The data‐driven seismic value chain, providing a business context for the velocity issue

Abstract

A B S T R A C TEffective communication between seismic specialists should be facilitated by a shared process model that can be used at different levels of abstraction. In this shared model the seismic work-flow is presented as a value chain, showing the complex interrelationships between the broad range of specialized activities that are needed in today's practice. One of these activities is velocity estimation, providing the relationship between seismic time and geological depth. Excellence in the seismic value chain will depend on the quality of the specialized tools and skills (abilities) involved, as well as on the capability of the organization to combine these abilities in an integrated work-flow to realize maximum value at the end of the chain. I N T R O D U C T I O NThe increased complexity of work-flows in the E&P sector is caused by the many 'horizontal' interactions that must be included nowadays. Problems cannot simply be subdivided into disciplinary subproblems, followed by an independent solution process for each of these subproblems. We now know that such a segmented business approach easily leads to the wrong formulation of the subproblems involved and, above all, the sum of suboptimized solutions seldom leads to the best end result. Today, disciplinary fragmentation is the worst enemy of progress.In highly competitive industrial sectors such as the electronics industry, innovation has not only created new technology but it has also led to new concepts about how to organize multidisciplinary business processes in a value chain. In these business processes, clear targets are set at the end of the value chain and strategic projects are designed for each target by extrapolating back into the value chain (road mapping), fostering strong disciplinary interdependences and ignoring traditional vertical boundaries in the organization. In this way, members of project teams are carefully chosen, so as to obtain the appropriate knowledge and skills. Thus the key question In multidisciplinary business processes, communication is a critical success factor. Each discipline, however, has developed its own internal jargon, making interdisciplinary communication very difficult. In addition, each discipline has its own set of specific methods and tools that require specialized skills. It is clear that true interaction will not take place if team members continue to communicate in their own detailed jargon. Experience has shown that communication in disciplinary teams is fundamentally different from communication in interdisciplinary teams. Interdisciplinary communication requires the use of conceptual models, where essentials are shown and details are hidden. If desirable, more detail can be revealed by moving to a lower level of abstraction in the model. Interaction between disciplines that are very different from one another, for example, geophysics and geo-engineering, requires communication at the highest level. However, within one specialization, for example, seismic migration, communication must include the l...

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