Dana Adkins-Heljeson¹, Timothy R. Carr¹

(1) Kansas Geological Survey, Lawrence, KS

ABSTRACT: Using the Internet to Provide a Digital Petroleum Atlas for Kansas

The Kansas Geological Survey, as a generator and distributor of traditional products (e.g., lists, tables, articles, books and maps), has worked to improve online access from data through "final publication". Until recently these products circulated like all scholarly information, through personal exchanges, subscriptions, and libraries. Today, we provide the digital information and Internet distribution that our clients require. The result: a dramatic increase in the international and disciplinary scope of information exchange.

In 1996, the Survey initiated the Digital Petroleum Atlas (DPA) project. Today, the DPA provides a series of field studies covering the major reservoir analogs of Kansas and the mid-continent. The DPA consists of critical reservoir information from the individual well bore to regional studies. Information such as structure maps, cross-sections, and petrophysical and core analyses are presented in a series of easy-to-navigate web pages and relational databases. One can drill down through the pages from the regional level to the borehole to focus on client-determined questions. In addition to interpreted products, the user can access raw data for further analysis.

The static pages of the DPA proved that web display was a successful method of technology transfer to petroleum operators. However, assets required for web maintenance increased exponentially. Today, static web pages are being systematically replaced by dynamic web pages that access relational databases containing automatically updated well and production data. Creating DPA pages on demand significantly decreases the effort required to maintain and generate high-quality reservoir studies.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90906©2001 AAPG Annual Convention, Denver, Colorado