This comprehensive suite of reservoir characterization tools integrates well logs, seismic data and geophysical processes into an easily navigated, intuitive package for fast results. Known for its ease of use, HampsonRussell makes sophisticated geophysical techniques accessible.

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HampsonRussell v2024.2 Geosoftware: Comprehensive Overview

Introduction

HampsonRussell v2024.2 represents a significant advancement in reservoir characterization technology, released by GeoSoftware in June 2024. As part of GeoSoftware’s commitment to delivering innovative and collaborative tools for enhanced subsurface insights, this release brings substantial performance improvements, advanced analytical capabilities, and enhanced workflow efficiency to geoscientists worldwide. HampsonRussell has been recognized globally since 1987 as providing world-class, intuitive reservoir characterization software, and the 2024.2 version continues this legacy with breakthrough features designed to address the evolving challenges of modern subsurface exploration and reservoir management.

About HampsonRussell Software

Core Purpose and Capabilities

HampsonRussell is a comprehensive suite of reservoir characterization tools that integrates visualization and geophysical workflows for well logs and seismic data. The software provides geoscientists with everything needed in a single, unified platform for advanced seismic data analysis. It encompasses all aspects of seismic exploration and reservoir characterization, from amplitude versus offset (AVO) analysis and seismic inversion to four-dimensional (4D) time-lapse analysis and multi-component seismic interpretation.

The software has become an indispensable tool for prospect evaluation, reservoir characterization, and field delineation. Organizations ranging from national oil companies to independent exploration firms rely on HampsonRussell to reduce exploration risk and make informed decisions about reservoir development. The platform’s intuitive design makes complex geophysical analysis accessible while maintaining the rigor and precision required for critical subsurface decisions.

Industry Impact and Recognition

HampsonRussell has established itself as a game-changer for reservoir characterization projects across the globe. Industry professionals consistently praise its comprehensive toolset and user-friendly interface. The software integrates geoscience disciplines more deeply than ever before by bringing together geophysics, geology, petrophysics, rock physics, and engineering into cohesive workflows. This interdisciplinary approach enables teams to develop more complete and accurate subsurface models, leading to better exploration success rates and more efficient field development strategies.

With over 100 academic institutions participating in the university donation program and more than 3,500 licenses donated to educational users, HampsonRussell plays a crucial role in training the next generation of geoscientists. This commitment to education ensures that emerging professionals enter the workforce with hands-on experience using industry-standard tools.

Key Software Modules and Components

HampsonRussell comprises several specialized modules, each designed to address specific aspects of reservoir characterization:

AVO (Amplitude Versus Offset)

The AVO module provides comprehensive tools for analyzing how seismic reflection amplitudes change with offset or angle of incidence. This module enables geoscientists to evaluate and model lithologic and fluid variations in the subsurface. Users can perform AVO attribute volume generation, cross-plotting, polarization analysis, and classification of AVO responses. The module supports advanced techniques including simultaneous pre-stack inversion, Lambda-Mu-Rho analysis, and elastic impedance calculations. These capabilities are essential for identifying hydrocarbon indicators and understanding reservoir properties before drilling.

RockSI (Rock Physics Simulation and Inversion)

RockSI provides powerful solutions for exploring the fundamental link between rock properties and seismic data. This module enables users to create detailed Rock Physics Models (RPMs), calibrate them with well data, and generate three-dimensional and four-dimensional Rock Physics Templates. These templates illustrate the relationships between seismic attributes, lithology, fluid saturation, and reservoir pressure. RockSI also offers statistical rock physics capabilities using Monte Carlo simulation, which is particularly valuable for creating training sets for lithology classification when well data are sparse or for simulating the seismic signature of different production scenarios. This forward-modeling capability is critical for feasibility studies and quantitative interpretation projects.

Pro4D (Time-Lapse Seismic Analysis)

The Pro4D module is an interactive program fully linked within HampsonRussell that performs time-lapse or 4D seismic modeling and analysis. Time-lapse seismic monitoring has become increasingly critical for both carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) projects and conventional oil and gas reservoir management. Pro4D includes comprehensive survey calibration features that match the phase, frequency, amplitude, and event times of baseline and monitor surveys in areas where production has not occurred. The module removes non-production-related differences from monitor seismic volumes, enabling clearer identification of actual reservoir changes. Integration into the Geoview interface makes complex time-lapse analysis straightforward with customizable workflows, faster run-times, and highly efficient sequence processing options.

