Petrel New Features

Petrel Latest Features

Combined Core

The power and domain science for full subsurface studies—enabling a comprehensive analysis of uncertainty.

Geoscience Core

Full integration of all subsurface data in a unique platform, offering 2D and 3D flexible canvases.

Geophysics Core

The complete and comprehensive geophysics package.

Machine Learning for Property Modeling

Rapidly deliver reservoir models with increased efficiency and confidence to make better decisions.

Generate VISAGE ensembles from Petrel

Get quantitative assessment of geomechanical uncertainty.

Faster depogrid simulation exports

Dramatic reduction in data footprint and runtime.

Identify critically stressed faults

Expanded distance-to-failure algorithm usinguses Mohr-Coulomb failure criteria.

Easily manage Petrel platform performance

Boost productivity with the new Health Monitor tool.

Automate over 90% of work steps in Petrel

Use the workflow editor to automate time-consuming daily procedures so you can devote more time analyzing and characterizing the reservoir.

Petrel 2022 Features

Combined Core

The Petrel Combined core is the platform of choice for integrated uncertainty assessments at all stages of subsurface workflows, from early interpretation phases through to modeling and simulation phases. The Combined core is needed for various geology, geophysics and engineering modules.

Key workflows include the following:

• Loading and quality control of all types of data
• Generating maps and cross sections for printing and reporting
• Constructing and editing structural 3D grids for reservoir modeling workflows
• Populating 3D models with geometrical, facies, and petrophysical properties
• Real-time link and local structural grid update for when new well data arrives
• Automating workflows for repetitive tasks or updates through the Workflow Editor
• Performing uncertainty workflows through the Uncertainty Workflow Editor, such as velocity uncertainty or simulation-based uncertainty quantification
• Adding fluid properties, well completions, production history, and event scheduling to your simulation models
• Launching the ECLIPSE or INTERSECT simulators and analyzing your results
• Estimating reservoir volumes from maps or 3D models, or production volumes from simulations

Features

For more detail on all the available features available with the Combined core, please refer to the Petrel Geoscience core and Petrel Reservoir Engineering core module pages.

• Different visualization canvases (2D, 3D, well correlation, histogram, function, stereonet, intersection, and interpretation windows)
• Data import/export
• Calculator for well logs, surfaces, points, and properties
• Creating and editing well tops using spreadsheets
• Digitizing and editing polygons
• Surface gridding and map manipulation/editing
• Construction of structurally and stratigraphically accurate models, regardless of tectonic regimes (pillar grids, stair-stepped grids, depogrids), including zonation building and fine-scaled sub-zonation
• Perform fault analysis operations such as throw displacement profiles, throw displacement cumulative frequency, and fault side and fault length versus maximum throw displacement
• Local structural model update
• Filtering and data selection functionality
• General intersections that can be aligned in any user-defined direction
• Spreadsheet reports outputted as text files
• 3D and 4D property players
• Synthetic logs for well trajectories from 3D grid properties
• Generating flow simulation grids (geometric scale-up from fine grid)
• Fluid contacts assignment and volume calculations
• Well completion design—import tubing and completion data, create completion string specifications, calculate connections to grid cells for the simulator, specify completions relative to horizons, and copy them from well to well
• Flow controls—import historical production rates and average them up into simulation control time steps, set prediction controls and economic limits
• Fluids—import or create from correlations the pressure, volume, temperature (PVT) properties for oil, water, and gas
• Case definition—select which realization of each grid, property, and engineering data is to be used in a simulation run, copy cases and make modifications, and run them directly in the ECLIPSE or INTERSECT simulators
• Workflow editor for automating tasks and uncertainty workflows
• Scaled map and cross section plotting

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Geoscience Core

The Geoscience core is the entry-level Petrel platform core, and is the required base for a number of Petrel Geology and Geophysics modules. It enables you to build simple and complex earth models, perform volume calculations, plot accurate maps, store and share workflows within your organization, and manage uncertainty throughout the reservoir or resource life cycle.

