--> Abstract: Out of the Organic Soup and into the Workstation: Interpreting Geochemical Data in the Digital World, by Richard B. Aram and Dan C. Boatwright; #90914(2000)

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Richard B. Aram1, Dan C. Boatwright1
(1) Phillips Petroleum Company, Bartlesville, OK

Abstract: Out of the organic soup and into the workstation: interpreting geochemical data in the digital world

Digital databases and modern workstations have allowed us to interpret huge amounts of data and to better integrate them with different kinds of information. Incorporation of geochemical data into digital interpretation has lagged behind that of seismic or well log data, but offers many great opportunities for improved interpretation.

Traditionally, geochemical data have been provided in massive paper reports with countless pages of numbers and wiggly lines. It is very difficult to relate the geochemical data to each other, to stratigraphy, to other data types, or between different wells when it is presented in paper reports.

The modern workstation offers solutions to visualize, integrate, and interpret these types of data. We have loaded geochemical data to Landmark OpenWorks databases as pseudo well log curves. This enables the geoscientists to easily select, display, and visualize huge amounts of geochemical data. Individual well displays can be built that integrate any geochemical data with stratigraphic tops, well logs, synthetic seismograms, pressure data, casing points and other relevant drilling data. Regional changes in source rock characteristics can be recognized easily by building correlation sections or maps. Cross-plotting or mathematical manipulation of the data can also be easily performed.

This method of interpreting geochemical data within the geologists' interpretation system makes it far more likely that the data will be used, and that it will be fully integrated with all available geoscience data. It also improves communication between the geoscientist and the geochemist because of the powerful visualization capability.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90914©2000 AAPG Annual Convention, New Orleans, Louisiana