Legacy data – hidden opportunity · (Apache, 2016). Review and analysis of 2D seismic from the...
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AEGC 2019: From Data to Discovery – Perth, Australia 1 Legacy data – hidden opportunity Keith Reeves* L&T Technology Services Limited 10370 Richmond Ave. Suite 1310, Houston, TX USA [email protected] INTRODUCTION The first step toward accessible and useful legacy information is to capture and index detailed metadata, allowing for rapid searching within the data repository. A warehouse filled with boxes of records is of little value if the information contained cannot be quickly located and effectively accessed. Does that file box on the top shelf contain crumbling paper files and perhaps a dead mouse or two? Or does the box contain the next world-class discovery that was bypassed in the 1970's because it wasn't understood at the time? Does that CD in the box contain a long forgotten geo-tech intern's favorite heavy metal play list. Or does that CD contain the missing seismic line that provides the key to a new drill target? How much information locked in data silos built by a single functional group or local team is lost when a company re-focuses efforts? How can a company leverage the value locked in legacy data? DATA REPOSITORY A data repository should provide: • Well-organized place holder for all data. • Classified and searchable metadata related to data source content and geographic location. • Data security. • Data QC and first pass visualization. • Easy delivery of 'work station ready' information. As a result of the large volumes of information that can be accessed in modern exploration a buzz phrase often heard is 'data lakes', however, before one can benefit from swimming in a 'data lake' one must first fill the pool. To make legacy data useful it is not enough to simply scan documents, maps, cross-sections, etc. to a digital file. Meaningful metadata that classifies and describes the content of a document needs to be captured and linked to the digital file to permit effective searches of the data repository. Unstructured data such as records and information existing only on paper and stored in boxes is often inaccessible on any level of efficient time scale. Scanning the paper to a digital file and capturing descriptive metadata creates semi-structured data that is much more useful and more widely accessible. At some level, almost all modern resource discoveries are derived from legacy information, however, many companies desire to preserve a competitive edge often result in limited publication of discovery narratives. There are a few cases, however, that can serve as an example of the role legacy information can play in the exploration and discovery process. GRASSBERG - ERTSBERG MINE, COPPER- GOLD, FREEPORT-MCMORAN, PAPUA, INDONESIA The path to the discovery of the largest gold mine in the world had its start in an obscure report in a forgotten archive. From 26 October 1936 through 24 December 1936 a group of employees of the Netherlands New Guinea Petroleum Company, all mountaineering enthusiasts, participated in an expedition to climb Mount Carstensz (Puncak Jaya), the highest mountain on the island of New Guinea (Dozy, et.al., 1939). Members of the expedition, including J.J. Dozy a geologist for the company, subsequently published a report which noted gold-bearing copper ores contained in 'The Ertsberg' or 'The Ore Mountain', as well as other occurrences of mineralized rocks (Dozy et.al., 1939). Figure 1. From Geological Sketch Map of a Part of the Nassau Mountains Explored by the Expedition Colihn 1936 (Dozy, JJ, 1939. In 1959, Forbes Wilson, the chief geologist for Freeport Sulphur Company, heard of Dozy's report from a friend who had taken out a concession via the company Oost Borneo Maatschappij (OBM). Wilson persuaded Freeport to sponsor an expedition that culminated in a 17-day overland trek to SUMMARY As oil prices have rebounded, operators look for new exploration opportunities. A new paradigm, however, is the increased focus on investor return rather than relentless expansion at all costs. This value-focused exploration looks for cost effective approaches and methods to leverage prior expenditures. Exploration driven by legacy data is one cost effective approach that is rising. Examination of resource discoveries are presented Key words: legacy data, discovery, information repository, opportunity.
Transcript of Legacy data – hidden opportunity · (Apache, 2016). Review and analysis of 2D seismic from the...
AEGC 2019: From Data to Discovery – Perth, Australia 1
Legacy data – hidden opportunity Keith Reeves* L&T Technology Services Limited 10370 Richmond Ave. Suite 1310, Houston, TX USA [email protected]
INTRODUCTION
The first step toward accessible and useful legacy information is to capture and index detailed metadata, allowing for rapid searching within the data repository. A warehouse filled with boxes of records is of little value if the information contained cannot be quickly located and effectively accessed. Does that file box on the top shelf contain crumbling paper files and perhaps a dead mouse or two? Or does the box contain the next world-class discovery that was bypassed in the 1970's because it wasn't understood at the time? Does that CD in the box contain a long forgotten geo-tech intern's favorite heavy metal play list. Or does that CD contain the missing seismic line that provides the key to a new drill target? How much information locked in data silos built by a single functional group or local team is lost when a company re-focuses efforts? How can a company leverage the value locked in legacy data?
