Shell to Speed Up Seismic Interpretation with Deep Learning Tech

Illustration: Seismic streamers - Image by DedMityay/AdobeStock
Illustration: Seismic streamers - Image by DedMityay/AdobeStock

Oil and gas giant Shell has tapped digital innovation specialist Bluware Corp for the supply of deep learning technology, which should speed up work with seismic data interpretation.

Bluware Corp said it Monday it had deployed the Pickasso proprietary deep learning technology, a custom version of Bluware InteractivAI in Royal Dutch Shell PLC.

"Bluware's technology will help Shell to improve quality and speed of seismic interpretation workflows," Bluware said.

According to Bluware, whose client list includes BP, Lundin, Equinor, and others, the Pickasso application is being utilized by Shell exploration teams to accelerate seismic interpretations and to improve results by assisting users to identify geological features that may have been previously missed or incorrectly interpreted. 

"Pickasso is different from other seismic machine learning tools, because it learns in real-time as interpreters provide feedback and suggest an interpretation on unseen data to deliver more precise and comprehensive deliverables than working alone," Bluware said.

"To meet the growing energy demand, hydrocarbons will remain a part of the energy mix for decades to come. Increasing our technological capacity and deploying digital capabilities are critical to ensure our upstream activities are dynamic and productive," says Gabriel Guerra, Shell Vice President of Exploration Transformation.

"Shell is excited about this partnership with Bluware. We see strong demand, particularly in our deepwater business, to accelerate interpretation cycle times, and Pickasso is an important steppingstone for this," added Guerra.

Additionally, Bluware said it was supporting Shell to build upon previous interpretations, by enabling the functionality of Pickasso to be used with a previous interpretation completed on either Petrel or Shell's propriety platform for seismic data interpretation nDI.

Pickasso and Bluware InteractivAI are powered by Bluware's Volume Data Store (VDS) cloud-native data environment, which reduces data storage costs and flexibility to access data, enabling the acceleration of detailed interpretation tasks, Bluware says.

"The Bluware team is strategically aligned with Shell's GeoSigns and X-Digi teams to provide modern cloud-based E&P workflows. Our collaboration with Shell on their ambitious digital transformation initiatives will deliver both near-term return on investment and long-term strategic value," says Dan Piette, CEO of Bluware.

Below is an example of Bluware's technology at work, tested on Brazil'ls Campos Basin data

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