The Research Partnership to Secure Energy for America (RPSEA), a consortium of some 130 US oils, suppliers and universities has selected the Society of Exploration Geophysicists’ Advanced Modeling Corp. (SEAM) for ‘project 2007DW2001’ a.k.a ‘geophysical modeling for studying acquisition and processing methods in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico.’ Funds of ‘up to’ $2 million will be awarded on a cost-share basis.
SEAM was announced at last year’s SEG Convention (OITJ October 2007) with the intent of creating synthetic data sets for algorithm testing—with the results of the modeling to be eventually available to the SEG membership ‘at a nominal cost.’ SEAM Phase I concerns the generation of a synthetic data set from subsurface geological models that are ‘at a level of complexity and size that cannot be practicably computed by any single company.’ SEAM is chaired by Kevin Bishop of BHP Billiton.
RPSEA’s mission is to provide stewardship in ensuring the focused research, development and deployment of ‘safe, environmentally sensitive technology that can effectively deliver hydrocarbons from domestic resources to US citizens.’ RPSEA President Mike Ming said, ‘Accelerating the time to first production and building the intellectual capability in the research community for these strategically important resources is vital to meet the nation’s energy needs.’
Funding for the projects is provided through the Ultra-Deepwater and Unconventional Natural Gas and Other Petroleum Resources Research and Development Program authorized by the Energy Policy Act of 2005 with funding from lease bonus and royalties paid by industry to produce oil and gas on federal lands. RPSEA is under contract with the US Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory to administer the program.
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