The OpendTect Connector plug-In for Petrel software, developed by ARK CLS using the Ocean* software development framework, will provide the Petrel user community with access to OpendTect’s industry leading commercial plug-ins relating to areas, such as attribute and processing analysis, sequence stratigraphy, fluid migration, rock property predictions and velocity modeling.

3D horizons, including time/depth horizons, and high quality attribute volumes generated by OpendTect, can all be incorporated into Petrel software, enabling users to build robust reservoir models, maximize their geological data, and bridge the gap between seismic quantitative interpretation and more production-focused reservoir models.

In all cases, interpreters will be able to seamlessly export and import seismic data between the Petrel workflow manager and OpendTect with no need to move separate SEG-Y files back and forth between applications as was done previously.

Seismic interpreters will also be able to use Petrel software to access OpendTect’s latest plug-in, HorizonCube, significantly increasing the number and density of mapped horizons and resulting in improved low frequency model building, more accurate inversion results, and geologically sound rock-property predictions.

“This is a milestone moment for OpendTect,” said Paul de Groot, President & CEO of dGB Earth Sciences. “Our link-up with Petrel software will enable interpreters to capitalize on the best features of both systems – the powerful seismic interpretation tools of OpendTect alongside the mainstream interpretation and modeling capabilities of Petrel software.”

“The result will be a seamless workflow from the acquisition and interpretation of seismic through to reservoir modeling and simulation and the reaching out of OpendTect throughout the geology, geoscience and geophysics communities.”

His words were backed up by Adrian Bennetton, Managing Director of ARK CLS:

“One of the key roles ARK CLS plays is in the role of technology facilitator, integrating some of the leading software offerings in geology and geophysics to provide a more complete solution to the operator.”

He continues: “With the OpendTect Connector plug-in for Petrel software, we believe that we have developed a highly effective cross-platform seismic interpretation framework which provides a win-win solution for all parties and, in particular, the geophysics and seismic interpretation industry as a whole.”

Future plug-in connectors with OpendTect and Petrel software are likely to include the absorption of sophisticated well data, such as well header information, time and depth curves, and wireline log data.

dGB’s flagship seismic interpretation solution, OpendTect, is the only available open source seismic interpretation platform used in the oil & gas industry today, allowing the visualization and interpretation of multi-volume seismic data.

ARK CLS has a longstanding relationship with dGB and has developed a number of commercial plug-ins itself for OpendTect. These include plug-ins for Seismic Coloured Inversion (SCI) and Seismic Spectral Blueing (SSB); Workstation Access, which supports the importing and exporting of data to Landmark's SeisWorks®/OpenWorks® and Schlumberger's GeoFrame*-IESX* data stores; and PDF 3D, which allows users to grab a 3D scene in OpendTect and save it in pdf format.

The OpendTect Connector Plug-In for Petrel software is downloadable at Schlumberger’s Ocean store at http://www.ocean.slb.com.

About dGB Earth Sciences
dGB Earth Sciences, a privately owned company based in the Netherlands, has been providing seismic interpretation solutions to the oil and gas industry since 1995. Current customers include Anadarko, BG, DetNorske, Ecopetrol, ENI, Marathon, Petrobras, Petrochina, Petronas, Saudi Aramco, Sinopec, Statoil, and Wintershall among others.

About ARK CLS
ARK CLS provides powerful geosciences solutions which enhance seismic processing and interpretation and generate vital information on the subsurface. Established in 2000, ARK CLS’s flagship software solutions include Seismic Coloured Inversion (SCI); Seismic Spectral Blueing (SSB); Seismic Net Pay; and Seismic Stochastic Inversion in partnership with EarthWorks Environmental & Resources Ltd.

• Wacom digitizing tablet support especially for horizons, faults, & polygon picking. See also this YouTube clip:
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txU_RmAiFHo
• Multimachine batch processing on Windows
• Probability Density Function (PDF) support and Bayesian inversion
• Gridding using GMT algorithms
• Improved 2D Viewer (e.g. added tree, horizon/fault tracking)
• Export of cultural data to GoogleEarth: wells, survey area, 2D lines, random lines, polygons (e.g. concession boundaries)
• Directional lighting
• Cross-plot colour coding using wells, attributes (zones)
• Interactive fault construction from faultsticksets
• Translation of gui text using Google-translate
• Improved Stratigraphic Model building
• New toolbar icons.

• New HorizonCube plugin auto-tracks hundreds of horizons from pre-calculated dips for detailed geologic model building, seismic inversions, correlations, Wheeler transforms and sequence stratigraphic interpretations. For more info on this game-changer, please view our latest webinar: http://www.opendtect.org/tutorials/Webinar_TheHorizonCube .
• New Well Correlation Panel plugin picks and correlates well log markers optionally guided by horizons from the HorizonCube.
• Common Contour Binning supports a local mode for enhancing 4D fluid-effects and a new structural display to facilitate flat-spot recognition.
• Spectral Bluing and Colored Inversion plugins come with a new seismic viewer for movie-style inspection of parameter settings.