In the introduction to the Drilling Data Vortex* (DDV), author Carlos Damski (Genesis Petroleum Technologies) seeks to bridge the gap between the physical and digital worlds with a management-level exposé on data and data management. DDV attempts to put data management into a business context, unlike ‘endless self-centric publications and conferences which regard data management as an end in itself’ (who could he be thinking of?). Data gets valuable only when it is leveraged in a business context to influence decision making.
A brief discussion of E&P databases concludes that, ‘No single vendor can provide all solutions in one database, although some are trying to sell this idea.’ It is better to use ‘magic mapping’ techniques such as OpenSpirit. For analysis, Damski deprecates the spreadsheet and advocates domain aware tools such as Spotfire and Genesis’ own iVAQ toolset for statistics and Monte Carlo data analytics.
There is brief coverage of data QC where Damski disses database stored procedures for actions like checking data ranges and validity. Instead we should be using tools like Datavera and (another plug) Genesis XCheck. Data visualization likewise requires its own tools such as Spotfire and Genesis XPlot (and another).
A chapter on drilling data introduces Deming’s ‘plan, do, check, act’ approach. Daily drilling reporting is highlighted as key to subsequent analysis and improvement. Some sections, particularly drilling optimization, the ‘statistical AFE,’ maps and logs do little more than introduce the subject. Rather extensive coverage of Energistics standards is not matched with a brief aside to PPDM. Material in the case history chapter is covered in a superficial manner.
A final chapter on drilling’s future concludes that the ‘future is now’ and offers evidence in the form of digital oilfield-type tools such as ProNova, Verdande DrillEdge to conclude with an introduction to the SPE DSATS initiative.
DDV is an interesting, brief (33k words) and idiosyncratic
collection of reflections on drilling data. A companion
website is
to provide an ‘extended discussion’ of the book’s content. All in all,
DDV is reasonable value at $7 in eBook form.
* 2014, Genesis
Publishing. 138 pages. Available on Amazon.
This article originally appeared in Oil IT Journal 2015 Issue # 1.
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