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Integrated data management, the key to future success for E&P companies

Schlumberger GeoQuest, Houston, Texas, U.S.

Dutch Holland

Holland & Davis, Houston, Texas, U.S.

Corresponding author: J. D'Angelo, jdangelo@houston.geoquest.slb.com

The first 20% of the full text of this article appears below.

From a senior E&P executive's perspective, explorationists view his office as a bank with an unlimited vault issuing zero-interest loans. However, before approving millions of dollars for each project, he or she needs answers to: "How much do you want? What's in it for the company, and what's the return on investment?" The executive must then factor into those answers myriad other considerations including balancing the investment portfolio over time and the asset life cycle.

Meanwhile, the industry environment is not static. It is constantly changing, much of the change is due to the ongoing introduction of new technology into E&P companies. Occasionally, new technology does more than just upgrade existing procedures; it actually revolutionizes how the industry operates. These revolutionary technologies inject new questions into the money-issuing equation, such as: "How is this investment in technology positioning us for the future? How many years are required for payback? What if the industry changes so much in x-years that there is no payback?"

Such questions present hard choices for the senior E&P executive. However, we contend that a strategy is available that can make the decision-making more productive. Ironically, the solution is not new, but its value has only recently begun to be properly understood. The concept is integrated E&P data management, and its key feature is the imposition of structure and discipline on how E&P data are managed.

	Better data management: short course

 
Let's look at what better data management can do, what the obstacles are, how companies can rate themselves, and how organizational realignment is accomplished to accommodate the introduction of new technology. The business value of integrated data management for an E&P company can be translated into more accurately valuing leases, adding substantial boe/geoscientist each year, and going from seismic to first oil 3–6 months quicker on every well (Figure 1. . . [Full Text of this Article]