Petrel (reservoir software)

Petrel is a software platform by Schlumberger Information Solutions used in the exploration and production sector of the petroleum industry. It is a cloud-based platform that helps teams develop collaborative workflows to increase oil and gas performance. It uses Esri's projection engine for CRS management and is compatible with ArcGIS files. Functionality within Petrel includes: interpreting seismic data, performing well correlation, building reservoir models, visualizing reservoir simulation results, calculating volumes, producing maps and designing development strategies to maximize reservoir exploitation.

Background
Petrel software was developed in Norway by a company called Technoguide. Technoguide was formed in 1996 by former employees of Geomatic, some of whom were key programmers involved in the early development of RMS. Technoguide made 3D geologic modeling more accessible to all subsurface technical staff, including those without specialist training. Developed for PCs and the Windows OS, Petrel was commercially available in 1998. The Petrel user interface has a pre-arranged workflow to facilitate its use.

In 2002, Schlumberger acquired Technoguide and the Petrel software tools. Schlumberger currently supports and markets Petrel. Newer versions of Petrel include additional functionality such as geological modeling, seismic interpretation, uncertainty analysis, well planning, and links to reservoir simulators.