Why GIS Petroleum

Why Use GIS in Petroleum? A f r e e e B o o k fr o m E x p r o da t

Version 1.2 (October 2013)

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Why Use GIS in Petroleum?

Table of Contents Section 1: Introduction to GIS .................................................................................. 5 Welcome .............................................................................................................. 5 What is GIS? ......................................................................................................... 5 What Can GIS Do? ................................................................................................ 7 Why You Should Care ........................................................................................... 9 Benefits of GIS .................................................................................................. 9 GIS in Petroleum ............................................................................................ 10 When Bad Stuff Happens ............................................................................... 11 GIS Vocabulary ................................................................................................... 12 Section 2: GIS in the Petroleum Industry ................ ........................ ............... ............... ................ ................ ............... ......... 14 A Brief History .................................................................................................... 14 GIS and the Oil Field Life-cycle ........................................................................... 14 Acquisition and Portfolio Management .......... .................. ............... ............... ................ ................ ................ ............ .... 15 Seismic Planning ................................................................................................ 16 Exploration ......................................................................................................... 17 Overview ........................................................................................................ 17 Basin Analysis ................................................................................................. 18 Play Analysis An alysis .................................................. ........................ .................................................... ................................................. ....................... 19 Acreage Analysis ............................................................................................ 21 Prospect Analysis ........................................................................................... 22 Land Management ......................................................................................... 24 Field Geology.................................................................................................. 25 Exploration Explo ration Summary Summa ry.................................................. ........................ .................................................... ................................... ......... 26 Drilling and Completion ..................................................................................... 27 Production .......................................................................................................... 28

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Field Operations Operati ons ..................................................... ........................... .................................................... ........................................ .............. 28 Facilities Facil ities Manage Ma nagement ment .................................................... .......................... .................................................... ............................... ..... 29 Distribution and Pipeline ................................................................................... 30 Pipeline Routing ............................................................................................. 31 Pipeline Monitoring ....................................................................................... 32 Vessel Vesse l Tracking Trac king ................................................... ........................ ..................................................... ............................................ .................. 32 Decommissioning ............................................................................................... 33 Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) ..................... ............................. ................ ................ ............... ............... .......... .. 33 Emergency Response ..................................................................................... 34 Data Management ............................................................................................. 34 Data QC .......................................................................................................... 34 Data Index Maps ............................................................................................ 35 Spatial Data Standards ................................................................................... 36 Petroleum GIS Data Models ........................................................................... 36 Coordinate Reference System Standards ................ ........................ ............... ............... ................ ............... .......37 Metadata Standards ...................................................................................... 38 Use of Standards in Petroleum GIS .......... .................. ................ ................ ................ ............... ............... ............... .......38 Section 3: Getting Started with GIS in Petroleum ............... ....................... ............... ............... ................ .......... .. 40 Introduction ....................................................................................................... 40 Play with the Technology ................................................................................... 40 ArcGIS Online ................................................................................................. 40 ArcGIS Explorer Desktop ................................................................................ 41 ArcGIS for Desktop ......................................................................................... 42 Get Some Training .............................................................................................. 42 Attend a Conference .......................................................................................... 43 Build your Business Case .................................................................................... 43


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Petroleum GIS Case Studies ........................................................................... 44 Develop a GIS Strategy ....................................................................................... 45 Conclusions and Additional Resources ............... ....................... ............... ............... ................ ................ ................ ............ .... 47 Disclaimer ............................................................................................................... 48 Table of Figures ...................................................................................................... 49


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Section 1: Introduction to GIS Welcome By now you’ve most likely heard the terms ‘Geographic Information Systems’ or ‘GIS’. Maybe you’ve used desktop GIS software without knowing it, to access data

that your organisation has purchased. Maybe you’ve used GIS technology but you’re not really sure what you’re meant to be doing with it in the exploration and production business. Or maybe you’ve heard that GIS is important and you think

you or your organisation is missing a trick. If so, then this free eBook should help you. Spatial intelligence is becoming increasingly important in both business and personal decision making. Think about the way you find information that helps you organise your life – do you look up the location of restaurants on the Internet? Do you use Internet sites to provide you with directions between 2 places? Or maybe you use Google Earth and browse the photos that people have uploaded? People are becoming more and more comfortable using GIS in order to make decisions about their lives, and the same is true of business. GIS is not a tool just for data managers, or the more tech-savvy geologists in your organisation, nor is it only relevant for upstream or onshore projects. Rather, GIS is a tool for problem solving that integrates geographic information from across the ‘E&P value chain’ into how we all understand and manage our work.

Yes, it can be difficult to know what to do with GIS technology if you are new to it. And yes, it can be quite a feat to convince your manager to let you incorporate GIS into your business processes. But, armed with the right information, it is possible. So here we go. In an effort to get you up to speed with how to leverage the power of GIS in the petroleum business, this eBook will walk you through what you need to know to in order to derive real business value from this powerful technology.

What is GIS? GIS stands for ‘Geographic Information System’. According to Wikipedia, a GIS is designed to capture, store, manipulate, analyse, manage, and present all types of geographically referenced data.


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Essentially GIS provides map-based systems for spatial data integration, query and analysis. GIS provides a range of functionality, comprising CAD, cartography, image processing and database management (Figure 1). But GIS is not just a software package - it involves a combination of technology, people and processes, working together.

CAD

Cartography

GIS

RDBMS

Image Processing

Figure 1. What is GIS?

A GIS lets you visualize, query, analyse, interpret, collaborate on and understand data in unique ways to reveal relationships, patterns, and trends. GIS data can be viewed in the form of maps, globes, reports, tables and charts. Spatial analysis (Figure 2) lies at the core of GIS – the ability to analyse data based on its spatial relationship to other data sets. This analysis capability is unique to GIS, and in general is not found in more ‘traditional’ E&P mapping software.


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Network analysis

Geometric analysis

Visualisation

Spatial Analysis Cartographic output

Raster analysis

Interface modelling

Figure 2. What is spatial analysis?

What Can GIS Do? Understanding the capabilities of GIS is fundamental in being able to plan how best to use the technology. There have been many papers and presentations written about the capabilities of GIS over the years and indeed a search on the Internet will elicit millions of results on the subject. However, you should not be alarmed at this wealth of information! Our experience with GIS tells us that it is possible to categorise GIS functionality into a number of broad groups (Figure 3), as follows: Data Organisation: Put simply this is the ‘building of a GIS’, whereby data is

collated from a variety of sources and organised into a logical structure, including database and file based data, as well as documents and metadata. Data may be received in a variety of spatial and non-spatial formats and non-spatial data with a location component will almost certainly need to be re-formatted into a supported spatial data format. Clearly, once loaded to GIS the data must be maintained so that it is as correct, up-to-date and complete as possible.


