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ICT
The Seismic DataStore
a report by
Malcolm Fleming
Chief Executive, Oil & Gas UK
In the challenge to recover all the oil and gas beneath our shores, one With Well DataStore as the blueprint for success, CDA has now
of the UK’s most valuable tools has now been made more accessible. launched the Seismic DataStore, a similar operation for the 4,500 2D
The wealth of knowledge contained in the seismic surveys that have and 3D seismic surveys that could be vital in helping to exploit the
been carried out around our coasts for more than 40 years, at a cost of 25 billion barrels of oil and gas that are still to be recovered.
billions of pounds, is now managed centrally in the Seismic DataStore
run by the Oil & Gas UK subsidiary Common Data Access Ltd (CDA). Fleming explains that the information, which is of immense value, is
contained on literally millions of tapes on the shelves of companies or
The new service means a sea change in the speed with which companies their record management contractors. “Some may be in old formats
can retrieve and analyse high-quality seismic data, allowing them to and have lain untouched for decades. Now CDA has taken on the
respond rapidly to licence rounds and asset transfers. It provides a responsibility of managing the information and making it available to
significant boost at a time of high costs and a 57% decrease in those entitled to see it. It relieves a burden on the oil companies, which
exploration activity, helping to accelerate the development of new fields are frequently under enormous pressure to meet their obligation to
and also improve the chance of exploration success. The state-of-the-art provide data for other companies at exactly the same time as they are
repository for seismic data builds on the success of CDA’s Well trying to locate information for their own licensing applications.”
DataStore, which has proved an invaluable service for the industry since
it was established in 1994. Under the old system, even when the information they have paid for is
eventually located, the purchaser may discover it is of insufficient
Malcolm Fleming, Chief Executive of CDA, explains that since exploration quality to be of use. “Geophysicists can spend up to half their time
for oil and gas began on the UK continental shelf (UKCS), more than looking for or managing data when they could be looking for oil and
10,000 wells have been drilled. From these, more than 38 billion barrels gas. They should be doing what they are skilled in – interpreting data
of oil and gas have been produced, creating employment for hundreds of – so we are looking to reduce data search time to a minimum,” says
thousands of people in highly skilled oil- and gas-related jobs and a supply Fleming. When data are located through the Seismic DataStore, which
chain with technology and expertise that is now in global demand. can be achieved from any computer, they will be quality-assured.
Purchasers can actually preview the data to ensure they are of a
“Every time a company explores for oil and gas on the UKCS, three suitable quality before investing. The surveys most in demand are
things happen,” says Fleming. “A permanent, reinforced hole is made being loaded onto the system first and by the end of 2009 around 750
in the seabed, a host of valuable information is collected on the of the most relevant will be available. In addition to the difficulties in
geological characteristics of the area under exploration, and a cost of locating specific tapes and checking their quality, companies also
roughly £10–20 million, and double that in more remote areas, is currently have to scrutinise and sign data licences under the
incurred by the explorer. conventional system. Under the new system, participation agreements
enable companies which subscribe to CDA to download data without
“It’s crucial that the data gathered from each of these high-cost wells having to sign additional licences, saving time and cost. Those surveys
are preserved and managed for future reference and analysis – even that are too big to download immediately will normally be on
where technical or economic conditions hinder the development of members’ desktops within three days. Companies who are not
any oil and gas discovered or where exploration is unsuccessful,” members of CDA will still have to sign licences but will benefit by
continues Fleming. “Moreover, it is vital that future explorers know receiving quality-controlled data, which they have identified as useful,
exactly where wells have been drilled previously so that they may within the three-week guideline set by the UK Government.
operate safely.”
Fleming concludes: “The Seismic DataStore brings considerable
In the early 1990s, each company managed its own well data. Given business benefits. The ability to download quality-assured seismic data
that so many different companies had ‘entitlement’, as the operator or in days or hours compared with weeks or months significantly increases
having traded the asset, there was massive duplication in data, with as the productivity of scarce, expert resources. At a time when resources
many as 40 copies of the same information in circulation. However, are being reduced, people will be able to work faster and more
that changed in 1994 when Well DataStore was set up as an industry efficiently. That means they can make better applications for licence
initiative to bring economy and value to the process. Information on rounds and consider more prospects, all of which will help to extend
around 90% of the wells is now held centrally and is quality-assured. the life of the North Sea.” n
Members of CDA can access the information from anywhere in the world
and begin working on a licence application, often within minutes, when Visit www.cdal.com for more information on the new CDA Seismic
a decade ago it might have taken several weeks. DataStore.
© TOUCH BRIEFINGS 2009
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