CDA award seismic phase to QC Data, Petroleum Exploration Computer Consultants (PECC)and Stephenson and Associates. (January 1998)

Common Data Access Ltd., the UK's nationalE&P data repository has signed a contract with QC Data (the operator of the existingwell log and hard copy phases), Petroleum Exploration Computer Consultants (PECC) andStephenson and Associates for the initiation of the seismic phase of operations.

The project will involve the establishment of a seismic navigation database for the UK Continental Shelf, together with a database of company entitlements, license and cultural information. This information is to be stored in PECC's PetroVision Epicentre Database. Data access is to be via QC Data's Axxes front end which is already installed in-house at most of CDA's client sites. Stephenson and Associates will be initially populating PetroVision with cultural and license data from the DTI. Seismic positional datasets, starting with the last 6 years worth of North Sea activity will follow.

The establishment of entitlements will also be addressed early on in the project. CDA is to take a more pro-active role in the establishment of entitlements in view of the anticipated complexity of the task ahead. PDM understands that, contrary to established practice in the UK North Sea, all positional data will be viewable by all CDA members. In the past, seismic location maps have been considered as proprietary. This phase of CDA's development is a preparation for the on-line seismic phase which will be announced at a later date. Current thinking is that the future bulk seismic data repository will be "virtual". That is to say that entitlements will be managed by CDA but the data will be stored at a variety of sites - both commercial and in-house. Access to bulk data will depend on the previously established entitlements, but there is also hope that the hitherto tight restrictions on public domain seismics in the North Sea might be relaxed.