Velocity and the exploration cycle; a new paradigm

For the last 60 years or so, the main contribution of geophysics to hydrocarbon exploration has been the imaging and mapping--largely in time--of the subsurface. Our efforts have focused firstly on optimizing the time image of the seismic data by both acquisition design and processing, and secondly on interpreting the data, and finally on mapping them. But all this is changing. Now we are requiring depth maps, pressure prediction, lithology prediction, and so on before we drill a well.