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n o i t a a t s a i D n a g r O

n o i t a s i l a u s i V

y r e u Q a t a D

g n i t i d E a t a D

s i s y l a n A l a i t a p S

g n i s s e c o r p o e G

n o i t c i d e r P

Figure 3. Types of GIS functionality.

Visualisation: One of the main strengths of GIS technology is that it allows the user

to view data from a wide variety of data sources at the same time, often in a single map view. Spatial data sources can be overlaid on one another, rather like using a light-table, as well as linked to non-spatial data (e.g. documents, websites, photographs, etc.). This visual data integration can help identify patterns in the data and highlight areas where data is lacking, as well as lead to a greater understanding of the data in a particular area. Current GIS technology allows users to view GIS data in both 2D and 3D and offers a range of platforms with which to view the data, such as web-based, desktop and mobile, as well as exporting to PDF and printing to hardcopy. Data Query: GIS applications provide a wide range of data query tools to enable

users to find data of interest. Simple GIS data search tools are capable of finding items using attributes (e.g. well name), location (e.g. wells in a basin) and proximity (e.g. prospects near to a pipeline or sub-sea facility). Both raster (i.e. grid-based) and vector (point, line or polygon) layers can be queried. Data Editing: Data viewed in a GIS can be edited both in terms of its geographic

location and its underlying attributes. In addition, GIS technology enables users to create completely new data, e.g. by drawing locations directly on to the map or by extracting co-ordinate data from existing layers in order to create new layers. Spatial Analysis : GIS differs from many other map viewers available within the

petroleum sector in that it is able to run spatial analysis between layers, such as


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calculating distances and areas of features; gridding and contouring point data; performing deterministic and geostatistical analysis on layers; and network analysis. Geoprocessing: GIS provides tools for manipulating spatial data, ranging from

converting between data formats and re-projecting co-ordinates, through surface analysis to satellite image processing. Many GIS tools allow such processing workflows to be grouped into models and saved for re-use. This allows complex data processing to be easily repeated ensuring that modelling procedures can be standardised or run iteratively. Prediction: Using a combination of the functions described above GIS can be used

to predict favourable locations based on vast amounts of data and multiple factors. Examples of this in oil and gas would be grading open acreage or siting a facility, based on multiple input datasets.

Why You Should Care Benefits of GIS There is a growing awareness of the economic and strategic value of GIS. The benefits of which, according to Esri’s gis.com website, are: 

Better decision making - Making correct decisions about location can be

critical to the success of an organisation. Common petroleum examples include deciding which acreage or play to enter, planning a pipeline route or seismic survey, managing facilities and planning emergency response. 

Cost savings and increased efficiency - GIS is widely used to optimise

maintenance schedules and daily fleet movements. Esri claims typical implementations can result in savings of 10 to 30 percent in operational expenses through reduction in resource costs. 

Improved communication - Maps greatly assist in explaining situations.

They are a type of language that improves communication with management, between different teams, departments, disciplines, professional fields, organisations, and even with the public.


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

Better record keeping - Many organisations have a responsibility to

maintain authoritative records. GIS provides a strong framework for managing data with full transaction support and reporting tools.

GIS in Petroleum Spatial information is a key element in any petroleum venture, from the initial opportunity analysis and exploration, through appraisal, production and the abandonment phase. It is generally estimated that over 80% of the data used in the petroleum business has a spatial component implying that it can be accessed through a map or linked to something with a location. In the petroleum industry large amounts of data have to be managed in order to cope with the complexity of the process of discovering new resources and managing producing assets. As such, the petroleum business requires the analysis of many different types of spatial data, often achieved using a GIS. There has been major progress in recent years in integrating spatial information systems with existing data management and interpretation systems, to the extent that GIS has started to become a critical part of the technology employed in the petroleum business. Esri is one of the market-leading GIS suppliers in the E&P sector, and lists Halliburton, Schlumberger, Oracle, IBM, SAP and Microsoft as partners, among others. Esri has also recently signed-up to provide a spatial foundation for geoscience applications interoperability via the Microsoft Upstream Reference Architecture (MURA) initiative, a project to enhance applications integration and interoperability for the upstream oil and gas sector. However, despite growing maturity in underlying GIS technology and increasing industry awareness, we believe that the spatial component of data is still underutilised. Many petroleum companies are struggling to define the role of GIS in their business, and few companies are extracting maximum value from their investment in spatial data and analysis systems.


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When Bad Stuff Happens Another way to demonstrate the value of GIS is to look at real world examples of what happened when spatial technology was not properly applied: •

PG&E admits violating federal law requiring pipeline inspections every five years – On September 9, 2010, a 30-inch-diameter segment of an intrastate natural gas transmission pipeline owned and operated by the Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), ruptured in a residential area in San Bruno, California. The rupture produced a crater about 72 feet long by 26 feet wide. The section of pipe that ruptured, which weighed about 3,000 pounds, was found 100 feet south of the crater. PG&E estimated that 47.6 million standard cubic feet of natural gas was released. The released natural gas ignited, resulting in a fire that killed 8 people and destroyed 38 homes, damaging 70 more. It was later discovered that PG&E failed to check nearly 14 miles of gas distribution pipelines for leaks for up to two decades when it lost track of 16 maps needed to guide mandated safety inspections of its system.

•

Maersk Victory jack-up sustains major damage – In 1996 the Maersk Victory jack-up sustained major damage when one of its legs broke through soft seabed limestone in St. Vincents Gulf off South Australia. The incident happened while the rig was jacking up on location prior to spudding the first of two wells in the Stansbury basin on exploration permit PEL 53. The South Australia Department of Mines and Energy Resources (MESA) undertook an investigation and determined that the cause of damage was the failure of the sub-sea sediments beneath the rig. MESA concluded that there was a failure to fully evaluate the risks of the drilling location, a failure to fully evaluate the geotechnical data of the sub-sea sediments, and a failure in management systems and procedures for locating the rig.

•

Anonymous North Sea example of incorrect rig positioning – During a jack-up rig move the engineer looking after the navigation didn’t realise that he’d inadvertently changed the coordinate reference parameters

he was using. Later radar positioning checks revealed it was 1.5 km off location, in another operator’s block. The company in question had to


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move the rig at a cost of $750,000, and suffered reputation issues as the government reviewed its license arrangements (from the OGP Geomatics Committee geodetic awareness guidance notes document, which contains other examples of georeference integrity failures).

