Perry White¹

(1) Petroleum Place, Inc, Dallas, TX

ABSTRACT: Marketing and Evaluating Prospects Online

Internet technology is rapidly changing the way prospects are marketed and evaluated. Traditional marketing methods such as personal presentations using physical data rooms are being augmented and in some instances replaced by virtual presentations using Electronic Data Rooms or "EDR's" that allow some if not all of the due diligence effort to be conducted online. Interactive maps, seismic displays and log viewers are part of the new breed of tools available to the geoscientist to evaluate prospects remotely. Also emerging, are familiar software applications modified to run via the Internet from host servers of the Application Service Provider or "ASP". Tantamount to these capabilities is access to additional dynamic data sources - both proprietary and public in nature that will allow further evaluation of a prospect if necessary.

Exposure of prospects may be significantly increased through e-marketing efforts. Once engaged, prospective buyers are authenticated and tracked using sophisticated statistical techniques, revealing who and what a party may be interested in. This information may then be used to more proactively market to a targeted audience.

Several "live" EDR examples will be cited to illustrate how the effective use of Internet technology is bringing efficiencies to the prospect due diligence process. The evolution of these tools will continue to affect the way prospects are marketed and evaluated.

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