in the energy sector: insights on the way forward, Part 1’.

This was an ‘e-afterwork’ event, the second in a series of three which link global and local communities thanks to the collaboration of the Decarbonization & Energy Transition community (DET), chaired by Karin de Borst, and Local Chapters. The partnership started on 19 March with Lucia Levato, head of events, Local Chapter Paris, chaired by Nawal de Freslon, and now includes Local Chapter Netherlands, chaired by Diego Rovetta.

The topic covered is one of significant concern for most geoscientists, i.e., the challenges and opportunities in energy

transition. The event provided perspectives from different angles on the skills needed in the context of energy transition, including views from the AAPG 2019 energy transition forum (Max Brouwers, chair of the AAPG Energy Transition Forum), from social sciences (John Midgley, honorary research associate, British Geological Survey) and an innovative approach combining artificial intelligence for social analysis and collective intelligence (Lucia Levato, LUSVAL).

While stressing that in a ‘job for life no-more’ context, individual interests and capabilities are essential to steer a geoscientist’s career through the challenges to come, the speakers offered insightful reflections on specific opportunities, trends, and threats. The aim of exploration FIRST

is likely to significantly shift towards enhancing portfolios in terms of commercial and environmental viability and mastering geoscience skills related to the identification of such targets may become an advantage.

Professional opportunities will arise in the mining of both rare earths and data where, for example, the expert eye of a geoscientist will be essential to steer AI applications. The slow adoption of CCS, which could provide a valuable contribution to the zero-net emissions, was also discussed, stressing the need for a carbon-tax and environmentally driven pressure from civil society to compensate for its extremely high costs. Social pressure, however, is unlikely to happen while CCS remains a topic for specialists only.

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EAGE NEWS

Ukrainian Geoinformatics conference held successfully online We successfully concluded the 19th Conference on Geoinformatics: Theoretical and Applied Aspects and would like to thank all participants for their contribution to the conference, the first to be held in a new format.

Just a month and a half before the conference it became clear that the traditionally conference could not be held, and so we found ourselves in a tight time frame to reorganize the event online rather than cancel or postpone for an indefinite period.

There are no ready-made solutions in the world to manage a conference for more than 150 reports in an online format. We chose the path of pioneers and announced that the conference would take place no matter what.

With the technical committee we developed an approach to the implementation of the conference in the shortest possible time by creating a conference web portal and applying the Zoom platform solutions. This proved a simple and effective solution for holding online conferences with both oral presentations and posters.

From 11-14 May the Geoinformatics Conference was held in compliance with the whole scientific programme, 156 out of 158 reports were presented, which is the highest rate even for our traditional conference. The event allowed for informal communication with colleagues from different countries during training sessions and breaks in the main programme, as well as animated discussion of the presentations and interesting questions.

In total, the conference was attended by over 350 participants, compared with a maximum of 250 in previous years.

During the conference days there were two virtual halls where oral presentations were made. Poster sessions were presented electronically on the website, and speakers were able to talk live about their work in additional virtual rooms. The most crowded day was 12 May, when 310 participants entered Hall 1. In total 1200 unique visitors to our web portal were registered during the conference days, more than 10,000 pages were viewed.

Overall, 90% of participants were satisfied with the new format and found it accessible, and more than 60% stated that it was more convenient than the traditional conferences. It seems the time has come for hybrid events, where delegates may came to the conference, while others visit online.

We will continue to work towards the development of such events, and we invite everyone to take part in other events in Ukraine of which three more are planned for this year: 2nd EAGE workshop on assessment of landslide hazards and impact on communities, 8-11 September 2020, Kyiv, Ukraine; 14th International Scientific Conference ‘Monitoring of Geological Processes and Ecological Condition of the Environment, 10-13 November 2020, Кyiv, Ukraine; and GEOTERRACE-2020 International Conference of Young Professionals 7-9 December, 2020, Lviv, Ukraine. All information about these events can be found at eage.org.

GET2020 conference to play a key role in energy transition conversation If we learned anything from the COVID19 crisis, it is that we need to seek collaboration, learn from experts, and be open to change. That’s why EAGE’s first Geoscience & Engineering in Energy Transition Conference (GET2020) scheduled for 16-18 November in Strasbourg, France provides an important opportunity.

The world climate is changing more rapidly than expected, caused by the increasing use of fossil fuels for energy production. A rapid growth in renewable energy supply is needed now more than ever. And, in addition, the decarbonization of the industry using Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is required.

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All options have to be applied simultaneously, to finally have a chance at stopping the increase of CO2 production.

The usage of the earth’s subsurface plays a pivotal role in most of the technologies, which contribute to slow down the greenhouse effect. Adapted geosciences are needed to ensure safe and environmentally friendly handling of the subsurface.

EAGE understands the key role that geoscientists play in this energy transition and that the new era will bring both opportunities as well as challenges.

To further the discussion on the role geoscientists can play, EAGE is inviting geoscientists, industry, and public authorities to participate. Key topics will cover Geothermal, CCS, Energy Storage, 2020

Cross-Uses & Disciplines, and Solutions, and Society & Government.

We are carefully monitoring the COVD-19 situation. If the situation requires us to make changes to the setup or venue (e.g. online) of the event, we will do this.

The current energy transition will be the framework of what all geoscientists will do in the future, therefore we encourage all geoscientists, subsurface engineers, energy providers, the industrial sector, researchers and academics, public authorities and other stakeholders to participate in the conference and join the conversation on shaping the future.

To learn more and register, check out the website GET2020.org.

EAGE NEWS

Student e-Summits are the way to go Question for students. Have you already checked out our Student e-Summits?

With in-person student meetings between students and student chapters impossible, our e-Summit series aims to fill the void. The 45-60 minute online meetings bring together a number of panellists to discuss the challenges facing students today. e-Summits are organized on a frequent basis with each month tackling a different topic. For each session, we are inviting young professionals and students to talk about issues related to career development and skills acquisition. In

addition, we’re also welcoming student proposals to join as panellists, thereby allowing the community to make its own mark in shaping the e-Summit series.

R ecent sessions have incuded issues such as: How do student chapter members connect in times of self-isolation? What can students learn from recent graduates? How can students develop the right skills to contribute to energy transition? These are all questions being tackled during the e-Summits.

The summits encourage interaction, i.e., we’re steering clear of presenta-

tions and slides to focus on discussion, insights and questions instead.

The e-Summit series began in April, and we intend to continue the series over the course of the summer. The sessions are free to join for students, but a fair warning: participation and posing good questions may just lead to an invitation for you to join as a panellist in the future!

Make sure to check out the upcoming e-Summits, as well as the recordings of our earlier meetings. More information can be found on the student pages of the EAGE website. We hope to see you at the next e-Summit!

ECMOR XVII to be held online

The upcoming ECMOR XVII conference on 14-17 September will be held entirely online, with EAGE hosting the event.

Building on our earlier experiences with online conferencing, we will keep the strong tradition of ECMOR going.

For over three decades, ECMOR has served as a critical forum for advancing applied mathematics and engineering in the industry. We believe that this important scientific gathering is even more relevant today given the difficult challenges ahead.

We are positive that the ability for the mainly international delegates to attend virtually will serve to increase the participation of colleagues who would find it otherwise difficult or uncomfortable to travel at this time. Our goal will be to provide the same quality of interaction and scientific discussion as you have come to expect, albeit in a more digital environment.

You are cordially invited to join us at the upcoming virtual ECMOR XVII. Check out the updated online technical programme and register at www.ecmor.org.

EAGE Student Calendar 14-17 SEP

GEO2020

BAHRAIN, THE KINGDOM OF BAHRAIN

2-4 NOV

NEAR SURFACE GEOSCIENCE & ENGINEERING CONFERENCE (REGIONAL GEO QUIZ)

CHANG MAI,THAILAND

16-19 NOV

9TH INTERNATIONALGEOLOGICAL AND GEOSCIENCE CONFERENCE (STUDENT ACTIVITIES)

SAINT PETERSBURG,RUSSIA

7-DEC

LAURIE DAKE CHALLENGE FINAL

AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS

8-11 DEC

EAGE ANNUAL CONFERENCE & EXHIBITION 2020 / STUDENT ACTIVITIES

AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS

FOR MORE INFORMATION AND REGISTRATION PLEASE CHECK THE STUDENT SECTION AT WWW.EAGE.ORG

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EAGE NEWS

APG and EAGE hold first A Papua New Guinea conference in 20 years

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Michael McWalter, convener, reports on the First AAPG/EAGE Petroleum Geoscience Conference and Exhibition in Papua New Guinea (PNG).

Convenor Mick McWalter speaking to delegates.

It has been a long time since Papua New Guinea (PNG) hosted the last of its very successful series of petroleum conventions. It is therefore 20 years since we last reviewed our understanding of PNG’s petroleum geology and it is great to have the AAPG and EAGE underwrite this new PNG conference.

Some 257 people gathered at the beautiful new Hilton Hotel in Port Moresby, in the last week of February to attend the conference with the theme ‘PNG’s oil and gas industry maturing through exploration development and production’. Three days of technical sessions were held featuring three keynote talks, 50 technical papers and 20 poster sessions.

In his welcoming address Greg Balavue, deputy secretary, PNG Department of Petroleum and Energy, himself a petroleum geologist, spelled out government’s requirements for the sector.

