Business Fundamentals for Petroleum Geophysics

William L Abriel

This course is intended to introduce the participant to the most commonly used business tools that are used in the oil and gas business regarding the use of geophysics including investment profiles, exploration risk evaluation, value of information, reservoir monitoring, and managing partners and contracts.

This course will comprise concepts and examples of the use of geophysics in subsurface petroleum management with a focus on the risk and monetary decisions needed to optimize business results. The learning will be transferred through lecture, examples, and student problems covering the total value chain of petroleum subsurface management.

Duration

Two days

Intended Audience

Intermediate level

Prerequisites (Knowledge/Experience/Education Required)

BS/MS in geosciences and/or experience in petroleum subsurface operations

Course Outline

  1. Exploration – evaluating prospect risk and value of information
  2. Delineation – geophysical attributes and reserves estimation
  3. Development – advanced geophysics, reservoir models and working with partners
  4. Production – reservoir monitoring
  5. Unconventionals – value of geophysical techniques
  6. Geophysical Management – contracts, knowledge management, international business

Learner Outcomes

At the conclusion of the course, the participant will be able to:

  • Calculate a value of information (VOI) for geophysical use in exploration, development and production
  • Construct an amplitude variation with offset (AVO) scorecard for risk analysis
  • Determine subsurface petroleum reserves for a given example
  • Construct a seismic program proposal for subsurface evaluation

Instructor Biography

William L. Abriel