Petrel E&P vs. Surfer

Petrel is an extremely powerful tool and for geological 3D modeling is the go-to tool, it's Sequential Indicator Simulations, Object-Based modeling or multiple point statistics modeling workflows are top notches and I highly advise its use. I wouldn't recommend using it for seismic interpretation based on seismic attributes since it can be a little bit limited in this aspect.

Incentivized

Surfer has been excellent for us, a small company, to process the electrical resistivity, refraction microtremor, and MASW data collected in the field. There are an increasing number of programs capable of assisting in this geophysical analysis but Surfer is the most advanced. The ability to create both 2D and 3D figures in the program while managing data is a huge help. It also greatly improved report quality and helped clients better understand what the results were for a study.

Incentivized

• Petrel handles multiple coordinate systems better than competitors.
• The object tree organization in Petrel is intuitive and user-friendly.
• Easy to handle data across multiple UTM zones by allowing geodesic coordinates.

Incentivized

• The interface is simple and easy/quick to learn, so that not much experience is needed to start generating maps.
• The map layouts are easy to manipulate, change colors, scale, labels, contour interval, etc...
• Simple but functional mathematical and logical functions allow for the calculation and manipulation of grids.

Incentivized

• Petrel is extremely expensive, working with it in a small company is almost impossible. This shouldn't be an issue for a large company or for a big university with a large budget for investigation.
• Since it has so many functions it can be overwhelming once you begin using it, so I highly recommend to pay for a Schlumberger instructor.
• The seismic attributes could be improved since they are not entirely accurate.

Incentivized

• The user interface can be tricky at first. It's a little rough around the edges and takes a little time to get the hang of.
• Not an ideal application for older employees. There are too many things with the interface that make it not worthwhile to train employees with less computer experience.
• Manipulating data within Surfer is difficult because you have to do things in a certain order. Not terrible if you get the hang of it but certainly frustrating at first.

Incentivized

I use Petrel and competitor products for different functions. If I didn't have Petrel, it would be a lot more difficult to work with my aerially extensive dataset and manipulate my data with geographic coordinates.

Incentivized

Surfer is very unique with respect to its capabilities. I am not aware of any other mapping software that is at the same time flexible, has a friendly interface, and creates such nice-looking maps.

Incentivized

• Working at the University of Oklahoma the investment is well paid since geoscientist are formed with the best tool available.
• Keeping in mind that the software is really expensive, for the product to have an economic positive impact the project's revenue has to be large.

Incentivized

• The worst thing about Surfer is the cost. My company can only afford one license at the moment which means only one employee gets to use it regularly. Not so great when someone is sick or you have a huge wave of projects.
• The user interface is a little rough but younger employees have been great at catching on quickly and producing great images.
• There's nothing else quite like Surfer. It's versatile and not to difficult to use so, though the licenses are expensive, it is an excellent program that has done wonders for our company!

Incentivized