Energy firms are now able to look more than a kilometre deeper beneath the surface of the seabed with unprecedented accuracy thanks to the XWI™ algorithm, a new optimisation framework for seismic data developed by S-Cube. As the global demand for energy and natural resources continues to soar due to economic and population growth, the pressure is on geoscientists to pinpoint the location of subsurface reservoirs that can be drilled to satisfy the demand.
S-Cube’s XWI algorithm has the predictive power to match rock measurements pre-drilling with up to 90% accuracy. This significantly reduces risk and uncertainty in identifying profitable deep-sea deposits and helps exploration and production operators maximise recovery and avoid costly £40m dry holes.
As the first ever ‘Pay as You Go’ cloud business model for the energy sector, it is now available on demand via the Amazon Web Services cloud. The solution can scale to thousands of square kilometres whilst retaining iteration cycle times to minutes, rather than hours or days.
Thus, the framework brings a step-change in this process as it provides the best possible 3D image of the interior of the earth to uncover new resources and define drilling paths. The XWI algorithm integrates proprietary Adaptive Waveform Inversion (AWI™), Full Waveform Inversion (FWI), Reflection and Constrained FWI and additional methodologies to derive the most detailed and accurate subsurface models.
Using data generated from active seismic surveys, it provides the ability to view the interior of the earth with superior definition, focus, accuracy, and certainty. S-Cube models have been tested against the wellbore measurements and demonstrated capability to provide accurate predictions that align with the downhole measurements up to 3 km deep*.
The cloud-based automated digital model generation (data-in-model-out solution) shaves months of 3D processing time of seismic data, enabling operators to construct detailed models faster and without the need for in-house supercomputing technology. With a web-based dashboard for real-time result visualisation, operators have constant access to vital insight that can make their exploration and/or production more efficient, less costly and more environmentally friendly.
“Understanding the subsurface is critical to the needs of the upstream industry,” says Dr Nikhil Shah, COO and co-founder of S-Cube. “Our technology is helping world-renowned energy firms to use artificial intelligence in their exploration and production processes to improve drill-or-not decision making, optimise workflows, enhance safety and reduce costs. We like to call this a ‘Think more, drill less’ mindset and are proud to now offer it on a pay-as-you-go basis.”
