PROJECT SEEKS TO IMPROVE SEISMIC MODELING

Toegepast Natuurwetenschappelijk Onderzoek (TNO), Delft, Holland, has signed an agreement with Cray Research, Eagan, Minn., to jointly develop a new generation of commercial seismic applications software. The resulting software will make seismic modeling on high performance computers more accurate and useful in the discovery of oil and gas, the sponsors said. Under the agreement, Cray Research will provide an entry level Cray XMS system to the Delsi project. Delsi is jointly headed by TNO,

Aug. 12, 1991

2 min read

The resulting software will make seismic modeling on high performance computers more accurate and useful in the discovery of oil and gas, the sponsors said.

Under the agreement, Cray Research will provide an entry level Cray XMS system to the Delsi project.

Delsi is jointly headed by TNO, Total Compagnie Francaise des Petroles, Paris, and Delft University of Technology, Delft, Holland.

The Delsi consortium also includes Norway's Statoil, Sage Petroleum AS, Unocal Corp., and Cray Research. The European Community also funds the Delsi project, which has a total of 22 sponsoring corporations.

Delsi will use the XMS system as the development platform for new products resulting from the Delsi project, the focus of which is to commercialize prototype software developed by Delphi.

Delphi is a seismic data processing research project headed by Dr. A.J. Berkhout of Delft University of Technology.

DELSI PROJECT APPROACH

To help broaden the use of high performance computing at all levels of the oil and gas industry, three portions of prototype software code have been identified for commercialization.

The three portions are model based algorithmic approaches that focus on seismic energy to discern detailed geological characteristics of potential hydrocarbon reservoirs.

Using the XMS system, the Delsi team will make these codes easier to use by further embellishing the code, applying Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers standards, writing software documentation, and executing case studies.

TNO is a major research and development organization with about 5,000 researchers in seven institutes. It is funded by the Dutch government and worldwide industry. The geo-energy department of TNO's Institute of Applied Geoscience will assume Delsi project leadership responsibilities. Jan Ridder heads the geo-energy department.

Total CFP will participate in the system design and conduct case studies with the developed software. Delft University is contributing its knowledge of reservoir oriented seismic processing.