Technology

DUG Insight provides a single workspace where geoscientists can work together. (Image source: DUG)

Margarita Kongawoin, senior vice president of software & HPC at DUG Technology, on how DUG Insight brings the complete geoscience workflow into a single, integrated package — and why that's changing the way teams work

What do you see as the biggest bottleneck in geoscience software today? 

Fragmentation seems to be a major issue slowing geoscience teams down. They often have to work with many different software programs. Moving data between those applications requires data exchange and format conversion, which takes time and can lead to mistakes. When the data reaches the decision-maker’s desk, time (aka money) and attention have been wasted. This fragmented workflow also prevents people from working together and sharing their different skills in a complementary way.

How does DUG Insight overcome those challenges? 

DUG Insight provides a single workspace where geoscientists can work together. For interpreters, this means interactive 2D/3D/gather visualisation with tools for fault and horizon picking, well management and manipulation, crossplotting and AI-assisted interpretation. They can also generate attributes including dip and azimuth, semblance, curvature, spectral decomposition and RGB blending, all on demand.

For processing geophysicists, it offers a full suite of time-processing and depth-imaging tools scalable to massive data volumes from any acquisition geometry — land, marine or ocean-bottom node — with dedicated capabilities for time-lapse (4D) and multicomponent data. Users are not required to run heavy batch processes to test a parameter. On DUG Insight, it takes just seconds to test and QC workflows.

QI specialists get the fastest path to rock properties and probabilistic lithology and fluid prediction, with tools from statistical rock physics, to traditional AVA inversion, to our revolutionary elastic MP-FWI imaging technology.

DUG Insight is the only geoscience software package on the market that spans the complete workflow from seismic data processing and depth imaging through to interpretation, visualisation and rock-property prediction — all in a single, integrated package.

AI is all the buzz now. How does it enhance DUG Insight? What about users who want to bring their own code? 

AI tools are now being increasingly integrated into DUG Insight’s workflows for maximum efficiency, whether it’s lithology prediction, fault and horizon interpretation, or accelerated convergence of our MP-FWI.

We also don’t want to lock anyone into a closed box. The software’s API gives users the flexibility to bring their own code into the environment, supporting Java, C/C++, C# and Python. Ultimately, we want to ensure that your custom code is treated with the dignity it deserves. No additional licensing is required, and all intellectual property stays with you.

What’s next for DUG Insight? 

We’ve got lots of exciting developments coming soon! Our R&D team continues to embed the latest technology, spanning signal processing to interpretation to algorithmic efficiency. For example we’re now modelling complex acquisition effects like tides, water-column changes, currents and array geometry, which is vital for full-wavefield imaging and for superior time-lapse (4D) results. On land, we’re inverting ground roll to give high-resolution shear-wave velocity, while the new land statics methodology (AMGRT) solves near-surface complexity to correctly position deep targets. Watch this space!

SLB has launched the ExaCT electrical downhole coiled tubing (CT) control system, an advanced intervention platform that introduces real-time electrical control to coiled tubing operations

By replacing pressure-dependent hydraulic actuation with electrical communication, power delivery and telemetry, the ExaCT system gives operators greater visibility, precision and control, helping improve intervention execution and reservoir access.

Complex demands

Well intervention is becoming more complex as reservoirs mature and well designs evolve. Extended-reach wells, multilaterals, and integrated operations demand more accuracy than traditional methods can deliver. Pressure-based actuation and mechanical sequencing often introduce uncertainty — making it harder to execute tasks at the right depth and time.

Without real-time visibility and control, operations become less efficient and more prone to NPT and missed objectives. Conventional approaches often require multiple runs and manual adjustments, increasing risk, cost, and variability — and limiting the ability to complete complex interventions in a single trip.

As the industry focuses on efficiency, repeatability, and performance certainty, precision and control are now essential. Real-time measurement, command, and actuation reduce uncertainty and help ensure every intervention achieves its full potential.

Precision and control

The ExaCT electrical downhole CT control system combines electrical power, telemetry and downhole measurements to deliver real-time precision, actuation and control for complex CT interventions. By replacing passive, pressure-dependent hydraulic actuation with active real-time electrical control the system helps operators to make informed decisions supported by continuous downhole feedback, emablong them to optimise reservoir access, improve production performance and maximise recovery.

The ExaCT system supports multiple services in a single run, including logging, stimulation, isolation and shifting operations – critical for extended-reach, multilateral and high-complexity wells. The platform enables real-time monitoring of downhole conditions and allows interventions to be adapted as conditions change, reducing the need for multiple runs while providing a foundation for increasingly automated intervention workflows.

Designed for harsh downhole conditions, including sour corrosive and high temperature environments, such as those in the Middle East, the ExaCT system improves execution confidence, reduces NPT and delivers more predictable outcomes through standardised, repeatable push-button workflows.