DATA REPOSITORY A data repository should provide: • Well-organized place holder for all data. • Classified and searchable metadata related to data source content and geographic location. • Data security. • Data QC and first pass visualization. • Easy delivery of 'work station ready' information. As a result of the large volumes of information that can be accessed in modern exploration a buzz phrase often heard is 'data lakes', however, before one can benefit from swimming in a 'data lake' one must first fill the pool. To make legacy data useful it is not enough to simply scan documents, maps, cross-sections, etc. to a digital file. Meaningful metadata that classifies and describes the content of a document needs to be captured and linked to the digital file to permit effective searches of the data repository. Unstructured data such as records and information existing only on paper and stored in boxes is often inaccessible on any level of efficient time scale.
Scanning the paper to a digital file and capturing descriptive metadata creates semi-structured data that is much more useful and more widely accessible. At some level, almost all modern resource discoveries are derived from legacy information, however, many companies desire to preserve a competitive edge often result in limited publication of discovery narratives. There are a few cases, however, that can serve as an example of the role legacy information can play in the exploration and discovery process.
GRASSBERG - ERTSBERG MINE, COPPER-GOLD, FREEPORT-MCMORAN, PAPUA,
INDONESIA The path to the discovery of the largest gold mine in the world had its start in an obscure report in a forgotten archive. From 26 October 1936 through 24 December 1936 a group of employees of the Netherlands New Guinea Petroleum Company, all mountaineering enthusiasts, participated in an expedition to climb Mount Carstensz (Puncak Jaya), the highest mountain on the island of New Guinea (Dozy, et.al., 1939). Members of the expedition, including J.J. Dozy a geologist for the company, subsequently published a report which noted gold-bearing copper ores contained in 'The Ertsberg' or 'The Ore Mountain', as well as other occurrences of mineralized rocks (Dozy et.al., 1939).
Figure 1. From Geological Sketch Map of a Part of the Nassau Mountains Explored by the Expedition Colihn 1936 (Dozy, JJ, 1939. In 1959, Forbes Wilson, the chief geologist for Freeport Sulphur Company, heard of Dozy's report from a friend who had taken out a concession via the company Oost Borneo Maatschappij (OBM). Wilson persuaded Freeport to sponsor an expedition that culminated in a 17-day overland trek to
SUMMARY As oil prices have rebounded, operators look for new exploration opportunities. A new paradigm, however, is the increased focus on investor return rather than relentless expansion at all costs. This value-focused exploration looks for cost effective approaches and methods to leverage prior expenditures. Exploration driven by legacy data is one cost effective approach that is rising. Examination of resource discoveries are presented Key words: legacy data, discovery, information repository, opportunity.
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investigate the reported mineralization (Wilson, 1981). Wilson's confidence and enthusiasm for what he saw convinced Freeport to persist in spite of hostile terrane, local resistance, the Suharto coup d'état and resulting government corruption to develop what was to become the largest gold mine and the third largest copper mine in the world. This world-class discovery was rooted in an archived document that might have never resurfaced but for a conversation between friends.
ALPINE HIGH, OIL AND NATURAL GAS, APACHE CORPORATION, REEVES COUNTY,
TEXAS, UNITED STATES Apache Corporation announced the discovery of the Alpine High on 7 September 2016. The company acquired approximately 320,000 net acres spanning 60 miles across southern Reeves County in the Permian Basin of west Texas.
Figure 2. Alpine High location map (from Hunn, D., 2017). At the time Apache estimated their position held 75 TCF of rich gas and 3 BBO in the Barnett and Woodford formations with additional significant oil potential in the shallower Pennsylvanian, Bone Springs and Wolfcamp formations. (Apache, 2016). Review and analysis of 2D seismic from the 1970's and 1980's and led the Apache team to question the legacy interpretation that a portion of the Delaware Basin had was deeply buried, well into the dry gas window, during deposition and subsequently uplifted with the intrusion of the Davis Mountains complex. Rather the team concluded that the general area was a stable paleo-high portion of the Diablo Platform and the thermal maturation history was thus in the wet gas / oil window (Darbonne, 2017). The Spanish Trail 55-1H discovery well confirmed this concept.
ZOHR FIELD, OIL AND NATURAL GAS, ENI, NILE DELTA, EGYPT
In August 2015, ENI announced the discovery of the Zohr Prospect which they called a 'super giant' natural gas field. ENI estimates that the deposit, located just off the Mediterranean coast of Egypt, contains as much as 30 TCF of natural gas (Cozzi, et.al., 2018).