GIS Vocabulary Quick reference glossary: 

Attribute - A geographic feature’s non -spatial information is usually stored

in a database and is linked to the spatial feature by a unique identifier. For example, the status of a field or a well’s name. 

ArcGIS – Esri’s GIS platform, comprising desktop, mobile, server and online

GIS applications. ArcGIS is the global market leading GIS platform and one of the market leaders in the petroleum industry. 

DEM – A Digital Elevation Model. A raster dataset that represents elevation

values over a topographic surface. 

EDMS – Electronic Document Management System.

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Feature – An object represented on a map, such as a well or field.

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Field – Contains common values for a set of features. Usually a column in a

database. 

Geodatabase – A collection of geographic datasets used by ArcGIS.

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Geoprocessing – The use of tools, scripts and models to analyse and

manipulate geographic data. 

Georeferencing – The process of positioning a dataset such as a scanned

map image to its correct location in geographic space. 

Interpolation – A method of estimating a continuous surface at un-sampled

points between locations with known values. Similar to surface modelling or gridding in applications such as CPS-III, Petrel or ZMap Plus. 

Layer – The visual representation of a geographic dataset in a digital map.

On a petroleum map, for example, wells, fields, pipelines, and license blocks would normally be contained in different layers. 

MapInfo – A common desktop GIS application, owned by Pitney Bowes.



Python – A scripting language, often used in geoprocessing.


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Raster – Dataset made of a grid of cells or pixels containing a single value.

Satellite imagery, aerial photos and grid-based structure maps are often termed as raster data. 

Record – Contains all the attribute data for one feature. Usually a row in a

database. 

Shapefile – Storage format for geographic vector data stored in a set of

related files. 

SDE – An Esri database application for storing geographic data in a RDBMS.



TIN – Triangulated Irregular Network. A data format that separates a vector

dataset into non-overlapping triangles for 3D representation. 

Topology – The spatial relationship and sharing of geometry between

connecting or adjacent points, lines or polygons. 

Transformation – The process of converting the coordinate system of a

dataset to a different coordinate system. 

Vector – Dataset made up of points, lines or polygons, with an associated

attribute table. There are also numerous comprehensive GIS glossaries available online.


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Section 2: GIS in the Petroleum Industry A Brief History GIS developed from the rise of computer mapping technology in the 1960s, and by the 1990s, widespread use of Unix workstations and the personal computer had brought GIS technology to desktop computer users, standardised on relatively few vendor platforms (like ArcGIS and MapInfo). The 1990s also saw the rise of GIS use in the petroleum industry, with many large multinationals migrating to GIS from CAD-based systems. The first Esri Petroleum User Group (PUG), led by companies such as Exxon and Shell, met in the early 1990s. By the late 1990s oil and gas service companies such as Landmark and Schlumberger were starting to package GIS technology within their commercial software products, and use of GIS within data management, exploration, pipeline and land management started to develop. The 2000s saw advances in Internet mapping, allowing GIS data and analysis to be compiled by an expert using desktop GIS, but distributed to a wider user-base via Internet technology. In the petroleum industry this period saw GIS use spread to other operational areas, such as production, facilities management, HSE and emergency response. In recent years the rise of Google, in-car navigation systems and widespread GPS use have brought GIS to the mass consumer market, and this trend is set to continue with ‘cloud’-based GIS. Meanwhile, the Esri PUG event (now called the ‘Petroleum GIS Conference’) still runs annually in Houston attracting a larger and

larger audience, with regional PUG meetings also springing up, both inside and outside the US.

GIS and the Oil Field Life-cycle GIS technology has applications throughout the oil field life-cycle (Figure 4), from new ventures acquisition through exploration and production to abandonment. Examples of how GIS is used in each of these areas is provided below.


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Acquisition & Portfolio Management

Decommissioning

Seismic Planning

Data Management HSE

Distribution and Pipeline

Exploration

Drilling & Completions

Production

Figure 4. The oil field life-cycle.

Acquisition and Portfolio Management An oil and gas exploration portfolio contains data in multiple formats on potential hydrocarbon accumulations, such as leads and prospects, as well as information about competing companies and estimates of their portfolio quality and value, for use during farm-ins or when acquiring companies. The key challenges of working with such data are ensuring that the varied datasets can be integrated, that data is up-to-date, consistent, has a clear audit trail, and is kept secure yet accessible to those who need to use it. Not surprisingly, GIS is increasingly being used for this. For example in Petroleum Development Oman’s frontier exploration projects, GIS-based portfolio management tools and processes have been introduced to address some these challenges.


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Seismic Planning Due to its geodetic accuracy, data visualisation and integration functionality GIS technology is often applied to seismic survey planning. Whether it is onshore, using satellite imagery, or offshore, using bathymetry, sea floor surveys and shipping lane data, GIS can help analyse areas where seismic 2D or 3D is to be acquired.

Figure 5. Example of GIS-based seismic survey planning (Yates, 2011).

By way of an example of using GIS for planning a 3D seismic survey, Apache used desktop GIS technology to help plan some complex 3D seismic surveys in Argentina (Figure 5). GIS was used to move planned receiver positions to better locations using satellite image data, and also to help address the significant permitting issues encountered during the project.


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Exploration Overview Play and acreage analysis form a key part of the exploration process (Figure 6), but are generally the most poorly defined from a standardised process point of view. Decisions are often driven by subsets of the large volumes of data available to an exploration team, and by personal or historical bias, based on past experiences or exploration strategies.

Basin analysis

Play analysis

Acreage analysis

Prospect analysis

Figure 6. The exploration process.

This can present a challenge to oil and gas exploration – as Peter Rose, the petroleum geologist, noted in 1996, “the most difficult and critical decision in petroleum exploration is not which prospect to drill, but instead, which new play to enter”.

Many companies apply different processes to their analysis, varying between countries, assets or even individuals. This makes it very difficult to objectively review opportunities on a company-wide basis, and leads to greater uncertainty in opportunity ranking and portfolio management. It is also rarely seen as an iterative process; new data is rarely fed back in on a regular basis to refine the model. Technology vendors have traditionally focused on the prospect analysis part of the exploration process, then down in to the earth model and the ‘Digital Oil Field’.

There are also several innovative technologies associated with basin analysis, often driven by academic research. However, there is less technology support for the play and acreage analysis components.