Attributes

The Attributes package is designed to create and extract a collection of advanced, multi-trace seismic attributes. These attributes enhance the ability of seismic interpreters to analyze frequency content, reduce noise, and detect fractures and other discontinuous features in seismic volumes. Attribute analysis helps identify subtle geological features that might not be apparent in conventional seismic displays, improving interpretation accuracy and reservoir understanding.

EMERGE

EMERGE is a map-based geostatistical tool for integrating well and seismic attribute data into detailed property maps. The module allows users to predict well log properties away from well control by merging geological data with seismic attributes. This capability is essential for creating continuous property models across the reservoir, enabling better reservoir characterization between wells.

Strata

Strata provides tools for stratigraphic analysis and seismic well-tie operations, ensuring accurate correlation between well data and seismic data. This module is fundamental for establishing the geological framework necessary for all subsequent reservoir characterization work.

GeoSI (Geostatistical Inversion)

GeoSI offers geostatistical seismic inversion capabilities that honor both seismic data and well control while incorporating geological variability. This probabilistic approach provides not just a single deterministic result but a range of possible outcomes, enabling users to estimate reservoir uncertainty and make risk-informed decisions.

HampsonRussell v2024.2: What’s New

Performance Revolution

The most striking feature of the 2024.2 release is its dramatic performance enhancement. HampsonRussell users now benefit from workflow execution speeds that are 2 to 65 times faster than previous versions. This performance boost is not merely incremental—it represents a fundamental transformation in how quickly geoscientists can iterate through analysis workflows, test hypotheses, and arrive at actionable insights.

The software has been specifically optimized to handle large well log databases with significantly improved performance and speed for project data retrieval and runtime of log processing options. In an era where datasets continue to grow in size and complexity, these optimizations ensure that HampsonRussell remains responsive and efficient even when working with massive data volumes. The performance improvements touch every aspect of the workflow, from initial data loading to final volume generation, reducing the time from data acquisition to interpretation-ready results.

Extended Elastic Impedance (EEI) Density Estimation

A major technical advancement in version 2024.2 is the addition of Extended Elastic Impedance (EEI) Density estimation. This enhancement significantly improves synthetic seismic well trace modeling capabilities, providing geoscientists with more accurate tools for forward modeling and well-tie quality control. EEI density estimation allows for better prediction of density logs from seismic data, which is particularly valuable in areas with sparse well control. The ability to generate reliable synthetic traces is fundamental to tying well data to seismic data and understanding how different rock and fluid properties manifest in seismic responses.

Collaborative Workflow Enhancements

Recognizing that modern geoscience is a team endeavor, version 2024.2 introduces the ability to share AVO chained processes with other users. This feature standardizes and streamlines company workflows, fostering better collaboration and efficiency across exploration and production teams. When best practices are discovered by one team member, they can be quickly distributed to the entire organization, ensuring consistency in analysis approaches and reducing duplication of effort. This collaborative capability helps organizations build institutional knowledge and maintain analytical standards across projects and geographic regions.

Advanced 4D Visualization Capabilities

Perhaps one of the most significant advances in the 2024.2 release is the implementation of memory-based visualization of 4D pre-stack volumes and their time-lapse vintages. This capability significantly advances both the understanding and practical application of time-lapse seismic monitoring. For CCUS projects, where monitoring the movement and containment of injected CO2 is critical for safety and regulatory compliance, this enhanced 4D visualization provides unprecedented clarity. For conventional oil and gas reservoir management, the ability to visualize production-related changes in pre-stack seismic data enables better understanding of drainage patterns, bypassed pay, and remaining reserves.

The memory-based approach ensures that even large 4D datasets can be interactively visualized without performance degradation, allowing geoscientists to rapidly compare different time vintages and identify subtle changes that might indicate important reservoir processes.

Applications and Use Cases

Exploration and Prospect Evaluation

HampsonRussell plays a fundamental role in exploration workflows by enabling advanced AVO analysis and seismic inversion to identify and evaluate hydrocarbon prospects. The software helps geoscientists detect direct hydrocarbon indicators (DHIs), characterize reservoir properties prior to drilling, and assess exploration risk. By integrating rock physics modeling with seismic analysis, teams can predict lithology and fluid content with greater confidence, improving exploration success rates.

Reservoir Characterization and Development

Once a discovery is made, HampsonRussell becomes essential for detailed reservoir characterization. The software enables teams to map reservoir properties throughout the field, identify internal heterogeneities, and optimize well placement. Seismic inversion techniques transform seismic data into quantitative rock property volumes, providing continuous three-dimensional models of acoustic impedance, elastic properties, and reservoir characteristics. These models inform field development planning, well spacing decisions, and completion strategies.

