Abstract: New Generation Solutions for International Petroleum Data

Philip H. Stark, Robert Hodgson, Jack Gawron

Changes in the international petroleum industry demand new solutions to meet the needs of national oil companies (NOCs) and international oil companies. The elimination of political barriers has opened more of the world to exploration and production. Consequently,

there is increasing competition for investment. NOCs want to attract investment and improve the management of their natural resources. International oil companies require complete data in standard digital formats to improve evaluations and lower risks. Past practices of limiting access to data rooms and coping with incompatible project files no longer meet industry's needs. New generation solution requirements include the following:

(1) Data Capture/Archiving: Data are organized, indexed digitally, and archived. Bar coding, digitizing, and scanning technologies maximize electronic data control and reconstruction.

(2) Data Management: The database employs an industry standard data model and a relational DBMS. Screen data entry and loaders with interactive edits function on workstations and PCs. A spatial user interface for browsing, comprehensive queries, report generation, and mapping is provided through a tightly linked GIS.

(3) Data Transfer/Delivery: Standard and ad hoc data exports are provided along with tightly linked custom interfaces to leading applications.

(4) Applications: State-of-the-art applications spanning E&P functions are integrated with the Data Management System.

Combining new generation integrated database systems with improved data access can achieve a win-win solution for producing countries and licensees. The solution provides data and technology to improve a country's petroleum resource management and ready-to-use digital data to improve licensees' evaluations. A case study illustrates the capabilities and benefits of the new generation solution.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90982©1994 AAPG International Conference and Exhibition, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, August 21-24, 1994