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GIS technology has been used increasingly in this area in recent years, with much success. A challenge oil and companies have is that ‘out of the box’ GIS, being a horizontal technology, is not ‘tuned’ to the needs of the sector. Many companies only use GIS as a data integration and visualisation tool, and don’t exploit its full

analytical capabilities.

Basin Analysis GIS is beginning to be used more in basin analysis, generally as a first-pass screening tool before more specialised software is deployed. GIS can be used for petroleum systems analysis using data such as regional, structure, faults, gross depositional environment, hydrocarbon seeps, gravity and magnetics. Standard GIS functionality can be used to produce a number of exploration statistics, commonly employed by geoscientists such as creaming curves, field size distributions (Figure 7) and yet-to-find analysis.

Figure 7. Pool Size Distributions produced using ArcGIS for Desktop.

Exprodat’s Team-GIS Exploration Analyst software contains powerful tools for

easily generating such basin (and play) statistics. More advanced GIS analytics can be used to map likely sub-surface secondary fluid migration (Figure 8), using tools originally designed for hydrological mapping. This is a well-established raster analysis technique used to define drainage networks


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and basins using a digital elevation model (DEM). A variety of tools are available to assist with this work: 

Esri’s Spatial Analyst extension has hydrology tools to map the flow direction and flow accumulation across a DEM surface.

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Arc Hydro is a set of data models and tools that build on Spatial Analyst to enhance the drainage mapping functionality.

Figure 8. Regional seal surface showing potential migration pathways.

Play Analysis GIS has been used for some time in exploration play fairway mapping. Maps of areas of interest can be produced showing well results, well penetrations, paleogeography, gross depositional environment, structure and other pertinent datasets. GIS allows the geologist to see all the data available in a single application for the first time. In addition, the ability of GIS to label and symbolise features using complex patterns and shapes allows multiple feature attributes to be displayed on the map, e.g. a well may show the well location, the depth of penetration, net to


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gross value, as well as indicators for whether the play source, reservoir and seal are present or not. In play chance or common risk segment mapping, a geologist is able to assign a chance of success (COS) to each key petroleum play element, such as reservoir, seal, source, migration and structure. Once the data has been converted into a consistent numeric schema geoscientists can perform mathematical calculations on the play element data stack in order to summarise play adequacy or overall chance of success (Figure 9). If a region has a high COS in all categories it is coloured green, if one or more category are risky, it is coloured amber, and if a critical element is known to be absent the block is coloured red.

Figure 9. Common risk segment analysis (after Hood, 2000).

Prior to the use of GIS this could be a slow process, with each block having to be individually assessed against a series of regional maps. Any changes to the regional risk model would mean the whole process would need to be repeated.


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However, once the process is set up within GIS it can be carried out in minutes rather than days and iterated repeatedly which has the effect of dramatically improving decision quality. Exprodat’s Team-GIS Exploration Analyst software contains easy-to-use tools for

creating play chance or common risk segment maps using GIS.

Acreage Analysis Ranking opportunities via quantitative analysis using all available information require data integration on a massive scale. It is usually seen as too time consuming to carry out on a reg ular basis, if it’s ever carried out at all in a structured, repeatable way. GIS provides the perfect environment in which to rapidly evaluate and grade oil and gas acreage opportunities, such as license or lease blocks (Figure 10). It provides a unique way of mining large quantities of different types of data in order to help make a decision.

Figure 10. Ranked Haynesville Shale play sections, near Shreveport, Louisiana.


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GIS allows the user to integrate multi-disciplinary asset data (e.g. geology, environment, economic, infrastructure) in order to define analysis criteria and weightings; rank acreage and company acreage positions; and ultimately identify and prioritise opportunities. Using GIS technology acreage and portfolio ranking workflows can be dramatically shortened, standardised and rapidly iterated in order to improve decision quality, reduce uncertainty and cut decision cycle-times. Exprodat’s Team-GIS Exploration Analyst software contains tools for rapidly ranking

petroleum leases, blocks and companies, using GIS data.

Prospect Analysis GIS is occasionally used in prospect analysis, generally as a first-pass hydrocarbon reserve or volume estimation tool before more specialised software is deployed. In conventional hydrocarbon plays where petroleum reservoirs can be delineated and mapped it is possible to use GIS raster-based analysis to calculate the volume between two gridded surfaces, or between a single surface and a series of depth levels. The resulting volume can be multiplied by other volumetric factors such as recovery efficiency, net to gross, porosity and oil saturation to produce a first pass deterministic ‘ball park’ prospect volume. In unconventional hydrocarbon plays such as shale gas, shale oil or coal bed methane it is often useful to know the amount of area estimated to contain proven, possible and probable reserves, based on preliminary drilling results from exploration or development pilot wells using the common drill spacing unit (DSU) grid-based reserve classification technique (Figure 11). Due to its inherent spatial awareness, GIS technology allows you to calculate accurate reserve areas, as well as use buffering around producing wells to help estimate reserves. This is demonstrated by the newly updated Society of Petroleum Evaluation Engineers (SPEE) ‘Guidelines for the Practical Evaluation of Undeveloped Reserves in Resource Plays’ publication which includes a recommended reserve

estimation methodology based on GIS technology (Figure 12).


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Figure 11. 1P and 2P reserve areas based on Haynesville horizontal wells.

Figure 12. ‘Expanding Concentric Radii’ resource area estimation (SPEE, 2010).


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Once generated, such reserve area polygons can be combined with raster-based reserve-in-place (e.g. gas in place) grids derived from preliminary drilling at pilot sites. Using spatial analysis of the grids you can then calculate estimated reserve volumes based on the gas-in-place raster, as well as license interest and recovery factor attribute data. Exprodat’s Team-GIS Unconventionals Analyst software packages many of the

above reserve estimation workflows into an easy-to-use toolkit providing considerable efficiencies in terms of managing these complex geospatial workflows.

Land Management Considering that the first GIS ever built (the Canada Geographic Information System developed by Dr. Roger Tomlinson in 1960) was used for land management, it is no surprise that the petroleum sector has used GIS for land management for some time, particularly in North America. Petroleum lease mapping begins by organising mineral rights and lease information in a database, then reviewing the lease data individually to establish its legal position.

Figure 13. GIS-based land management (Gardner, 2009).


