Insight and Petrel Overview

The Petrel Link connects Insight to a running instance of Petrel, establishing a bi-directional link. The link allows data and objects to be shared, viewed, edited and copied between Insight and Petrel. The Petrel Link supports Petrel versions from 2012 to 2024.

Data that can be shared includes:

  • 3D seismic data
  • 2D seismic data
  • 3D horizons (including multi-survey horizons)
  • 2D horizons
  • faults
  • wells  

Gather data cannot be transferred directly over the link.

Available in: Petrel Link module

Before installing the Petrel Link:

  • Petrel E&P software must be installed on your machine (see How Insight detects the Petrel installation).
  • Petrel must be closed before you begin the installation.
  • The Petrel Link is for Windows only. The link requires Petrel to be running on the same machine.

See Installing the Petrel Link for more information and installation instructions.

Note: The Petrel Link is not a separate software. It is a plugin within Petrel that enables a link to be established with Insight. Thus, there will not be a desktop or Start menu shortcut. To verify that the Petrel Link has been successfully installed, see Troubleshooting: Verifying Petrel Link.

Data sharing between Insight and Petrel

Once you are certain that the link is installed correctly, see Linking Insight and Petrel to establish a connection and manage resources between Insight and Petrel. 

  1. Establish a connection via Insight's Links tab.
  2. When Petrel is connected, click on Manage Resources to begin transferring data from Petrel.
  3. Make a local copy of the data by right-clicking on the item and selecting Create local copy.
  4. You can then edit this data in Insight or Petrel and Sync with Petrel to ensure that changes are updated in both copies (see Synchronise Data).
  5. Items created in Insight can also be shared with Petrel by right-clicking and selecting Send to Petrel.
  6. For a remote item without a local copy, you can Refresh from Petrel to translate the changes you have made in Petrel to Insight. 

When multiple users are sharing a workstation, each user will get their isolated instance of the link. If the data that appears in the Manage Resources window is not the project that you intended to link, see Why is the Petrel Link showing me a different project after connecting? 

Note: There is no conversion of units across the link. If the project X/Y units are different, then the Petrel Link will fail to establish a connection. Project units must be the same. There is also no CRS conversion across the link. In this situation, we recommend transferring data into a new Insight project to preserve the native CRS, and then importing data from that new Insight project to the end Insight project (of a different CRS) performing a CRS conversion as you do.

Genuine offer of assistance

If you have trouble installing, connecting or linking between Insight and Petrel, feel free to contact our support team at [email protected].

If the problem is occurring within Petrel, sending us your Petrel log could help give us a better understanding of what went wrong. See How do I send the Petrel message log? in the FAQ section for instructions.