In the exploration and production of oil and gas, cutting edge methods and algorithms for reservoir prediction are in high demand as geologists and geophysicists are interpreting seismic data. Seismic data is by nature is ambiguous and difficult to interpret, and different software methods and techniques are applied to the data to provide a better understanding of the subsurface in order to make better decisions of when to drill and when to not.
During their research at University of Bergen, prof. Johansen and his post-doc researcher Dr. Jensen developed a novel method for predicting reservoir properties from seismic data, called IRPM – Inverse Rock Physics Modelling. The IRPM technology was early identified as a very promising candidate to mitigate the high number of dry wells drilled by oil companies, potentially contributing to greatly reduce drilling expenses, and improve revenue through increasing number of discoveries. As a result, Dr. Jensen and Prof. Johansen founded Rock Physics Technology in 2014 together with Bergen Teknologioverføring, due to significant commercial interest for the IRPM from the oil and gas industry.
The advanced IRPM-method is implemented into an easy to use framework and provided to the market as ENTER – an interpretation software by Rock Physics Technology, allowing users all over the world to make use of the powerful reservoir prediction tool. ENTER predicts reservoir properties using rock physics, a discipline that aims to describe the physical relations between the data and the rock properties.
Due to IRPM’s unique approach, ENTER can be used by not only rock physics experts, but by a broader range of geoscientists with complementary backgrounds, capturing the ideas and knowledge of the full geoteam. By providing better predictions and allowing geologists, geophysicists and petrophysicists to contribute to the powerful prediction process, ENTER can give better predictions and improve the success rate for oil and gas globally.