Frank Goulding, chief geoscientist, ExxonMobil, in the first keynote address talked about integrated subsurface analysis as applied to the challenging exploration of PNG’s fold and thrust belt. He discussed the integration of play 14

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elements with a focus on trap imaging, something that often poor-quality seismic data routinely confounds in PNG. Much of the prospective Mesozoic section is overlain by thick highly karstified Miocene limestone making it difficult to trace any records on seismic.

A session on regional geology and tectonics set the scene for the next

couple of days by looking at the geodynamics of the New Guinea region since the Triassic including the allochthonous terranes scattered about PNG and their effect on regional basins. There was also some discussion about the paleogeographic and paleoclimatic evolution of depositionary systems in PNG. After a quick look at petroleum systems in the Papuan Basin and the Gulf of Papua, the structural geologists earned the audience’s attention with images of geomechanical models, and reconstructions of the prior inversion and the more recent compressional geological history.

These gave rise to PNG’s most rugged and formidable terranes amongst which we have thus far found most of our oil and gas accumulations. The talks for the first day closed with some prospectivity reviews.

One of the features of this event was that earth science students from the University of Papua New Guinea along with their faculty advisers and teachers were invited to attend thanks to corporate sponsorship. At the end of the first day, we hosted a ‘Meet and Greet’ for the

Greg Balavue, deputy secretary, PNG Dept of Petroleum & Energy, at Opening Session.

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EAGE NEWS

Core workshop with Dr Moyra Wilson (centre holding Pasca A4 core) with participants.

young geologists to meet those working in industry, government and academia and chat about careers and their development.

Our Second Day opened with an emphasis on carbonates led by a keynote address from Jeroen Kenter, carbonate expert at Total. He elucidated techniques for finding previously unexpected carbonates through use of data integration. Although not a new play in PNG, carbonates have made a comeback now that we have identified gas-bearing Miocene reefs. Some in the Eastern Fold and Thrust belt of PNG, for example, the Elk-Antelope gas field, are being planned for development by Total.

Day Three kicked off with a keynote

by Prof Ken McClay, Australian School of Petroleum, Adelaide with the best tour of fold and thrust belts one could ever want. He discussed the tectonic evolution of thick and thin-skinned fold and thrust belts with application to PNG. This was followed by some talks on basement involvement in geological structures and the geophysical application of magnetic and gravity data. After a late morning session on geochemistry, our last and final session was taken up with new techniques, play concepts and basins.

Augmenting the conference was a compact exhibition and poster sessions held in the middle of the exhibition hall.

In addition to the main conference, a workshop on carbonate cores was held by Dr Moyra Wilson, University of Western Australia. This included a display of the new core from Twinza Oil’s 2018 offshore Pasca A4 well drilled in the Gulf of Papua. The workshop was supported by the Petroleum Division of the Department of Petroleum and Energy which generously lent the core to the conference.

Prof McClay stayed in PNG for two further days to give a course on ‘Compressional Tectonics and Fold and Thrust Belts’ to about a dozen delegates whilst on the morning after the main

conference a dozen geologists went on a bus tour of the PNG LNG plant operated

by ExxonMobil.

The Conference had a typical Icebreaker reception distinguished by a group of traditional dancers from Hela Province home of the oil and gas producing fields in the PNG Highlands.

The conference dinner sponsored by the Kumul Petroleum, the PNG national petroleum company, was a relaxed affair with a local jazz band playing. Convener Mick McWalter had the pleasure of inviting his former boss Peter Botten, managing director, Oil Search, to reflect on 25 years of PNG petroleum exploration, development and production on his first day since handing over to his successor.

Thanks are due to the local organizers, support from PNG Chamber of Mines and Petroleum, the technical committee led by Dr Nigel Wilson of Oil Search, and last but not least the event sponsors and exhibitors.

Hela Dancers with speaker Sabin Zahirovic, University of Sydney.

The EAGE Student Fund supports activities that help bridge the gap between the university and professional environments for students of geosciences and engineering. Thanks to our Student Fund contributors we can continue supporting students around the globe and through this securing the future of our industry. For more information to become a Student Fund contributor, please visit eagestudentfund.org or contact us at students@eage.org.

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The meeting that never was …

In normal times the topic for this month would have been a it provides precise numbers to two decimal points for the price of comment on what was being said at the Annual Meeting about the oil every month up to July 2024. current state of the oil and gas industry, its immediate prospects Traditionally the oil price has been a surprisingly accurate plus the longer term outlook, all in the context of what this might indicator of oil industry investment sentiment, especially explomean for the business and technology of the geoscience and ration and production spending upon which the welfare of the services sector largely depends. That correlation has become engineering community.

Obviously the global pandemic has interrupted that potential hugely complicated. Covid-19 and the spat between the three main conversation. We can however imagine what might have been disoil-producing powers has caused extraordinary volatility, including cussed. Moreover, we can be fairly confident that no conclusions in April an unheard of negative oil price as low as minus $37.63 a would have been reached. The one exception would be agreement barrel for West Texas Intermediate (WTI). that no one has a clue how the industry is going to evolve in the There is no reason to argue much with the World Energy aftermath of the Covid-19 outbreak and the brutal oil price war Investment Report 2020 published by the International Energy waged over the past few months. Ominously for geoscientists no Agency (IEA) in its statement that, at the beginning of this year, likely future scenarios offer much cause for optimism. global energy investment was on track for growth of around The big picture is that the industry is experiencing unprece2%, the largest annual rise in six years. It now warns that such investment will plummet by 20% or almost $400 billion. A dented turmoil and uncertainty. The supply and demand of oil has been thrown into total disarray. On the supply side it’s anyone’s widely quoted report from Fitch Ratings suggests that the oil and guess how Saudi Arabia, Russia, the rest of OPEC+, and the US natural gas industry could lose as much as $1.8 trillion in revenue this year. shale oil industry will behave in the months to come. Tensions between all the parties continue to simmer.

The year started off with the assumption of Any apparent oil price equilibrium achieved a stable oil price hovering around $50-60 per ‘Ominously for this summer seems fragile. It will be subject barrel. A modest increase in E&P oil industry to all the pressures that caused the big upset geoscientists no likely spending was expected outside the US, where earlier this year. disenchantment with the investment returns future scenarios offer Meantime, no one really knows what globfrom shale were weighing on the market. Any much cause for al economic recovery will look like and to what new offshore hydrocarbons investment would extent it will drive increased demand for oil. continue the trend of maximizing production optimism’ Any agency or analyst hazarding a prediction from existing developments and near field is almost bound to be embarrassed. No amount of modelling can opportunities. Oil companies were still hesitant about committing factor in all the uncertainties affecting future oil consumption, e.g., to further large exploration projects requiring significant seismic manufacturing output, business and commerce, domestic spending, activity. international travel, leisure pursuits, etc.

As a result the marine seismic towed streamer contractors were It hasn’t discouraged the US Energy Energy Information facing another year of barely hanging on even with a seriously Administration from predicting crude prices averaging $34 a barrel depleted global fleet. If there was to be any growth in seismic in 2020 rising to $48 next year. Goldman Sachs suggests $55.63 for demand, the ocean bottom survey sector was the likely potential Brent Crude in 2021. For something surreal, try longforecast.com: beneficiary.

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The reaction of the oil business to the chapter of disasters of the check revealed that between them the three leading high-tech last few months does not require a spoiler alert. It has been entirely marine seismic contractors had 11 vessels active along with six other mainly Chinese and Russian vessels. All the main contractors predictable. The hammer has come down and wherever you look it is a story of slashed budgets. Cuts announced by nine major oil have been cutting deeper into their already depleted resources at the companies, including Saudi Aramco, ExxonMobil and Royal Dutch risk of becoming unsustainable. Most recently PGS stacked three of its operational vessels, announced a 40% reduction in office-based Shell, come to a combined $38 billion, or a drop of 22% from their initial spending plans of $175 billion, according to a recent Reuters staff and a reduction in its annual gross cost run rate to around $400 report. million from a guidance of $600 million at the beginning of the year.

No one expects the overall situation to change much until some Analyst Wood Mackenzie has calculated that the 11 ‘top unspecified time next year when an uplift in demand is hoped for. spending’ NOC explorers, comprising three Chinese NOCs, PTTEP, The much hyped ocean bottom seismic market Petronas, ONGC, Qatar Petroleum, Rosneft, Gazprom, Petrobras and Pemex have reduced ‘The most disconcerting has also gone extremely quiet. The few offshore licensing rounds in prospect seem unlikely to their combined budgets by about 26%, or $5 biland long lasting generate many new seismic projects. Petroleum lion. It comments that ‘most NOCs consistently aspect could be the Economist lists planned rounds by Australspent between 12% and 35% of their upstream budgets on exploration, an average of about threat to the discipline ia, Eastern Canada, Colombia, and Norway.

Current open rounds include Georgia, India 17% over the 2015-2019 period. This is signifiof geoscience itself’ Lebanon, Liberia and Senegal. cantly higher than the majors’ average spend of A similar tale of woe is of course affecting 8% of upstream budgets on exploration.’ the land seismic business, no detail necessary. So the issues that Other reactions to the crisis include the shedding of 10,000 might have been raised at the EAGE Annual Meeting in June would jobs by BP. Foreshadowing the future, CEO Bernard Looney noted surely have focused on global oil price, oil company strategy going in an interview last month that BP would produce less oil and gas forward, the pace of energy transition and just how drastic are the over time; that oil demand is probably slowing and that focusing on circumstances facing the geoscience and related engineering organ‘value’ rather than ‘volume’ makes it possible to meet carbon goals izations involved in the oil and gas industry. Such questions are and satisfy investors’ expectations. Shell shocked its shareholders still unanswerable and will probably remain so when the postponed by cutting its dividend (by two thirds) for the first time since World conference and exhibition is convened in Amsterdam in December.

