Seifert Subsurface Understanding, LLC
Key Concerns in Subsurface Development
Subsurface teams typically include the core technical disciplines - Geology, Geophysics, Petrophysics, Reservoir Engineering, and Production Technology - with additional specialists brought in as needed. These professionals, often collectively referred to as “Petroleum Engineers,” collect, process, and interpret data, integrating their results into subsurface projects that lead to production forecasts and economic evaluations. Such projects may range from drilling a single infill producer or injector, reviewing partner well proposals, adding development phases to existing reservoirs, converting primary‑depletion reservoirs to waterfloods, or preparing full Field Development Plans (FDPs) for new fields.
Despite major advances in sophisticated tools and integration, several persistent key concerns remain across the industry:
The outcome of many projects cluster below the P50 mark of the forecast range, with too many outcomes near the low end – or even outside - the predicted P10–P90 range for both static volumes and dynamic performance.
Business Plans often rely on placeholder projects for two or more years out, and when the time comes to mature them, asset teams may hesitate because reservoir behavior has evolved.
Decision makers must increasingly evaluate more complex, higher‑risk opportunities – deeper, tighter, or greater uncertainty reservoirs - while under pressure to maintain production and fill the funnel.
Technical project work is often lengthy and highly complex, with results often heavily dependent on simulation tools whose forecasts robustness may not be fully understood until late in the process.
At the same time, teams are expected to deliver under time pressure with fewer and often less‑experienced staff (“Crew Change”), juggling multiple projects in parallel.
What does Seifert Subsurface Understanding, LLC bring to help?
SSU focuses on understanding, communicating, and improving the key issues that drive subsurface performance.
Instead of a traditional discipline‑based approach, SSU applies an integrated “Big 5 Questions” framework that emphasizes uncertainties, risks, analogs, and benchmarking - embedding these elements directly into technical work and communication with leadership, including assurance reviews and FDP evaluations.
SSU strengthens subsurface understanding through true integration, leading cross‑disciplinary workshops (LTRO) and formal IRM framing events that have consistently improved project quality and confidence. The approach emphasizes analytical screening and multi‑scenario evaluation before major decisions or longer technical studies.
As SME for IRM, SSU brings focus to Decision-Based Integrated Reservoir Modeling (DB-IRM) and Multi-Scenario Modeling, when static/dynamic modeling is needed.
More detailed information is available under “Services”.