At some point in the last few years, Anders Kihlberg asked himself: “What were the best years of my life?” Soon he came to the conclusion that it was the first three years of building the software that later became Petrel.
So, some time after selling the Petrel rights to SLB, Anders has now started another new project which is hopefully resulting in another spell of fun and interesting times. And so far, it seems that he is having a good time.
I caught up with him at the EAGE Annual in Vienna last week, and he clearly left the impression of being in his element. No formal wear, just a polo, jeans and trainers. “Did you know that Norway is the birthplace of a lot of technology?” he asked me. “The problem is that we are not the best ones marketing it.”
The new kid on the software block is called GEOMIND. “We approach seismic data analysis in such a way that we acknowledge that every problem is different and requires a unique solution”, Anders says. GEOMIND’s OpenMind platform enables horizon interpretation with the use of fault probability, practical children/parent seed points editing and intuitive horizon flattening.
“We also acknowledge that purchasing a licence for the software should be as easy as possible, without obligations to acquire for a year or so. We aim to be very agile with customers being able to purchase a licence for a month. There will be no modules, just the software as it is.”
Currently, the GEOMIND team consists of 9 people. “We might fail, but I don’t think so”, laughs Anders. The company aims to fully release the software at Image in Houston later this year.
