1. Petrel Workflow Tools – 5 Day Introduction Course
Data Import
Intro to Petrel
Edit Input Data
Import data
Seismic
Well
Correlation
Fault
Modeling
Pillar
Gridding
Zonation and Layering
Facies
Modeling
Petrophysical
Modeling
Volume Calculation
Plotting
Well Design
Process Manager

2. Data Import Objectives
Learn About Import Options
Petrel import
Look at Data types
Learn How To Organize Input Data
Folders and subfolders
Formats
Predefined
General
Wells and Well Tops
Seismic
Copy and move data, to and from a reference project
Export options

3. Petrel Import Open Project:
Relates only to already saved Petrel projects (.pet files). Remember that each .pet file has an associated .ptd data folder!
Import file:
Used for importing all other data (SEG-Y, points/lines, functions, Bitmaps etc.)
Reference project tool:
Opens a reference project. Data can be copied and moved between the local project and the reference project
Petrel Data Import
In Petrel, all model data is saved to a project file with the extension <project_name>.pet. This file contains links to all related objects in a saved project. An associated project directory, <project_name>.ptd contains all the data object files. Both the .pet file and the .ptd folder files are required to open and use a Petrel project.
General import procedure:
Creating new folders and importing data in Petrel is simple. Use the ‘Insert’ pull down menu and select ‘New Folder’, or click on the ‘New Folder’ Icon on the tool bar. The new folder will be placed in the active Explorer pane, e.g. under the Input pane. To rename the folder, right click on the folder and select ‘Settings’ and make the necessary changes. There are two options for importing data into a folder. Make sure the folder you wish to import data to is highlighted. From the ‘Insert’ pull down menu, select ‘Import (On Selection)’ or, right click on the folder and select ‘Import (On Selection) and select the desired data.
Wells and Well tops procedure:
To create a new ‘Wells’ or ‘Well Tops’ folder, go to the ‘Insert’ pull down menu. From here, you can choose either the ‘New Well’ or ‘New Well Tops’ options. Both folders will appear in the Input pane. If necessary, you can rename the folders by following the same procedure as outlined in the General Import Procedures. Importing Well data typically involves three separate imports (well heads, deviation surveys and well logs). Right click on the Well folder and select ‘Import (On Selection) and proceed to import the required data. When importing Well Tops data, remember that all tops can be imported in a single step.

4. Data Types Lines Points 2D Grids Wells Seismic 3D grids Data Types
Lines: 2D and 3D lines from seismic data, fault interpretations from seismic (fault polygons and fault sticks) and polygons from other mapping systems (with or without Z-values). Lines can be imported as points or converted to points after import.
Points: X-Y locations, with or without Z-values, define valid points. Examples include isochore thicknesses, well cuts or well tops, velocity points in the position of the wells, and more. If appropriate, points can be imported as lines or converted to lines after import.
2D Grids: Any array of points organized as a grid can be imported. Examples include horizons based on seismic interpretation or well tops, trend maps, porosity, isochore, etc.
Wells: Data for wells are of several types. They include the Well Header (contains information about top position, well path length, and well name), deviation survey (well path), well logs, and well tops. Well tops are attached to the well path upon import.
Seismic: Both 2D and 3D seismic can be imported as SEG-Y format. 3D seismic can also be imported as ZGY format. Importing seismic data does not copy the data into the Petrel project; rather it creates a link to the seismic data location. There is no limit to the size of the seismic file; the hard disk on the individual PC is the limiting factor.
3D-grids: A 3D grid is defined by cells with attributes assigned to each cell. The types of formats that can be imported come from a simulator (such as Eclipse, VIP or CMG).