War II, a move also made by Equinor.

More positive talk in June would probably have explored two A sign of the times, Shell in its explanation made reference questions: 1) How to adapt to the new kind of business represented to meeting its net zero emissions goal. The potential for energy by digitalization: big data, artificial intelligence, machine learning, transition to disrupt energy supply and demand estimates is clearly etc. and 2) How to take advantage of opportunities for geoscience a source of major uncertainty for Big Oil. A recent report by Rystad in energy transition initiatives such as carbon capture and storage, Energy suggests that big players are still not totally on board with geothermal developments and the like. The dialogue has really only the alternative energy wagon. Its analysis suggests that investments just got underway. in solar and wind energy projects by the world’s oil majors until The most disconcerting and long lasting aspect of the latest 2025 are expected to exceed $18 billion. But some $10 billion, or plunge in oil industry fortunes could be the threat to the discipline 55% of the amount is expected to be invested by a single company, of geoscience itself. Can we really expect the next generation of Equinor. To date it is the only operator poised to direct a majority of science-minded students to put geoscience at the top of their list? its greenfield capex towards renewable energy projects.

They are witnessing once again the volatility of the oil and gas Almost all of the renewable investments by oil and gas players market and its chronically undependable career prospects. Push will come from only 10 oil majors, which are collectively poised to back in light of the industry’s perceived poor environmental and spend just over $18 billion on specific renewable energy projects ethical image has also been evident from declining student numbers through to 2025. Rystad says that this investment pales in comparin Europe and the US. ison with the $166 billion forecast to be spent on greenfield oil and Of course there are other areas for geoscientific endeavour, gas projects during the same period. It acknowledges that some of but the oil industry has been always been a vital source of research the companies may accelerate their alternative energy spending and initiatives and sponsorship. That is now ebbing away. Associations that the report came before Total announced the purchase of a 51% such as our own EAGE, with a mission to promote and support the stake in SSE’s Seagreen 1 $3.7 billion offshore wind farm project geoscience community, are not immune from the forces in play. We in the UK. could easily be at an inflection point where we have to reimagine The impact of all this on the immediate prospects for seismic what the geosciences can offer society. That is an issue that no major service and equipment suppliers to the oil industry requires little gathering of professional geoscientists should dodge. analysis. The evidence is already out there. For example, a recent

Views expressed in Crosstalk are solely those of the author, who can be contacted at andrew@andrewmcbarnet.com.

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PGS announces big job cuts

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Wind sector to overtake oil and gas

TGS makes breakthrough in Dynamic Matching Full Wave Inversion technology TGS has claimed a breakthrough in Full Wave Inversion technology while also announcing a big expansion of its integrated seismic and well mapping of the UK and Norwegian Continental Shelves along with the Barents Sea. The company has announced the launch of its Dynamic Matching Full Wave Inversion (DM FWI) technology, an imaging approach that uses seismic reflection and refraction information to automatically update the velocity model and enable high-quality images in geologically complicated areas.

DM FWI delivers a step-change in velocity model quality, facilitating clearer and geologically consistent depth images. The TGS inversion-based algorithm can significantly reduce imaging cycle time and interpretation ambiguity. It works in tandem with new ocean bottom node (OBN) survey designs and is also applicable to modern towed-streamer survey designs. The DM FWI approach can be applied in a wide range of geologic settings, with particular relevance in geologically complex areas such as salt basins and where there are shallow gas anomalies – enabling faster and more evident geological interpretations.

Jan Schoolmeesters, executive vice-president of operations at TGS, said: ‘Over the last few months, our

R&D and Imaging teams have been tasked with developing and implementing new seismic imaging technologies to provide our customers with step-changes in quality, value, efficiency and accuracy. DM FWI is a first realization of that focused effort, and we can now provide our clients with data-driven models that enhance interpretations like never before.’

‘We appreciate the significant pressure that E&Ps are under to maximize efficiency, reduce cycle times and cut costs and therefore have a need for reduced subsurface uncertainty to help them de-risk prospects faster. With DM FWI, we are delighted to help them overcome their challenges with timely and efficient imaging technologies and processing workflows.’

Amendment Phase I, a joint venture programme with WesternGeco, is the first project to utilize TGS’ DM FWI technology. The application to this sparse node dataset with ultralong offsets in the US Gulf of Mexico demonstrates the capability to resolve large velocity errors and provide significant uplift on the sub-salt image.

Meanwhile, TGS has significantly expanded and enhanced its Facies Map Browser (FMB) covering North West Europe and the Barents Sea. Version FIRST

4.5.0 enables clients to instantly expand their subsurface knowledge using the largest cross-border well database in North West Europe.

The latest version is the result of a year-long process of geological analysis to update clients with the most up-todate and comprehensive interpretation available for the region. Updates include all newly released E&A wells from the UK and Norway Continental Shelf, in addition to new data types, such as mud gas logs. Upgrades to the Jurassic, Upper Cretaceous and Tertiary stratigraphic interpretations provide a robust framework on which to develop play concepts and delineate prospects. The FMB 4.5.0 release provides more high-quality data than ever before to support technical evaluations and anticipated future licensing rounds.

Carl Neuhaus, vice president, well data products at TGS, said: ‘We are excited to offer access to both high-quality seismic data and all the available well data in this region – a unique combination offered by TGS. The Facies Map Browser is an invaluable resource that provides the most current subsurface data and expert geologic knowledge to help guide the user’s interpretations and allows our customers to make better and more informed decisions.’

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PGS plans to reduce office-based staff by 40% PGS is implementing further cost reductions to bring expenditure to approx. $460 million, down from the $600 mil-

PGS’ head office in Oslo, where redundancies are expected.

lion it planned to spend at the start of the year.

In response to the impact of the Covid19 pandemic, cuts will be made through staff reductions, reorganization, consolidation of offices, renegotiation of service agreements and other cost measures.

PGS has already announced that it is stacking three out of the eight 3D vessels that were operating at the start of the year.

The company will now reduce officebased personnel by approx. 40%, including reductions already implemented.

The corresponding gross cash costs for 2020 are estimated to be approx. $460 million, excluding severance and other restructuring costs of approx. $30 million expected to be recognized in Q2 and Q3 2020. The annual gross cash cost run rate is based on operating five 3D vessels. The company said that it is prepared to adjust operated vessel capacity and offshore crew levels further if required.

As part of streamlining of the organization, all commercial activities, including the current New Ventures unit, will be combined into one business unit, Sales &

Services, which will be headed by Nathan Oliver. Berit Osnes, who currently leads New Ventures, will take a key management role in Sales & Services following the reorganization. The new organization is expected to be implemented on 1 August, 2020.

PGS president and CEO, Rune Olav Pedersen said: ‘We are addressing the activity reduction and low visibility by adjusting operations and cost. We will scale down our organization significantly while retaining our core capabilities and scalability to be in position to take advantage of what we believe will be an improving market following the current crisis.’

He added: ‘PGS has a strong market position and a resilient operating model and organization. I am proud of how our employees are responding to yet another challenging period for the industry. The PGS workforce has demonstrated strong commitment and ability to adapt during previous organizational restructures, and I am confident we will see the same during the weeks and months to come.

Magseis Fairfield reports first quarter net loss of -$12 million Magseis Fairfield has reported first quarter revenues of $53.3 million and gross profit of $12.3 million with a 23% margin.

The company reported an operating loss -$8.1 million and a net loss after tax of -$12 million.

Backlog stood at $169 million, of which $125 million is expected to be delivered in 2020.

The company has increased cash and cash equivalents by $12.3m resulting in cash position of $65.8 million ‘We have taken decisive action to adjust to a new market reality as a result of the coronavirus pandemic and lower oil

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prices. We entered this market situation as a stronger company after restructuring and refinancing over the past seven months, and have in April initiated further cost and capex reductions to align our cash spending with a low case revenue scenario based on the secured backlog,’ said Magseis Fairfield CEO Carel Hooijkaas.

The company expects selling, general and administrative costs of $25 million and capital expenditure of $15 million in 2020. This excludes investments into the multi-client library, including the MC survey which started in the North Sea towards the end of the first quarter.

2020

During the first quarter, the company announced a sale of Z100-nodes to an existing client in Asia and a deepwater acquisition project in Mexico that will be executed towards the end of the year.

Going forward, the company said that it expects clients to rethink investment plans to preserve cash and shift their focus to already-explored fields rather than exploration for new reserves.

‘Clients are concentrating their efforts on a smaller number of projects which will deliver near-term cash and value,’ said the company’s results statement.

INDUSTRY NEWS

CGG reports Q1 net loss of -$98 million CGG has reported a first quarter net loss of -$98.4 million on revenues of $253 million compared to a net loss -30.5 million on revenues of $271 million in Q1 2019. The company reported a Q1 operating loss of -$40 million compared with an operating profit of $20 million in Q1 2019.

Geology, Geophysics and Reservoir revenue of $197 million in Q1 compared to $180 million in Q1 2019. Operating loss was -$22 million. Multi-client revenue of $104 million was up from $89 million in Q1 2019. Prefunding of $57 million was up from $42 million in Q1 2019.