Figure 3. Eni Egypt Nile Delta blocks (Alfieri, M. (web current)). In 2012 the Egyptian government put 15 blocks up for bid. Purchasing 'data packages', consisting of legacy gravity, magnetic and seismic lines, for all 15 blocks, Eni's Egyptian subsidiary (Italian Egyptian Oil Company or IEOC) evaluated and reduced the option of only Block 9 (Shorouk). The government data package was supplemented with two regional 2D seismic lines that were not included and the seismic was reprocessed. Interpretation of the reprocessed seismic indicated a large reef structure. In February 2013 IEOC bid for and was subsequently awarded Block 9. A 3D seismic survey was considered to refine the target interpreted from the reprocessed legacy 2D seismic but the decision was made to drill the 2D-defined target concurrently with 3D seismic acquisition. Subsequent drilling of Zohr 1 in July 2015 intersected a 600 meter gas column and made the largest discovery to date in the Mediterranean Sea (Cozzi, et.al., 2018).
BLOCK 7, ZAMA, OIL AND NATURAL GAS, PRIMIER OIL, GULF OF MEXICO, MEXICO
Figure 4. Zama discovery location (Duey, R., 2018).
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In July 2015, Premier Oil Plc was awarded two shallow water blocks in Mexico's first licensing round. Through 2016, working with legacy seismic data which was tied and correlated to available well data, drilling targets were identified for 2017 and 2018. In 2017, based upon the interpreted data, Primer drilled the Zama-1 well which intersected over 335 meters of oil-bearing interval (Primer, 2017) and was the discovery well for what is termed one of the 20 largest shallow-water discoveries globally in recent history (Duey, 2018). Premier reported an gross estimated oil-in-place volume for the Zama structure of 1.2-1.8 BOE (Premier, 2017). The Zama appraisal program will take place in 2018-2019, and Pemex plans to spud Asab-1 in the third quarter of 2018. (Source: Premier Oil’s May 2018 investor presentation).
CONCLUSIONS Decades of legacy information, be it publicly available or held with private repositories, holds potential for the discovery of new opportunities. Whether it be by finding a hint of a prospect, by processing old information in a new fashion, or by applying modern technology to a previously non-commercial discovery. The challenge is how to rapidly and efficiently facilitate access to such legacy information. The case studies as discussed provide documentation that significant value can be found in archived data.
REFERENCES Alfieri, M. (web current) Nessun Dorma. Eniday, https://www.eniday.com/en/human_en/discovery-development-gas-zohr/ Cozzi, A., Cascone, A., Bertelli, L., Bertello, F., Brandolese, S., Minervini, M., Ronchi, P., Ruspi, R., and Harby, H., 2018. Zohr Giant Gas Discovery - A Paradigm Shift in Nile Delta and East Mediterranean Exploration. Search and Discovery Article #20414(2018)
http://www.searchanddiscovery.com/documents/2018/20414cozzi/ndx_cozzi.pdf Darbonne, N., 2017. Lower 48 Exploration: Alpine High, https://www.oilandgasinvestor.com/lower-48-exploration-alpine-high-1456936#p=full Dozy, J.J., Erdman, D.A., Jong, W.J., Krol, G.L., and Schouten, C., 1939. Geological results of the Carstensz Expedition 1936; Leidse Geologische Mededelingen 11:1:68-131. Duey, R., 2018. Old-fashioned Detective Work. E&P Hart Energy. Online. Hunn, D., 2017. How one old-school scientist found the biggest oil field this year, Houston Chronicle. 30 December, 2016, https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/energy/article/How-one-old-school-scientist-found-the-biggest-10827483.php Premier Oil, 2017. 2017 Half-Year Results, 24 August 2017. Presentation to Shareholders. Premier Oil, 2018. Annual General Meeting 16 Reed, S, 2016. How Eni Bet Big and Won Big on Natural Gas off Egypt. The New York Times, Energy & Environment. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/19/business/energy-environment/how-eni-bet-big-and-won-big-on-natural-gas-off-egypt.html Wilson, F., 1981. The Conquest of Copper Mountain: A Vivid, Personal Account of the Discovery and Development of a Spectacular Outcrop of Ore in the Remote Peaks of Irian Jaya, Indonesia. Atheneum; 1st edition 243 p. Press, W.H., Flannery, B.P., Teukolsky, S.A., and Vetterling, W.T., 1992, Numerical recipes in Fortran77 2nd edition - The art of scientific computing: Cambridge University Press. Zhou, B., 1988, Crosshole resistivity and acoustic velocity imaging: 2.5-D Helmholtz equation modeling and inversion: Ph.D. Thesis, University of Adelaide.
