K n o wl e d g e Wo r t h S h a r i n g

Petrel TIPS&TRICKS from SCM

Petrel is a mark of Schlumberger
4801 Woodway Drive, Suite 150W Houston, TX 77056 www.scminc.com info@scminc.com
2011 SCM E&P Solutions, Inc.

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DigitizingandGriddingContoursinPetrel
SCMtrainersandconsultantsusePetrelscontourdigitizingandcontourgriddingtoolsonmostprojects.Thickness,
structuraltrends,andpetrophysicaltrendsarethemostcommon2DGridsbuiltfromcontourdata.Thesegridsare
usedextensivelywhenbuildingstructuralframeworksandwhenbuildingfaciesandpetrophysicalpropertymodels.
Oftenthesegridsarebuiltandthentiedtosparsepointdata.Aseconduseofdigitizedcontoursistofinetune2D
Gridsbuiltfrompointdatainareaswherethepointdataaresparse.Inthisinstance,thepointsanddigitized
contoursaremergedandthecombinationgridded.Aworkflowisoftenusedtoautomatethisprocess.
Figure:DigitizedContours(left)andthe2DthicknessGridbuiltfromthem(right).

Figure:Thicknesscontoursfromtheoriginalpointdata(left),zerocontoursshowingwherethicknessisdesired
(center),anddigitizedcontoursmergedwithpointdataandusedtocreatethefinalthicknesscontours(right).

WhenpresentingmethodsfordigitizingandgriddingcontoursinPetrel,wehavenoticedthatmanymapperstryto
applytechniquestheyusedinprogramssuchasZMAPPlus(amarkofHalliburton)orCPS3(amarkof
Schlumberger).Bothoftheseprogramshaveeditingandgriddingtoolsthattreatcontoursascontinuouslinesof
data.Usersoftheseprogramshadtolearnthelineeditingtechniquesandhowtousethecontourgridding
algorithmstoyieldthebestresults.InPetreltheusermustalsolearntoeditcontoursandbuild2DGridsfromthose
contours.However,inPetrelboththeeditingandgriddingtechniquesareverydifferentfromthetwoprograms
mentionedabove.Petreltreatscontoursasaseriesofpointsandnotacontinuousline.Oncethisisunderstoodand
thetechniqueslearned,mostusersfindPetrelscontourgriddingmethodsareefficient,versatile,andyieldhigh
qualityresults.ThispaperdescribesmethodsusedinPetreltodigitizecontours,build2DGridsfromcontourdata,
andtomergepointswithcontourdataandbuild2DGrids.
Petrel is a mark of Schlumberger
4801 Woodway Drive, Suite 150W Houston, TX 77056 www.scminc.com info@scminc.com
2011 SCM E&P Solutions, Inc.

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DigitizingContours
ContoursaredigitizedandstoredaspolygonsinPetrel.TheMake/editPolygonsprocessisusedtodothis.Most
importantistodigitizeasfewpointsaspossiblefortworeasons:1)itrequiresaninteractiveclickforeachpointand
2)toeditthecontoursyoumoveeitheranentirelineorindividualpoints.Yourgoalistobeefficientwhendoingthe
initialcontourdigitizingandwheneditingthosecontours.Aftersparsepointcontourshavebeencreated,Petrelhas
analgorithmthatwillsmoothlyresamplethelineswhilecontinuingtohonortheoriginaldigitizedpoints.
Figure:Contoursdigitizedasasparsesetofpoints(left).Analgorithmusedtoresamplepointstorepresentsmooth
contours(right).

Steps
ThestepsusedtodigitizedcontoursinPetrelare:
1. Preparethedisplay
a. Opena2DWindow
b. Displayareferenceobjectorobjectstoguidedigitizing
Figure:2Dwindowwithreferenceobject(points)displayed.

2. ClickontheMake/editpolygonprocess(makeitbold)
3. ClickonthePopsupZvalueselector icononrightsideofdisplay
(notethebar inlowerleftcorner)
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2011 SCM E&P Solutions, Inc.

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4. Digitizedthefirstcontour
a. ClickontheStartnewsetofpolygons(deactivateold) icon
b. Startclickingonthepoints,keepingthemwidelyspaced
c. Closethepolygonby:
i. Stoppingdigitizingnearbutwithoutclickingonthefirstpointoftheline
ii. ClickingontheCloseselectedpolygon(s) icon
Figure:Digitizedfirstcontourbeforeclosing(left)andafterclosing(right)

d. Endthecontourwithoutclosingbyjuststoppingdigitizing
e. AssignaZvaluetothecontourby:
i. ClickingontheSelectandeditline icon(allpointsonthelineshouldbehighlightedand
thelinemadelighter,ifthisdoesnthappenthentouchpartofthelineanditwill)
ii. Enteringthecontourvalueinthe Z=spotatthebottomleftcorner
ofthewindow
iii. Clickingonthe equalsigntoassignthevaluetoallpointsthatare
highlighted(selected).
Figure:Pointsselectedtobeassignedavaluearehighlightedwithawhiteboxaroundthem.

5. Addasecondcontour(polygon)tothesamefile
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2011 SCM E&P Solutions, Inc.