5. Organization of Input Data
1. Folder types:
Most data can be imported into regular folders (or subfolders); but some data types have a special structure (e.g. Wells, Well Tops and Interpretations). 1
2. Inserting predefined folders:
All folder types are available from the Insert menu; select the folders to add to the project. Folders can be renamed in the Settings. 2
3. Import (on selection):
It is recommended that all data are imported to existing folders. Right-click and choose Import (on selection) to import data 3
Data Organization
It is important to keep the imported files organized in folders and sub-folders.
Note: There can only be ONE wells folder in a project.
User-defined folders vs. Folders defined by Petrel:
Most data are stored in user-defined folders, (shown in the slide above as yellow folders.) Some data, however, have to be imported into folders created by Petrel. This regards Wells (well heads, deviation data and well logs), Well Tops and Interpretation data. In the figure above, you can see that the Wells and the Well Tops folders have a different type of icon next to them, symbolizing that the folders have a different organization than the user-defined folders. (The Well Section folder is also different, but this folder will be created automatically if you decide to make a well correlation later on.)
Inserting new folders:
New folders can be inserted by pressing on the Insert new folder icon. Once a new folder has been generated, you can give it a name by entering the Settings window for the current folder (right mouse click on any folder to enter the Settings window, and change the name under the Info tab).
Sub-folders:
Sub-folders can be created at any level of any folder. The only exception is for Well Tops, where it is not possible to create sub-folders.

6. Import with Predefined Format
1. Find the data to import and select the appropriate format. Press Open. 1
Predefined formats
After creating a folder, and choosing Import (on Selection), the Import file dialog opens:
2. Specify the Template (e.g. Elevation Time or Thickness depth). 2
3. Press OK For All if all the files have the same format, and OK if they have different formats. 3
How to import data:
There are two options for data import in Petrel. Petrel differentiates between Import File, which can be found on the File pull-down menu and on the Tool bar, and Import (on Selection), which can be found on the Insert pull-down menu and on the right mouse button menu on folders in the Petrel Explorer. With Import (on Selection) the imported data will be inserted directly into the active folder and therefore only formats which can be held in the active folder will be chosen. If you use Import File instead, the data will be imported and placed in the bottom of the Input window, not inside any folder.
Import (on Selection):
Right mouse click on the folder and select ’Import (on Selection)’. Choose the correct data file type and the data will be imported into the folder.
Selecting files to import:
A window will pop up. In this window, select the data to be imported, and select the correct format. Note that depending on which format you have selected, a corresponding illustration of an example of such a format is being displayed in the bottom of the window. The available formats will also be limited to those appropriate for the data stored in the folder type (e.g. you can’t import a SEG-Y file into the Wells folder).
Input data dialog window:
In the Input data dialog window, you must specify the Template (e.g. Type of data being imported). For example, the file being imported is called ”Tarbert-1” and is isochore data as indicated by the X, Y, and Z ranges shown in the Data range section. Therefore the template to chose is Thickness depth. You should always check that Z-values are negative for structural data if it’s below mean sea level. This includes Time data.
Note! Petrel works in Negative Z-values.

7. Import General (Lines / Points)1
1. Find the data and select the General lines/points (ASCII) format. Press Open.
No predefined formats available?
Check the List of available formats under the Help menu, or use the drop-down menu Files of type and look at the example format capture at the bottom of the dialog box. If there isn’t one, use a General format:
2. Specify the number of header lines (seen from the Header info file capture). 2
3. Make sure X,Y and Z columns match with the file (can be either space or tab delineated).
X Y Z 3
4. Data can be loaded as Points or Lines. 4
Importing Lines/Points by using the General ASCII reader
Within Petrel there is a general ASCII reader that allows you to import data that are sorted in columns (i.e. ASCII format). The columns can be either space- or tab-delimited.
Select the ’File of type’ to be General lines/points (ASCII)(*.*).
In the Import lines/points window, you must specify:
Number of header lines, flag value and undefined value.
You should also specify which column in the file that represents the X, Y and Z coordinates, respectively.
Lines and Points are both described by X, Y and Z-values, the only difference being that there is a line between the points for the line data.
You can also decide whether to import the data as points or as lines. And if you want to change the appearance later on, you can convert points to lines or lines to points within Petrel simply by right clicking on the object and selecting Convert to Points or Convert to Lines.
Examples of Line data:
2D and 3D lines from seismic, or faults interpreted from seismic (as fault sticks or fault polygons).
Examples of Point data:
Isochore points, points representing a surface, points representing a fault plane (i.e. Well cuts).

8. Import Wells – Overview
Import well tops
Import well logs
Import well path (deviation)
Import well header
Wells are imported in three steps:
1. Well Heads: file containing the top position of the well, length of the well path (MD), the well name and optionally a well symbol. Upon import a vertical well is created.
2. Deviation: if the well is not vertical, a file containing the deviation survey must be imported describing its path.
3. Logs: imported and attached to existing well path.
Importing Well Tops:
You must first create a Well Tops folder (Insert menu > New Well Tops). Petrel has a predefined folder containing specific subfolders to organize all well tops, fault cuts and their attributes.

