Technology Archives

Technology

The next step for National Data Repositories

DISKOS recently turned 30, and it got me thinking about the role of National Data Repositories (NDRs) today, and how they can stay relevant as times change. Historically, NDRs served as a custodian of posterity – a place where seismic…

Dan Austin, Sekal

July 29, 2026

Why physical collaboration matters in a digital subsurface

I will be honest: I was sceptical about bringing EAGE to P&J Live in Aberdeen, Scotland, this year. Historically, out-of-town campus venues risk fracturing a conference. You fight the traffic, you miss the organic energy of a city centre, and…

Dan Austin, Sekal

July 10, 2026

If automation and AI are progressing in the way they are, we surely need fewer geologists – not more

Andy Conway from the North Sea Transition Authority started his keynote speech at last week’s Operations Geology Conference – themed “Evolution” – with a nice anecdote. He reminisced about presenting a log correlation he had produced for management from a…

Henk Kombrink

June 22, 2026

Why shouldn’t all nodes be the same?

“The nodes we produced until this point were tailored to fully autonomous recording,” says Tom O’Toole from STRYDE when we met up for a conversation. “You put them in the ground, leave them to record and retrieve them when the…

Henk Kombrink

June 17, 2026

Turning the tide

There is a big difference between conventional and unconventional hydrocarbon production when it comes to water production. When drilling a well in a new conventional oil or gas field, the perforations in the well are always placed in such a…

Leen Weijers, Liberty Energy

June 1, 2026

Drilling problems? Ask your CEO

Henrik Tingström didn’t need much time in the industry to see how much unstructured data was being left on the table. It was during internships at oil majors that he first realised the potential of organising this information, and with…

Henk Kombrink

May 25, 2026

Mistaking speed for progress

Much of the AI we see today is very domain-specific and, in my mind, one-dimensional. People continue to operate in their own realms, developing algorithms that produce results at great speed. I attended a very good conference not long ago…

Eric Andersen, Next Phase Solutions & Advisory

May 1, 2026

When the reliability of your project depends on a single tool at hundreds of meters depth

An ESP can fail at any time, even before geothermal projects officially start. We recently reported on such a special case of ESP failure in the southwest of England, at the United Downs project. Even before the system started operating,…

Henk Kombrink

April 14, 2026

Norway’s AlphaGo moment: Why 2025 changed the game

In 2016, Google’s AlphaGo played “Move 37” against Lee Sedol – a move that looked bafflingly wrong to human experts but ultimately secured the win. In 2025, the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS) experienced its own “Move 37.” Just as AlphaGo…

Dan Austin, Sekal

March 27, 2026

“It will make you look like a hero”

“When we start shaving off millions of each well, then we are talking business,” says Iain Whyte from Islay Subsurface. “That’s the prize we’re all after.” But how to win that prize? That’s what Iain and his colleagues have looked…

Henk Kombrink

March 23, 2026

Hunting for sands

If a school bus driver is instructed to stop the vehicle within a fraction of a meter, there needs to be systematic speed and brake control in place. Otherwise, the bus will likely overshoot or undershoot by several meters. “The…

Henk Kombrink

March 5, 2026

Producing more by producing less

“The pressure in the separation unit, where the produced oil is separated from gas, is the ultimate driver for your entire field development approach,” says Alexey Danilko, production engineer at Rock Flow Dynamics, when we meet on a cold morning…

Henk Kombrink

January 14, 2026

The global energy sector from a subsurface perspective

Technology

The next step for National Data Repositories

Why physical collaboration matters in a digital subsurface

If automation and AI are progressing in the way they are, we surely need fewer geologists – not more

Why shouldn’t all nodes be the same?

Turning the tide

Drilling problems? Ask your CEO

Mistaking speed for progress

When the reliability of your project depends on a single tool at hundreds of meters depth

Norway’s AlphaGo moment: Why 2025 changed the game

“It will make you look like a hero”

Hunting for sands

Producing more by producing less

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