The course is naturally relevant to O&G projects, but also to Lithium, CO2-storage, and geothermal projects.

The course will cover two key questions. The first one is philosophical: why would we need a 3D geological model while we already have interpreted our seismic cube? The second one is practical: We have decided to build a 3D geological model, what is the place of our geophysicist and of our geophysical interpretation in the modeling workflow?

On day 1, the fundamentals of 3D geological modeling will be explained. It will start with data gathering, followed by building the 3D structural and stratigraphic grid and populating it with rock properties. It will end with delivering the 3D model to the engineers. Some fundamentals of geostatistics will also be covered (kriging, simulations and variograms). The goal though is to remain practical. Only a minimum amount of geostatistical theory will be presented, while the day-to-day challenges of 3D geological modeling will be extensively discussed.

On day 2, the workflow will be revisited to show how the geophysicist’s knowledge and interpretation are used in those different phases. Velocity modeling, time-to-depth conversion, structural interpretation, stratigraphic interpretation, and 3D seismic attributes will be discussed.

The workflows presented should be useful no matter what software the students have access to in their company. But the course itself will not have any exercise in any software.

Students will be encouraged to share their personal experience during the course. The instructor will also look forward to continuing the discussion with them in the following months and years.