Besides the usual EAGE News and latest industry news, First Break July starts off with two Technical Articles on How compaction causes misalignment of multiples and false time shifts in time-lapse seismic and Are refraction attributes more useful than refraction tomography? This month's First Break has two Special Topics: Well Technologies and Passive Seismic.

In an effort to address an important but up to now under-utilized technology, EAGE is using its successful workshop format to host ‘Geosteering & Well Placement: Balancing Value & Risk’. This event will be held from 7–10 November, 2010, in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. As always, the Organizing Committee comprises a wide cross section of experts on the subject drawn in this instance from prominent oil and gas companies and the leading technology providers in this area.

In May this year, representatives of the Zurich Local Advisory Committee and the Scientific Committee met at EAGE headquarters in Houten to finalize the technical programme for Near Surface 2010 in September.

Rockhopper Exploration, the UK-based North Falkland Basin oil and gas exploration company, has upgraded its estimates of recoverable reserves from its Sea Lion 14/10-2 well oil discovery. It states that the RPS Energy best estimate recoverable has been upgraded from 170 to 242 million barrels.

UK-based WGP Group has won recent contracts for its marine seismic services in Africa and Azerbaijan.Surestream Petroleum, an independent, UK-based E&P company with interests in sub-Saharan Africa, has contracted WGP to perform a feasibility study in preparation for a 2D survey to be carried out in Burundian waters of Lake Tanganyika. Surestream was awarded licences for Blocks B and D and has since opened an office in the capital Bujumbura.

This book sets-out to give the reader a non-mathematical understanding of the basic principles of migration and of building a velocity model of the earth’s subsurface. The intended readership includes anyone who has to work with, or to understand, how contemporary seismic images are created: what are the underlying principles and pitfalls? How is a velocity model typically built and what are the consequences of not getting it right?