Abstract
Recently, the oil and gas industry witnessed an increased demand for executing complex and large-scale drilling activities that require accurate understanding of subsurface conditions and precise geological observations. To accomplish this, three-dimensional geological modelling is commonly used to accurately define sub-structural and physical properties in the areas of interest. Moreover, geological models are used as input to reservoir simulators to predict underground fluid behavior and ultimately to identify the most efficient, sustainable and economic hydrocarbon recovery scenarios. A geological model is a computerized 3D representation of the earth crust and subsurface based on a set of geological and geophysical properties and is generated using various computer applications.
Over the past years several geo-scientific software technologies were developed to address this increased demand of geological modelling. However, existing commercial geological modelling applications are unable to provide a systematic approach to manage and control various workflows and data assets generated during and after the modeling process. Occasionally, professionals encounter loss of geological modeling projects or the input data used to generate them or even their metadata because there exists no solution to manage and archive this important data asset. Furthermore, practical surveys show that there is also a need for a full dynamic data integration solution to optimize and streamline different processes and activities related to geological models and conducted by geologists, geophysicists, and reservoir engineers.
This case study presents Saudi Aramco's innovative approach of in-house designing and implementing a system to capture and manage geological modelling data assets regardless of the vendor application used for generating them. This system captures geological models projects and their input data with enforcement of a proper data classification and provides archival, tracking, and retrieval workflows across different stages. Additionally, the system provides an interface enabling professionals to search captured geomodels by their respective metadata such as date, well name, reservoir, model type, etc. This new data management system plays a significant role in streamlining geological models data integration while improving data quality and productivity of geoscientists and engineers by providing efficient access to data assets.
