| I'm sure there are real experts on this board who can add much more. A quick answer though is that seismics are very accurate (at least, when adjusted by computer for certain anomalies -- e.g., dips get flattened out, faults appear to cross, etc.). But it can only do certain things. E.g., it can show sedimentary rocks and traps, but it can't do stratigraphy. It can show gas spots and water contacts and many other things -- but it doesn't (to my knowledge) actually show oil. They now use large 3-D (and even 4-D) virtual reality screens to view and manipulate the data. So that gives you some idea as to how recent some of these advances are -- which, by the way, has important implications for investing in jr. E&Ps, many of which (leaving aside oil sands) are looking for unconventional plays (small reservoirs, low porosity, overthrust regions, etc.). In other words, it ain't all been found yet. And some of these tiny E&Ps will therefore likely prove to be excellent investments. |
