Integration of visualization into the exploration workflow: no longer just a novelty

Advances in seismic workstation hardware and software have antiquated the<br>exploration workflow common throughout the 1980’s and 1990’s. Older “workflows”<br>center on sequential and evenly spaced examination of amplitude seismic data in<br>vertical section. Without proper planning and focusing of effort and resources, this<br>approach is effectively random, finding leads and anomalies in a “hit or miss” fashion<br>while ineffectively concentrating on horizon mapping, gridding, and interpolation<br>software nuances. Such examination is highly biased towards the interpreter’s prior<br>experience, and typically misses new play types evident in the data.