An oil and gas company can license the subsurface data it owns outright: seismic surveys it shot itself, its own interpretations, core photos and geologist descriptions, and well logs that are not already public. Seismic it licensed from a data vendor usually cannot be passed on, and mergers can trigger transfer fees. Most filed well logs become public after a short confidential period. AI developers are building subsurface foundation models, but almost no prices are published.
- Seismic you licensed from a vendor is usually for internal use only, including your interpretations of it.
- Seismic you acquired yourself (a proprietary survey) is the cleanest data to license.
- Filed well logs become public in most states after a confidential period of six months to three years.
- The one large public price is a library sale: TGS sold its A2D well log business to Enverus for USD 100 million plus a USD 15 million earn-out.
Who owns seismic data and well log data?
The company that paid to acquire a seismic survey owns it, and the operator that ran a well log owns the log, subject to its partners and any state filing rule. Seismic bought from a multi-client vendor is different: the vendor keeps ownership and the oil company holds only a licence. That split decides what you can license to an AI developer.
This page is general information, not legal advice: it states what each rule or contract says, with its source, and your counsel decides how it applies to your company.
A licence filed with the SEC in 2005 shows the split in one document: the seller passed on "a license of the proprietary seismic data owned by Licensor and rights to use Licensor's non-proprietary data to the extent permitted by applicable contracts" (SEC-filed seismic licence). The same licence defined the licensed data to include "derivative works, reprocessed Seismic Data, analyses and interpretations", and limited all of it to internal use. Read your vendor licences before assuming your interpretations are yours to license.
Companies winding down that still hold a data room should also read selling company data after closing.
What do AI developers want from oil and gas data?
They want large volumes of real seismic and well data that is labeled by experienced interpreters, because public subsurface data is thin. Researchers behind the OpenSeisML project write that progress is limited because "most high-quality data are privately owned by oil and gas companies" (arXiv).
| Data | What AI work uses it for | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Seismic surveys (2D, 3D, processed volumes) | Seismic foundation models that learn geological patterns | TGS won "a multi-year contract by an international oil company (IOC)" for its seismic foundation model, which is trained on its own multi-client library (TGS) |
| Well logs (LAS and raster) | Filling gaps, predicting missing curves, joining wells to seismic | TGS's ARLAS "predicts missing gaps and nonrecorded measurements in five types of well logs" (TGS); TGS links "seismic and well data, to work toward a shared subsurface" world model (TGS) |
| Formation tops and petrophysical interpretations | Expert labels on logs | The A2D library includes "more than two million hand-picked formation tops, petrophysical interpretations and basin temperature models" (Enverus) |
| Core photos with geologist logs | Geology foundation models for core | KORE says its model is trained on "1M+ meters of drill core imaging" and that one mine site "can generate 400,000+ core images per year" (KORE Geosystems) |
Why chain of title blocks most seismic data licensing
Most operators cannot license the seismic they use most, because they hold it under a vendor licence that forbids disclosure and charges a fee when control changes. Before any AI deal, a company has to prove survey by survey which data it owns and which it only licenses.
- Change-of-control fees. In Fairfield v. EP Energy (Texas Court of Appeals, 2017), the seismic licensor worked under a Master License Agreement and the licensee had to pay, within 30 days of a change in control, a fee "for the Data licensed under this Agreement to which the party acquiring control does not already have a license". The court described the fee as "equal to at least fifty percent of the original cash licensing fee", and held that the contract did not make the fee depend on any data actually being transferred.
- Disclosure limits. The same case included a claim for "disclosing data in violation of the license agreement". The SEC-filed licence says licensed data "shall be for its own internal use only and shall not be disclosed, sold, traded, copied, distributed, transferred" (SEC filing).
- Transfer fees are a known revenue line for vendors. Viridien's Q3 2026 results note that the prior year's quarter "benefited from exceptional transfer fees" (Viridien).