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Data types integrated in a typical petroleum land management system include survey data such as county boundaries, blocks and sections; lease data such as county courthouse data; well locations and regulatory data such as proration units (Figure 13). The way GIS stores information as attributes allows the ‘land man’ to annotate the

map with key data such as lessor names, lease expiry dates, working interests (WI), overriding royalty (OR), overriding royalty interest (ORRI), net revenue interest (NRI) and gross/net acreages, while centralising all land management data in an enterprise GIS environment also helps generate the reports that are a monthly regulatory requirement of many US state agencies. In addition, the integration of mobile GIS technology using GPS location has allowed the ‘land man’ to accurately capture data from the field directly into a

spatial database. This can be useful in tracking features that are too small to be seen from aerial photography or that post-date the aerial photography available for the area in question.

Field Geology One of the more obvious applications of GIS to the petroleum industry is in the creation and maintenance of geological maps. Esri’s ArcGIS geology data model was built specifically for the geoscience industries to help with building geological maps in ArcGIS (Figure 14). In addition GIS can be very useful in ground-truthing, i.e. the process of validating interpretations made remotely (e.g. from satellite imagery) through field studies. As with land management, use of mobile GIS and GPS technology with an enterprise geodatabase can streamline the integration of the field-derived data with the GIS database.


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Figure 14. GIS-based geological map (USGS, 2006).

Exploration Summary In this section we have seen how GIS is a key technology for supporting and improving the exploration process, including risk assessment and opportunity screening and ranking. The key benefits of this approach are summarised below: 

GIS provides the ideal platform for data integration in the exploration analysis process. Using all the data available, in a consistent fashion, improves confidence levels in assessing risk and uncertainty.



GIS can significantly reduce the cycle times for an exploration project, especially for manually intensive processes such as data integration, analysis and risk map generation. This time can be used to iterate and refine the models used for ranking opportunities, or to reduce overall project times.

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GIS provides a framework for developing consistent exploration processes across all assets within a company. This leads to a more consistent, auditable corporate prospect portfolio, and better portfolio management decisions.


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Reducing technical uncertainty, standardising process and understanding risk improves decision making and exploration efficiency. Better prospects can be drilled earlier in a programme, and an improved framework for integrating the results of new wells back in to the regional play risk model can be established.

Drilling and Completion GIS is being used increasingly in the well planning arena, particularly with the rise of unconventional resources such as shale gas, shale oil and coal bed methane. Not only can GIS be used to plan well pad patterns around multiple surface drilling constraints, but its unique spatial analytics can be used to calculate the most efficient drilling configuration.

Figure 15. GIS well planning from the Green River Basin, Wyoming (Shell, 2009).

One example of this is the Pinedale field in the Green River Basin in Wyoming, where Shell uses GIS to support the well planning and execution team, including drilling engineers, surveyors, production geologists and rig planners. The use of an integrated GIS database and analytical tools has reduced Shell’s well pl anning cycle


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from three to five months to just two weeks, and has enabled Shell to undertake multiple planning cycles at the same time (Figure 15). Exprodat’s Team-GIS Unconventionals Analyst software packages similar geospatial

well pattern optimisation workflows into an easy-to-use toolkit.

Production Oil and gas companies are now starting to use GIS in petroleum production – i.e. getting oil and gas out of the ground and into pipelines for distribution. GIS is being used to improve field production efficiency from single well completions to monitoring whole reservoirs. The data integration and visualisation capabilities of GIS allow production engineers to create smart maps containing production volumes, injection rates and recovery efficiency. Production data can be updated in near real-time on the map and this allows operators to create production dashboard applications showing wells or fields displayed using traffic light colour (i.e. red, orange and green) depending on whether production is meeting expected or target levels.

Field Operations GIS enables much more efficient planning and monitoring of field operations by coordinating equipment and personnel movements around rig sites, providing facilities planning and ensuring the safety of staff. Using GPS technology, assets can be tracked in real time, providing access to the most up-to-date information on which to base decisions. Onshore, particularly in the unconventionals arena, field sites can be monitored using GIS, e.g. using regularly updated DEMs to help detect subsidence caused by extraction of the resources. An emerging use of GIS for field operations is in using flying sensor technology to gather on-demand high resolution imagery across a field location in order to survey a site (Figure 16). This allows companies to regularly monitor sites and to identify and manage change, without having to commission expensive satellite data capture.


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Figure 16. The ‘swinglet CAM’ flying sensor from senseFly.

Facilities Management Many oil companies have developed field development and planning tools using GIS technology in order to reduce project risk and cost. This is achieved through generating a common 3D visualization tool for data generated by engineering disciplines, such as reservoir engineering, seabed equipment and onshore process facilities (Figure 17). In this example from Chevron, the system integrates decision planning, minimizes field layout design conflicts, supports a centralized database development, provides design verification utilizing ROV-based 3D simulation, promotes training, enables solutions to be verified before equipment is ordered, improves understanding between the oil company and contractors, and supplies support throughout the life-cycle of the field. GIS field layout planning is initiated by compiling geophysical assessments, hazard maps, bathymetry, existing infrastructure, reservoirs, and well data. Engineers then position equipment such as pipelines, umbilicals, surface-processing host, mooring lines, and risers. 3D GIS technology can then be used to visualize the field layout.


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Data can be exported to AutoCAD so engineering drawings can be generated these are used with front-end engineering and design (FEED) contactors and to generate bids.

Figure 17. Web-based GIS facilities management application (Moore, 2009).

The survey of installed equipment (e.g. manifold foundation piles and wellhead conductors) can be integrated into the GIS to provide as-built details of the field layout. 3D simulations use these as-built details to provide virtual measurements for subsea equipment locations, which enables jumper spools to be pre-fabricated, thereby reducing the requirement to perform subsea metrology and project costs.

Distribution and Pipeline The strict regulations imposed on pipelines combined with the negative consequences of an accident make decisions regarding pipeline integrity management increasingly important. As a result many oil companies use GIS across the project life-cycle, capturing engineering information while projects are under construction and managing it during the operational phase, which can be essential for meeting regulatory reporting obligations.


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In addition to the benefits GIS provides in centralising data management for such infrastructure projects, GIS analysis and monitoring can also be used for specific value-add scenarios, such as pipeline routing and pipeline monitoring. Outside of the pipeline domain GIS also has an important role to play in the successful use of vessels in safely and cleanly distributing hydrocarbons by sea. While GIS is used heavily in port management, oil companies have employed similar technologies for applications such as vessel tracking.

Pipeline Routing Pipelines carrying petroleum products are capital-intensive projects, so determining an optimum route becomes very important in managing the significant operational costs involved. This is a non-trivial and time consuming task, comprising analysis of terrain types and distances. However, using GIS spatial and network analyses the process can be simplified significantly through the use of ‘least-cost path analysis’ - the route of least resistance between a source point and destination, based on the effort required to pass through cells in one or more cost raster datasets, such as slope (based on a DEM) and land-cover (Figure 18).