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a. ChecktoseethatthepolygonfileyouwanttoaddanothercontourtoisboldinthePetrelExplorer
Inputtab
b. ClickontheStartnewpolygonontheactivesetofpolygons icon
c. Startclickingonthepoints,keepingthemwidelyspaced
d. Closeorendthepolygon
e. AssignaZvaluetothecontour
6. Repeatstep5forasmanycontoursasyoudesire(Note:Ifyourcontourswindupintwodifferentpolygon
filesthenopenoneanduseOperationPolygonsoperationsAppendpolygonstomergethetwofiles
anddeletetheunmergedfile.)
Figure:Finalcontoursreadyforgridding.Notethatgreen(20)andyellow(40)contoursareaddedtokeep
thegriddingalgorithmfromprojectingpositiveawayfromthezeroline(purplecontour),astandard
techniqueusedwithallmappingpackages.

Youwillnotethatcontoursareleftintheircoarseorsparsepointform.Thatis,additionalpointsareNOTaddedto
makethecontourssmooth.Addingpointswillonlyincreasethenumberofpointsthatmustbemovedwhenedits
arerequired.Additionalpointswillbeaddedonthefly(automaticallytoatemporaryfile)duringthegriddingstep
andisdiscussedbelow.
GriddingContours
Buildinga2DGridofdigitizedcontoursissimilartobuildingagridofpointdatawiththeadditionofafewmore
parameters.TheMake/editsurfaceprocessisusedtobuildthe2DGrid.Thestepsusedare:
1. DoubleclickontheMake/editsurfaceprocess
2. Clearallparameters
a. ClickontheResultsurfacename
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2011 SCM E&P Solutions, Inc.

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b. Clickonthedeletekey
c. AnswerYestothequestionthatpopsup.
Figure:DialogsusedtoclearallparametersettingsfortheMake/editsurfaceprocess

3. InsertthecontoursastheMaininputdata
4. SettheGeometryparametersasdesired(XYlimitsandGridincrements)
5. SettheAlgorithmparameters
UsuallytheConvergentinterpolationisused
OccasionallyFunctionalwithFitpointstoaPlanarSurfaceisusedfortiltedplanes
6. SetPreprocessingparameters
a. ChecktheBoxinfrontofRefinethepolygonsby
b. MakesurethattheSmooth(Cubicspline)radiobuttonispushed
7. SetPostprocessingparameters
Smoothingbeforeorafterisnotnormallydone
Clippingthegridisoftendonewhenworkingthicknessasthecontoursoftenextendnegative
i. ChangetheMaxorMinZvaluechoicetoTruncated
ii. Enterthevaluetotruncateat
iii. Uncheckthein%ofinputdatabox
8. Adjusttheotherparametersasdesired(Name,etc.)
9. ClicktheApplybuttontobuildthegrid
Figure:Parametersusedtobuildathicknessgridfromdigitizedcontours.

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2011 SCM E&P Solutions, Inc.

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Figure:2DthicknessGridsmoothlypassingthroughcontourpointsandclippedtoMinvalueofzero.

EditContoursandRebuildGrid
Onceagridhasbeenbuiltfromcontoursitisasimpleprocesstoeditthecontoursandrebuildthegrid.Editing
involvesmovingcontourlinesorindividualpoints.Rebuildingthegridinvolvesrightclickingonthegridnameand
selectingRegenerate.Thestepsusedtodothisare:
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2011 SCM E&P Solutions, Inc.

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1. Makeacopyofthecontour(polygon)filetobeeditedforbackup(thereisnoundoforMake/editpolygon
process)
2. Setupthedisplay
a. Opena2DWindow
b. Displaythe2DGrid(settransparencytoabout40%)
c. Displaythecontourswithpointslargeenoughtoeasilyseeandedit
3. Makethecontour(polygon)filetobeeditedbold
4. ClickontheMake/editpolygonprocess
5. ClickontheSelectandeditaddpoints icon(Note:IfthisiconisgrayedoutthenclickontheMake/Edit
polygons icontoungrayit.)
6. Editthecontours
Clickonthepointtomoveanddragittothedesiredposition.
Clickonalinetoaddapointandthenmovethepoint
Hitthedeletekeywhileapointishighlightedtodeleteit
Ifthepointisbelowthegridssurfacethenturnthegridofftemporarilyandmovethepointthen
turnthegridbackon(thegraphiceditorcannotseethroughagridtogettoapoint)
Figure:Contoursbefore(blue)andafter(red)edits.

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2011 SCM E&P Solutions, Inc.

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7. RebuildthegridbyrightclickingonthegridsnameandselectingRegenerate
Figure:Regenerateswitchusedtorebuildthegridusingalltheoriginalparameters.

Figure:Contourandgridbeforeediting(left)andafterediting(right).Bothsetsofdigitizedcontoursareoneach
display.

