f 3D Structural restoration and balance space and time the final frontier

An extensive program supported by EC loan and client sponsorship was begun in 1986 to develop an interactive system to test and validate interpretations of geological structure through the process of section balancing. This has resulted in the commercial release of software to oil industry clients on a world wide basis. Despite the key nature of the technology in efficient exploration and production adoption of the tech- nique has been slow. Midland Valley in collaboration with Industry has identified the difficulty in using a 2D system to modelcomplex 3D structural problems as the main problem in technology transfer. Simply, while 2D computerised; techniques present a major advance over manual processes tackling problems of com- plex 3D structure using 2D methods still remains too difficult. This has led to a new project to extend the approach to true 3D by taking advantage of recent developments in 3D graphical workstations and the increasing availability of 3D seismic data bases. The value of balanced restoration to geological interpretation and the principals behind the approach are discuseed in this contribution. The present project is funded by a THERMIE grapt (1992), industrial sponsorship and by internal revenue.