E&P data management in the real world

Without an integrated, real time E&P database a company will no longer be able to manage risk effectively, maximise shareholder value, or address a number of key corporate obligations. That’s the view of David Sullivan, managing director of Tigress, the UK data management specialist which introduced one of the original integrated E&P databases some 15 years ago. This article is an edited version of a paper presented last month at the Petroleum Society of Great Britain Data Management Conference. Very few people are against integration as a concept. At Tigress we support the concept with a passion, it’s the whole basis for our business. However, most E&P professionals currently support integration the same way they support world peace, sustainable development, the abolition of poverty, and the achievement social justice. By this I mean there are no obvious reasons to be against any of these things and one can be supportive of the concept without putting in too much personal commitment. We believe that all this is about to change. In the industry we have always been acutely aware of how the realities of world and industry politics affect our business. Few would argue with propositions such as: ■ There is a relationship between the industry’s ability to satisfy current energy demand and the price of oil and gas. ■ There is a relationship between a company’s reserves of hydrocarbons (proven and potential) and its market capitalization. ■ Political instability in a company’s areas of operation is very likely to affect the share price. ■ Despite modern technology, there are no cast iron guarantees about how much oil and gas a company owns or how much it will be able to produce. ■ Risk and uncertainty abound. These can only be mitigated by information and knowledge. ■ The digital information revolution is used by a variety of stakeholders, regulators and investors. Information in real time is fast becoming the norm. Finally, and most important, an oil company needs to present its case, support its argument, and justify its conclusions if it is to raise its game. Increasingly this can only be achieved by an integrated approach, and a real time integrated E&P database is at the very heart of such a system. Surely it was always like this? In some ways that’s true. But while the traditional technical and administrative techniques to oilfield data management are still important (indeed more important than ever), a whole new strategy is needed to meet the challenges of the modern world. In the early days of oil exploration E&P data management was a specialist area of principal interest to industry professionals and of little interest beyond the industry. This is no longer the case. World demand for oil is closing the gap on the industry’s ability to keep pace. More importantly, the world has started to recognize this and as a result interest in E&P data has widened way beyond the E&P department. The investor relations and PR departments now need to supply analysts, journalists, shareholders, and the world at large. These new users will not wait. The information must be accurate and it must be immediate. Nor do markets take the information provided byoil companies at face value. It must be supported and, above all, be consistent. Mistakes can be very costly. Modern markets react in seconds rather than at the end of an accounting quarter or financial year.