Features

• Loading and QC all types of data
• Generating maps and cross sections for printing and reporting
• Constructing structurally and stratigraphically accurate models, regardless of tectonic regimes 
• Populating 3D properties with basic and/or geometrical values
• Estimating reservoir volumes from maps or 3D models
• Assessing velocity uncertainty by flexing the structural grid
• Real-time link and local structural grid updates for when new well data arrives
• Automating workflows for repetitive tasks or updates through the Workflow Editor
• Performing uncertainty workflows through the Uncertainty Workflow Editor

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Geophysics Core

The Petrel Geophysics Core leverages the Petrel E&P software platform with a tailored toolset for geophysics workflows. This powerful combination enables companies to undertake geophysical map-based approaches, covering seismic interpretation, well correlation, seismic well tie, seismic attribute computation, and structural framework construction.

There is no geocellular modeling capability in this core.

Features

• All toolsets for accurate seismic interpretation (2D and 3D) for horizons, faults, multi-Z, interactive mesh editing, surface attributes, and mapping at any scale
• Construction of structurally and stratigraphically accurate volume-based models, regardless of tectonic regime, and creation of accurate maps on which volumetric calculations can be run
• Seismic single and multiwell tie capabilities, with multiwell extended white wavelet extraction, interactive bulk shift alignments, and well-to-seismic calibration in the depth domain
• Advanced attributes, including generalized spectral decomposition, structural smoothing, variance, 3D curvature, and chaos
• Poststack AVO attributes, including AVO fluid strength, for AVO reconnaissance
• Velocity modeling and domain conversion using a layer-cake approach for velocity model construction that enables users to select velocity variations for each layer, and preserve the relationships between faults and horizons
• Extensive well correlation capabilities, interactive interpretation of discrete properties, viewing the effects of well-top picking and editing directly in 3D, and vice versa

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Petrel 2021 Features

Machine Learning for Property Modeling

Machine Learning for Property Modeling combines tried-and-tested geostatistical methods with machine learning to change the paradigm of reservoir property modeling. This new process dramatically reduces the time spent on geostatistical data analysis and parameterization tasks. These time savings enable you to spend more time analyzing output property model realizations, and their associated uncertainties, to rapidly deliver reservoir models with increased efficiency and confidence to make better decisions.

Traditional geostatistical reservoir modeling is complex and time consuming. Detailed knowledge of geostatistics is generally required and the de-trending of input data, alongside stationarity assumptions, needs to be done per zone, per facies and per region. These extensive data preparation tasks are not needed in Machine Learning for Property Modeling as the geostatistical models are embedded into machine learning.

This has several beneficial implications; firstly, an unlimited number of variables can now be used to provide additional conditioning of the model. Secondly, the time normally spent on detailed parameterization can instead be spent on better understanding the geological relationships between the input and output data and gaining a more comprehensive understand of the subsurface.

Traditional property modeling efforts produce a distribution of the target property with additional effort required to gain an understanding of property uncertainty. Machine Learning for Property Modeling produces an integrated, consistent estimation of the property distribution at every cell. This allows geomodelers to obtain robust and unbiased estimates of the property, the associated uncertainty and sweet spots. These additional outputs enable you to quickly gain a better understanding of where reservoir-grade conditions are likely to be present, and where more detailed analysis is required.
 

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Generate VISAGE ensembles from Petrel

In Petrel 2021.1. you can generate ensembles of VISAGE finite-element geomechanics simulations from within the Petrel platform uncertainty and optimization (U&O) process. Apply variables and vary properties to obtain a quantitative assessment of geomechanical uncertainty.

New post-processing tools in Petrel 2021.1 enable easily visualization and interpretation the output ensembles, so geoscientists can derive insights. Compatibility with the charting window enables geoscientists to present geomechanics summary findings for a selected region, individual simulations, or numerous examples in an ensemble.