9. Import Wells – Well Heads
1. Create a well heads file using a text editor or Excel and save as a .txt file. Columns can be space or tab delimited. Import (on selection) into the Wells folder. The format is Well heads. 1
A Well heads file: ASCII file defining the well’s top location (X-Y-Z) and name (path length (MD), well symbol and Unique Well Identifiers are optional).
2. Check that the column numbers match the Header info capture at the bottom of the dialog window. 2
3. Each well can have only one name, specified in the Well Header. When importing deviation and logs the names must match. Wells can be identified by UWI or Name (3A). Attributes can be added and removed (3B). 3A 3B
Importing Well Heads
Insert a Well Folder (Insert > New Well).
The import dialog for well header files allows the import of an
unrestricted amount of attributes for each well. Attributes can be of several types
including string, continuous, discrete and date. By default Petrel will expect 6 columns of information in
the import file, however, the user may add as many additional attributes as required.
In the Import Well Heads window, make sure that each of the attributes are attached to the corresponding column in the file.
UWIs can also be imported along with the well name using OpenSpirit.

10. Import Wells – Well Path (Deviation Survey)
1. Import (on selection) into the Wells folder.
4. Select correct survey type and define columns.
2. Select the correct format.
3. Match the file name to existing well name.
Well Path / Deviation file
If the well is not vertical it is necessary to import the corresponding deviation file. The deviation file will be attached to the well heads file already imported. Only one well path per well can be loaded. You can have one deviation survey per file or have deviation surveys for multiple wells in a single file. Make sure to select the files defining the well paths for one, some, or all of the wells and select the appropriate format (e.g., Multiple well paths/deviations (ASCII)(*.*)).
Associate each Well Path with a Well
Petrel will attempt to match the well names in the well deviation file with the wells previously imported into Petrel with the Well heads file. Use the Well Trace column to adjust this link if necessary.
Link the field types with the file’s columns
As for the Well heads file, an Import Well Path/Deviation window will pop-up. First, go to the Input data tab where you will have to specify which column in the file corresponds to an attribute, such as MD, Inclination, Azimuth, X, Y and TVD, etc. It is also important to set the appropriate MD and TVD elevation reference.
Units
Go to the Units Tab and make sure the Offshore/onshore flag is set properly. In Petrel, all coordinate values below sea level are negative and coordinate values above sea level are positive. To make sure the well files are imported correctly, the user has to specify whether the wells are onshore or offshore. If a well is offshore but the vertical coordinates are positive, then Petrel will multiply them all by -1. If the well is onshore, then they will be left as they are.
If the well has most of its vertical well path onshore, then it is an onshore well, even if the reservoir is below sea level.
If you are uncertain whether the well is onshore or offshore, you should import it as an onshore well. This option will usually always work, however, do use the offshore option if you know you are working with offshore wells because this option allows for more checks of the data when they are imported.
5. Select well type (onshore/offshore) adjust units if necessary.

11. Import Wells – Well Path (Deviation Survey)
The deviation survey can be viewed in a Spreadsheet.
Right-click on the well in the Input pane and select Spreadsheet
The Deviation survey can be edited after import, but it is not recommended. Only white columns are editable
Hint: You can copy and paste data from the spreadsheet into another application (e.g. Excel).

12. Import Wells – Well Logs
1. Import (on selection) into Wells folder
4. Go to Input data tab and set appropriate Data type. Also, if the log data was exported from GeoFrame, make sure MD decreases, GeoFrame style is selected.
2. Select data files and the correct format (e.g. ASCII or LAS)
3. Match the file name to the well trace name
Well Logs
When well logs are imported into Petrel, they will be attached to the existing well path in a manner similar to the attachment of the well path to the well header.
Select a Well Log file
Right click on the Wells folder and select Import (on Selection). In the window that pops up select the files defining the well logs for one, some, or all of the wells and select the appropriate format (e.g., Well logs (ASCII)(*.*)).
Note that there are other formats for Well Logs (Las 3.0 and DLIS).
Associate each set of Well Logs with a Well
When importing logs, a window will pop-up as Petrel tries to match the existing well names with the well logs being imported (Ref. Point 3 in the boxes above).
Specifying data type and linking columns to attribute
In the Import Well Logs window, you must select the data type (MD; TVD, DX, DY; TVD, X, Y or X, Y, Z) and attach the corresponding column to each attribute.
Note: Log data exported from GeoFrame is in reverse depth order (the deepest sample is at the top of the file) and will not be correctly imported unless the ‘MD decreases, GeoFrame style’ option is toggled on.