Equipment revenue of $75 million was down from $105 million in Q1 2019. Operating income was $15 million.

Operating cash flow at the end of Q1 was $145 million compared to $204 million at the end of Q1 2019.

The company’s 2020 capex is predicted to be around $300 million, down $75 million from previous guidance on 6 March, 2020. Multi-client capex is expected to be down by around $60 million to around $225 million with a 75% prefunding rate.

Sophie Zurquiyah, CGG CEO, said: ‘As we are navigating through this unprecedented industry crisis, created by the combined results of oversupply and reduction in demand due to the Covid-19 pandemic, our priority remains the health and safety of our employees and all our stakeholders, along with the continuity of our business to meet our clients’ needs. With our new asset

light business profile, and our business segments positioned around reservoir evaluation and production optimization, including our data library, which is focused on proven or mature sedimentary basins, we expect CGG to be much more resilient than in the past. While the duration of this severe crisis is uncertain, we are focusing on what we can control: managing our liquidity, implementing the required capex and cash cost reductions and adjusting the organization as necessary while maintaining our R&D efforts. With $624 million of cash on hand after a solid Q1 and no bond debt to reimburse before April 2023, I am confident that our asset light strategy based on high-end technology, services, data and products positions us the best for these challenging market conditions.’

Sercel seismic equipment used for megaland survey in Saudi Arabia Sercel has announced a large-scale deployment of its seismic data acquisition equipment on a mega-crew survey currently being conducted by Sinopec Geophysical Co (SGC) in Saudi Arabia.

SGC is using more than 60,000 channels of Sercel’s 508XT land-based seismic acquisition system and a fleet of more than 45 Nomad 65 Neo all-terrain vibrator trucks and VE464 advanced vibrator electronics, which are providing source and source control for the survey, which is covering large areas of Saudi Arabia and began in late 2019.

Zhou Song, SGC president, said: ‘Sercel’s contribution has been pivotal to this project’s successful implementation.

Furthermore, we were able to quickly ramp up our operations, reaching target VP figures within the first few days of commencing activities.’

Emmanuelle Dubu, Sercel CEO, said: ‘We are delighted that Sercel equipment is playing a key role in the success of

A fleet of 45 Sercel Nomad 65 Neo vibrators used on the Sinopec survey (image courtesy of Sercel).

this large-scale Sinopec survey, which has broken production records many times over since the crew started up last year. Its inherent robustness is designed to withstand the extreme temperatures and uncompromising working conditions encountered in the FIRST

Saudi Arabian desert, thereby mitigating any downtime concerns. Given the success of this 508XT system in Saudi Arabia, Sinopec is already deploying a second 508XT system with 25,000 channels on another project in China.’

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TGS starts 3D survey in Norwegian Sea

Polarcus Adira will acquire 5600 km2 of data over three months.

TGS has started the Atlantic Margin 20 (AM20) 3D multi-client seismic survey offshore north-west Europe.

The AM20 survey covers the latest APA19 awards in the Norwegian Sea and extends west into open acreage where TGS has identified several interesting leads. This data will provide E&P companies with an interest in the continuing awards rounds with a greater geological insight, said TGS. As an extension of the Atlantic Margin seismic programmes acquired between 2017 and 2019, the AM20 5600 km2 sur-

vey will be undertaken over a three-month period during the milder summer season and will be acquired by the Polarcus Adira. The vessel has an acquisition specification of 12 streamers and five sources, fully optimized for high lateral resolution recording, and with two 11-km streamers for full waveform inversion (FWI). TGS expects fast-track data to be available in Q4 2020, with final PSTM product delivery by Q3 2021 and final PSDM product delivery in April 2022.

Cristian Johansen, CEO at TGS, said: ‘The challenging market caused by a

combination of Covid-19 and temporary over-supply of oil, points client interest to areas with regular licensing rounds, proven petroleum systems and existing infrastructure. With access to our latest AM20 data, companies will be able to confidently make their exploration decisions relating to the 2020 Norwegian Awards in Pre-defined Areas.’

Meanwhile, TGS has completed an additional phase of the Santos Basin 3D multi-client seismic survey in Brazil. The survey is located south of the high-profile discoveries in the Santos Basin and the recent sought-after blocks offered in Rounds 15 and 16. The acquisition of 17,500 km2 of the 23,000 km2 project is complete.

This multi-client 3D survey is just the latest of several 3D and 2D surveys completed in Brazil. TGS currently holds more than 452,000 km in 2D multi-client data and ~72,500 km2 in 3D multi-client data in Brazil.

Johansen said: ‘The Santos Basin is one of the most prolific exploration basins in the world with a high potential for further discoveries in deepwater. TGS will continue to prioritize Brazil.’

Full volume fast track data will be available in August 2020 with final data expected in Q2 2021.

Bluware Corp and BP team up to develop AI seismic interpretation Bluware Corp, a digital innovation platform that enables the oil and gas industry to accelerate digital transformation initiatives using deep learning, has announced an agreement with BP. Bluware’s technology will help BP to improve quality and speed when delivering seismic interpretation products.

‘BP recognizes the significant impact advances in digital technology can bring and we are pleased to implement Bluware

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InteractivAI, a new and innovative deep learning technology, augmenting our geoscientists’ ability to accelerate subsurface data interpretation,’ said Ahmed Hashmi, upstream chief digital and technology officer at BP. Large seismic data sets are difficult to move and use in workflows and time consuming to interpret, said Bluware Corp.

InteractivAI, powered by Bluware Volume Data Store cloud-native data environment,

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enables the acceleration of detailed interpretation tasks, it added. ‘With this tool geoscientists can now train and correct deep learning results interactively, significantly improving structural interpretation workflows,’ said Blueware in a statement.

‘We are excited to be a part of BP’s digital innovation goals in delivering significant value and a better user experience across their subsurface workflows,’ said Dan Piette, CEO of Bluware.

INDUSTRY NEWS

Twelve billion barrels of oil and gas are for sale Oil and gas companies currently have assets for sale with recoverable reserves of more than 5 billion barrels of liquids and 7.5 billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe) of natural gas, according to research by Rystad Energy.

While some of these planned divestments were announced before the Covid-19-related oil price crash, more were added in reaction to the pandemic and its impact.

The majority of resources on offer are in the producing phase, followed by volumes of undeveloped resources in the pre-front-end engineering and design (preFEED) stage. In other words, companies are either getting rid of their mature portfolio to focus on key projects, or want to avoid additional greenfield costs in light of the current low crude price, said Rystad.

‘Many players are trying to divest their low-priority assets, while others are considering this the right time to break into the industry or expand their portfolios by acquiring these assets at a lower price,’ said Rystad Energy’s senior upstream analyst Siva Prasad of the research that excludes unconventional and US onshore assets announced since the fourth quarter of 2019.

The majors contribute nearly 70% of the liquid volumes and 50% of the gas reserves lined up for divestment globally, according to the report..

ExxonMobil is looking for interested buyers for upstream assets in the US Gulf of Mexico, the UK North Sea, Germany, Nigeria, Malaysia, Indonesia, Romania, Azerbaijan, Vietnam, Chad and Equatorial Guinea as part of its wider plan to generate $15 billion by 2021 and $25 billion by 2025 from divestments.

Meanwhile, Chevron is seeking to divest its equity in eight Nigerian blocks, both onshore and in shallow waters, as part of a global drive to reshape its portfolio. The US major is also considering selling its stake in the Indonesian deepwater development gas project as part of its strategy to sell its low-priority natural gas projects.

Total’s 12.5% stake in the Nigerian offshore block OML 118, which includes the Bonga, Bonga Southwest and Aparo fields, is up for sale as part of its bid to raise $5 billion from asset sales around the world by 2020.

Total and Tullow aim to reduce their stakes in a joint sale of the blocks 10 BA, 10 BB and 13T in the South Lokichar Basin in Kenya. Total, meanwhile, is aiming to sell up to half of its 25% stake in the Kenyan project. The entire project is valued at between $1.25 billion and $2 billion.

Among industrial companies, Japan’s Inpex is considering farming out of its Australian operations, centred around the

Five billion barrels of oil are stacking up.

$45 billion Ichthys LNG project, among others.

Mining conglomerate BHP is considering selling its assets in Victoria’s Bass Strait fields as its Australian oil and gas production continues to decline and the global shift towards electric vehicles paints a grim outlook for long-term demand for hydrocarbons. ExxonMobil, which owns the remaining 50% stake in the Bass Strait oil and gas fields, announced in last September that it was selling its interests.

An estimated 104,000 km2 of acreage is also up for grabs in potential exploration licensing sales.

CNOOC launches offshore China bidding round China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) has launched a licensing round, Bidding Blocks Offshore China of 2020.

In 2020, 15 Offshore China Exploration Blocks covering an area of 9453 km2 are available for bidding. Among them,

one 127 km2 block is located in Bohai Bay; one 1784 km2 block is located in East Sea Basin; 10 blocks are in the Pearl River Mouth Basin covering 5890 km2; two blocks are in the Qiongdongnan Basin covering 1252 km2, and one 400 km2 block is located in the Yinggehai Basin.

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In a bid to attract foreign investment in the blocks, CNOOC said that it was adopting ‘flexible and preferential business arrangements in terms of exploration period, relinquishment, signature fee, participating interest and X factor’.

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Plan for big CO2 storage project submitted to Norwegian government

The Northern Lights Alliance of Equinor (operator), Shell and Total, has submitted a plan to transport and store CO2 on the Norwegian shelf.