The mean and standard deviation for various simulation results can be calculated and visualized in 3D using a new stress calculator tool (see picture above). The calculation enables geoscientists to determine the geomechanical uncertainty at any point in the modeled subsurface, providing a better understanding of subsurface stress and strain to enable better well placement and field development decisions
 

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Faster depogrid simulation exports

When exporting depogrid cases for simulation, Petrel 2021.1 optimizes the data footprint and runtime. For example, the export time for a 2.26 million cell depogrid, with a 25 realization Uncertainty and Optimization (U&O) workflow where properties are modified, reduces from 17 minutes (14.7 GB data) to 4 minutes (0.8 GB data).

Data will only be exported from depogrid case files if there has been a relevant change since the last export. This optimization of the data footprint means that re-export time will be substantially reduced. A further reduction in the dat"a footprint and export runtime is achieved by sharing common grid files, case data, and properties across U&O cases.

The combined optimization of the export data footprint offers a significant reduction in export runtime–a 75% reduction for a 2.26 million cell depogrid with a 25 realization U&O workflow where properties are modified–by eliminating the need to re-export unchanged and common data. Runtime savings will vary depending on the size and complexity of the model.

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Identify critically stressed faults

Identifying severely stressed faults in the subsurface is an important component of defining future field development plans, especially for EOR, carbon capture and storage, and geothermal workflows. The new distance-to-failure algorithm, which uses Mohr-Coulomb failure criteria, enables geoscientists to make an initial assessment of the fault model to identify areas of faults that are oriented favorably for slip and therefore more likely to conduct fluids up the fault.

Distance-to-failure analysis is used to determine the likelihood of sliding on individual faces of the fault surface. Fault faces that are oriented favorably for slip are considered to be critically stressed and are more likely to conduct fluids up the fault. A detailed understanding of which faults are likely to be leakage pathways is critical not only for oil and gas operations, but also for long term CO2 storage integrity and geothermal operations.

The new distance-to-failure operation in Petrel 2021.1 employs Mohr-Coulomb failure criteria and enables geoscientists to perform an initial assessment of the fault model so they can identify potential areas that may require further investigation.

The distance-to-failure operation, which is available for structural frameworks, depogrids, pillar grids, discrete fractures, and points sets, is located in the Structural analysis tab of each object's Settings dialog

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Easily manage Petrel platform performance

The new Petrel E&P software platform Health Monitor tool helps users monitor and manage the performance of the Petrel platform, and provides hints and tips to better manage performance so you can work uninterrupted.

The Petrel Health Monitor interface displays real-time memory consumption, dedicated Graphic Processing Unit (GPU), User, and Graphics Device Interface (GDI) handles, as well as traffic light indicators that indicate when system resources are being over-stretched. Hover over hints and tips to enable you to proactively manage performance and assist in preventing performance issues.

The new Petrel health monitor can be accessed in the Home tab on the ribbon, or via the GDI, User, RAM and GPU indicators in the bottom right of the Petrel platform interface.

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Automate over 90% of work steps in Petrel

The workflow editor is one of the most powerful tools available in the Petrel E&P software platform. Use it to automate work steps from everyday housekeeping to assessing reservoir uncertainty and share them across your organization using the new export/import functionality.

By automating laborious and time-consuming procedures in the workflow editor, you can focus on analysis and delivering value.

The Petrel 2021's workflow editor now supports:

• Conversion of triangular meshes to editable triangle meshes (and vice versa)

• Deletion of fracture sets.

• New work steps to create and edit point and polygon attributes enable geoscientists to create and edit string attributes and manipulate attribute spreadsheets.

• Conversion of structural framework model horizons to surfaces

• Generation of VISAGE finite-element geomechanics simulator ensembles

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Petrel 2020 Features

Petrel Project Explorer

Share data across multi-disciplinary teams and connect your exploration, field development and production decisions to the science that made them.

Well data reconnaissance for high volume workflows

Investigate hundreds to thousands of wells quickly and easily.

Implicit fracture modeling for depogrids

From the simple to the complex, capture your reservoirs geological history and characteristics without sacrificing any detail during simulation.

Find your tools right where you left them

Floating Widgets properties are now saved.

VBM performance improvements

Model construction is now up to three times faster than Petrel 2019.3.

Depth synthetics

Whether you’re working in time or depth, synthetics have never been easier.