Figure 18. Least-cost path analysis between two locations.


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Studies have shown that GIS-based least cost path analysis can produce more environmentally friendly routes, which are between 5-15% cheaper to implement than traditional routing methods.

Pipeline Monitoring Once pipelines have been constructed they need to be continually monitored to check for leaks and geo-hazards, and to manage and track inspections, the frequency of which is often a regulatory requirement. A great example of using GIS for pipeline monitoring is Ormen Lange, Europe’s largest offshore subsea development, which services c. 20% of the UK’s gas demand. It comprises giant subsea templates, wells and pipeline, bringing gas to the Nyhamna processing plant from where it is transported to the UK via the world’s largest subsea gas pip eline which is c. 1200km long.

GIS is used on the project to support field and survey operations; subsea inspection; seafloor geodesy; and asset management. One key use of the GIS is in understanding the complex seabed topography, and digital video has been integrated with the GIS to allow engineers to view the sections of the pipeline and monitor any hazards affecting the installation.

Vessel Tracking Away from the pipeline area GIS is also useful for tracking valuable assets, especially those that are mobile, such as vehicles and boats. By way of an example Saudi Aramco’s existing telecommunications infrastructure is

being leveraged to dispatch and track the movement of company cars, heavy trucks, and ocean-going oil tankers (Figure 19). Knowing the precise location of vehicles and vessels is essential for the timely delivery of goods and services, as well as for efficient emergency response.


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Figure 19. Web-based GIS vessel tracking s ystem (Saudi Aramco, 2007).

Decommissioning Once the petroleum has been extracted from the field it is usually necessary to decommission it by removing the producing infrastructure and, if onshore, recovering the land for re-use. The process is essentially a combined facilities management and environmental challenge, and can be heavily regulated. It is therefore natural that GIS has a role to play, especially if field data from the earlier phases of the oil field life-cycle has already been centralised in an enterprise GIS.

Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) Environmental management is an intrinsic part of petroleum operations through the entire oil field life-cycle. GIS can help with creating environmental impact assessments, complying with local disaster response regulations, remediating sites after decommissioning, and tracking of natural phenomena such as hurricanes or storms in order to minimise disruption to production facilities.


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GIS is also used by many companies to provide up-to-date maps for staff driving in remote desert locations, and to track the position of their vehicles in real-time. Companies can supply their field-based staff with the most up-to-date GIS data via either mobile GIS tools or hardcopy map books in order to assure their safety while in the field.

Emergency Response GIS is becoming increasingly important in response to emergencies such as oil spills and gas explosions, both in mitigation planning and response management. Data including environmentally sensitive areas, biological resources and human activity can be loaded into a GIS and made available to all stakeholders, potentially even the public. Users of the system can then rank areas by environmental sensitivity or ease of clean-up, or monitor progress of an on-going response. Emergency response best practise is to maintain a shared ‘common operating picture’ (COP) at all times. This can be done via web-based or dashboard GIS applications comprising all relevant data in order to provide accurate situational awareness with the ability to add data from the field. This leads to better decision making for improved responses. A recent example of this was the response to the Deepwater Horizon incident in the Gulf of Mexico, the largest oil spill in United States history. This effort was aided by the most extensive deployment of field GIS for any disaster. For the first time, responders using mobile GIS technology had a simple process providing twoway situational awareness between field operatives and response agencies in near real time.

Data Management As we have seen, spatial data is used throughout the oil field lifecycle for visualization, modelling, analysis, and decision-making. It is therefore essential that this is underpinned by robust spatial data management.

Data QC Many non-spatial data management projects can benefit from the application of GIS technology, as data errors can be obvious once the data has been added to a map. This is especially true when cleaning up large amounts of data such as a


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region’s wells or land parcels, and the geoprocessing capabilities provided by GIS

technology can be used to semi-automate data QC and reviews.

Data Index Maps One of the most common uses of GIS in oil and gas data management is to provide a ‘data index map’ to oil company users so that they drastically reduce the amount

of time they spend looking for the data they need to do their work. Often such maps are delivered using web-based GIS technology, and act as an easy-to-use virtual data integrator, showing all data of interest side-by-side in a single interface (Figure 20).

Figure 20. Web-based data index map.

Using Web technology you can ‘drill -down’ from the data index map into more

detailed data, e.g. from a well to its completion log, from a lease to its legal


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documents stored in an EDMS, or from a pipeline feature to its last inspection report or digital video clip. There are a several commercial tools available for building web-based data index maps, such as ArcGIS for Server and Exprodat’s Team-GIS Discovery ArcGIS for Server add-on that allows you to rapidly build extremely powerful web applications and saves you the trouble of doing your own custom development.

Spatial Data Standards The consensus in the GIS industry is that an organisation should adopt standards in order to effectively deploy GIS. Standards of importance to GIS users in petroleum aim at achieving data consolidation, conversion and integration in order to maximise data interoperability. There are a variety of standards available for petroleum organisations to deploy: •

Data model standards.

•

Coordinate Reference System standards.

•

Metadata standards.

Petroleum GIS Data Models Data models define how geographic entities are described by GIS applications. The choice of a particular data model can yield benefits in terms of simplifying realworld features and supporting data interoperability between applications (both GIS and non-GIS based). The following GIS data models are available to the petroleum sector: •

Public Petroleum Data Model (PPDM) – PPDM is developed and

maintained by the PPDM Association, a not-for-profit society whose mission is to develop and maintain standards for the energy industry. A number of E&P organisations have implemented PPDM compliant data stores to manage corporate data in a vendor neutral format. This allows the company to develop a single master data store for all corporate data which can be integrated with multiple vendor products and services. •

Pipeline Open Data Standard (PODS) – PODS is an independent

database modelling initiative applicable to gas and liquid gathering,


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transmission and distribution pipeline systems. PODS was developed by the PODS Association, a not-for-profit organisation whose specific mandate is to develop and maintain data standards and exchange formats for the pipeline industry. •

ArcGIS Pipeline Data Model (APDM) – APDM is a database template

designed for storing information pertaining to features found in gathering and transmission pipelines, particularly gas and liquid systems. APDM is expressly designed for implementation in an ArcGIS geodatabase for use with Esri products and it is intended to work as a template for ArcGIS users rather than as a cross-platform standard. •

Seabed Survey Data Model (SSDM) – Oil and gas companies aim to

manage seabed survey data based on sound geo-information management principles and practices. The International Association of Oil & Gas Producers (OGP) set-up a task force in 2010 to define a standard GIS data model for seabed survey data. The resulting SSDM model can be used both as a data exchange standard (e.g. for survey data between operators and survey contractors) and as a data model for managing seabed survey data within the enterprise.

