A better tool has been developed for analyzing the relative uncertainty and hence reliability of earth models. This provides interpreters with useful new metrics that can be used to assess and mitigate risk related to structural ambiguity. Used in combination with seismic data, it can even improve target positioning and volumetrics calculations.
Reservoir evaluation is often based on the interpretation of a single seismic image. This image is traditionally the result of a tomographic velocity model building process followed by prestack depth migration and is used as the basis for critical economic evaluations of either prospective or confirmed hydrocarbon accumulations. Surprisingly, the amount of uncertainty associated with the image and the velocity model that was used to generate it, are poorly understood and often not quantified. Usually, the only evaluation of the quality and reliability of the produced image is achieved by comparison with auxiliary data such as well markers, or by assessing the overall degree of gather flatness or structural simplicity that is displayed in the final prestack depth images.