Northern Lights is part of the first Norwegian full-scale project for transport and storage of CO2 – Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS). The project includes capturing CO2 from two industrial companies in eastern Norway and transporting liquid CO2 to a terminal in western Norway.

CO2 will be captured from Fortum’s heat recovery plant at Klementsrud in Oslo and Norcem’s cement factory in Breivik in the municipality of Porsgrunn, and then transported by ship to an intermediate storage location at Kollsnes in the Øygarden municipality.

From there, the liquid CO2 will be transported along 100-km long pipeline on

the seabed and pumped into a reservoir at a depth of around 2700 m in the North Sea for permanent storage. The reservoir is in the Johansen Formation southwest of the Troll field.

The plan for the first phase is to inject 1.5 million tonnes of CO2 into the Johansen Formation. However, the plan includes flexibility to accommodate expanding the location’s capacity, and one important objective is to be able to offer the site as a storage location for CO2 from other European countries.

In January 2019, Northern Lights was awarded the first exploitation licence for injection and storage of CO2. The awarded area is located near the Troll field in the North Sea. Last December drilling started on an exploration well to identify suitable reser-

voirs for CO2 storage. The exploration well was terminated in February.

‘The well proved sandstone with properties well-suited for a CO2 storage location,’ said assistant director for exploration in the NPD, Wenche Tjelta Johansen.

The reservoir is filled with water, and there has never been any oil or gas production from this part of the formation.

Northern Lights will be the latest of several CCS projects in Norway. CO2 has been removed from the Sleipner Vest gas and injected in the Utsira Formation since 1996. Around one million tonnes of CO2 are stored in the subsurface every year.

Since 2007, around 700,000 tonnes of CO2 have also been stored each year on the Snøhvit field.

It is separated from the gas at the process plant at Melkøya before it is routed by pipeline down into a reservoir about 140 km from land. Regular surveys are performed to monitor how injected CO2 moves within the storage location.

The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate has produced a CO2 storage atlas for the Norwegian shelf, mapping areas that are suitable for safe and secure long-term storage.

Estimates indicate that the reservoir volume on the shelf is sufficient to accommodate more than 80 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide, a volume equivalent to 1000 years of current Norwegian CO2 emissions

Wood sets ambitious target to cut emissions The global engineering consultancy Wood has set a science-based target to reduce its scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2030.

Wood said that its target will put the company on a trajectory well beyond the 2-degree Celsius temperature goal identified by the Paris Agreement.

The company’s carbon cutting initiatives will cover wind, solar, carbon capture and storage, hydrogen and waste to energy, as well as solutions to help oil, gas 24

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and chemicals clients achieve their own decarbonization targets. It also includes work in the built environment, designing, planning and delivering sustainable and less carbon intensive infrastructure, as cities continue to grow.

To achieve its commitment to a low carbon future, Wood will focus on global efficiencies including minimum standards to reduce carbon intensity from its sites, equipment and vehicle use, the increased utilization of renewable energy sources 2020

and more sustainable procurement policies.

Robin Watson, chief executive, Wood said: ‘As a member of the United Nations Global Compact and a long-standing contributor to CDP Climate Change, we believe in the importance of setting science-based carbon reduction targets.

Working with our partners, our people and our communities we will build a lower carbon world that enables sustainable growth for future generations.’

INDUSTRY NEWS

Equinor and Total launch projects to cut carbon emissions from shipping Equinor and Total have launched initiatives to reduce the carbon emissions of the ships they use.

The maritime sector represents 6% of total greenhouse gas emissions in Norway and 2-3% of global emissions and Equinor has launched a project to halve carbon emissions from the ships it uses on the Norwegian Continental Shelf to 30% of 2005 levels by 2030 and to halve its global maritime emissions by 2050 compared to 2008 emissions.

As a supplier of fuel to the maritime sector, Equinor has pledged to ‘escalate its production and use of low-carbon fuels’ by 2030 and ‘strongly increase’ production and use of zero-emission fuels by 2050.

continuously, it added. The company has also started developing the world’s first supply vessel to run on zero-emission ammonia.

It will introduce batteries, hybrid solutions as well as LNG and LPG solutions, while it works towards its longer-term ambition of developing value chains for zero-emission fuels to the maritime sector that will gradually replace low-carbon fuels. This will include increasing the share of biofuel in marine fuels and developing ammonia and hydrogen from natural gas in combination with carbon capture and storage or by electrolysis of water from renewable energy sources.

The maritime sector accounts for 2-3% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Equinor has around 175 vessels on contract with the company at any one time and is already developing new types of vessels and using alternative fuels such as liquefied natural gas (LNG). In 2021 the company said that it will introduce large-scale use of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) as a fuel.

A new hybrid battery system has been introduced for seven supply vessels on the NCS, and the next generation of dual-fuel vessels is being introduced to the fleet

Irene Rummelhoff, Equinor’s executive vice-president for marketing, midstream and processing (MMP), said: ‘Equinor will play an important role in developing new zero-emission fuels for ships, such as hydrogen and ammonia, in combination with carbon capture and storage. As a major maritime player and a producer of maritime fuels we can help to establish new value chains in the sector, for example by pilot projects together with other players.’

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Kjetil Johnsen, vice president for the shipping, ship technology and vetting unit, said: ‘Zero-emission fuels for the maritime sector will require close collaboration between the industry, shipowners, technology suppliers, international organizations and authorities. From 2015, Equinor has gradually renewed its tanker fleet, which is an important contribution to reaching Equinor’s ambitions. We expect the total carbon intensity for the tanker fleet to be reduced by 45% in 2025, compared to 2008.’

Meanwhile, Total has joined the ‘Getting to Zero Coalition’ to support the maritime industry’s decarbonization by collaborating with companies across the maritime, energy, infrastructure and finance sectors with the aim of reducing greenhouse gas emissions from shipping by at least 50% by 2050 compared to 2008 levels.

‘As a major energy player, Total is already developing cleaner fuels for the maritime industry.’ said Patrick Pouyanné, president and CEO of Total. ‘By joining the Getting to Zero Coalition, we want to push innovation and foster collective actions with the industry, thus contributing more efficiently to the reduction of the carbon footprint of maritime transport and its energy value chains.’

Total is already helping to reduce the environmental footprint of the shipping industry through the development of marine LNG supply infrastructure, fuel-efficient lubricants, biofuels and batteries. It has also recently announced the long-term chartering of two LNG-propelled VLCCs. The Getting to Zero Coalition was launched at the United Nations climate summit in New York on September 23, 2019 as a partnership between the Global Maritime Forum, the Friends of Ocean Action and the World Economic Forum. It comprises more than 120 public and private organizations and has been endorsed by 14 countries, including France and the UK. The coalition is aiming to get commercially viable deep-sea zero-emission vessels powered by zero-emission fuels into operation by 2030.

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Wind sector will overtake oil and gas in 2021, says Rystad The value of the offshore wind market in Europe will reach parity with the oil and gas industry next year and surpass it in 2022, according to research by Rystad Energy.

The oil market collapse caused by the Covid-19 pandemic is set to delay several oil and gas developments in Western Europe, putting capital expenditure in the offshore sector on a continued downward trajectory through to 2022, it says.

In light of the postponement of multiple final investment decisions (FIDs) on projects and lower investments in offshore oil and gas, coupled with increasing activity in the offshore wind sector, Rystad anticipates that capital expenditure (capex) on offshore wind will surpass upstream oil and gas spending in Europe in 2022.

Capex towards offshore wind in Europe surpassed the $10 billion mark in 2015 and has since hovered in the range of $10 billion to $15 billion per year. Annual capex levels are expected to rise from around $11.1 billion in 2019 to around $13.8 billion in 2020, $18.2 billion in 2021 and more than $22 billion in 2022.

Meanwhile, annual capex towards upstream offshore oil and gas in Europe is expected to decline from more than $25 billion in 2019 to less than $17 billion in 2022.

‘Offshore wind development in Europe is expected to flourish in the coming years as countries strive to reach their ambitious 2030 targets – and large investments will be required,’ said Alexander Flotre, Rystad Energy’s project manager for offshore wind. ‘Commissioning activity is expected to increase towards 25, and projects expected to be operational in 2023-2025 are already driving up capital expenditure in 2020. This trend will continue in the coming years’ Historically, Europe has been the key market for offshore wind development, accounting for almost 80% of global installed capacity at the end of 2019. While strong growth is expected in China, South East Asia and the US in the years to come, Europe is expected to maintain its number one position through 2025 in terms installed capacity, says Rystad.

From an installed base of 21.9 gigawatts (GW) in 2019, European capacity is expected to increase to more than 53 GW by 2025, constituting an annual growth rate of 16%.

The UK is the largest country in Europe in terms of offshore wind capacity and is expected to drive a big portion of the growth towards 2025, with mega-projects such as Dogger Bank, Sofia and additional Hornsea phases. Other established coun-

tries such as the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium and Denmark are also expected to contribute to the increased spending levels, while newcomers such as France and Poland will add to the growth in the 2023 to 2025 period.

Spending on European offshore wind projects is forecast to reach $22 billion in 2022.

‘Many service companies have already transitioned towards concentrating increasingly on offshore wind activities, compared to their legacy oil and gas business. For these players, the growth in the offshore wind market provides a well-timed cushion that softens the blow of declining investments in the traditional oilfield services sector,’ Flotre added.

