Abstract: Data and Information Handling
Rex Ross
The economic realities of the oil business continue to increase the importance for oil companies, whether nationals, majors or independents, to derive the maximum value from one of their most important, yet often most underutilized assets - their geoscience data. Such data are the basis for virtually all exploration, development and production decisions.
There are several critical issues which affect our ability to successfully realize the full value of our geoscience data. These issues include the capture and validation of the data; design and construction of suitable on-line, near-line and off line data bases; convenient interrogation of the data base to determine what sets of data are available to solve a specific problem; and quick retrieval of data to support the decision making process. These issues must be solved conveniently and cost effectively, regardless of whether the data bases are local at a site, distributed across the country or distributed around the world.
Whether E&P decisions relate to single well trajectory specification, designing an optimal reservoir development program, purchase or sale of reserves, the negotiation of exploration concessions or to any other aspect of finding and developing oil and gas reservoirs, the impact of having fast, cost efficient access to the necessary data can provide an enormous competitive advantage.
This paper will explore the technologies and economics of constructing, maintaining and using geoscience data bases for project, corporate or national use.
AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90951©1996 AAPG International Conference and Exhibition, Caracas, Venezuela