A large U.S. independent E&P held more than 130,000 SEG-Y volumes spread across the file shares of its operating divisions. NthDS Crawler read every one, standardized the metadata to one schema, and built a single seismic inventory that stays current as new deliverables arrive. The client is not named.
Key Numbers
- 130,000+ SEG-Y volumes inventoried
- Every operating division's shares crawled
- One naming and metadata schema across all divisions
- Every new deliverable reconciled against its vendor transmittal
The Problem
The company's seismic estate (surveys, navigation, and processed deliverables) had grown division by division. Each division kept its own shares, its own folder structure, and its own naming conventions. Basic questions took days to answer: Do we already own this survey? Which version is the latest? Did the processor deliver everything on the transmittal?
New data made it worse. Deliverables from processing vendors landed in folders without being logged against what was ordered, so any inventory built by hand was out of date as soon as it was finished.
What Crawler Did
- Crawled every division share for SEG-Y volumes, navigation files, and transmittals.
- Extracted headers and geometry from every volume: survey identity, datum, and coordinate reference system.
- Standardized naming and metadata to one schema across all divisions, so the same survey is described the same way wherever it lives.
- Reconciled deliverables against transmittals. New data is read when it arrives and matched to what the vendor said they sent, so the inventory doesn't go stale.
The Result
- One current inventory of 130,000+ SEG-Y volumes, across every division, in one schema.
- Every survey accounted for, with its location, geometry, datum, and CRS.
- Every deliverable checked against its transmittal on arrival.
- The data team reviews exceptions (a missing volume, a header that disagrees with the transmittal) instead of opening files one at a time.
The work that used to stall on "what do we have and where is it" now starts from a list.
Who This Is For
Seismic and G&G data managers facing a reprocessing program, a data platform migration, an acquisition, or a divestiture data room. If your seismic lives on shares that nobody has fully inventoried, the same crawl applies, and it covers well files in the same pass.
Related: best way to digitize well logs and reading every mud log before a federal offshore lease sale.
FAQ
What is a seismic data inventory?
A seismic data inventory is one list of every survey and volume a company holds, with where each file lives, what it is, and its key metadata. It answers what you have, where it is, and whether it is the latest version.
What metadata does Crawler extract from SEG-Y files?
Crawler reads the headers of every volume and extracts survey identity, geometry, datum, and coordinate reference system. It then maps those fields and the file naming to one standard schema.
How does the inventory stay current?
Crawler reconciles the inventory against vendor transmittals. New deliverables are read when they arrive and matched to their transmittal, and mismatches go to the data team for review.
Does Crawler work on data other than seismic?
Yes. The same crawl covers well logs, mud logs, scout tickets, DSTs, contracts, and the rest of the well file, so seismic and well data can be searched together.
See Crawler on Your Seismic
Point Crawler at one division's share and see the inventory it builds. Book a 15-minute demo.