Eni unveils new structure to accelerate energy transition Eni is creating two new business groups to manage the company’s energy transition and jointly develop decarbonization processes such as carbon capture, gas to power and gas to hydrogen projects.

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business, and its position in the wholesale market. Furthermore, it will focus on carbon capture and compensation projects.

The business group will incorporate the company’s oil and gas exploration, development and production activities, natural gas wholesale via pipeline and LNG. In addition, it will include forestry conservation (REDD+) and carbon storage projects, and sustainability.

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Energy Evolution will focus on growing power generation from renewable energy and biomethane, it will coordinate the bio and circular evolution of the company’s refining system and chemical business, and it will further develop Eni’s retail portfolio, providing increasingly more decarbonized products for mobility, household consumption and small enterprises.

Alessandro Puliti will lead Natural Resources and Massimo Mondazzi will lead Energy Evolution.

INDUSTRY NEWS

Survey points to hydrogen taking leading role in decarbonization A new report reveals that hydrogen has surged up the priority list of many oil and gas organizations, taking a primary position in the sector’s decarbonization efforts.

A survey of more than 1000 senior oil and gas professionals found that 52% expect hydrogen to be a significant part of the energy mix by 2030, according to the DNV GL report, Heading for Hydrogen.

A fifth (21%) of industry leaders say their companies have already entered the hydrogen market. A fifth (21%) say their organization is already actively entering the hydrogen market. The proportion intending to invest in the hydrogen economy doubled from 20% to 42% in the year leading up to the Coronavirus-induced oil price crash.

DNV GL found a significant rise in those reporting that their organization is actively adapting to a less carbon-intensive energy mix – up from 44% for 2018 to 60% for 2020. Carbon-free hydrogen production, transmission and distribution is now widely recognized as a central component to the oil and gas industry’s decarbonization efforts.

More than half of respondents to DNV GL’s research in Asia-Pacific

(56%), the Middle East & North Africa (54%) and Europe (53%) agree that hydrogen will be a significant part of the energy mix within 10 years. North America (40%) and Latin America (37%) are only a little behind.

While hydrogen gas produced from renewable energy (green hydrogen) is the industry’s ultimate destination, analysis shows that the sector can only realistically scale up to large volumes and infrastructure with carbon-free hydrogen produced from fossil fuels combined with CCS technology (blue hydrogen).

DNV GL’s 2019 Energy Transition Outlook, a forecast of world energy demand and supply, predicts that natural gas will become the world’s largest energy source in the mid-2020s, accounting for nearly 30% of the global energy supply in 2050. Natural gas and hydrogen can play similar roles within the global energy system, and the synergies between them – in application and infrastructure – will drive the hydrogen economy.

However, Heading for Hydrogen points to political, economic, and technical complexity in scaling the hydrogen economy.

‘To progress to the stage where societies and industry can enjoy the benefits

of hydrogen at scale, all stakeholders will need immediate focus on proving safety, enabling infrastructure, scaling carbon capture and storage technology and incentivizing value chains through policy,’ said Liv A. Hovem, CEO, DNV GL – Oil & Gas. DNV GL is involved in projects including the Hy4Heat programme in the UK, which aims to establish whether it is technically possible, safe, and convenient to replace methane with hydrogen in residential and commercial areas. Tests on three specially constructed houses are proving the safety case for a switch from natural gas to hydrogen in a domestic setting at DNV GL’s Spadeadam Testing and Research site – the world’s first comprehensive hydrogen testing facility A project run by Dutch gas and power networks operator Stedin is demonstrating that zero-carbon hydrogen could help to decarbonize heating in a residential apartment block near Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

Gassnova is running a full-scale demonstration project in which DNV GL qualified carbon capture technology is being developed by Aker Solutions at Norcem’s cement plant in Brevik, Norway.

Australian legislation boosts hydrogen projects Australia has passed legislation to boost the country’s hydrogen industry.

The Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage (OPGGS) Amendment Bills, amending the OPGGS Act 2006, were approved by the senate and are now awaiting royal assent.

Minister for resources, water and Northern Australia Keith Pitt said that the legislation could pave the way for the development of the hydrogen industry.

‘The abundant brown coal resources of the Latrobe Valley are ideal feedstock for one of the world’s first hydrogen export industries based on coal,’ Pitt said.

‘The CarbonNet project will provide the required carbon capture and storage (CCS) for the development of the low emissions Hydrogen Energy Supply Chain Project.

‘CarbonNet has been investigating the feasibility for a commercial-scale,

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multi-user CCS network in Gippsland, Victoria, and the bills that passed through parliament remove one of the technical issues around the project.

‘A proposed site straddles the boundary of state and Commonwealth waters and the bill amends and clarifies the regulatory framework to help unlock the development of more projects in the Latrobe Valley – providing a cost-effective pathway to low emissions.’

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UK university develops vessel utilization software A Scottish university is leading a project to develop innovative artificial intelligence-based software that could streamline oil and gas industry logistics in the North Sea and reduce CO2 emissions.

Aberdeen-based company PlanSea Solutions, a spin-out from Robert Gordon University (RGU), is developing the software after securing funding from the Oil and Gas Technology Centre (OGTC).

The project builds on preliminary work undertaken by RGU and the OGTC to assess existing vessel utilization and efficiency in the UKCS. The study highlighted potential cost savings of up to 25% on an annual industry spend of more than

£300 million and identified the contribution optimization software can make to reduce the sector’s CO2 emissions.

The marine logistics optimization and efficiency software is being developed in partnership with BP, CNOOC International and Equinor. The OGTC funding will enable the software, optimization tools and web applications to be developed in the next 12 months.

The project will leverage existing optimization algorithms and software tools developed by RGU, which have already been successfully applied onshore in the telecommunications and haulage sectors.

PlanSea co-founder and CEO Jim Cargill, said: ‘Innovation and new technology has a key part to play in the next chapter of our industry’s future so we are pleased to have secured funding for this important cutting-edge technology which promises to save money and contribute towards Net-Zero.

‘The partnership with BP, CNOOC International, Equinor and the OGTC is a great example of industry collaboration and will be critical in turning this innovative and transformational concept into a set of powerful tools for the industry’, added Cargill of the Aberdeen-based initiative.

Somalia launches licensing round The government of Somalia has launched its first offshore licensing round.

The 2020 Somali licensing round features up to seven blocks, which are estimated to be among the most prospective areas for hydrocarbon exploration and production in Somalia. The round will open on 4 August and close on 12 March 2021.

Somalia’s new Petroleum Law completed its legislative process earlier this year. The law includes a revenue sharing agreement which indicates how future revenues from the development of the industry will be shared between the Federal Government, the Federal Members States and their local communities.

This agreement has now been ‘road-tested’ with the first revenues, which were recently generated from rental payments by Shell and ExxonMobil. The law also includes a production sharing contract model.

Abdirashid Mohamed Ahmed, minister of petroleum and mineral resources said: ‘The opportunities for the international exploration and development majors are enormous. Somalia is commit28

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Seven of the country’s most prospective offshore blocks are on offer.

ted to attracting investment and promoting partnership and business in all segments of the oil and gas industry value chain.

This event is the starting point to allow the 2020

Somali Government to better showcase the vision that our country has for our petroleum and gas industry to potential foreign investors.

INDUSTRY NEWS

PGS launches three surveys offshore Canada

The surveys cover 10,000 km2.

PGS has launched the Blomidon, South Bank, and Torngat Extension GeoStreamer surveys covering approx. 10,000 km2 offshore Labrador and Newfoundland.

The three surveys are being acquired by the vessels Ramform Atlas and Ramform Titan between early June and early

September 2020, starting with Blomidon 3D which will map approx. 4000 km2 of GeoStreamer 3D data over open acreage that will be included in the north-eastern Newfoundland Call for Bids, which closes in November 2022. Fast-track PSTM imaging products will be available for licensing by October 2020. Final imaging and interpretation products will be available in early 2021.

South Bank 3D will cover approx.

3000 km2 with GeoStreamer 3D data over open acreage that will be included in the south-eastern Newfoundland Call for Bids, closing in November 2021.

This is the first 3D project in the area and results are expected to radically improve understanding of its potential. Fasttrack PSTM imaging products for South Bank will be available for licensing by the end of the year, with final imaging

and interpretation products available early 2021.

The Torngat Extension 3D builds an additional 3000 km2 on PGS’ library of coverage from its 2019 acquisition to create a total of 6600 km2 over open acreage that is part of the South Labrador Call for Bids, closing in November 2021.

Fast-track PSTM Imaging products will be available for licensing by the end of 2020. Final imaging and interpretation products will be ready in early 2021.

‘Canada remains a good investment for explorers and we experience significant interest for our MultiClient GeoStreamer data in the Newfoundland and Labrador area as GeoStreamer data continues to enhance understanding and unlock new potential,’ said Neil Paddy, new ventures manager for Canada at PGS.

TDI-Brooks completes multi-beam survey offshore Niger Delta TDI-Brooks International has completed the offshore multibeam phase offshore the Niger Delta for client TGS. This survey took place in water depths of 750 to 3500 m and is Nigeria’s first regional multi-client Multibeam and Seafloor Sampling (MB&SS) study.

The TDI-Brooks vessel R/V Gyre acquired 82,000 km2 of high-resolution hull-mounted multibeam echo sounder data. During the multibeam data collection a total of 1223 active hydrocarbon seeps were detected in the multibeam water column data. Onboard hydrocarbon seep analysis was conducted in near realtime onboard the vessel to expedite the process of core selection. The Gyre is fitted with an EM302 MBES (EM304 upgrade pending).

