Data Capture and Improvement

A comprehensive programme of work was established which transformed the way in which the business accessed, used and shared its data and information, including quality controls, standards and procedure, consolidation of external data stores. As a result, less time is spent searching for information, business efficiency has increased and business confidence in corporate data improved.

Background

Our client recognised that it had built-up a number of information management inefficiencies that were impacting business performance. These arose as a consequence of its history of acquisition.

There was no definitive source for exploration and production (E&P) data and, as a result, users had difficultly finding information. There was known to be some data duplication between storage repositories but the extent of this was unknown. There were a number of legacy databases; data was stored on shared drives, offline media and physical data items stored with several offsite storage contractors.

Varying standards of data cataloguing and classification meant that Identification of data from different repositories was problematic. Users therefore lacked confidence in the data and spent valuable time trying to establish the vintage, provenance and processing, if any, applied to the data

Outcome

An E&P Data Capture and Improvement Programme was established to transform the way in which the business accessed, used and shared its data and information.

Data was being stored in three corporate databases:

• Finder – E&P Corporate Database for well header, deviation, checkshot and
  well tops, seismic navigation, licences and culture.
• Recall – Corporate Log Store
• Trax – Corporate Database for Physical Records

The programme established quality controls for data population of the three corporate databases, consolidated offsite storage into a single catalogue, put in place standards and procedures to improve data quality and synchronised data between databases.

An initial current state assessment and legacy data audit was performed to identify data to be loaded to the corporate databases. Duplicates and missing data were resolved by examination of original reports and by consultation with the business. The definitive data was loaded to the newly established corporate databases. Customised Finder reports were written to allow export of the data to interpretation applications.

Standards and procedures were put in place to improve data quality. Naming standards were agreed with the business on a country-by-country basis for each data type: wells, licenses, blocks and seismic surveys. Standards were also established for database attributes such as well class, well status, data source, etc. To ensure that data was loaded in a consistent manner to the corporate databases, data loading procedures were documented and implemented.

Consistency between stores was enabled through the implementation of unique identifiers for e.g. wells, seismic and licence data.

A number of offsite physical stores were consolidated to one offsite storage provider and indexes were integrated to create a single search interface.

Business confidence in the data was improved further by the use of meta-data about the source of the data, processing done during loading or any assumptions made about the data. All data was reviewed and authorised by a business owner and recorded in an approval flag.

Benefits

• Three corporate databases were established as a definitive source for E&P information with data now searchable and accessible to the business
• The establishment of corporate databases has allowed the rapid assessment of new ventures and exploration opportunities. Business efficiency was increased
• Less time was spent looking for data
• Decisions were made on trusted and validated data
• Business confidence in the data was improved due to the availability of data remarks, source and approval flags
• Both digital and physical data storage was rationalized and costs reduced as duplicate data was eliminated and legacy databases retired
• Data acquisition costs were reduced post rationalization, because missing data could be easily identified and purchased without risk of re-purchasing previously acquired data
• A Data Management Service was established to ensure the on-going population of the Corporate Databases using the standards and procedures created during the project
• Synchronisation of the data between databases means that a corporate data portal can be implemented in the future

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