- Lost records. Ovation Data describes a portfolio where "many seismic lines had been licensed in segments by different heritage companies, and reconstructing current ownership was a line-by-line exercise", and a disclosure that turned up "3,175 miles of seismic data in the company" with no licence record (Ovation Data).
Which oil and gas well records are already public?
Logs filed with a state oil and gas commission become public, usually after a short confidential period the operator must request. Public logs have little licensing value on their own, because anyone can get them. What stays scarce is data never filed, data still inside its confidential period, and your interpretation of the logs.
| State | Rule | What it says |
|---|---|---|
| Texas | 16 TAC 3.16 | "Each log filed with the commission shall be considered public information." On written request the operator may delay filing for three years, or five years for wells on land submerged in state water. |
| Oklahoma | OAC 165:10-3-26 | Logs are open to public inspection unless the operator requests confidential treatment, which lasts one year from the last log run and never more than 18 months. |
| Utah | R649-2-11 | Logs marked confidential stay confidential for one year after the filing date. The rule also covers "core descriptions and analysis, maps, other geological, geophysical, and engineering information". |
| Wyoming | Chapter 3, Section 21 | Exploratory or wildcat well logs marked confidential stay confidential for six months after the filing due date. |
Enverus describes "more than 5 million proprietary logs not available from any public or regulatory source" in the A2D library (Enverus).
What can an oil and gas company license to AI developers?
Start with data you created and paid for yourself, that you never licensed exclusively to anyone, and that is not on a public commission website. In practice that is a short list:
| Data | Usually licensable? | Check first |
|---|---|---|
| Proprietary seismic surveys you acquired | Often | Partner rights under the joint operating agreement; any later sale of the survey |
| Interpretations of your own surveys | Often | Whether any input was vendor data |
| Interpretations of vendor (multi-client) seismic | Rarely | The vendor licence, which may treat interpretations as licensed data |
| Multi-client seismic licensed from a vendor | No | It belongs to the vendor |
| Well logs still confidential or never filed | Sometimes | State rules, partner consent, lease terms |
| Well logs already public | Little value alone | Value comes from your tops, picks and corrections |
| Core photos and geologist core descriptions | Often | Who paid for the core and the lab work |
| Drilling and completion reports | Sometimes | What the state already publishes; partner consent |
How much is seismic and well log data worth to AI buyers?
There is no published price for licensing an operator's subsurface data for AI training. The disclosed numbers are library sales between data companies and broad program ranges, so treat them as context, not a quote. Each row below says what kind of source it is.
| Evidence | Source type | What it says |
|---|---|---|
| TGS sells A2D well log business to Enverus | Company press release (seller) | "USD 100 million payable at closing, with an additional USD 15 million earn-out"; the business "had revenues of USD 27 million in 2025", and TGS kept a licence for internal use (TGS). The library holds "more than 8 million depth-calibrated raster logs and 1.9 million digital LAS files" (Enverus). |
| TGS seismic foundation model contract | Company press release | Multi-year contract with an unnamed international oil company; no value disclosed (TGS) |
| Subsurface AI deal count | Market research report listing | Says it covers "all 31 deals, contracts and financings since 2022 with the few prices anyone disclosed" (GII Research) |
| micro1 Company Data Partnerships | Published program range, all company records | Payments "typically ranging from $100K to over $3M" (micro1) |
| Handshake AI data partnerships | Published program range, stated as an estimate | "$100K to $4M+ payouts", "an indicative estimate only and is not an offer" (Handshake AI) |
| Oil company records licence | Origin case study | An oil company was paid to license its company records; read the case study for what Origin publishes about it |
The A2D sale was between data companies, not an AI licence from an operator: it shows proprietary logs carry value, not what an operator would be paid.
How to prepare seismic and well data before talking to a buyer
The work is mostly a rights inventory. Do it on paper before anyone copies a tape or a LAS file.
- List every seismic survey: who acquired it, year, area, owned or licensed. Pull the master licence and supplements for each licensed survey.
- Mark surveys with partners and read the joint operating agreement or participation agreement for data rights.
