• Project aims to create value from under-utilised seismic surveys
• OGTC grant awarded to Moveout Data and Sword to develop new methodologies
• Legacy data being supplied by three major operators

A project funded by OGTC, the Aberdeen-based energy technology centre, is set to release the hidden value in legacy seismic surveys by readying previously inaccessible data for reprocessing. Two specialist seismic data companies working in the UK energy sector have been tasked with developing new methodologies to create process-ready exploration data from a pool of under-utilised historical surveys.

Moveout Data Seismic Services and Sword secured the project as a result of an open OGTC competition to improve seismic data processing. It has three objectives: to upgrade seismic data quality assessment methods and move them to the cloud; to use machine learning methodologies to unlock unused metadata from survey acquisition reports and observers’ logs; and to deliver a processing-ready product by applying the outputs of the first two objectives to the merging of seismic and navigation data. 

“We are delighted to have secured this project,” said Phil Wild, Moveout’s technical director. “The workflow requirements are ideally suited to our skill-set. We’ve concentrated for the past seven years on the remastering of legacy data and have recently been appointed by the UK’s OGA to co-develop and manage the OGA’s National Data Repository, so the OGTC project was a natural fit. We are looking forward to starting the project and working with our friends at Sword.” 

OGTC are supporting the development work and access to cloud computing, with Moveout and Sword also contributing their own resources. There are nine months for the two companies to jointly devise and then showcase their new workflow. Three UK operating companies are backing the project by supplying previously acquired data which will be used in the testing and demonstration phases of the project. 

“At Sword, we are looking to develop novel solutions to common industry challenges, partnering with Moveout and OGTC provides a fantastic platform to test new ground,” said Michael Stewart, Sword Venture’s business unit director. “There’s a wealth of untapped information locked in oil company databases and national repositories, in danger of being lost due to its low perceived value. This project will enable Sword and our partners to leverage domain expertise in new ways to extract value from unstructured content.”  

Moveout and Sword will use publicly available data from the NDR in the development phases of the project. It is anticipated that one of the fruits of OGTC’s funding will be evident in an increase in reliable, processing ready seismic data available within the NDR. “It’s important to make use of all the resources available to us,” said Iain Martin, Project Manager for Technology Advisory at OGTC. “The project will allow us to create new assets in support of established exploration and also to assist new applications such as carbon capture.”

Moveout’s Phil Wild concludes “Machine learning requires confidence in the integrity and quality of the underlying data. This project will deliver that confidence by enabling new, advanced technologies to be applied to prepare historical seismic data. By building on Moveout’s existing technical experience and its Metaseis software package, I am confident that this project will successfully meet its objectives”.

KeyFacts Energy Industry Directory: Moveout Data Seismic Services