Repsol YPF and 3DGeo Inc. Announce Kaleidoscope Project
November 20, 2006
Repsol YPF, a globally integrated energy company based in Spain, and 3DGeo Inc. announced today the launch of the Kaleidoscope Project,
a long-term agreement for joint development of strategic geophysical imaging technology. The Kaleidoscope Project now makes possible the full realization of
the next generation seismic imaging technology, including Reverse Time Migration (RTM). The Kaleidoscope Project uses new models, algorithms and one of the
world's most powerful supercomputers, called the MareNostrum, operated by the Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC). The Kaleidoscope Project will give
Repsol YPF unprecedented imaging capability and unique competitive advantages. It also expands 3DGeo's position as a leading supplier of services and
software for seismic imaging.
Francisco Ortigosa, Worldwide Manager of Geophysical Operations and Subsurface Imaging of Repsol YPF, said "To accelerate our development and implementation of
next generation imaging technologies, and complement and enhance our relationship as sponsors of the Stanford Exploration Project (SEP) and the
Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC), we have chosen to work with 3DGeo based on their track record of bringing to market the first commercially
feasible 3-D wave-equation migration, and continued record of innovation. We believe that the strategic coupling of our internal technical capability,
access to the MareNostrum center and BSC s expertise, and 3DGeo's commercial R&D capability, will provide the necessary resources to realize the next
great breakthroughs in seismic imaging technology."
Biondo Biondi, Co-Founder and Chief Technical Advisor of 3DGeo, and Associate Professor at Stanford University said "3DGeo will develop a suite of production-ready
high-end imaging applications that implement the most advanced algorithms developed at 3DGeo, at Stanford, and in the industry, culminating with heretofore unimplemented
cutting-edge, full wavefield imaging techniques. Testing of these new compute intensive imaging algorithms will benefit from the exceptional computational capabilities
available at the MareNostrum supercomputer center in Barcelona, and with BSC s vast experience in computer architecture and parallelization."
The imaging development effort will require extensive testing and trial runs of challenging 3-D data sets. The development and testing will be conducted at the
MareNostrum supercomputer center by 3DGeo personnel, working in conjunction with Repsol YPF and BSC personnel. It is expected that the combination of using
one of the largest supercomputers in the world, BSC expertise and unique IBM Cell Broadband Engine (Cell BE) hardware, will greatly accelerate 3DGeo?s advanced
imaging development efforts and deliver a robust first-to-market advanced seismic imaging solution for Repsol YPF, well ahead of the competition. It is
estimated that the advanced imaging solution running on the Cell BE hardware will speed processing time by several orders of magnitude over conventional
solutions running on standard Linux Clusters.
Rob Yorke, CEO of 3DGeo, said "We are very pleased that Repsol YPF has selected 3DGeo for this project. Repsol YPF's commitment to technology is very well
known in the industry and at 3DGeo we recognize that Repsol YPF's selection of 3DGeo is a vote of confidence and recognition that our pioneering work in
wave-equation migration and velocity model building, and our proven capacity to produce fast and efficient implementations of new technologies in a production environment,
can be leveraged to develop and commercialize the next generation of seismic imaging technologies. 3DGeo's software and service business lines will greatly benefit
from this collaboration, allowing us to provide better solutions for all our customers."
To support The Kaleidoscope Project, 3DGeo is opening and staffing an office in Barcelona, Spain.
About Repsol YPF
Repsol YPF is an integrated international oil and gas company, operating in more than 30 countries and is the leader in Spain and Argentina. It is one of
ten major private oil companies in the world, and has the largest assets in Latin America of any private energy company.
From exploration and production through to marketing, Repsol YPF is present in all stages of the business. With an oil and gas production of over 1.1 million
barrels of oil equivalent per day and a refining capacity that surpasses 1.2 million barrels per day, thecompany operates nine refineries, and is the
leader in Spain, Argentina, and Peru.
Repsol YPF sells its oil products through a wide network of 6,800 sales outlets spread over Europe and Latin America. In chemicals, Repsol YPF is the top-ranking
producer of petrochemical products in Spain and Portugal. In the liquefied petroleum gas business (LPG), it is the third largest company in the world and one of
the most efficient operators. Repsol YPF also distributes natural gas, directly or via its affiliates, to over 9 million customers in Spain and Latin America.
For more information, visit http://www.repsolypf.com/.
About 3DGeo
3DGeo Inc. is a leading provider of advanced seismic imaging services and software solutions for the oil and gas industry. 3DGeo helps oil and gas companies
visualize 3-D earth structures and reduce the drilling risk associated with oil and gas exploration. Companies that use 3DGeo's services lower the cost of
production, provide faster delivery of oil and gas to the marketplace, and tap oil and gas from ever more challenging plays. Since its founding in 1994,
3DGeo has accumulated a depth of technical expertise and built a highly-focused organization to ensure that promising new technologies and the latest 3-D algorithms
produce efficient, quick, and robust results. 3DGeo is a privately-owned company with offices in Houston, TX and Santa Clara, CA, Brazil and Argentina, and
representation in China and Europe. For more information, visit http://www.3dgeo.com/. For inquiries,
contact Dimitri Bevc at dimitri@3dgeo.com or Carlos Fernandez at cfernandez@3dgeo.com.
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