13. Import Wells – Well Logs1
1. Select Autodetect or Specify logs to be loaded (best for QC).
4. The new logs are stored under Global well logs in the Wells folder (A). Each well has the logs that belong only to that well in a Well logs folder (B) 4A 2
2. If the import dialog suggests Create New under Global Well Log, the log type has not been imported before and a new global well log will be created. 4B
3. OK FOR ALL: PETREL will try to find this log configuration for all the imported log files. 3
Well Logs
Specifying log type and property templates
There are 2 ways to do this:
1) Select Autodetect – Petrel will attempt to load the well logs attaching the ”best template” it can find based on the log name. However, it may not always be correct and you must change the template after the log is loaded. Under the Wells > Global well logs folder, open the Settings dialog for each log and select a new template from the drop-down menu in the Info tab.
2) Specify logs to be loaded – In this option, Petrel will still suggest a template, but you can change the templates before importation.
Click OK to accept settings for each well individually (the dialog will open once for each well to be loaded) or OK for all to accept the settings for all wells (This works well when each file contains the same data but can be very dangerous for different data set-ups!).
Remember! If you don’t attach a property template and Petrel cannot find a match for the log name, the logs will be attached to the general template. This can be edited after the data are loaded but it is more convenient to set it up before importing.

14. Import Wells – Well Tops
1- Insert a Well Tops folder. 1
Import Wells – Well Tops
2- Right-click on the Well Tops folder and select Import (on selection). 2
Well Tops are otherwise known as picks or markers. They can be imported as Horizons, Faults or Other.
3- Select the files to import and the correct format. 3
4- Check the units and attributes and change if necessary. Click OK for All. 4
Well Tops
Well tops are, as wells, imported into a folder defined by Petrel. The first step in the importing process is to insert a new Well Tops folder.
Import the well tops into the Well Tops folder by right-clicking and selecting Import (on Selection).
Select the file, and the file type. The file type (format) must be a Petrel format, and it can be one of two types:
1) Petrel Well Tops (ASCII):
2) Petrel Well Tops (Binary):
With the Petrel Well Tops (ASCII) format it is also possible to bring in attributes, such as the interpreter's name, pick name, and any other type of data that can be imported as text (type String) or value (type Real). It also allows you to do your own interpretation within Petrel and export the information together with the well tops. In order to allow for these possibilities, a header has been added. This header can be modified to fit your data.
If the well tops are not linked to a well, “Connect to Trace” will be active (this is if the well name is not given in the imported Well tops file).
If fault picks (Well cuts) are being imported, substitute “Surface” with “Faults” in the import file.
If you need to redo import of well tops, first delete the tops from the Stratigraphy folder under Well Tops. To replace all the tops, delete the entire Well Tops folder before redoing the importing of them. Not deleting well tops before new import will result in duplication of well tops.

15. Import Wells – Well Tops Spreadsheet
1. The well tops are sorted by: Attribute, Stratigraphy
(+ Faults and Others) and by Wells. 1
2. Right click on the Well Tops folder and select Spreadsheet. This will list all well tops and their attributes 2
3. After import, additional well tops or well cuts can be added by appending a new row in the Spreadsheet. Well tops can also be copied from an Excel file (Ctrl+C/V) 3
Attributes
All the well tops attributes (depth, time, etc) are listed here, but only one can be displayed at a time.
Stratigraphy
All the horizon picks are listed here and you can display as many as you want.
Faults
If properly formatted on import (see previous slide), all the fault cuts will be listed here. You can display as many as you want.
Others
All picks which are not tops or faults are listed here.
Well Filter
Allows you to limit the wells in which the well tops are displayed.
Well Tops Spreadsheet
The Spreadsheet shows a display of all the well tops with all the corresponding details, such as X, Y, Z, etc. Data in white columns can be edited; gray columns cannot be edited.
The Spreadsheet is compatible with Excel. You can select data in the Spreadsheet and copy them by using the copy icon, found to the far right of the icons to the top left. Once it is copied to the clipboard, you can open Excel and paste it into a spreadsheet. You can also import well tops in an Excel spreadsheet into Petrel. Sort the columns in the order shown in the Spreadsheet above. Copy the rows, and paste them into the Spreadsheet by pressing Ctrl+V.
You can also Import as points by using the general ASCII reader and convert to well tops inside Petrel.

