A Robust Joint Inversion Algorithm for Rock Property Estimation

Xin-Quan Ma

…Introduction In the last decade or so, there has been increased interest in prestack inversion. This is because prestack inversion can extract not only compressive information but also estimates of shear information about a rock. The shear wave information is obtained from the variation of reflection coefficients with source-receiver spacing…

The Effect of M&A’s on Geophysics

Gordon Cope

…*The names and work details of some individuals have been changed to protect their identity. The office of geophysicist Matthew Candle* is a small cubicle filled with a desk, a telephone and three seismic monitors. Noticeably absent are family photos, diplomas and other personal effects. “I don’t want to have…

Adding the Coherence Dimension to 3D Seismic Data

Satinder Chopra

…If the mounting success story of any technology be adopted as a yardstick for its acceptance, three-dimensional (3D) seismic definitely asserts itself at the forefront of advances made in hydrocarbon exploration in the last 30 years. 3D seismic surveys are being carried out not only for exploration but development projects…

Leadership in Global Communications

David Mitrovica

…Verité en-deça des Pyrénées, erreur au delà. There are truths on this side of the Pyrenees which are falsehoods on the other. –Blaise Pascal, Pensées Introduction Global managers - and the increasing number of Albertans working abroad - must be skilled communicators. Indeed, in a world with more than 37,000…

Tracing the Industry

…Happy New Year! Paradigm Geophysical is pleased to announce the addition of Time Processing to their list of services. The group is composed of Christine St. Clair as Processing Manager, Doug Gillrie as Sales Manager, and Richard Lowden as Processing Geophysicist. The Time Processing team joins Paradigm Depth services, headed…

Grapevine

…APEGGA's New Advertising Campaign Communicates Licensure Requirements The Association of Professional Engineers, Geologists, and Geophysicists of Alberta (APEGGA) has launched a new advertising campaign to raise awareness of the value and legal requirements of professional licensure in Alberta. The print ad focuses on the words professional engineer, geologist and geophysicist,…

A Glimpse of 11,000-Year Old Inhabitants of Alberta

L.V. Hills, B. Kooyman, S. Tolman and P. McNeil

…The St. Mary Dam, completed in 1950, recently required modification of its spillway. This resulted in lowering of water levels in the reservoir by about 10 metres. This allowed wind action to erode exposed late Pleistocene and Holocene sediments. Shayne Tolman visited the site with two of his sons, found…

Xogen – Tapwater as Fuel?

Stewart Trickett

…I first heard about Xogen (pronounced “ex-o-jen”) Power Inc. of Calgary from a co-worker to whom I had been bragging about my stock market profits from a hydrogen fuel cell company. He referred me to Xogen’s web site at “www.xogen.com”. It begins credibly enough with a greetings from premier Ralph…

CSEG Scholarship Awards Program

Gordon Cope

…For 30 years, the CSEG has been awarding scholarships to worthy geophysical students. From 1968 to 1999, a total of $610,862 has been disbursed to undergraduate and graduate students in universities and technical colleges across the country. This year, the committee awarded 17 scholarships of $1,500, a total of $25,500.…

Effect of Well Control on Constrained Sparse Spike Seismic Inversion

John Pendrel and Paul Van Riel

…Abstract Modern seismic inversion methods transform seismic reflection data to pseudo acoustic impedance logs. Implicit in this approach is an integration of low frequency model information with higher frequencies from the seismic. This is necessary since the low frequencies present in logs and therefore required by the inversion, are absent…

Odyssey of Oil

Oliver Kuhn

…Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch. Genesis 6:14 Noah is instructed here to make his ark watertight by caulking it with pitch. In this context pitch refers to bitumen - thick, jellied crude…

Tracing the Industry

…Merry Christmas STATCOM Ltd. is pleased to welcome Frank Yu and Alex Wang to our processing staff. Frank earned his M.Sc. in Applied Geophysics at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology and has over 10 years of seismic processing experience. Alex earned his M.Sc. in Applied Geophysics at The…

Grapevine

…APEGGA's New Advertising Campaign Communicates Licensure Requirements The Association of Professional Engineers, Geologists, and Geophysicists of Alberta (APEGGA) has launched a new advertising campaign to raise awareness of the value and legal requirements of professional licensure in Alberta. The print ad focuses on the words professional engineer, geologist and geophysicist,…

Amplitude-vs-Offset and Seismic Rock Property Analysis: A Primer

Michael Burianyk

…Introduction In this article, we’ll examine the basics of amplitude variations with offset (AVO) and rock properties derived from them. First we’ll look at the physical cause for AVO behavior. We’ll then discuss the quantitative methodologies for calculating attributes which describe the AVO behavior of pre-stack seismic data. At the…

Eigen-Image Analysis as a Quality Control Tool to Improve Deconvolution

Xishuo Wang

…Surface consistent deconvolutions have become increasingly more sophisticated and as a result onshore deconvolution can be seen as a mysterious black box process. Many of the available QC displays are difficult to interpret, mainly because it is hard to display the spatial distribution of frequency- variable effects, especially with 3D…

Visualization Centres

Gordon Cope

…Recently, the CSEG Continuing Education Committee organized a tour of five visualization centres in the downtown core. The Recorder reports on their unique features and focus. PanCanadian TerraDeck When visitors to PanCanadian’s TerraDeck arrive for a tour, they are treated to an impressive, computer-generated presentation that starts in orbit around…

An Interview with Elaine Honsberger, P.Geoph. Chair of APEGGA’s Geoscience Task Force

Nordahl Flakstad

…For the last two years, a Geoscience Task Force struck by APEGGA Council has sought ways to make geologists and geophysicists feel they are more a part of the Association. The current Task Force Chair, Elaine Honsberger, P.Geoph., recently shared some thoughts on what has been accomplished and on what…

Tracing the Industry

…Jim Hostetler would like to inform his friends and colleagues that he has moved from Western Geophysical to Scott Pickford as a Data Processing Supervisor. Jim can be contacted at 294-5118 or by e-mail at jhostetler@scopica.com. Kelman Technologies is pleased to announce that Ed Roebroek has rejoined the seismic processing…

Grapevine

…Sercel Announces a New Acquisition System for Transition Zones: The 408TZ and Enhances Its 408UL Sercel showed the results of its latest development during the SEG annual meeting held in August in Calgary. They included the release of the 408TZ, a new seismic acquisition system specifically designed for operations in…

Depth Imaging of Foothills Seismic Data

Larry Lines, Samuel Gray and Don Lawton

…Our CSEG luncheon talk (October 11, 2000) will give highlights of the CSEG publication entitled “Depth Imaging of Foothills Seismic Data”. The book and its accompanying short course (given at five Canadian universities) were both products of a CSEG Superfund Project and a CSEG Fiftieth Anniversary Project. The talk will…