The R/V Proteus is scheduled to begin acquisition of the follow-up Surface Geochemical Exploration (SGE) coring campaign in July 2020, where approximately 245 piston core samples targeting suspected seep features selected

The vessel R/V Gyre acquired 82,000 km2 of hull-mounted multibeam echo sounder data.

from the MBES dataset will be collected, along with an additional 45 additional piston core samples for geotechnical and biostratigraphic studies. An additional 17 surface heat flow measurements will also be collected as part of the programme.

TDI-Brooks’ interpretation of survey results is aided by comparison with its worldwide database of SGE survey results from 100,000+ samples it has collected, FIRST

analysed, and interpreted over the years.

The process consists of the following sequential steps: core site selection, core acquisition, laboratory analysis and interpretation.

Upon completion of analyses, geochemical data are combined with geophysical and geological datasets to provide insight into migrated hydrocarbons, their type and maturity.

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Neptune completes 3D survey offshore northwestern Australia Neptune Energy has completed a 3D broadband seismic survey of the Petrel field in the Bonaparte basin offshore northwestern Australia.

The 2900 km2 survey, acquired by the vessel Polarcus Asima, began towards the end of 2019 and significantly expanded the area of seismic data Neptune holds and increased the quality and breadth of its data.

Initial findings from the survey have been received with the remaining processed data due to be delivered later this year.

Neptune Australia managing director, Janet Hann said: ‘The seismic survey was the first significant investment in this part of the Bonaparte basin in more than five years and it continues to present exciting future growth opportunities for Neptune offshore Australia.

Our deeper understanding of the area also positions us well for the upcoming offshore petroleum exploration release later this year.’

Neptune, on behalf of the Petrel JV, entered into an exclusive data licensing agreement with Polarcus, which acquired the survey. Neptune holds 54% in the joint venture alongside Santos (40.25%) and Beach Energy (5.75%).

Shearwater wins another 4D survey in the North Sea

The vessel Amazon Warrior is acquiring the data.

Shearwater GeoServices has won a contract from Apache to acquire a 4D seismic survey with 3D extension over the Forties field in the UK North Sea. ‘We are very pleased to see a Shearwater Qmarine 4D crew returning to the Forties field for the fourth time,’ said Irene Waage Basili, CEO of Shearwater

GeoServices. ‘The project adds to the North Sea 4D programme we announced earlier this year.’

The six-week project will be conducted by the vessel Amazon Warrior starting in Q2 2020.

In January, Shearwater announced multiple 4D surveys to be performed in the 2020 North Sea season.

Earth Science Analytics completes ML project in North Sea Earth Science Analytics has completed a Missed Pay Prediction project using machine learning and big data analytics in the Northern North Sea. In collaboration with the UK Oil and Gas Authority, the Oil and Gas Technology Centre and the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate and partner TAQA Bratani Limited, Earth Science Analytics has conducted and completed a case study on missed pay identification over 5000 plus wells in the Northern North Sea. 30

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The developed workflows consist of a comprehensive semi-automated quality control (QC) and well log editing steps followed by the implementation of machine learning algorithms to predict well log properties of interest e.g. porosity, HC saturation, lithology, reservoir and pay flags. The machine learning step itself includes various QC and uncertainty quantification measures ensuring the quality of the predictions. Earth Science Analytics has further developed visualization and analysis tools to interrogate and 2020

validate the findings with the necessary geological sense checks.

Earth Analytics CPO Ehsan Naeini, said: ‘Discovering missed pay zones has the potential to postpone costly decommissioning projects and provide new exploration targets. Missed pay can result from a multitude of factors including poor data quality and coverage, insufficient logging runs, poor petrophysical evaluation at time of discovery, a focus on the primary pay zone, and loss of knowledge due to company mergers or buyouts.’

INDUSTRY NEWS

PGS completes 3D survey offshore Ivory Coast PGS has completed a 900 km2 multi-azimuth broadband seismic survey of the prolific upper Cretaceous Plays in Block CI-706 offshore Ivory Coast.

Recently completed final depth processing has improved illumination of the block, adding a second azimuth to existing GeoStreamer data. The latest north-south acquisition, which covers the majority of the block, was processed with the underlying east-west-acquired data.

The combined azimuths benefit from the GeoStreamer broadband frequency bandwidth and a comprehensive depth imaging flow.

The combination of two data azimuths has resulted in increased resolution of complex faulting in the syn-transform section, to enable a greater understanding of the distribution of Albian sandstone targets hosted in tilted fault blocks. The imaging of the prolific Upper Cretaceous play is also improved, with a clearer delineation of turbidite channel and fan complexes. Heightened imaging of the geomorphology of stratigraphic pinch-out traps can also reduce the risks associat-

BRIEFS

ed with hydrocarbon migration and trap integrity.

A further 7000 km2 of GeoStreamer broadband data will be available this month.

Meanwhile, a recent expansion of PGS’ Gabon MegaSurvey coverage has significantly increased access to 3D seismic data over the 35 open blocks on offer. Gabon’s Direction Generale des Hydrocarbures (DGH) and PGS are now offering more than 65,000 km2 of 3D seismic and more than 21,000 km of 2D seismic data.

An extension to the tender submission deadline for the Gabon 12th Offshore Licensing Round provides further opportunity to integrate new data into evaluations of open blocks, said PGS. In addition to the seismic data, well data is now available for 167 wells within the MegaSurvey area, to support the evaluation of the blocks on offer. Value-added composite logs used in conjunction with the regional seismic dataset will help with the assessment of prospectivity and play evaluation.

BP to cut 10,000 jobs BP has announced plans to cut 10,000 worldwide jobs after a global slump in demand for oil because of the coronavirus crisis.

The oil manor has written to staff to say that about 15% of the workforce will leave by the end of the year.

Chief executive Bernard Looney blamed a drop in the oil price for the cuts. In an email to staff, seen by the BBC, he said: ‘The oil price has plunged well below the level we need to turn a profit. We are spending much, much more than we make – I am talking millions of dollars, every day.’

‘Countries across the globe have ordered people to stay indoors and not travel, which has caused a slump in demand for oil. As a result, the cost of oil fell to less than $20 a barrel at the peak of the crisis, less than a third of the $66 it cost at the start of the year.

It has since partly recovered to around $42 a barrel. That has taken a toll on the industry.

‘It was always part of the plan to make BP a leaner, faster-moving and lower carbon company,’ Loony added.

‘Then the Covid-19 pandemic took hold.’

Australia is making more than 6700 km2 of land available for gas exploration. Twelve blocks are open to tender across Queensland’s Bowen and Surat basins between Blackwater and Goondiwindi. The five areas are: 2501 km2 near Rolleston; 2642 km2 between Blackwater and Banana; 882 km2, south of Theodore; 703 km2, 30 km south of Moonie; 18 km2, 15 km south-west of Wandoan. The state later released another 1500 km2 of land for leasing in five parcels.

The Trump administration has postponed two auctions that had been set for later in June after postponing a sale in New Mexico in May. The deadline for the submission of the licensing round applications for the Lebanon Second Offshore Licensing Round, initially set for 31 January 2020 and later postponed to 30 April 2020, has been extended to 1 June 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Eni and Fincantieri have extended their R&D agreement, first signed in 2017. The joint venture will develop initiatives in the field of decarbonisation and circular economy.The activities will focus mainly on waste to energy, production and transport of energy carriers as natural gas, methanol or hydrogen, fuel cells applications and the development of offshore renewable technologies.

SeaBird Exploration has reported a first quarter loss of -$334,000 on revenues of $25 million compared to a loss of -$400,000 on revenues of $12.3 million in Q1 2019. EBITDA of $1.8 million is down from $2.7 million in Q1 2019. Utilization of 44% is down from 76% in Q1 2019. The company has signed a loan agreement for $16m.

Ikon Science and Fairfield Geotechnologies have opened a shared office in the US city of Denver.‘Our partnership with Fairfield and shared office in Denver are part of our global expansion in unconventional markets,” said Mark Bashforth, CEO, Ikon Science.

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INDUSTRY NEWS

PGS begins survey of the Viking Graben in the North Sea The PGS vessel Ramform Vanguard has begun a multi-azimuth marine seismic survey in the North Sea. The project extends the GeoStreamer X area within the Viking Graben by 1160 km2. The first data is due in Q3 2020.

The GeoStreamer X Viking Graben 2020 extension project will combine three acquisition directions with PGS’ latest innovations for advanced offset- and azimuth-rich data. This project builds on the successful 2019 GeoStreamer X pilot project in the same area.

‘Our GeoStreamer X Viking Graben pilot clearly demonstrated the positive project economics and the illumination uplift that can be achieved with multi-azimuth GeoStreamer data on the NCS. That is why, even in these difficult times, the market is willing to support an extension of the GeoStreamer X coverage area,’ said Gunhild Myhr, VP New Ventures at PGS. Geological challenges in the area are illumination and resolution of potential targets in sand injectites, improved velocities prediction of V-brights, which cause shadow zones underneath, and improved imaging underneath the large, shallow channels.

Migration artefacts generated by a thin and rugose chalk layer predominant in the area are thoroughly suppressed due to higher fold and multi-azimuth data in the GeoStreamer X solution, radically improving the signal-to-noise ratio and the reflection continuity both above and below the chalk.