16. Organization of Well Data
1. Manually (drag and drop): Right-click on the Wells folder and select Insert Folder. Rename the folder (A) and drag and drop the desired wells into it (B). Use relevant names, e.g by Platform name (B) or by Type of wells (C). 1A
Organization of Well Data 1B 1C
Organize wells in subfolders. This can be done in two ways:
2. By Polygons: Draw a polygon from Make/edit polygons process (A). Change the Line type from Other to Boundary polygon and rename (info tab). Right-click the polygon and select Move wells inside this. All wells in that area inside the polygon will be placed in a new folder (B) 2A
Organize Well Data
Initially all wells are organized under the Wells folder. Logs are organized in two ways.
1 – Under Global well logs there is a single entry for each log type. Here you can modify parameters for the log type (e.g. Gamma).
2 – Under each individual well you will see all the logs for that particular well listed. Not all logs may be found for each well.
You can create subfolders to organize individual wells. You cannot create subfolders under the Global well log folder. 2B

17. Reference Project tool
1. Go to the File menu and select Reference Project tool. A dialog window opens. 1
After import there may still be data missing. An easy way to regain or copy data is to access another project and copying the data to your current project.
2. Open a project to copy from, or move data to. 2
4. By default, data filters are turned on, enabling the user to view which objects are newer, older, equal or non existing, according to their counterparts in the other project. Filters can be toggled off at the users discretion. 4
3. Toggle on data of interest, copy it between projects using the arrows, two way transfer. 3
Copying data from another project
It is possible to import and export data to and from a reference project by a two way transfer.
From the File menu, select ’Reference Project tool’. Open the project to use as a Reference Project tool. The Reference Project and the user’s current project are facing each other in two windows within the dialog window. Toggle on any type of data and copy it between the projects using the arrows (two way transfer).
This allows you to have a team of coworkers sharing data for building the model within Petrel. The project that is defined as a Reference Project can be tagged. When saving it, the user choose to save it as a .petR instead of a .pet. If the coworking team wants to keep the Reference project unchanged (not possible to move new data into the Reference Project), it’s necesarry to define the project as a read-only within Windows.
The projects used within the Reference Project tool need to have the same units system.
Note: A read-only reference project can NOT be altered, make the chosen Reference project a read-only to be sure of no edits .

18. Loading Seismic 3D data 1. Insert a New Seismic
Main folder. 1 2
2. Right-click on the Seismic main folder and choose Insert seismic survey folder.
3. The Seismic main folder contains filters and the new Survey 1 folder. Right-click it and choose Import (on selection). 3
4. Locate the seismic volume of interest and import it in the correct format. Specify which vintage and remember correct template on importing (QC). 4
Seismic data import
All data in Petrel should be organized into folders and subfolders to keep the project structured. Seismic data will be stored under a specific Seismic main folder. You can have multiple Seismic Survey folders within the Seismic main folder. Seismic Survey folders can be renamed.
Seismic format - The standard format for 2D and 3D seismic data is SEG-Y, a binary format that can easily be imported into Petrel. 3D seismic can also be loaded as ZGY format. The seismic data is not copied into the Petrel project; rather a link to the seismic data is created. Any type of SEG-Y and ZGY cube can be imported (e.g. full-fold data, near- and far offset cubes, etc). Certain operations are more efficient when seismic data is resident in memory (e.g. autotracking) but large SEG-Y volumes may be too large to load into memory.
Cropping and Realizing seismic data allows you to work effectively with large volumes of seismic data. Refer to the online help (Table of Contents > Geophysics > Seismic Basic and Visualization) for more information on working with seismic data.
On importing the seismic volume, remember to QC template, domain and the data range of the volume. If the Input Data dialog reveals a data range containing values of zero, the import will result in loading an empty volume.