Click less

Productivity improvements to delight every geoscientist

Petrel 2020.2 & 2020.3

Recover deleted objects

Examine metadata to help you find a missing or deleted object.

Edit well log headers

Customize your well log headers in the well section window.

Integrated fault seal analysis for Depogrids

Assess reservoir integrity to make better informed field development decisions.

Seismic Traceability

EBCDIC header information saved with ZGY format seismic.

User-defined, repeatable grid segmentation

Enhanced reservoir characterization for complex reservoir systems.

Automate over 80% of work steps in Petrel 2020.2

Use the workflow editor to automate tedious everyday tasks so you can focus on the reservoir.

Find that object, quickly

Use the improved smart search performance to quickly find the object you need.

Customize well log exports

Flexible and efficient well log exports.

Petrel 2020 Features

Project Explorer

Available exclusively in DELFI
In Petrel 2020 data can be liberated into the DELFI data ecosystem. This means that you can connect the geoscience decisions you make in the Petrel E&P software platform to exploration (the ExplorePlan accelerated exploration planning solution), to drilling plans (the DrillPlan coherent well construction solution), and to field development plans (the FDPlan agile field development planning solution). It also means you can view what data is in a project before you open it. It means project versioning is automatic and it means that you no longer have to wait for long saves.

You can now save your Petrel platform project into the DELFI data ecosystem, liberate your Petrel platform data and connect it to the ExplorePlan solution, the FDPlan solution, the DrillPlan solution and more for unrivalled integration. Tie your exploration, field development and production decisions to the science that made them.

Decision tracking aside, the liberation of Petrel platform data delivers a brand-new tool for more effective project management—the Petrel Project Explorer. Before you even open the Petrel platform, you can view what data resides in a project, who last worked on it, and what is displayed in the project windows. You can also, examine the project metadata and perform basic analytics to get a fresh perspective of your geoscience data.

What does this mean for you, as a Petrel platform user? It means that you no longer have to wait for long saves to complete—incremental saves mean that only your new work is saved. It means that you no longer have to create milestone projects—every incremental save is kept, meaning you can go back to it whenever you want. It means you can use APIs in the DELFI Developer Portal to liberate data previously locked in Petrel platform projects.

Data courtesy of Geoscience Australia

The Project Explorer is only available in the DELFI cognitive E&P environment.

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Well data reconnaissance for high volume workflows

Use the new Well Data Browser to quickly and easily investigate your well data before moving onto more detailed well correlation workflows.

We’ve incorporated the Well Data Browser plug-in into Petrel 2020. This tool enables you to quickly and easily investigate your well data before moving onto more detailed well correlation workflows. After selecting and filtering the data you want to investigate, you can view spreadsheets for well logs, trajectories, point well data, completions, and more in one place without having to open each of them from the input pane. You can also get an overview of your production data, viewing bubble charts by well or by observation. The Well Data Browser is perfect for projects where you have a high volume of well data that you need to examine quickly.

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Implicit fracture modeling for depogrids

Dual-porosity, dual permeability workflows are critical for static and dynamic reservoir characterization of naturally fractured reservoirs. In Petrel 2020, you can perform these workflows on depogrids, meaning you can capture complexity at every scale in your reservoir, without compromise.

Depogrid offers you the ability to model both complex and simple reservoir architecture (whether that’s complex sequence stratigraphic relationships or horst and graben structures) without compromising that complexity during simulation. Petrel 2020 introduces implicit fracture modeling for depogrids to complement the existing dual-porosity, dual-permeability workflows available using the INTERSECT high-resolution reservoir simulator. This enables you to model and simulate complexity at every scale of your reservoir.

You can also improve the reliability of your depogrid simulation model further by incorporating downhole dynamic data and generating simulated RFT/PLT logs to compare against measured RFT and PLT during history matching.

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Find your tools right where you left them

The Petrel E&P software platform now saves the size, position, and settings for the tool palette, inspector, players, and visual filters—so you quickly find the tools you need every time you open the Petrel platform.