Production Monitoring and Reservoir Management

For producing fields, HampsonRussell’s 4D capabilities enable monitoring of reservoir changes over time. By comparing seismic surveys acquired at different dates, reservoir engineers and geophysicists can visualize fluid movement, pressure depletion, and changes in saturation. This information is invaluable for optimizing production strategies, identifying infill drilling opportunities, and improving recovery efficiency. The enhanced 4D capabilities in version 2024.2 make these workflows more accessible and reliable.

Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS)

As the energy industry increasingly focuses on carbon management, HampsonRussell’s 4D monitoring capabilities have become critical for CCUS projects. The software enables monitoring of CO2 plume migration, verification of containment, and compliance with regulatory requirements. The memory-based visualization of 4D pre-stack volumes introduced in version 2024.2 provides the clarity and precision needed for these environmentally critical applications.

Integration and Workflow Philosophy

One of HampsonRussell’s core strengths is its integration philosophy. Rather than forcing users to work with disconnected applications, the software provides a unified environment where all tools work seamlessly together. The Geoview interface serves as the central hub, making complex time-lapse analysis simple through customizable workflows, efficient sequence processing options, and intuitive visualization.

This integrated approach means that insights gained from rock physics modeling in RockSI can immediately inform inversion strategies in other modules. Well data loaded for AVO analysis is instantly available for geostatistical mapping in EMERGE. The software eliminates data transfer bottlenecks and format conversion headaches, allowing geoscientists to focus on interpretation rather than data management.

Technical Foundation and Methodology

Rock Physics and Quantitative Interpretation

At the heart of HampsonRussell’s methodology is rigorous rock physics. The software enables users to understand and model the fundamental relationships between rock properties such as porosity, mineralogy, and fluid content and their seismic manifestations. By grounding seismic interpretation in rock physics principles, HampsonRussell helps teams avoid over-interpretation and ensures that their conclusions are physically plausible.

Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence

HampsonRussell has progressively incorporated artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities through its GeoAI framework. This physics-constrained machine learning approach to seismic characterization combines the interpretability and physical validity of traditional rock physics with the pattern recognition power of modern AI. The result is faster, more accurate characterization that integrates geological understanding with data-driven insights.

Statistical and Geostatistical Methods

The software provides comprehensive statistical and geostatistical capabilities for uncertainty quantification and probabilistic analysis. Monte Carlo simulation tools enable users to explore the range of possible outcomes given data uncertainties. Geostatistical inversion honors both seismic data and well control while generating multiple realizations that capture spatial variability. These probabilistic approaches are essential for risk assessment and decision-making under uncertainty.

Industry Adoption and User Testimonials

The impact of HampsonRussell on the geoscience community is reflected in feedback from users across diverse organizations. PHPC-Egypt describes the software as “incredibly intuitive, offering a comprehensive set of tools for advanced seismic data analysis” and notes that it provides “everything we need in a single, unified platform.” PEMEX credits HampsonRussell as playing a “fundamental role in reservoir discoveries,” describing the tools as “indispensable in prospect evaluation, reservoir characterization, and delineation.” TPAO emphasizes that “GeoSoftware tools continue to be essential for us, meeting our critical requirements in reservoir characterization with its functionalities in seismic inversion, AVO analysis, and GeoAI applications.”

These testimonials from major international operators underscore HampsonRussell’s position as a trusted solution for critical exploration and production decisions.

The 2024.2 Release in Context

The 2024.2 release exemplifies GeoSoftware’s commitment to addressing user challenges with tailored, forward-thinking solutions. Rather than simply adding features, the development team focused on what matters most to working geoscientists: speed, refined workflow processes, advanced analysis capabilities, and increased flexibility in workflow management.

The dramatic performance improvements mean that workflows that previously required hours can now be completed in minutes. This time savings compounds throughout a project, enabling more iteration, more thorough quality control, and faster turnaround from data acquisition to actionable results. In exploration contexts where timing can mean the difference between securing an opportunity and losing it to competitors, these speed improvements provide real competitive advantage.

The EEI density estimation capability addresses a long-standing challenge in quantitative interpretation. Density is a critical parameter for rock property prediction but is often the most difficult to estimate reliably from seismic data. By enhancing synthetic seismic well trace modeling through improved density estimation, version 2024.2 helps geoscientists build more accurate models of subsurface conditions.