- For each well, note whether the logs were filed, whether a confidential period is still running, and what interpretations (tops, picks, corrected curves) your staff added.
- Inventory core: photos, descriptions, lab analyses and who paid for each.
- Check whether any data was already licensed exclusively to another party. See exclusive and non-exclusive data licences.
- If you are being acquired or winding down, do this before closing: change of control can trigger vendor fees. See companies winding down.
Next step
Start with one proprietary 3D survey and the wells inside it, with your interpretations. That sample shows whether you hold data a buyer cannot get elsewhere. For terms, read what a data licensing agreement should include, and for how value is judged, which training data holds its value.
Does your company hold records like these? See what your data is worth.
Origin Data Partners works with companies that own data and helps get it bought. We are independent of the services on this page, and a buyer may pay us when a deal closes (how Origin is paid). See what your data is worth.
Common questions
Who owns seismic data, the oil company or the seismic contractor?
It depends on who paid. A proprietary survey shot for an oil company belongs to that company. Multi-client seismic belongs to the vendor that acquired it, and oil companies hold only a licence. One SEC-filed licence limits licensed data, including interpretations, to internal use and bars sale or transfer.
Can an oil company sell seismic data it licensed from a vendor to an AI company?
Usually not. Vendor licences typically limit the data to internal use and forbid disclosure or transfer, and some also cover your interpretations of it. In Fairfield v. EP Energy, a change in control triggered a fee of at least half the original licence fee. Only the vendor can license that data to an AI developer.
Are well logs public record once they are filed with the state?
In most producing states, yes, after a confidential period. Texas treats every filed log as public but lets operators delay filing three years, or five for submerged state land. Oklahoma allows one year, extendable to 18 months. Utah allows one year and Wyoming six months for wildcat wells.
Can a small exploration company winding down license its well logs and core data?
Often, for data it owns that is not already public: logs still confidential or never filed, its formation tops and corrected curves, core photos and descriptions. Do the rights review before any sale of the company, because a change of control can trigger vendor transfer fees on licensed seismic.
How much did Enverus pay for the TGS well log library?
TGS reported USD 100 million at closing plus a USD 15 million earn-out for its A2D North American well data business, which had USD 27 million of revenue in 2025. TGS kept a licence for internal use. This was a sale between data companies, not an AI training licence.
What makes oil and gas data valuable for AI training?
Data that is not public and carries expert labels: proprietary 3D seismic, interpreted horizons and faults, hand-picked formation tops, corrected logs, and core photos with a geologist's description. Researchers note most high-quality subsurface data is privately held by oil and gas companies, which is why it is scarce.
Is there a published price for licensing seismic data to train AI models?
No. As of November 2026 we found no published price for an operator licensing subsurface data for AI training. TGS has a multi-year foundation model contract with no value disclosed, and one market report says few of 31 subsurface AI deals since 2022 disclosed prices.
Sources and further reading
- TGS: TGS sells North American well data products business to Enverus (press release)
- Enverus: Enverus acquires A2D well log library from TGS (newsroom)
- TGS: awarded multi-year AI seismic foundation model contract (press release)
- TGS technical library: teaching AI to read the subsurface
- TGS technical library: when well logs meet artificial intelligence
- arXiv 2605.20539: OpenSeisML
- KORE Geosystems: from core images to insight
- GII Research: frontier AI in oil reservoir exploration (report listing)
- Ovation Data: seismic data governance at Anadarko Petroleum
- Viridien: Q3 2026 financial results (press release)
- Fairfield Industries v. EP Energy E&P Co., Texas Court of Appeals, 2017
- Seismic Data License Agreement filed with the SEC (2005)
- 16 Tex. Admin. Code 3.16: log and completion or plugging report
- Okla. Admin. Code 165:10-3-26: well logs
- Utah Admin. Code R649-2-11: confidentiality of well log information
- Wyoming Oil and Gas Commission rules, chapter 3, section 21: filing of well logs
- micro1: Company Data Partnerships (payment ranges)
- Handshake AI: get paid for your company data