Coordinate Reference System Standards The EPSG Geodetic Parameter Datasets Standard is the primary standard for coordinate reference systems and coordinate transformation. The standard has been recognised internationally and included in other data exchange formats and data models such as PPDM. The standard comprises parameters required to identify coordinates through a coordinate reference system (CRS) definition and to define transformations and conversions that allow coordinates to be changed from one CRS to another. It is available for downloading at no charge from the OGP website. The good news for GIS users is that most commercial GIS software applications support the EPSG standard. That said, there is some variety in the level of support and in response to this the OGP set-up the Geospatial Integrity of Geoscience Software (GIGS) initiative to address user concern of violations of geospatial data


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integrity when using geoscience software. See the OGP website for further information.

Metadata Standards Metadata is ‘data about data’. With the diverse sources from which spatial data are derived in typical E&P workflows it is extremely important to maintain information about the content, quality, source and lineage of the data. As such a number of standards organisations have developed standards for storing and maintaining metadata, such as ISO and FGDC. Support for metadata standards in most off-the-shelf GIS applications is strong, and it’s usually just a question of selecting an appropriate standard and making sure the

metadata is filled-in and up-to-date. In the petroleum GIS space the ISO and FGDC standards are commonly used. The Energistics Metadata Work Group is in the process of developing a metadata specification for the energy industry, designed to help improve operational efficiency within the industry through adoption of metadata standards, guidelines and best practices. The intention is that this will enable efficient cataloging, discovery, evaluation, and retrieval of information resources, regardless of whether those resources are hosted internally or externally to an organisation.

Use of Standards in Petroleum GIS Perhaps no other industry has such an enormous investment in data acquisition and maintenance as the E&P industry. Leveraging this investment is critical to success and the application of data standards should be integral to this. However, in our experience many E&P business processes are not benefiting from spatial data standards. This is partly because spatial data has historically been stored in non-standards-based systems but also because migrating legacy data and systems to new standards-based products is seen as too time-consuming and costly to be worth the hassle. If using a standard seems overwhelming Esri have created a number of templates to help get you started, and these are available from the ArcGIS Petroleum Resource Center.


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It’s usually easier to start something based on a standard or template rather than from a blank piece of paper, and we recommend pragmatic use of data standards on new projects wherever possible.


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Section 3: Getting Started with GIS in Petroleum Introduction If you’ve made it this far you’d probably like to know how to get started. Luckily

there are some easy things you can do to help you on your way, both individually and as an organisation.

Play with the Technology There are lots of ways to have a play around with GIS technology without spending any of your precious budget, and this is a great way to familiarise yourself with what the tools can do. Esri offer free GIS software as well as free trials of its commercial products.

ArcGIS Online A good place to start playing around with GIS is ArcGIS Online, Esri’s cloud-based geospatial content management system for storing and managing maps and data. Built on Esri's cloud infrastructure, it provides some basic web-based GIS viewers and allows you access to geographic content shared by Esri users around the world. With ArcGIS Online, you can: •

Create and share maps that can be accessed by anyone through a browser, a mobile device, ArcGIS for Desktop, or a custom application.

•

Access and discover thousands of free maps, datasets, services, tools and other geospatial content.

•

Manage geospatial content through an easy-to-use catalogue of items or groups.

•

Share your content publically, with specific groups, or keep it private.

Use the lightweight map viewers (Figure 21) to make and view web-based maps that contain a base map and additional layers you find in ArcGIS.com or that you load in yourself. You can set the area of interest, save your maps, and share them with others. The ArcGIS Online map viewers are free and only require a Web browser and an Internet connection.


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You can also embed maps you create with ArcGIS Online into your Web site or use the provided templates to make your own Web mapping application.

Figure 21. ArcGIS Explorer Online viewer.

ArcGIS Online is available in several ways, as follows: 

Free version, hosted on Esri’s cloud infrastructure.



Subscription version containing additional management tools and customisation options, hosted on Esri’s cloud infrastructure (previously known as ‘ArcGIS Online for Organizations’).



Subscription ‘on-premise’ version containing the additional management tools and customisation options, hosted behind an organisation’s firewall (also known as ‘Portal for ArcGIS’).

ArcGIS Explorer Desktop ArcGIS Explorer Desktop is a free desktop GIS application that gives you an easy way to explore, visualize, and share GIS information. ArcGIS Explorer Desktop can


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run in 3D ‘globe’ mode, and as such is much like Google Earth with the addition of

GIS functionality such as coordinate reference integrity and support for common GIS data formats. With ArcGIS Explorer, you can: •

Access ready-to-use ArcGIS Online base maps and layers.

•

Fuse your local data with map services to create custom maps.

•

Add photos, reports, videos, and other information to your maps.

•

Perform spatial analysis (e.g., visibility, modelling, proximity search).

ArcGIS for Desktop If you want to get your hands on a fully functional GIS application, Esri’s ArcGIS for Desktop is ideal as it is commonly used throughout the E&P sector. Esri offer free 60 day trials of ArcGIS for Desktop and all of its extensions - specialized tools that allow you to perform more sophisticated tasks such as raster geoprocessing and 3D analysis. Like Exprodat’s Team-GIS tools for simplifying upstream petroleum workflows, other companies also offer extensions to ArcGIS for Desktop, often packaging up common petroleum workflows into easy to use tools. Take a look at Esri’s Solutions Guide for a list of its petroleum partners.

Get Some Training If you’re thinking of getting into using ArcGIS for Desktop it’s likely that you’ll

benefit from some training as the application can seem complex to the novice user. To get started you could check out the free Esri tutorials that come with the software, but another great way to learn is via a formal course. The following training courses are excellent ways to learn the application: 

Exprodat petroleum GIS courses – Focus specifically on the application of ArcGIS in the petroleum sector, using common E&P scenarios, data and workflows.



Esri courses – Teach the ArcGIS application using non-petroleum specific examples and data.


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Attend a Conference There are a number of conferences and events aimed specifically at the petroleum GIS sector. Attending these can give you a great overview of what companies have achieved with GIS and where the technology is heading. They’re also a great way to

meet people with similar interests and to build up your professional network. Some of the best conferences for this are: 

Esri Petroleum GIS Conference – Formally known as the “Esri Petroleum User Group Conference” or “Esri PUG”, this event focusses on using ArcGIS technology in the oil and gas industry and features Esri sessions, technical workshops, user presentations, networking events and an exhibition of partner solutions. It is held in Houston, Texas, with regional PUG meetings held annually in Europe and elsewhere.



