Industry takes another look at 50 years of UKCS exploration data

Common Data Access (CDA), a subsidiary of Oil & Gas UK and provider of data management services for seismic and well information to the sector, will host an industry workshop to go through the results of the first Unstructured Data Challenge 2016.

The Unstructured Data Challenge 2016 set by the CDA was organized with an aim to identify opportunities for extracting further value from UK North Sea exploration data.

The organization issued the challenge to companies in March to show how modern data and analytical techniques can provide valuable insights to assist industry efforts to maximize economic recovery from the UK Continental Shelf.

Nine companies answered the challenge and CDA gave the companies bulk access to more than 50 years of released data stored in its UK Oil and Gas Data repository allowing them the opportunity to demonstrate how applying modern data science and data analytics techniques to sub-surface data sets could add value to the current understanding of the subsurface.

Agile Data Decisions, AGR Software, Cray Inc., Flare Solutions, Hampton Data Services, Independent Data Services, KADME, New Digital Business, and Schlumberger Software Integrated Solutions took up the challenge and will share their results at an industry workshop at the Village Hotel in Aberdeen on November 30.

The participating companies will show how modern data science could help the industry handle high volumes of vintage and current drilling data.

Oil and Gas UK said on Friday that the new techniques could have the potential to help deliver offshore well planning at lower cost, reduce geological uncertainty and pinpoint prospective areas for exploration with greater accuracy.

Malcolm Fleming, Chief Executive of CDA, said: “The documents and data CDA holds on behalf of its members describe over 50 years of UKCS exploration and development activity.

“Through the application of current data science and machine learning techniques that the participants in the Data Challenge put forward, this archive becomes an invaluable resource for exploring in a low cost, and resource constrained world.

“Data science enables better, faster decision-making and initiatives like the Data Challenge can help our industry to go after the estimated up to 20 billion barrels of oil and gas on the UKCS.”