The collaborative features, particularly the ability to share AVO chained processes, reflect an understanding that geoscience workflows increasingly involve teams distributed across different locations and time zones. Standardizing workflows across an organization ensures quality control, facilitates knowledge transfer, and reduces the learning curve for new team members.

Advanced 4D Capabilities for Modern Challenges

The enhanced 4D capabilities in version 2024.2 position HampsonRussell at the forefront of time-lapse seismic analysis. As the industry confronts dual challenges—maximizing recovery from existing fields while managing the energy transition through CCUS—4D seismic monitoring becomes increasingly valuable.

Memory-based visualization of 4D pre-stack volumes represents a technical breakthrough that makes pre-stack 4D analysis practical for routine workflows. Pre-stack data contains far more information than post-stack data, enabling better discrimination between pressure and saturation effects and more accurate quantification of reservoir changes. However, the large data volumes involved have traditionally made pre-stack 4D analysis computationally challenging. Version 2024.2’s optimized memory management removes this bottleneck, bringing pre-stack 4D analysis into the mainstream.

For CCUS applications, this capability enables detailed monitoring of CO2 plume development, verification of seal integrity, and early detection of any unintended migration. For conventional reservoirs, it enables tracking of waterflood fronts, identification of bypassed oil, and optimization of enhanced oil recovery strategies.

Workflow Efficiency and Productivity Gains

The 2024.2 release delivers efficiency gains throughout the entire reservoir characterization workflow. The optimization for large well log databases means that projects with hundreds or thousands of wells load faster and process more efficiently. This is particularly important for mature basins where decades of drilling have generated extensive well databases.

The faster runtime for log processing options means that quality control and data conditioning steps that are essential prerequisites for reliable analysis can be completed more quickly. This reduces the time from project initiation to actual interpretive work, improving project economics and enabling faster decision-making.

The refined workflow processes introduced in version 2024.2 reflect deep understanding of how geoscientists actually work. By streamlining common tasks, reducing manual steps, and providing intelligent defaults, the software minimizes busywork and allows professionals to focus on interpretation and decision-making rather than software operation.

Strategic Value for Organizations

For organizations operating in the energy sector, HampsonRussell v2024.2 delivers strategic value across multiple dimensions. The performance improvements directly translate to cost savings through reduced compute time and faster project completion. The enhanced analytical capabilities improve decision quality, reducing exploration risk and improving field development outcomes. The collaborative features facilitate knowledge sharing and workflow standardization, building organizational capability that persists beyond individual projects.

As the energy industry navigates the transition toward lower-carbon operations, software tools that can serve both conventional oil and gas operations and emerging CCUS projects provide important flexibility. HampsonRussell’s dual applicability—proven in traditional reservoir characterization while incorporating cutting-edge 4D capabilities for monitoring applications—positions it as a strategic asset for companies managing diverse portfolios.

Future-Ready Technology

GeoSoftware continues to evolve HampsonRussell with regular updates and new releases. The 2024.2 version is part of a continuum of innovation that includes ongoing development of artificial intelligence capabilities, improved visualization, and expanded automation. By staying current with HampsonRussell releases, organizations ensure they have access to the latest methodologies and maintain compatibility with industry best practices.

The software’s proven track record combined with GeoSoftware’s commitment to ongoing development provides confidence that HampsonRussell will continue to meet the evolving needs of the geoscience community. Whether addressing conventional exploration challenges or emerging applications in geothermal energy, CCUS, or critical minerals exploration, HampsonRussell provides a robust platform for subsurface characterization.

Conclusion

HampsonRussell v2024.2 represents a mature, comprehensive solution for reservoir characterization that combines proven methodologies with cutting-edge innovations. The June 2024 release delivers meaningful improvements in performance, collaboration, and advanced analysis capabilities that directly address the challenges faced by modern geoscience teams.

With performance enhancements delivering up to 65 times faster workflow execution, new EEI density estimation capabilities, collaborative workflow sharing, and breakthrough 4D pre-stack visualization, version 2024.2 provides geoscientists with the tools needed to extract maximum value from seismic and well data. Whether evaluating exploration prospects, characterizing producing reservoirs, or monitoring CCUS projects, HampsonRussell v2024.2 offers the comprehensive functionality, intuitive usability, and proven reliability that have made it an industry standard for nearly four decades.

For organizations seeking to reduce exploration risk, optimize reservoir performance, and make informed subsurface decisions, HampsonRussell v2024.2 delivers the advanced capabilities and workflow efficiency needed to succeed in today’s challenging and rapidly evolving energy landscape.