Shared earth modeling Knowledge driven solutions for building and managing subsurface 3D geological models

This study of earth subsurface modeling is intended for several categories of readers - geologists, engineers, and managers involved in the study and evaluation of subsurface reservoirs and hydrocarbon exploration. The authors cover progress in various fields of computer sciences such as solid modeling or knowledge engineering, which can provide useful techniques for solving several crucial issues concerning the modeling of geological reservoirs. The book will also be of interest to researchers in computer science. Problems of major importance have recently made their appearance in earth modeling and are likely to provide opportunities for researchers to implement some of the many innovative techniques that are currently being developed, on actual case studies. More broadly, earth modeling is a good example of an engineering field that involves complex methodologies, a range of skills, and multiple participants. This book will also be of interest to engineers, researchers, and students who wish to apply advanced knowledge-based techniques to complex engineering problems. Over the last two decades, earth modeling has become a major investigative tool for evaluating the potential of hydrocarbon reservoirs. During that time, significant progress has been made in interactive and user-friendly software that is commonly used by professionals for oil and gas exploration. At present, petroleum companies are facing a number of challenges in exploration. Not only must they investigate newly identified resources but, given existing hydrocarbon price fluctuations, they must also re-evaluate the potential of previously investigated reservoirs, examine new prospecting data, and consider divergent interpretations. However, significant difficulties are involved. Earth models used for oil and gas exploration and production rely on various types of raw data (seismic data, well-log data, thin-section observation, rock sample analyses). They are synthetic representations that incorporate a variety of different interpretations made at successive steps of the modeling process (seismic interpretation, stratigraphic correlations, petrological property identification) by professionals with different interests and abilities (geophysicists, geologists, petrologists, reservoir engineers). At present, the modeling procedures currently in use in the industry provide no way to link a range of data and interpretations with a final earth model. In the best cases, these links can only be retrieved by examining the written reports that accompany the model itself. This situation is very unsatisfactory, and presents a serious obstacle to evaluating the quality of a given model and improving it by modifying some of the assumptions on which it rests.