Fifty per cent of the oil and gas companies will have advanced analytics and asset integrity capability by 2016, said Jess Kozman, Asia-Pacific representative at professional Petroleum Data Management (PPDM) association, citing an IDC report
He was the opening speaker on Day 2 of Big Data Analytics for Oil & Gas event, held from 19-21 April, that gave an insight on how businesses can improve and optimise their production and maintenance.
A comment made by Awad El Sidiq from ADNOC Distribution, was that one of the most important aspect in businesses today is the transition from legacy system to Big Data system.
On this note, the seminar aligned its focus on real-time Big Data analytics and how it affects the decision-making process.
Kozman noted, “Analytics is about getting people at the right place at the right time.” He elaborated on to say that the acceptable non-productive time (NPT) is 4.9 per cent to 5.8 per cent, whereas in reality actual NPT is 7.9 per cent to 21.3 per cent, which is costing the oil and gas industry US$2.8mn per hour in downtime. Therefore, companies have to determine what are the key performance indicators that analytics is looking to address from Big Data perspective.
He explained how structured data can be extracted from surplus data and the properties then analysed on a software to make sense. “Data analytics is high-value information. It can help predict and prevent losses. However, it is advisable not to overdo predictive maintenance as it may do more damage than repair,” he added.
Geoff Nesbitt, group head of Technology Strategy at Petrofac looked at Big Data from EPC value chain. According to him, the adoption to Big Data in businesses will help leverage field development plans for reservoirs and increase production rates, thereby increasing the value of the company. “Big Data can help develop fast varied sensors, accessible storage, machine to machine interface and opportunities include developed meta data metrics, sophisticated modelling, machine learning, remote monitoring as well as certification verification.”
He added on to say that companies must make an investment on Big Data to reduce maintenance costs.
Making a note on structuring E&P data to ensure availabilty and business continuity, Sergey Fokin, head of data management & geoinformation at Total E&P, made references to the practices Total has been successfully adopting Big Data in fields of geomatics, topography and geosciences.
He discussed ideas like how data centres can affect business losses and how can Big Data help disaster recovery as well. He also advised that in order to mitigate risks, it is necessary to put in place an ‘APP architecture’.
Digital oilfields have the sole purpose to maximise oilfield recovery and eliminate NPT. However, this cannot be achieved without data in place. Abdulhameed Aborshaid, founder and CEO of Sigmoid Knowledge Development Consultancy in his speech assessed the benefits of Big Data applications in digital oilfields for reservoir management. “Reservoir management must understand flow management to help prevent breakage of premature water.”
Speaking about geosteering (the act of adjusting borehole positions to achieve more than one target), he analysed in depth the concept of data management in greenfield, brownfield and ifield scenarios.
However, the big picture in all the papers presented and the talks given, had one common point – Aquiring high quality data. Emmanuel Udeh, subsurface data analyst from Beneprojecti Nigeria, reasoned on data quantity matrix applied to the industry as well as unlocking volumes and adding value to businesses. According to him, high data quality is about accuracy, consistency and timeliness. Therefore, the ultimate prerogative of businesses must be to get maximum quality data for optimum performance. “Poor quality data impacts confidence, costs and decision-making.”
He advised that firms establish a structured framework for data quality management and develop quality management roles within the company.
Both days of the Big Data Analytics for Oil & Gas event saw high-profile speakers and attendees from Shell, Total E&P, ADNOC, Petrofac, Wipro, Halliburton, LR Synergy, PPDM, CommScope and Sigmoid Knowledge Consultancy converge to one platform and share their opinions on the real-time impact of Big Data in oil and gas industry.
For a more detailed round up of the event, please see the next edition of Oil Review Middle East.
Big Data Analytics for Oil & Gas has been taking place at the Al Raha Beach Hotel in Abu Dhabi, UAE.