Results:

Field deployments of the ExaCT system across multilateral, extended-reach, and offshore intervention programmes have delivered measurable gains in execution time, cost, and reliability compared with conventional hydraulic systems:

• 30–40% faster intervention - The direction and inclination (D&I) and electrical multilateral module (eMLT) within the ExaCT access service completed multilateral entry and stimulation operations 30–40% faster than conventional methods.
• 15–20% lower operational costs - Electrical control within the ExaCT access service reduced repeat CT trips, lowering operational costs by 15–20% across field deployments.
• 30% faster offshore cleanout - Aker BP reduced offshore cleanout time by about 30%, or approximately 12 hours, using the ExaCT cleanout service in a depleted well offshore Norway.
• 20% less liquid and nitrogen use - Real-time mode switching with the ExaCT cleanout service reduced liquid and nitrogen consumption by about 20% compared with fixed, depth-based programs.

In one six-lateral well intervention, the ExaCT system reduced intervention time by approximately 175 hours, enabling operators to enter each lateral in about 12 minutes compared with six to eight hours using conventional hydraulic systems. The operation stimulated more than 21,000 feet of reservoir contact while reducing fluid consumption by more than 3,000 barrels.

“Operators are asking intervention systems to do far more than simply actuate downhole tools," said Frederik Majkut, president, Reservoir Performance, SLB. "Completion and production teams need continuous visibility, precise control and the flexibility to perform multiple services in a single run. The ExaCT system represents a fundamental shift to electrically controlled intervention, helping operators improve execution certainty, reduce intervention time and maximise reservoir access.”

The two teams. (Image source: DUG)

DUG Technology and ACTeQ have announced a strategic partnership whereby DUG Insight’s cloud-based modelling capabilities will be integrated with ACTeQ’s TesserACT survey design platform

TesserACT integrates geophysical and operational analysis to support the design and optimisation of land, marine streamer, seabed, borehole and hybrid seismic surveys.

Through the collaboration, TesserACT provides access to DUG Insight’s advanced modelling capabilities, including synthetic generation and wave-equation-based solutions, enabling them to be incorporated directly into seismic survey design workflows.

ACTeQ’s VP Sales and Marketing, Brandon Mattox, said, “This collaboration represents an important step forward for Tesseract users. With access to advanced 3D modelling capabilities users will benefit from improved workflows and enhanced operational efficiency.”

The integration is designed to simplify access to advanced modelling within the survey design process, reducing the effort required to evaluate acquisition scenarios through cloud computing.

DUG’s senior VP of Software & HPC, Margarita Kongawoin, said: “Interoperability is at the heart of modern software ecosystems. This integration will enable TesserACT users to leverage the modelling and computing power of DUG Insight and the DUG HPC Cloud. We look forward to continuing our working relationship into the future.”

The companies plan to add additional capabilities in the future.

Gemini X delivers a step change in operational efficiency, sharper subsurface imaging, faster turnaround and more confident exploration decisions. (Image source: TGS)

TGS, a leading global provider of energy data and intelligence, has announced the launch of Gemini X, Gemini X combines TGS' industry-leading Gemini source technology with Apparition, TGS' proprietary encoded acquisition and source separation capability, enabling coordinated multi-source acquisition

Gemini X delivers a step change in operational efficiency, sharper subsurface imaging and faster turnaround, facilitating more confident exploration decisions. By strengthening data quality at the point of acquisition, it improves performance across the entire value chain, from acquisition and advanced imaging workflows such as full-waveform inversion (FWI) in complex subsalt and frontier basins, through to the drill decisions that follow. Following successful testing in the Gulf of America, Gemini X is now available worldwide.

Gemini X helps redefine exploration, especially in ocean-bottom node (OBN) operations, combining fit-for-purpose acquisition with the imaging technology needed to solve complex geology. The result is imaging quality once reserved for high-value production surveys, now practical and affordable at basin exploration scale.

At the core of Gemini X are TGS’ Gemini enhanced frequency source (EFS) and TGS' proprietary encoded-acquisition and source-separation technology, which enable multiple Gemini sources to operate simultaneously while preserving broadband signal fidelity and the extended low frequencies critical for high-end imaging.

Carel Hooijkaas, executive vice president of Marine Data Acquisition, TGS, stated, "For years, ocean-bottom nodes have been seen as a tool for mature fields and production monitoring. Gemini X resets that thinking. By running multiple Gemini sources in parallel, we acquire cleaner, higher-quality data far more efficiently, bringing the imaging power of OBN to basin-scale exploration. This lets our clients skip a generation of seismic acquisition technology while benefiting from sharper images, faster turnaround, and the confidence to make key exploration decisions sooner."

TGS is also teaming up with Chevron in a strategic collaboration focused on advancing next-generation seismic imaging technology. Under the agreement, the two companies will jointly invest in research and development across key technical domains, including Elastic Full Waveform Inversion (eFWI) and machine learning-driven workflows, leveraging TGS' Imaging AnyWare platform and Chevron's proprietary algorithms.

"This collaboration reflects TGS' ambition to evolve into a true strategic imaging partner and to push the boundaries of what is possible in subsurface imaging," said Kristian Johansen, CEO of TGS. "Combining our platform, talent and scale with Chevron's world-class geoscience expertise creates meaningful long-term value for both organisations."