Increase Your Operational Efficiency with Better Data Visibility

Just as important as keeping a steady flow of oil and gas on every well, the same goes for production data. Individual and collaborative decisions rely on each discipline having access to that data.

Production data is the lifeblood of every oil and gas company. Providing the ability to capture and distribute accurate data quickly across the organization separates top-performing operators from the pack.

Right Place, Right Time

Having better data visibility allows you to get the right data about the right asset to the right person at the right time. In the end, everybody’s job in production operations is to ensure the assets (the well and all associated equipment) are producing or operating at the best possible rate. That means having the ability to see data from disparate sources combined, sliced, and presented in multiple different formats so that each person consuming the data can use and analyze it in the way that helps them perform more effectively.

Production data not only provides operations the information they need, but it also feeds multiple downstream systems and processes. Because of this, it’s critical that the data be correct and reliable.

Incorrect or poor-quality data can impact various departments. For example:

• how much water is being produced impacts hauling activities
• pressures on compressors can affect whether they’re operating efficiently or on the verge of failing
• the amount of oil and gas available today and next week lets marketing know what is available to sell
• the volume of gas being flared must be included in regulatory reporting
• and of course, raw measurement data is key to the production allocation process, which in turn feeds revenue, accounting, and reserves estimation

Everything ties back to having the right data available to the right person in the context they need to perform their specific function. For example, a production accountant is responsible each month for reporting average casing and tubing pressure on a well in a regulatory report. At this frequency, the data is informational because what the production accountant is really focused on is ensuring that the monthly well level volumes (produced, sold, injected, etc.) are correct.

However, a foreman may need to see the pressures charted daily over time to spot issues that may affect whether the well is recovering oil, gas, and water at the projected or forecasted rate.

Another example of focused data visibility is around water reporting. A superintendent and the team responsible for the costs associated with trucking and disposing produced water need to be able to see which tanks are close to filling, how much water each hauler trucked away, and whether it matched what was delivered to the salt water disposal. But an engineer’s concern regarding water may be focused on the ratio of water to oil and gas so that he can predict liquid loading before it happens.

The result of not having visibility into the right data can be diminished data quality, which in turn can lead to sub-optimal actions and decisions. Similarly, not delivering data with context translates to wasted time hunting for information from multiple sources and possibly missing windows of opportunity to address core operational issues.

How to Serve the Right Data to the Right Person

We’ve established that data needs to be presented in the way each person needs to view it and use it. Stakeholders from different departments are looking at elements of the same data, often combined with different data streams and time frames, for different reasons. To serve those needs, a solution should enable access to multiple data sources with configurable views to present the data in the way that each area needs to view it.

The optimal solution is a production system that not only captures data but provides tools and capabilities to visualize it through configurable views, tables, graphs, reports, and hierarchies. This enables the user to see data sliced and diced in multiple formats and provides them the ability to roll up and drill down on demand.

The flow of good data is essential throughout each system and discipline that consumes and reports it. Beyond just measuring, validating, allocating, and integrating across systems, production data must be visible to each person as they need to see it based on their roles and responsibilities. Data presented in proper context allows assets to be optimized and maintained over their lifecycle. Production systems allow visibility into data from multiple sources that can be easily scaled as new equipment and assets are added through internal growth or by acquisition.

It’s critical that oil and gas companies leverage available production and operational data effectively to compete in today’s dynamic oil and gas industry environment.

About The Author
Clara Fuge is vice president of product management at P2. With more than 20 years of experience providing software solutions to the energy industry, her expertise lies in upstream hydrocarbon accounting and production operations. Clara graduated with a degree in Economics from the University of Texas at Austin and is a member of several industry groups, including the American Petroleum Institute’s Committee on Production Measurement & Allocation. A self-proclaimed “allocations geek,” she is passionate about giving oil and gas companies the tools needed to report accurate well production. When she’s not working, Clara enjoys spending time with her husband and their three dogs.