Festive greetings and a prosperous New Year to you all.
It may or may not be of interest, but by chance I was sat next to a guy at dinner lastnight who is a Director of a Seismology Software Firm (4D) working out of Aberdeen - not done any work for BLVN. I was asking him about the reliability of seismological information and how quickly interpretations can be made from drill material. He reckons that you can get the info fairly much immediately that the material is brought out of the seabed....confirmation of hydrocarbons, right sort of porosity etc. What cant be detected is non-porous barriers which will stop hydrocarbon flow. My interpretation from what he was saying is that the continued testing confirms that they have found what they are looking for, which would confirm that the seismological survey info will ultimately be successful even if non-viable flow rates are determined during current testing.
[I've topped up a little on the hunch.]