The Ramform Vanguard will tow 14 streamers, including two 10 km-long tails to provide offsets for FWI, and a wide-tow multisource with a 250 m total separation. This configuration will deliver close to zero offsets, for optimal near-offset sampling and shallow imaging. The set-up also provides dense spatial sampling for high-resolution imaging, improved illumination, and offers a significant efficiency gain and reduced environmental footprint compared to node-based exploration.

Meanwhile, PGS has completed acquisition of its East Shetland Basin 2020 and the first results will be available in August.

The seismic data quality is ‘excellent’ and the coverage is ‘good’, said PGS. Both the exclusion zones of the Western Isles FPSO and the Tern platform led to expected coverage holes that will be filled with vintage data to

deliver full coverage within the entire survey area.

The Ramform Vanguard will acquire 1160 km2 of data.

The Ramform Tethys is now in transit to the Barents Sea and will acquire another multi-client survey, extending PGS’ coverage in the Hammerfest basin later in the season.

TGS reports Q1 net loss of -$56 million TGS has reported a first quarter net loss of -$56 million on revenues of $152 million compared to a net profit of $4 million on revenues of $110 million in Q1 2019.

Operating loss of -$58 million compared to an operating loss of -$487,0000 in Q1 2019.

Q1 2020 net prefunding revenues of $83 million compared with $13.5 million in Q1 2019. Net late sales of $63 million compared with $91 million in Q1 2019.

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The quarter was characterized by solid pre-funding revenues driven by Latin America and North America onshore, while late sales were hurt by the Covid-19 crisis and the large oil price drop towards the end of the quarter, said TGS. Mult-client investments were $138 million in Q1 2020, 276% higher than the $37 million invested in Q1 2019.

Multi-client investments for the year are expected to be reduced to approximately $325 million from the originally planned

2020

$450 million. Overall, the company is reducing costs this year by 35% as a result of the Covid-19 crisis.

TGS’ backlog of $160 million at the end of Q1 compared to $181 million at the of Q4 2019 but was up from $112 million at the end of Q1 2019.

The company was holding $248 million in cash at 31 March 2020.

‘I’m extremely pleased with how we’ve performed during these challenging times,’ said TGS CEO Kristian Johansen.

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Special Topic

MACHINE LEARNING Modelling, acquisition, imaging and interpretation of seismic data is being transformed by the development of machine learning. Geophysicists are utilizing artificial intelligence to do the work that was once done by human minds. People are consequently freed up to focus on the bigger picture. We showcase ML applications in the industry.

Elena Klochikhina et al describe a supervised machine learning approach for attenuation of noise, formed by suboptimal destructive interference within the migration process.

Muhammad Zahid Afzal Durrani et al demonstrate the application of a rune inversion in comparison with the conventional post-stack seismic attributes approach on a Palaeocene formation in the Sulaiman Fold belt, onshore Pakistan.

Nicola Bienati et al describe how they have met the challenge of increasing High Performance Computing capacity to reduce uncertainty in subsurface images.

Claire Birnie et al evaluate the potential of Natural Language Processing by using a domain-specific vocabulary to create word embeddings and conclude that advanced machine learning tools are key.

Ryan Williams et al show how the evolution of structural interpretation can help breathe new life into abandoned or late life fields by improving the structural understanding of the subsurface.

Sabine Klarner et al benchmark advanced neural network algorithms against standard probabilistic lithology classifications from seismic data to find out which approach works best and under which circumstances.

Sharareh Manouchehri et al predict lithofacies and reservoir properties using multiattribute seismic analysis based on an unsupervised machine learning process called Self-Organizing Maps (SOMs).

Leonardo Guerreiro Azevedo et al describe the integration of a hyperlinked data lineage management approach to a machine learning workflow, adding provenance features capable of associating domain-specific data and knowledge abstractions.

Submit an article

Special Topic overview January

Land Seismic

First Break Special Topics are covered by a mix of original articles dealing with case studies and the latest technology. Contributions to a Special Topic in First Break can be sent directly to the editorial office (firstbreak@eage.org). Submissions will be considered for publication by the editor.

February

Reservoir Monitoring

March

Modelling / Interpretation

April

Passive Seismic / Unconventionals

May

Petroleum Geology

June

Data Processing

It is also possible to submit a Technical Article to First Break. Technical Articles are subject to a peer review process and should be submitted via EAGE’s ScholarOne website: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/fb

July

Machine Learning

August

Near Surface Geoscience

September

Reservoir Geoscience and Engineering

October

Energy Transition

November

Marine Seismic & EM

December

Delivering for the Energy Challenge: Today and Tomorrow

You can find the First Break author guidelines online at www.firstbreak.org/guidelines.

More Special Topics may be added during the course of the year.

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CALENDAR

CALENDAR OF EVENTS 16‑18 NOV

1st EAGE Geoscience & Engineering in Energy Transition Conference

www.get2020.org • Strasbourg France

August 2020 20-21 Aug

First EAGE Workshop on EOR Development and Evolution in Latin America www.eage.org

Online

24-26 Aug

GeoUtrecht 2020 https://www.geoutrecht2020.org/

Online

25-27 Aug

Second EAGE Marine Acquisition Workshop www.eage.org

Oslo

Norway

30 Aug 3 Sep

Near Surface Geoscience Conference & Exhibition 2020 www.eage.org

Belgrade

Serbia

September 2020 7‑9 Sep

EAGE/AAPG Digital Geoscience Asia Pacific Conference & Exhibition www.eage.org

Kuala Lumpur

Malaysia

7‑11 Sep

Geomodel 2020 www.eage.org

Gelendzhik

Russia

8-10 Sep

EAGE Seabed Seismic Today: from Acquisition to Application www.eage.org

Online

14-17 Sep

ECMOR XVII 17 th European Conference on the Mathematics of Oil Recovery www.eage.org

Online

14-17 Sep

GEO2020

Manama

22‑24 Sep

First EAGE Conference on Machine Learning in Latin America www.eage.org

Online

EAGE Events

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Bahrain

CALENDAR

October 2020 5-9 Oct

Geobaikal 2020 6th Scientific Conference www.eage.org

Irkutsk

12‑14 Oct

Second EAGE Conference on Sulfur Risk Management in E&P www.eage.org

Online

21‑22 Oct

Third EAGE Workshop on Unconventional Resources www.eage.org

Buenos Aires

Argentina

26‑28 Oct

EAGE Geomechanics Workshop: Creating Value & Making Decisions www.eage.org

Abu Dhabi

United Arab Emirates

26‑28 Oct

First EAGE Conference on Seismic Inversion www.eage.org

Porto

Portugal

26-28 Oct

EAGE Workshop on Quantifying Uncertainty in Depth Imaging www.eage.org

Kuala Lumpur

Malaysia

Third EAGE Workshop on Offshore Development and Exploration in Mexico www.eage.org

Merida

Mexico

3 rd Asia Pacific Meeting on Near Surface Geoscience & Engineering www.eage.org

Chiang Mai

Thailand

13 Nov

EAGE/BVG/FKPE Joint Workshop on Geothermal Reservoir Development www.eage.org

Online

15‑17 Nov

Second EAGE Workshop on Unmanned Aerial Vehicles www.eage.org

Muscat

Oman

16‑18 Nov

1st EAGE Geoscience & Engineering in Energy Transition Conference www.get2020.org

Strasbourg

France

16-19 Nov

EAGE Saint Petersburg 2020 Geosciences: Converting Knowledge into Resources www.eage.org

Saint Petersburg

Russia

17 Nov

Marine Technologies 2020 2 nd scientific workshop www.eage.org

Saint Petersburg

Russia

30 Nov 3 Dec

First EAGE Digitalization Conference and Exhibition www.eage.org

Vienna

Austria

Russia

November 2020 2-4 Nov 2-4 Nov

December 2020 1‑3 Dec

Second HGS and EAGE Conference on Latin America in Cartagena www.eage.org

Cartagena

Colombia

6-7 Dec

Third EAGE Workshop on Pore Pressure Prediction www.eage.org

Amsterdam

Netherlands

6-7 Dec

EAGE/SEG Research Workshop on Geophysical Aspects of Smart Cities www.eage.org

Amsterdam

Netherlands

6-7 Dec

Eighth EAGE Workshop on Passive Seismic www.eage.org

Amsterdam

Netherlands

7‑9 Dec

First EAGE Workshop on Geothermal Energy and Hydro Power in Africa www.eage.org

Nairobi

Kenya

7‑9 Dec

International Conference of Young Scientists «GEOTERRACE-2020» https://openreviewhub.org/geoterrace

Lviv

Ukraine

8 Dec

Third Young Professionals Summit http://yp-summit.org/

Amsterdam

Netherlands

8-11 Dec

82 nd EAGE Conference & Exhibition 2020 www.eageannual2020.org

Amsterdam

Netherlands

EAGE Events

Non-EAGE Events

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Which Image Would You Rather Drill On?

Vintage

MATCHING FWI

DM FWI

Introducing Dynamic Matching FWI, a step change in FWI technology using data-driven interpretation Dynamic Matching FWI (DM FWI) technology uses seismic reflection and refraction information to automatically update the velocity model, allowing for superior, geologically-coherent, unbiased models leading to improved subsurface analysis and reduced uncertainty.

See the energy at TGS.com

E&Ps can expect better structural imaging, significant improvements in modeling and mapping, and data-driven (not intepreted) models for reduced prospecting risk and cycle times.