GriddingContoursandTyingtoPointData
Petreloffersasimplewaytoaddpointdatatothecontourgriddingprocess.ThepointsareaddedintheWell
adjustmentstep.Care,however,mustbetakentomakesurethatthedatabeingtiedtomatchesthegridthatis
beingbuilt.TheWelladjustmentstepisimplementedafterthePostprocessingstep,therefore,anyclippingplanes
thatarebuiltwillbeshiftedverticallybytheerrorcorrectionsurface,movingtheplanetoanincorrectposition.
ThesolutionistoeliminatethePostprocessingstepandthenclipthegridwithanOperationafterbuildingthegrid.
Thissolvesthewarpingoftheclippingplane.However,anotherproblemexists.Thezerosinthisexampledonot
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2011 SCM E&P Solutions, Inc.

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matchthenegativedigitizedcontoursandwillcausetheerrorcorrectiontobeextremeinthoseareas.Thesolution
istoblankthedata(getridofthezeros)priortothegriddingstep.Theoperationcliptozerowillthenmakethegrid
honorthezerodataagain.Thesestepsareeasytodointeractively(thereareonlytwosteps,griddingandan
operation)butcouldbeplacedinaworkflowtoautomate.Wewilldotheminteractivelyhere.
Figure:2DGridbuiltwithouttheWelladjustmentstep(left)andwiththeWelladjustmentstep(right)addedandthe
Postprocessingstepstillexecuted.Notehowtheclippedsurfaceiswarpedupanddownbytheerrorgridandthat
zeropointsareusedinthetieprocess.

Thestepsneededtocombinethecontourandpointdataforthisexampleare:
1. Blankoutdatathatviolatethedigitizedcontourswhenthedataareinerror.Usuallythesearezerodata
whenthecontoursaregoingnegativetoensureacleanzeroline.
a. Makeacopyofthedata(youwillwanttoposttheoriginalunblankeddataonthefinalmaps)
b. GotothesettingsdialogforthedataandusetheOperationsEliminatewhereZ<=constant
(forthisspecificsituation)
c. Setconstanttozero
d. ClickRun
2. AltertheMake/editsurfaceparameters(thoseusedinprevioussectiontogridcontours)
a. AddWelladjustmenttabparameters
i. Usethebluearrowtoinserttheblankeddata
ii. ChecktheGlobaladjustmentradiobutton
iii. Altertheinfluenceradiusifneeded
b. TurnoffthePostprocessingclippingbysettingtheMaxandMinZvalueparameterstoUnchanged.
3. ClickApplytobuildthegrid
4. UsetheOperationReplacewhereZ<=constant(forthisexample)withconstantsettozero.
Petrel is a mark of Schlumberger
4801 Woodway Drive, Suite 150W Houston, TX 77056 www.scminc.com info@scminc.com
2011 SCM E&P Solutions, Inc.

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Figure:2DGridallowedtogonegativeandtiedtothepositivedatapoints(left)andthetiedgridclippedtoa
minimumvalueofzero(right)withalldataposted.

MergingPointDatawithDigitizedContours
Thissectionsoundsmuchliketheprevioussectionbutisverydifferent.Inthisscenario,pointdataareusedtobuild
aninitial2DGrid.Insomelocationsthat2DGridisnotacceptableandneedstobealtered.Theadjustmentcouldbe
madeinteractivelyandthenthe2DGridretiedtothepointdata.Thisworksfineunlessnewdataarebeingadded
onaregularbasis.Inthatcase,theinteractivesurfaceedits,requiredwitheachupdate,willnotbedonethesame
wayeachtime(aproblem)andthoseeditsrequireconsiderableamountofrepeatedeffort.Thesolutionistocreate
asetofdigitizedcontourstocontrolthesurfaceforminareaswherepointsaresparse.Thesedigitizedcontoursare
thenresampledtohaveadensesetofpointsalongthelines,mergedwiththeoriginalpointdataandthenthe
Make/editsurfaceprocessusedtobuilda2DGridofthemergeddata.Againthisprocesscouldbedone
interactively,butthestepsarestartingtobecomemorecomplex.Addtothisthemixingofzeropointdatawith
negativedigitizedcontoursandyouhavetheperfectcandidateforaPetrelworkflow.Wehaveincludedaworkflow
herethatwasusedtobuildathicknessgridprimarilyfrompointdatawithafewzeroandnegativecontoursadded
tocontrolextrapolations.Wedonotdiscusstheworkflowbutincludeithereforthosewhoaremoreexperienced
andwouldliketotrythetechnique.

Petrel is a mark of Schlumberger

4801 Woodway Drive, Suite 150W Houston, TX 77056 www.scminc.com info@scminc.com
2011 SCM E&P Solutions, Inc.

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Figure:Workflowusedtomergepointdatawithafewcontours.Thepointdataareblankedatzerotoavoid
conflictswiththenegativecontourswhichrequiresthatazerocontourlinebeusedtoensurethatzerodataarenot
violated.

Petrel is a mark of Schlumberger

4801 Woodway Drive, Suite 150W Houston, TX 77056 www.scminc.com info@scminc.com
2011 SCM E&P Solutions, Inc.

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Figure:Finalthicknessgridbuiltusingtheaboveworkflow.Thedisplayshowsthezeroandnegativevalueddigitized
contoursusedtocontrolextrapolation.