Petroconsultants are probably best known for their Foreign Scouting Service (FSS). Those fat files can be found in the storerooms and libraries of oil companies all around the world. Extracting information from them was sometimes a daunting experience. Plowing through months of scout reports and unfolding bedsheet-sized maps. This situation has already changed for some of Petroconsultants subscribers who now have on-line access to the last 12 months of the FSS data through the web. It goes without saying that this provides the mobile new-ventures specialist with a valuable resource, and may even enhance the quality of the scout information, as a two way dialogue with editors is now possible over the web connection. PDM was privileged to have access to the system for a short period, and our old new ventures specialists went to it. Full text search retrieved an obscure well in the Far East with a "Tithonian" section, and current production rates at some of our old E&P stomping grounds were located with a few mouse clicks (bad news I'm afraid!).
Pizzazz to come
What is lacking from the system at the moment is a map-based interface. All the data is alphanumeric and is presented through a menu and tree structure which while quite functional, lacks pizzazz. A4 scout maps will be added to the system later in the year, as will other enhancements. Some of these may include the push technology that is used by companies like Amazon Books. Here user behavior can be monitored by the system, and if you occasionally check a given basin for new field wildcats, eventually the system itself may proffer the information when a new well spuds. Librarians need not fear redundancy as Petroconsultants still publishes the hard copy reports and maps, but delivery is considerably faster and more convenient with the online service. For companies with Iris21 in-house, a concomitant service the Iris Frequent Delivery Update allows systems administrators to keep their corporate data stores in sync with Petroconsultants' master database.