GITA GIS for Oil & Gas Pipeline Conference – This conference, with a technology-neutral focus on the downstream, features seminars, technical paper presentations, discussion forums, panel discussions and networking events for geospatial professionals in the oil and gas sector. There is also an adjacent exhibit hall where companies showcase their offerings that target the unique needs of the energy industry. It is held annually in Houston, Texas.



GeoGathering - This conference enables oil and gas gathering system and production line operators to share their experiences in applying GIS technology towards data maintenance and integrity management initiatives. It is held annually in the United States.

Build your Business Case Once you’ve had a play around with the technology and got a feel for what it can do you’re getting closer to being able to present your team or boss with a business

case. Here are a few ways that our technical and strategic consultants have found useful for promoting GIS to decision makers: •

Generate buy-in before doing demos – As you discuss the potential of

GIS in your company you will most likely identify areas where GIS can


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provide clear business benefits. Holding back on the technology now will help you build relevant and compelling demos later, and prevent accusations of being technology-led. •

Be relevant - Make your examples as relevant to your business

challenges as possible. Identify the problems you see your organisation facing and explain how you think GIS can assist. •

Use simple tools - Having identified which area to focus your demo, you

now need to select the right technology. Make your demo simple enough for decision makers who don't have time to learn complex technical applications. Use simple tools like ArcGIS Explorer or ArcGIS Online to demonstrate that GIS does not have to be exclusive to specialists. •

KISS - ‘Keep it simple, stupid’ - you might only get one shot at this, so

make it easy to understand, and keep it brief. Prepare a five minute presentation with plenty of additional material to embellish if necessary. If all goes well you can always reschedule another meeting at a later date to show further detail. •

Use consumer reference points - Your manager might not know it, but he’s probably more GIS savvy than he realises. Has he ever used Google

Earth? Satnav? Mobile phones? Over the last 5 years we have seen a proliferation of GIS related applications in the domestic market so make the most of any examples that your audience might already be familiar with. •

Bring it back to the bottom line - Focus on return on investment, e.g.

through efficiency savings, improved decision making and better risk management. Esri’s own Business Benefits of GIS website is a great

resource. You might also consider using a pre-existing strategy approach like Exprodat’s GIS Strategy model (see below). A great way to bolster your business case is to look at what other companies or organisations have achieved through using GIS, and many of these are available as case studies on the internet.

Petroleum GIS Case Studies The following websites contain case study material that you can use for reference:


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•

Esri’s GIS for Petroleum website .

•

Esri’s Petroleum GIS Perspectives newsletter.

•

Esri’s Petroleum User Group event website.

•

Exprodat’s client case studies.

•

Exprodat’s blog.

Develop a GIS Strategy Once you’ve got buy-in to invest in the technology it is useful to get organised by

having a strategy for getting the most out of GIS. Many companies and organisations struggle to realise the benefits that GIS technology can deliver because they have not developed a coherent GIS strategy.

Vision

Implement

Strategy

Prioritise

Governance

Define projects

Figure 22. Steps in implementing a GIS strategy.

A GIS strategy should provide a company or organisation with clear goals that will inform all decisions taken around GIS technology ensuring that any GIS initiatives make sense in a wider GIS and IM framework. Additionally, having a correctly defined GIS strategy in place will increase the likelihood of rolling out successful GIS projects by making sure that technology is not rolled out in isolation to the rest of the business.


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One of the fundamentals when developing a GIS strategy is assessing which stage of GIS maturity an organisation is currently in and which maturity stage they are trying to progress to. This may be expressed in terms of a simply stated vision, or mapped out in more detail as the desired future state (or strategic goals). The stages in implementing a GIS strategy (Figure 22) can be summarised as follows: •

Set your vision – A brief statement of what it is you want to achieve.

•

Develop the strategy – Where are you now and what do you need to do

to achieve your vision? You could use Exprodat’s GIS maturity model to help, or you could use your own model. Ideally the strategy should be integrated with the organisation’s Information Management strategy. •

Set the governance – Make sure that your organisation is correctly set-

up to deliver the strategy successfully. This will include setting roles and responsibilities, e.g. for GIS Manager, GIS Stakeholder Group, or key users/champions/support staff, as well as lines of reporting, budgetary structures, etc. •

Define the projects – What projects should you implement, according to

your strategy, in order to progress towards achieving your vision? This stage might require some business analysis to find out what the precise requirements from certain users or functions really are. •

Prioritise the projects – Once the project list has been built what

projects should take priority? Are there dependencies between the projects? Is there enough funding? What projects will deliver the fastest successes (important for keeping management buy-in)? •

Implement the projects – Finally, you can start implementing the

projects. Delivering a successful GIS requires careful planning and business analysis. Time spent up front planning what to do will pay dividends when it comes to actually getting down to the technical work. If you need help with developing a GIS strategy take a look at the Exprodat GIS Strategy model or contact Exprodat for assistance.


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Conclusions and Additional Resources GIS is clearly on the ‘oil patch’ to stay. From its heartland of use in exploration and

data management, GIS is emerging as an important technology across much of the oil field life-cycle, with Esri the dominant GIS technology provider. After reading this eBook you should have a solid foundation to start using GIS technology in your business. If you’d like some help with this then do contact Exprodat – the chances are that we can help you, regardless of where you are based: 

Design a GIS strategy for getting the most out of GIS.



Build, refresh or help you manage your GIS data.



Deploy web-based GIS applications across your organisation.



Provide GIS support to users or projects.



Provide training on using ArcGIS in E&P.



Get started with exploration analysis tools.



Apply GIS to the unconventionals sector, from play based exploration, through acreage analysis to reserve estimation and well planning.


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Disclaimer This eBook is provided free of charge and contains a combination of both Exprodat’s own and publically derived information. We’ve included references

throughout the eBook to any non-Exprodat material using hyperlinks rather than using an academic style of referencing, in an attempt to make the eBook interactive and fun to read. The eBook is updated from time-to-time and you can download the latest version from our website. If we’ve missed out a hyperlink to non-Exprodat content, or indeed if we have

missed something out or just got something wrong, then please do let us know by emailing [email protected] and we’ll correct the error and post a new version. Also, if you’ve enjoyed reading this eBook please do share it on your favourite

social media channels using the links in the document footer. Many thanks! Exprodat


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