Revolutionizing Interpretation By Thomas A. Smith and Kurt J. Marfurt HOUSTON-e science of petroleum geophysics is changing, driven by the nature of the technical and business demands facing geoscientists as oil and gas activity pivots toward a new phase of unconventional reservoir development in an economic environment that rewards efficiency and risk mitigation. At the same time, fast-evolving technologies such as machine learning and multiattribute data analysis are introducing powerful new capabilities in investigating and interpreting the seismic record. rough it all, however, the core mission of the interpreter remains the same as ever: Extracting insights from seismic data to describe the subsurface and predict geology between existing well locations- whether they are separated by tens of feet on the same horizontal well pad or tens of miles in adjacent deepwater blocks. Distilled to its fundamental level, the job of the data interpreter is to determine where (and where not) to drill and complete a well. Getting the answer correct to that million-dollar question gives oil and gas companies a competitive edge. e ability to arrive at the right answers in the timeliest manner possible is invariably the force that pushes technological boundaries in seismic imaging and interpretation. JULY 2017 71