The 2018.1 release marks the 20th anniversary of the Petrel E&P software platform. Since its first commercial release in 1998, the Petrel platform has been continuously developed to enable collaborative workflows with best-in-class technology and leading innovation, seamlessly integrating all subsurface disciplines in a shared earth environment. This unique framework makes workflows repeatable, provides the most comprehensive uncertainty assessment from seismic to simulation, and enables companies to standardize their decision-making processes from exploration to production, delivering unparalleled productivity.
Modeling with Depogrid
Petrel 2018.1 delivers a new grid called Depogrid. This is an unstructured, cut-cell grid built on the premise of interpreted horizons and faults, which fully honors the reservoir architecture and enables complete facies and property modeling workflows by flattening zones to the time of deposition (i.e., depospace). The grid is ready for simulation with no need to upscale cells or convert faults into stair-step mode. Depogrid, together with pillar grid and stair-step grid, contributes to the comprehensive reservoir modeling framework in the Petrel platform that enables high-fidelity static and dynamic modeling of the most diverse structural and stratigraphic challenges, such as complex faulting and subtle compartmentalization. This unprecedented integration in reservoir modeling significantly boosts productivity in field development planning and production.
Geology and Geophysics
The 2018.1 release delivers key enhancements in the geological and geophysical interpretation workflows. Data discovery and integration are optimized by improved robustness of the Studio E&P knowledge platform, management of multiple seismic reference datums, and streaming of real-time mud log data in the well section window. Increased accuracy in seismic rendering is enabled by the introduction of new seismic mesh probes. Performances are continuously improved through multiresolution mapping of large surfaces (>10 million nodes) and multi-thread domain conversion. User experience is enriched by live collaboration, i.e. real-time sharing of objects (such as well tops, surfaces, and point sets) among multiple users while interpreting.
Exploration
Petroleum systems modeling has never been as integrated, with the new ability to create a 2D project in PetroMod petroleum systems modeling software from a 2D seismic interpretation with one click in Petrel 2018.1. PetroMod software 3D models can also be fully imported into the Petrel platform, enabling the refinement of facies distributions and more, also through the forward modeling capabilities enabled by the GPM geological process modeling software engine. The seamless integration between the Petrel platform and GeoX exploration risk, resource, and value assessment software in this release, enables saving Petrel platform geopolygons (delimiting an interpreted prospect) directly into the GeoX software database for volumes and value assessment. This integration also means that all prospect assessments stored within the GeoX software database can be spatially visualized in the Petrel platform to power a unique representation of the portfolio of exploration resources in the context of the geoscience data and interpretations.
Guru software Included in Petrel Core
With Petrel 2018.1, Guru in-context guidance and support software is delivered within any core licenses of the Petrel platform, guiding every user into the processes, performance of workflows, and quality check of results. Workflow pages deliver recommended best practices, quality check pages ensure that each activity is performed to the highest standard, and theory pages provide users with scientific background to the key functionalities and algorithms available in the Petrel platform. Guru software enables users to access a library of content for a better understanding of what needs to be done, how to do it, and what results to expect, from the start to the end of any task, across exploration to production.
Petrel 2018 continues the step change in software beta-testing methodology introduced with Petrel 2013. The Petrel platform architecture tracks and audits beta testing, ensuring that the broad range of capabilities is consistently and comprehensively tested. In addition, each release follows a strong security assessment process to ensure that vulnerabilities are processed appropriately.
