?Most geoscientists would agree that the more data they can acquire and interpret, the more accurate their reservoir model will be. But this often is easier said than done. Data acquisition is expensive and time consuming, and often it is difficult to integrate different datasets in a meaningful way.

A new company hopes to change that. Called NEOS GeoSolutions, its goal is to integrate all geophysical datasets – gravity, magnetic, electromagnetic, radiometric, and hyperspectral – with existing seismic, geologic, and geochemical information to create a combined and unique 3-D interpretation of the subsurface.

“The value that we bring is fairly simple,” said Jim Hollis, president and CEO of NEOS. “We apply and integrate multiple geoscience methodologies. No one methodology gives you the answer; it gives you an answer. By fusing multiple methodologies, you get the answer.”

This has long been the goal in geosciences, but it took computers a while to catch up to the dream. Now the company has developed the needed suite of technologies to acquire, manage, and integrate these measurements, he said.

The company offers three solutions, which vary depending on how the data are acquired and what one is trying to do. Its neoSCAN programs help geoscientists develop an understanding of the macro-geological features at the basin scale, including the thickness of the sediment column; the depth and likely areal extent of target areas within the geologic column; and the impact of large-scale folding, faulting, and thrusting.

Next is the neoBASIN, in which NEOS flies an airplane over a large area of interest, acquiring gravity, magnetic, and hyperspectral data to add to the interpretation. These surveys typically are acquired under a multiclient commercial model and are designed to high-grade acreage and develop exploration leads.

Finally, there is the neoPROSPECTOR, which is designed to identify drillable prospects. These projects integrate high-resolution data acquired with a helicopter with other available measurements and, in many cases, identify look-alike prospects based on correlating the measurements associated with known discoveries.

Data from all of these projects are integrated and interpreted in a proprietary data management system called the NeoSphere.

What does NEOS have that other companies do not? In addition to a strong management team and highly qualified geoscientists, it has connections to Silicon Valley through two of its primary backers, the venture firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Bill Gates. “We’re able to tap into the latest Silicon Valley technologies, like cloud computing, social networking, crowd sourcing, and intelligent search,” Hollis said. “For instance, one of the relationships we have is with Google. They have put a lot of effort into geospatial data management at Google Earth, and we have access to those kinds of technologies as we evolve our NeoSphere.”

For now, NEOS confines its activities to North and South America, where programs are under way in California, Colorado, and Argentina. However, it recently got a new investor from the Middle East that has a track record of forging oil field services ventures with Saudi Aramco and others in the region, suggesting this might be the next area for expansion.

For Hollis, the excitement stems not only from additional opportunities in other parts of the world, but also the step change his company’s technology can provide for natural resource exploration.

“If you want to introduce something new into this business, you have to address the value equation on all fronts,” he said. “We can’t just deliver a better image or be faster or be cheaper. We’ve got to deliver on all three fronts simultaneously. And that’s what I believe we offer.”