In the last 25 years, the exploration and production (E&P) industry has taken giant steps to embrace computer applications for geological analysis, evaluation and interpretation. This

Figure 1. Production forecast for world oil markets. (Source: Energy Information Association: World Oil Markets Analysis to 2030)
has reduced the time taken for tasks ranging from scanning, and log digitizing and correlation to picking tops and creating cross sections and maps. The workflow now involves processing raw data through complex applications and generating critical results that help quicken the pace of both exploration and production. We can also more accurately predict the shape and nature of geological formations, the volume of hydrocarbon accumulations, and how best to extract them. Unfortunately, the industry’s advances have not incorporated large volumes of data, namely the original source data, which is frequently unstructured raster and paper files. This article explores the current trends in information management, their role in the geological data workflow and how improving information management by incorporating legacy data can improve this workflow and thereby maximize organizational productivity.

Information management
All companies working in the oil and gas industry have some system for information management. Traditional systems are huge cabinets and shelving systems filling large rooms storing legacy data as thousands to more than a million documents and reports. Finding data in these systems is very time-consuming.

Over the past decade several technologies have become available to upgrade from traditional physical storage systems. For example, the cost of digital storage and scanning has dramatically decreased, the use of global information systems (GIS) has dramatically increased, and open E&P data models are now available.

This has resulted in newer systems that incorporate these technologies with online data. As more companies adopt a digital geological workflow, typical bottlenecks have become apparent while using these traditional systems. With improvements in data analysis techniques, the demand for instant access to data and information has exponentially increased. A lot of raw data today arrives from the field in digital format and can be used more quickly for data analysis.

Consequently, in the last 10 years most companies have begun implementing solutions to manage and provide access to this digital data and information. This has improved the efficiency of data processing, as digital data is immediately available for analysis.

Importance of legacy data
While the adoption and implementation of these digital systems has improved the total time
Figure 2. Project time line with and without managed legacy data (not to scale).
taken to complete projects, it has not reduced the usage of the massive physical inventory of logs, maps, reports and other data. In order to increase efficiency in working with the physical inventory, some service companies have scanned more than 4.5 million logs and made them available online. Other vendors focus on other types of geological data such as deviation surveys, historical production data, formation test data, water salinity data, etc., and are in the process of scanning millions of these documents. A significant component of data preparation still involves accessing this physical data, converting it to digital formats (where possible) and using it in data analysis.

The wider availability of raster data is one trend in information management. A second trend is the wider use of this legacy data. This will continue in the future since the production forecast for world oil markets to 2030 shows that most of the world’s production is predicted to come from existing capacity, the development of existing reserves and enhanced oil recoveries (Figure 1). This indicates that all the data that is available for existing reserves is of critical importance in maximizing future production.

Legacy data is and will continue to be needed to find new reserves and production because E&P studies involve matching the chronological and historical data accumulated over the last 150 years.

Legacy system requirements
A useful legacy data management system should have a robust database that allows implementation on an enterprise level in a multi-user environment. It should provide quick, convenient and secure access to legacy data for users over the network. It must provide the ability to transfer this data to geological and geophysical (G&G) applications for analysis. Additionally, it should support a multitude of formats and types (including raster and digital) for maps, cross sections, seismic sections and different types of reports related to wells and fields. Other desirable features include a map-based interface allowing for spatial querying of data and multiple client interfaces, for instance a desktop-based client application, as well as a Web-based data browser. Since the preparation of legacy data for analysis is more time-consuming, it would be beneficial to have some integration or interfacing with enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems that can be used to track and monitor these data preparation work orders. Additionally, built-in quality control (QC) processes could alleviate the typical problems associated with E&P data quality. One limitation of implementing a legacy data management solution is the potential for duplication of data and functions in a separate, already-implemented data management system in the organization. A good document management system should be able to address this by complementing and not conflicting with such implementations.

The new, improved workflow
The incorporation of legacy data in a digital data management solution helps reduce data preparation time by helping users find the data they need more efficiently. Integration with work order management and QC processes improve the quality and efficiency of formatting, digitizing and preparing data that will be loaded into analytical applications. The overall project completion time will be greatly reduced, as illustrated in Figure 2. This reduction in time is because the new geological data workflow leads to better data sharing and resource management, avoiding problems like repurchasing data from vendors and redigitizing logs that have been digitized but not shared.

Legacy data management systems
There are two options available for managing legacy data. The first involves integrating established E&P data systems with non-E&P document management systems for storing legacy data.

Furthermore, the two systems might be integrated with ERP systems such as SAP for managing work orders. This option uses the existing databases established in an
Figure 3. Integration of legacy data management with G&G and GIS applications.
organization. However, the legacy data are stored in a document management system that is not “E&P-aware,” which makes it difficult to integrate with analytical applications. Furthermore, associated information such as calibration or header attributes for documents such as well logs or maps are typically not stored or exported from such systems.

The second and much cleaner option is an E&P-focused document management system. The advantage of building an E&P-focused system is that it provides for specific E&P attributes and information to be stored and made available directly in G&G applications along with the documents themselves. The key challenge in this is successful integration with existing data management systems within the organization. The following is an example of the second option as developed by Neuralog Inc.

Currently implemented in two national oil companies (NOCs), this system is adopted from the second approach, an E&P document management system built from the ground up to support legacy data that compliments existing corporate digital data stores. An open and well- documented PPDM data model is used to facilitate storage of this legacy data as well as its integration with many G&G systems. One NOC now has 150,000 logs online outside of this system, which makes them largely inaccessible. A subset of this data has been loaded in the system and is now widely delivered to geologists on a daily basis.

The second NOC uses certification processes in NeuraDB to QC and prepare their data and monitor the progress of these operations. This data quality management ensures that everyone in the organization works with the most accurate and approved datasets along with maintaining accountability for QC. First implemented at the asset team level, the system is being expanded to a multi-server, distributed environment with synchronization capability among regional servers to cover the needs of E&P regions that span the whole country.

Within the United States most data are more commonly available from a variety of entities. The system implementations in the United States are configured to link to industry-standard and proprietary databases. It serves as a repository for legacy data and a portal for data stored in other systems.

The combination of secure storage, easy access and delivery, quality certification, and process management has helped a variety of organizations integrate their valuable legacy data with their digital data, thereby increasing the efficiency of their geological data workflow.

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