The size, position and settings for the tool palette, inspector, players, and visual filters are saved when you close the Petrel platform, so that next time you open your session and select the tools you need, they’ll be right where you left them. The properties are not saved per project, so you can recover them for any project you open in the Petrel platform, and across multiple screens.

For the tool palette and players, the tool selection also persists. Whether you had the tools open for quantitative interpretation or facies modelling, or both, they will be restored next time you open the Petrel platform.

Combined with the ability to customize your ribbon and tool palettes, the Petrel platform offers you continuity in your work and a truly personalized user experience.

Data courtesy of Geoscience Australia

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Volume-based modeling performance improvements

The algorithms used in the model construction process of volume based modeling have been optimized and deliver up to a three-fold improvement in runtime.

Optimizations to the model construction algorithms in Petrel 2020.1 deliver up to a three-fold increase in performance. This performance improvement affects all models, however models with large input datasets, large numbers of fault-fault or horizon-fault intersections or multiple sequences will see the most significant reduction in runtime. For multi-sequence models activating the new ‘air-interpretation’ option will further improve the model construction performance.

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Depth synthetics

With the completion of the depth synthetic workflow in Petrel 2020, the software platform now offers you full flexibility regardless of the domain you’re working in.

Establishing an accurate tie from well data to seismic data is critical to ensure that all your interpretations and models are calibrated. With the completion of the depth synthetic workflow in Petrel 2020, the software platform now offers you full flexibility regardless of the domain you’re working in.

In Petrel 2020, you can add user-defined calibration points to a study, or create a study entirely based on user-defined points, giving you better control of your well tie outside of well tops. Auditability is ensured as all alignment points are recorded and stored inside the study.

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Click Less

In Petrel 2020 we continue to deliver performance improvements to improve your everyday productivity and reduce the number of mouse clicks and overall mouse movement you need to complete your work.

Some of the latest performance improvements delivered in 2020 include:

• changes to the workflow editor interface, including improved readability and collapsible sections
• improvements in the well section window enable you to resize your windows 90% faster than Petrel 2019.3
• mouse movement reduction of 48% when working with corridor cross sections compared to Petrel 2019.3
• up to a 78% click reduction when bulk editing well data when compared to Petrel 2019.3
• volume-based model construction is up to three times faster than 2019.3

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Recover deleted objects

Ever been unable to complete an operation or workflow because data has been removed or is missing from your project? Petrel 2020.3 offers a solution to recover metadata on deleted objects or find them in the Studio platform.

Now when you come across a missing object in a workflow or operation, you can find ‘simple’ and ‘advanced’ information on an object to help you find it. Simple information includes object type, template and domain. Advanced information, which can only be exported in a private format, includes object name and import/reference project tool/Studio synchronization history. The new private format for exported workflow editor scripts ensures compliance with privacy policies and standards. 

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Edit well log headers

Petrel 2020.3 delivers the long-awaited ability to edit well log headers, along with numerous other visualization tools to make your work in the well section window easier.

In Petrel 2020.3 you can now customize the log name, font size, font color and apply bold, italics or underline text for improved clarity while working with well sections. Settings are saved with the well section template and can easily be applied to new cross-sections. You can also display both linear and logarithmic scales in a single track making petrophysical analysis easier in conventional workflows. Finally, you can further improve your well section display by customizing well top label styles (font size, font colour and apply bold, italics or underline text), hiding inter-well surface lines and displaying well top sub-labels between wells.

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Integrated fault seal analysis for Depogrids

Make better-informed field development decisions by assessing reservoir integrity using the new Structural and Fault Analysis operations available on Depogrids. Consume the output fault properties directly into reservoir simulation, uncertainty, and history matching workflows to get a detailed and more accurate understanding of reservoir behavior.

To assist you in your analysis of structural model quality and fault seal behavior, we have added the following fault operations for Depogrids in Petrel 2020.3:

• Dip/Dip direction

• Fault throw, displacement and heave

• Fault clay content prediction

• Threshold pressure and column height prediction

• Fault permeability prediction

• Fault thickness prediction

• Fault flow indicators and mean properties

• Fault transmissibility scaling

A new method for calculating fault slip, utilizing the depositional space mapping, is also available for Depogrid faults. This approach significantly improves the estimation of fault properties for curved faults and around fault intersections.

