Oil and gas operators often deal with large regional projects, sometimes involving more than 200,000 wells, which can result in a tidal wave of data coming from a number of different users and various disciplines. The challenge for many operators is to improve decision-making by using data that are relevant, qualified, and sanitized. With rapidly expanding functionality, it is becoming increasingly important for geology and geophysics (G&G) software users to quickly find the specific data workflows they need to use on a day-to-day basis. For this reason, the latest release of Petrel includes improvements that focus on the behavior and needs of the human users – the most critical element of success with G&G projects.

A new way of working

The Studio E&P knowledge environment has been created to streamline everyday tasks through workflow improvements and is scalable from the individual to the largest enterprise. Studio functionality enables organizations to scale to the enterprise level while also allowing multi-user collaboration without the burden on performance issues. Users can use data within an earth-model context while interpretation team knowledge is also captured and stored so that it is carried forward and embellished rather than recreated. Through the live knowledge environment, data are kept fresh. This allows the users of that data to make decisions based on the most up-to-date information available as opposed to the "stale" data that often plague many G&G projects.

Despite using advanced science and technology, G&G interpretation and modeling has always required an element of art where the geologists and geophysicists become the artists. As a studio provides a space for artists to proficiently execute their craft, the Studio environment focuses on ease of use and intuitive design to empower the G&G professional.

The Studio Find allows users to see all data available in the main Petrel 2-D or 3-D window. (Images courtesy of Schlumberger Ltd.)

Finding relevant data

E&P companies have access to massive volumes of private, commercial, and public data from a diverse range of locations. The search capability of Studio, Studio Find, can provide an index to this distributed database and enable users to look within the context of their specific projects to reduce or eliminate irrelevant information. This focused process of information retrieval has been widely documented in academic research about "dimensions of relevance," where relevance can refer to what is valid, reliable, and current. The new environment enables a variety of searches in addition to geographical area such as project type (e.g. exploration, development) and the role of the person searching to aid in the fast access of data and information significant to their needs.

Map services

A growing volume of information is available in the form of visual maps – some public (e.g. GoogleEarth), some commercial, and some proprietary to E&P organizations. This information, which is typically updated frequently, has historically been uploaded at the start of a project, where it can soon become out-of-date. Studio Find provides immediate access to live ArcGIS data via web map and ArcGIS services in current 2-D and 3-D windows. It automatically handles multiple coordinate reference systems, which can be a major issue in exploration projects that cover large areas.

The map data are available as a series of layers and can be filtered using smart search capabilities such as particular keywords, data types, projects, users (originators), or well depths. Users can zoom in to reveal increased detail of information. This zooming often involves further filtering to focus the search and bring the data volume to a manageable level and maximum relevance. For example, users can select wells penetrating a particular depth, drilled by a particular operator, and/or completed with specific technologies.

Users can access, transfer, publish, and store information to enhance the company knowledge base with Studio Knowledge.

Data annotation

The data and map-based information discovery capabilities of the Studio environment are key elements to its focus on collaboration and knowledge capture. Another component is the ability to tag content, therefore helping to qualify the information, provide context and insight into previous ideas, and enrich the combined thought processes. This basic functionality is common in PC applications such as Adobe Acrobat, where text editors can leave sticky notes or links to comments. Petrel users might insert geo-referenced comments such as "This was a quick interpretation done in a rush to meet a tight deadline," or "The interpretation of these West African turbidites is based on an analog from deepwater Brazil."

In addition to simple text comments, Studio Annotate allows links to related documents that give users a more complete understanding of their peers' contribution to projects. These could include details of well completions such as the additives and proppants used. Annotation also can contain diagrams and photographs, like those of surface equipment installed downhole. Easy access to this type of information should enable a more comprehensive analysis of offset wells to optimize the design of new drilling and completions programs.

Session sharing

The old adage "a picture is worth a thousand words" is certainly the case with G&G modeling. Appropriate visualization makes it possible for people with diverse expertise to absorb large amounts of information quickly. These people often are in different locations, so multinational oil and gas companies use web-based systems for remote collaborative meetings. A long-standing problem even for high-performance applications is that many commercial global collaboration tools cannot handle data volumes fast enough. The new Studio Share software module has been specifically tailored for the 3-D visualization tools of Petrel, presenting a high-performance system in which sessions can be shared on multiple screens around the globe.

Capturing knowledge

New collaboration tools and integrated multidisciplinary workflows permit multiple members of an asset team to build models and develop plans together. Team members often change, and details can be quickly forgotten as people move between projects. Studio Annotate provides context through quality tagging attributes, indications as to who contributed to certain parts of the G&G processes, and notes on different decisions.

A structured "Publish" model enables shared access to content "blessed" by an expert individual or team while maintaining privacy of the "sandbox," where individuals can test their ideas. The result is a higher quality corporate data repository, with intermediate and trial datasets and models remaining on individual users' computers for personal use. Real-time alerts are sent to relevant users when new qualified information is published, notifying them of updates and synchronizing versions among the multidisciplinary team. Team members can be notified as soon as information changes or when a new surface has been created or updated. Users can then view and load it immediately, so interpretation is always up to date.

The Studio Annotate feature allows users to enrich projects with knowledge in context.