UK data repository seen as boost to oil and gas recovery

March 26, 2019
The Oil and Gas Authority has introduced the UK’s first oil and gas national data repository.

Offshore staff

ABERDEEN, UK – The Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) has introduced the UK’s first oil and gas national data repository (NDR).

This is a freely-available online platform housing 130 terabytes of well, geophysical, field and infrastructure data, covering more than 12,500 wellbores, 5,000 seismic surveys, and 3,000 pipelines.

The NDR is designed to help companies operating across the UK continental shelf to maximize recovery of the estimated 20 Bboe of remaining reserves by stimulating new investment, adopting new technology, and stepping upexploration activity.

In addition, the repository should assist future carbon capture, usage and storage (CCUS) projects, due to the large volume of reservoir and infrastructure data.

Nic Granger, Director of Corporate at the OGA said: “The national data repository is a UK first and is an important milestone in our vision to enable open, transparent data. The platform makes data available for machine learning and artificial intelligence and offers the opportunity to uncover new prospects and previously overlooked plays.”

Simon James, chief information officer at the OGA, added: “For the industry, it means access to a huge data pool to harness digital technology, relieves them of the regulatory requirement to retain information, and enhances collaboration.”

BP North Sea Regional President Ariel Flores said: “Effective use of data can be a game-changer in the oil and gas sector, delivering improved safety, reliability and efficiency, yet the value of existing datasets are never fully realized.

“The NDR should bring about a step change, bolstering the UK’s digital infrastructure and liberating data flows to unlock a wealth of new opportunities that could ultimately boost recovery. Sharing data and information to build knowledge across the basin is key to maximizing economic recovery from the UK.

More information athttps://ndr.ogauthority.co.uk/

03/26/2019