History

SEI was founded in 1975 by P. C. Havens in New Orleans, Louisiana. SEI was one of the pioneers in the seismic data brokerage industry, which had its origins in convincing oil and gas companies to share their once highly proprietary seismic data via data licensing. The vision of the SEI management team was to move from brokering seismic data owned by others to growing and brokering SEI’s own library of speculative seismic data.

During the 1980’s we began to build our library of speculative seismic data by participating in and managing 2D seismic data acquisition programs. Over the next 30 years, we advanced this vision by making strategic 2D and 3D seismic library purchases from many of the major and larger indepenent  oil and gas companies and by conducting and managing numerous 2D and 3D seismic acquisition programs. Always focusing on obtaining high quality seismic data located in key exploration areas, we have grown our seismic data library exponentially since 1995:

  • From 35,000 miles of 2D data to approximately 1,650,000 miles (nearly a 50 fold increase)
  • From 500 square miles of 3D data to approximately 108,000 square miles (over a 200 fold increase)

Through our strategic vision to be a leading provider of seismic data to the oil and gas industry, we have cultivated three core business specialities for which our team has a passion:

  • Seismic Data Marketing

    "Let us help you find one!” is the motto of our marketing team, and they mean it. Our marketers have an expansive library of seismic data at their fingertips and the experience to structure the perfect deal for you.

  • Digital Library Management

    By assimilating over 100 seismic data purchases into our library, our staff developed an industry respected expertise in organizing and managing seismic data.  Early on, our staff set a goal to convert hundreds of thousands of miles of seismic data from legacy media to digital, network ready formats.  As part of the process, we had vast portions of our library reprocessed using the latest processing techniques.  

  • Seismic Licensing and Digital Client Services

    With our entire library available in digital network ready formats, SEI created online venues for clients to explore our library, conduct digital QC's and place digital firm orders.  Our licensing and client services staff established digital license history tracking systems unparalleled in the industry and implemented electronic signatures for licensing.  Our order processing staff developed automated processes for fulfulling and delivering data to clients via FTP.  All of these efforts combined, have positioned SEI to provide exceptional digital client services.