Spain-Based Repsol, Barcelona Supercomputing Center Use IBM Technology to Tap Into New Frontiers of Oil Exploration
01 July 2008 - 3:01PM
PR Newswire (US)
Joint Research Project Uses Latest Cell Broadband Engine Processor
to Reach Record Speeds, Deeper Depths in Finding Energy Reserves
MADRID, Spain, July 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- World Petroleum
Congress -- Driven by the increasing demand and rising costs for
energy worldwide, Repsol YPF and the Barcelona Supercomputing
Center (BSC) today announced research results using IBM
supercomputers powered by the Cell Broadband Engine(TM) as the
standard for future hydrocarbon exploration. The preliminary
findings show IBM(R) BladeCenter(R) QS22 supercomputers, powered by
the IBM PowerXCell(TM) 8i processor, enable searching for oil
fields at greater depths up to six-times faster than conventional
technology currently deployed by the oil and gas industry. The IBM
PowerXCell 8i, originally developed for next-generation gaming
consoles, is a critical component to the development of a new class
of seismic technology enabling Repsol to locate oil reserves buried
some 30,000 feet (10,000 feet of water and then 20,000 more feet of
seabed) below the Gulf of Mexico's surface. The U.S. Department of
the Interior's Minerals Management Service estimates the Gulf holds
approximately 56 billion barrels of oil equivalent (oil and natural
gas), which, at $130/barrel, would be worth over $7 trillion and
would meet the entire U.S. demand for oil and gas for about five
years. Repsol and the Barcelona Supercomputing Center are using a
process known as Reverse Time Migration (RTM), a sophisticated
subsurface imaging tool accepted by the oil industry. It has proven
essential for imaging areas of complex subsurface geological
structure, such as the rich hydrocarbon provinces of the deep
waters of the Gulf of Mexico, offshore Brazil and West Africa.
These basins are the new frontiers in oil exploration, where
significant oil reserves are present below thick masses of salt
that have made seismic imaging difficult. But the new technology
will accelerate and streamline oil and gas exploration in these
promising regions by several orders of magnitude compared to
current industry methods. "Fidelity of the RTM images reduces the
risks associated with oil exploration in these prolific but complex
areas," said Francisco Ortigosa, director of Geophysics, Repsol.
"However, the universal use of this technology is limited by
processing speed. The IBM PowerXCell 8i processor's unparalleled
speed for the imaging algorithm allows extensive use of the
technology. By speeding up seismic imaging, we foresee a revolution
in exploration that will be comparable to the revolution in medical
imaging technologies, such as MRIs, that today routinely yield
detailed images from inside the body." RTM is one of the key
efforts driven by the work of the Kaleidoscope Project
(http://www.kaleidoscopeproject.info/), a collaboration between
Repsol; the Barcelona Supercomputing Center; 3DGeo, a Houston-based
imaging company formed by Stanford University professor and seismic
imaging pioneer Biondo Biondi; and Stanford University's Stanford
Exploration Project (SEP), a leading industry-funded academic
consortium, whose purpose is to improve the theory and practice of
constructing 3-D and 4-D images of the earth from seismic echo
soundings. The Project utilizes new models, algorithms and the BSC,
also called the "MareNostrum," one of the world's most powerful
supercomputers, which features IBM's latest processing technology.
"The high-speed communications capabilities of the new IBM
PowerXCell 8i processor in the IBM BladeCenter QS22 can help
companies create and run vastly improved visual, immersive,
real-time simulations," said Jim Comfort, vice president, IBM
Systems & Technology Group. "These simulations are already
helping companies like Repsol make significant headway in
hydrocarbon exploration by allowing them to locate energy reserves
previously unknown. IBM has built a strong ecosystem around the new
QS22 to address critical real-time analytic and imaging projects,
and Repsol is a great example of a company reaping the benefits."
"Kaleidoscope is a pioneer project showing the industrial impact of
a new generation of high performance heterogeneous processors with
one order of magnitude increase in performance and a power
consumption decrease of one order of magnitude. Kaleidoscope
produces its first results at the same time that the Petaflop
barrier is broken by a Cell based computer," said Jose M. Cela BSC
CASE Department Director. About Repsol Repsol 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
the ten major private oil companies in the world and the largest
private energy company in Latin America in terms of assets. From
exploration and production to marketing, Repsol 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, the company operates
nine refineries, and is the leader in Spain, Argentina, and Peru.
Repsol sells its oil products through a wide network of 6,800 sales
outlets spread over Europe and Latin America. In chemicals, Repsol
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 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
Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC) In 2004 the Ministry of
Education and Science, the Generalitat de Catalunya and the
Technical University of Catalonia took the initiative of creating a
National Supercomputing Center in Barcelona. The Barcelona
Supercomputing Center -- Centro Nacional de Supercomputacion (BSC)
is the National Supercomputing Facility in Spain. Established in
2005, BSC manages MareNostrum, one of the most powerful
supercomputers in Europe. BCS is a research center in Computer
Sciences as well as in fields that demand high performance
computing resources such as Life Sciences and Earth Sciences.
Following this multidisciplinary approach, BSC brings together a
critical mass of researchers, high performance computing experts
and cutting-edge supercomputing technologies in order to foster
scientific progress. For more information about BSC, please, visit
http://www.bsc.es/. For More Information Contact: David Kalson
Marie Gehret RF|Binder Partners RF|Binder Partners 212.994.7513
212.994.7554 Jason Stolarczyk External Communications,
Microelectronics IBM Systems and Technology Group Mobile: +1
206.949.7776 DATASOURCE: Repsol YPF CONTACT: David Kalson,
+1-212-994-7513, , Marie Gehret, +1-212-994-7554, , both of
RF|Binder Partners, for Repsol YPF; or Jason Stolarczyk, External
Communications, Microelectronics of IBM Systems and Technology
Group, Mobile +1-206-949-7776, Web site: http://www.repsolypf.com/
http://www.kaleidoscopeproject.info/ http://www.bsc.es/
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