19. Export Options
1. Right-click on the object/folder and select Export. 1
Most data can be exported. There is a very easy way to export objects/folder:
2. In the export dialog box, Petrel will list ONLY the available options for export; look at the Save as type drop-down menu and select a format. 2
3. Type in the name of the file and click Save. 3
4. Right-click on the Wells folder; selecting Export will export the well heads. 4
There are different options for special data types, for example Wells.
Note: ECLIPSE/VIP Well Completion data (I-J-K wells) must be exported from the 3D Grid in Models pane
Exporting data
If there isn’t any Export option when you right click on an object, then the object cannot be exported from the position it’s located. For instance, if you want to export all of your surfaces as a group, you will see the only option for exporting as an Irap Classic Layer (binary) file. But if you try to export one single surface, you have more options.
If you want to see which export formats that are available for a specific object, you can simply select the Export function on the right click menu and check the available formats.
Some available Export Formats:
RMS – well trajectories and logs
Irap Classic – lines, 2D grids (ASCII, binary), points, layer models
ZMAP Plus – lines, 2D grids (individually)
CPS-3 – lines, 2D grids (individually)
Earth Vision – 2D grids (individually)
Eclipse – 3D grid (ASCII, binary), properties, well completion data, well connection data, fault data
VIP – 3D grid, properties, well connection data
CMG – 3D grid, properties
Petrel – well tops, well data, fault model, summary data, project data files (binary)
Rescue – ASCII
Other ASCII data – LAS 2.0 well, deviation surveys, well design XYZ, function XY, Gslib properties, PetroWorks SM1 well format
Data can also be exported using OpenSpirit directly into other data stores.
5. Further down are options to export logs (All Logs) and deviation surveys (All Wells). 5

20. Export Seismic Data Right-click on a seismic survey and choose Export.
Choose SEG-Y or ZGY as the format and specify the output file name, then click Save. 1
Seismic data export formats
The standard export format for 2D and 3D seismic data is SEG-Y, which is a binary format that can easily be imported into other applications. Note: exporting SEG-Y data may be quite slow.
The other export format is ZGY. Seismic ZGY files store the data as bricks rather than the traditional trace format. When seismic is displayed, only the bricks needed are loaded into memory. Big bricks with low resolution are loaded into memory first, after which the program will start loading smaller bricks with higher resolution. Initially the seismic will appear quite coarse until the finer bricks are loaded. Visualization of seismic is faster as the large, lower resolution bricks can be loaded quickly and when you interact with the seismic (e.g. zoom, rotate etc) loading of the finer bricks is suspended until the operation is complete. 2

21. EXERCISE

22. Extra: OpenSpirit Not listening 1 2
To use OpenSpirit you need a Server and Client installation.
The OpenSpirit Data Selector can be launched from the File menu.
Listening
OpenSpirit parameters are set
under Project menu in Petrel.
There must be an active OpenSpirit Session to connect to. 3
OpenSpirit
Petrel 2007 support OpenSpirit v. 2.7, but 2.8 or 2.9 is recommended
OpenSpirit is a 3rd party application which works as a middle layer between software applications and various databases and data repositories, allowing Petrel to import and export data to the database, irrespective of the platform.
Data which can be transferred via OpenSpirit:
Wells (Well logs, Well tops, Checkshots)
3D Seismic and 2D Seismic
Horizon Interpretations and Fault Interpretations
ArcGIS points, polylines and polygons
To get more info about the many uses of Open Spirit please refer to the OpenSpirit User’s Guide which can be downloaded at
Listen to Data Selection events (lightning bolt) must be active in Petrel before broadcasting data via OpenSpirit

23. Extra: Real-Time Data Link
The Real-Time Data Link: streaming real-time data such as logs, events and trajectories from InterACT* and other 3rd Party WITSML data and files servers. 2
The Real-Time Data Link maps wellbores from real-time data servers to the wells and allows mapping of data channels to logs. Data is immediately incorporated into Petrel for real-time sessions or modeling. 1 3 4
The Real-Time Data Link interface is available from any single Petrel well node, via the well right-click menu. The user selects “Connect to Real-Time data link”. 5