Spatially varying fault properties are typically captured within fault transmissibility multipliers and exported to simulation. However, these multipliers cannot be modified in simulator history matching workflows without compromising the geological inputs behind their generation. As a result, the process of updating multipliers is prone to errors and disconnected from the reservoir simulator.

Geological fault properties generated on Depogrids can be consumed directly in the INTERSECT high-resolution reservoir simulator, offering you a new integrated fault seal analysis workflow. This workflow enables the direct consumption of geologically defined fault properties (such as permeability, thickness, and threshold pressure) in the INTERSECT simulator. In addition, a new scaling factor property is now available for uncertainty analysis and history matching workflows to accurately adjust these properties between simulation runs. This improved workflow will enhance the accuracy of your reservoir model and increase efficiency in dynamic history matching, ensuring an optimal field development plan.

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Seismic Traceability

EBCDIC header information is now captured and stored when you realize ZGY format seismic from SEG-Y files, greatly improving the integrity of your seismic and helping you to quickly track down source data. The saved metadata can be found in a new tab in the Settings dialog of the output ZGY data file.

When you realize ZGY format seismic from SEG-Y files, the Petrel platform will automatically save a new file in the same location as the output ZGY which contains the EBCDIC header information. The saved header information is tied to the ZGY object in the Petrel platform and can be viewed in a new tab in the Settings dialog for the ZGY object called ‘ZGY ASCII headers’. When opening the Settings dialog for ZGY files realized to an external location in previous versions of the Petrel platform, Petrel will try to collect the EBCDIC header information based on the available information.

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User-define, repeatable grid segmentation

Enhanced reservoir characterization for complex reservoir systems.

In Petrel 2020.3, a significant update has been made to the ‘Make segments’ process allowing for user-defined, repeatable grid segmentation for structural grids. User-defined parameters for fault relationships can now be set to control the virtual extrapolation of faults through their truncations. The defined parameters are stored and can be re-applied to other grids, or to properties on the same grid, to reproduce equivalent grid segments. This update also allows alternative segmentation to be applied to individual reservoir units, providing enhanced characterization of complex stacked reservoir systems.

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Automate over 80% of work steps in Petrel 2020.2

The workflow editor is one of the most powerful tools available in the Petrel E&P software platform. Use it to automate work steps from everyday housekeeping to assessing reservoir uncertainty and share them across your organization using the new export/import functionality.

You can automate over 80% of work steps in Petrel 2020.2 using the workflow editor. Arguably one of the most powerful tools in the Petrel platform, and available with every core license, the workflow editor enables you to automate tasks ranging from everyday housekeeping (object renaming and filing) to assessing reservoir uncertainty.

New work steps have been added to the functions list:

• Convert wells to polygons

• Create isochore points

• Create new well top attribute

• Continuous/discrete well top attribute operations

• Add/update zone logs

• Initialize from maps

Go a step further and share your workflows by taking advantage of the new ability to export and import workflows. Share your expertise and create a centralized library of workflows for everyone in your organization

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Find that object, quickly

Stop scrolling through your input pane for the right data object; use the improved smart search performance to quickly find the object you need.

When using the search capabilities at object drop sites the results are now categorized by object type and will show you the total count of items that fit into that category. You can also expand the results to show the full list of items. This enables you to see a full list of relevant objects in your project from the drop site, and quickly find the correct object by starting to type the name or filter the results by selecting the correct object type in the list.

Smart searches are enabled in an object’s Operations tab in the Setting dialog box, in supported workflow editor work steps and in the Make/edit polygons process.

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Customize well log exports

The highly demanded ability to customize well log exports is delivered in Petrel 2020.3, offering flexibility and efficient log exports.

The new log export manager enables you to select which logs you want to export for a custom selection of wells. For your selected wells you can specify the depth interval, customize the export sampling rate, specify internal or numeric precision, select multiple indexes and the output file type.

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