Dwayne Popowich (Energy Resources Conservation Board Alberta, which aims to be the ‘best non conventional regulator in world’) is working on an ‘open data’ concept to provide public access to electronic data in accessible and machine readable formats with minimal restrictions Enter the GeoDiscover and the Oil sands information portals. ERCB is working on geodetics, reserves classification and metadata standards for text and spatial data.
For Noah’s Paul Haines and John Ruddy, the PPDM Well_Component table (new in V3.8) is the key to enterprise data federation. Noah uses the table to tie different PPDM sub-models together in an ‘architecturally consistent way.’
Neuralog’s Rob Best provided guidance on raster log management—showing how to migrate an inefficient combination of files on disk and data in project data stores to a managed environment in NeuraDB. NeuraDB loaders offer a range of tools to match raster logs to wells, extract header data from SIF files and crawl network drives for images. Metadata can be built from file names and folder structures or extracted from project data stores.
Richard Cook (ETL Solutions) is an advocate of ‘practical data migration’ supported by documented templates. These allow for systematic data discovery, cleansing, test, migration document and reporting. A key issue is how to manage the legacy and new systems in parallel, which one is active, and how and when to switch off the old system. Good tools for data migration include Altova Map Force and ETL’s own Transformation Manager suite. Cook concluded observing that migrating to PPDM 3.8 was challenging and required standard mapping rules, test data and a good understanding of the data model.
Steve Cooper (EnergyIQ) argued that the PPDM business rules initiative should include ‘a consistent process’ for their application and more quantitative assessment of data quality. The key is to group related information into manageable data objects such as well location, directional surveys and tests. Rules are described in standard SQL and stored in the PPDM data model.
Kris Majury, FME ‘ambassador’ with Safe Software enumerated some of the many tools in SQL, Python and applications in the data manager’s arsenal. Majury showed how Safe’s FME Workbench and Server can be deployed to perform data harmonization tasks on-demand or as scheduled tasks.
Wes Baird gave some practical advice on PPDM usage based on his experience with Geologic Systems. Baird showed that a good knowledge of data and the model is required to realize the vision of an ‘enterprise data repository.’ You need to ‘understand chaos,’ ‘un-layer’ data and stick to a schedule. It is a lot of work! In the context of Baird’s advice, it is interesting to reflect on the fate of the ‘PPDM in a box’ initiative. This attempt to ‘shrink-wrap’ a PPDM database appears to have stalled.
The PPDM presentations are now online.
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