CGG GeoSoftware recently donated its Hampson-Russell and Jason geophysical software suites to Stanford. The two donated software suites, worth over $3 million, will enable Stanford students to gain a better understanding of reservoir characterization and conduct further research on seismic inversion.
Seismic inversion is a process that uses seismic, or earthquake, data to analyze petroleum or gas reservoirs.
“The importance of this software is that it integrates two important fields, which [are] geophysics and geostatistics, in the same platform,” said Leticia Acquaviva, a former CGG employee doing her masters in petroleum engineering at Stanford and currently one of the students in the Stanford Center for Reservoir Forecasting (SRCF) group. “At Stanford we [didn’t] have any in-house software like that [before].”
In a CGG press release, Stanford associate professor (research) of energy resources engineering and of geophysics Tapan Mukerji spoke about how the donated software is already being used by graduate students at the Stanford Rock Physics group and the SCRF.
“A great benefit of such a donation is that the students can focus on their research rather than on the algorithms since these have already been well-tested by developers of the software,” Mukerji said.
Two software suites
The Hampson-Russell software suite offers geophysical interpretation tools for seismic exploration and reservoir characterization, from AVO analysis and inversion to 4D and multi-component interpretation. Dan Hampson and Brian Russell formed the Hampson-Russell software together in 1987, and the company created the first AVO program, which led the way for new techniques for seismic inversion.
The Jason software suite provides advanced technology in seismic inversion and reservoir characterization software and integrates geology, petrophysics, geophysics and engineering. Paul van Riel and Eric Kaman developed Jason in 1986 within the Delft University consortium. Since its conception, the software has undergone constant improvement and development.
Partnering with CGG GeoSoftware
CGG GeoSoftware has been a member of the Stanford Industrial Affiliates Program’s Stanford Rock Physics and Borehole Geophysics Project (SRB) since 2008. The company has also recently become a member of the SCRF.
“The researchers are very grateful for this opportunity provided by CGG,” Mukerji said. “The students apply many different modules, applying both deterministic and stochastic approaches in their research, developing valuable skills that are important for their future careers.”
In an article in Oil & Gas Technology, Kamal al-Yahya M.S. ’86 Ph.D. ’87, senior vice president of CGG GeoSoftware, explained that the company is “committed to fostering technological education and empowering a new generation of geoscientists” through its University Donation Program.
“CGG and Stanford University share the same commitment to technical excellence and innovation,” al-Yahya said. “The technical innovations we see year after year from the SRB team are very beneficial to CGG and the rest of the industry.”
“Our recent software donations continue to cement relations between CGG and Stanford’s energy resources engineering and geophysics departments to help improve the postgraduate training in Rock Physics and Reservoir Forecasting,” he added.
Contact Ruiwen Adele Shen at shen.adele ‘at’ gmail.com.