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Energistics demo - moving subsurface data between clouds

Tuesday, July 9, 2019

Oil and gas standards organisation Energistics ran a live demonstration at a SEG event of moving subsurface data between five different software applications on Amazon and Google Cloud, showing how RESQML makes it possible.

Oil and gas standards organisation Energistics ran a live demonstration at a trade show showing how it was possible to move subsurface data easily from different cloud hosted software applications, with all of the data in Energistics' 'RESQML' data exchange standard for reservoir data.

The demonstration was made at the Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG) 2018 Annual Meeting in Anaheim, California, in October 2018.
The presentation was made live at the exhibition stand of the Society of HPC Professionals.

Real data was used, for the Kepler field, jointly operated by Shell and BP, in the Gulf of Mexico. It followed a real geomodelling workflow.

The process began with a Kepler static model on Emerson software (Roxar RMS), which was updated with static software also owned by Emerson (Paradigm SKUA).

The data was then exported to IFP Beicip OpenFlow to generate additional properties. All of this time, the data was stored on AWS (Amazon) cloud.

Then the data was moved to Schlumberger's Petrel software, using Schlumberger's 'DELFI' platform, which runs on Google Cloud.

Then the files were moved back to AWS for mapping new properties to the model on Paradigm's SKUA. Then a simulation was run using the 'IMEX' software from Computer Modelling Group, running on AWS. Finally, time-lapse results were viewed on Dynamic Graphics' CoViz4D software on AWS.

At each step, the data in RESQML was read into the application, modifications were made on the model, and the resulting updated model was exported back in RESQML.

Metadata was also added at each stage, keeping track of what had been done to the data, who did it, and with which software application.

The only alternative to using the RESQML standard is to build one to one interfaces between each of the software applications used, which would mean extensive work, considering that the above workflow uses five data transfers from one company's software to another company's software. Developing one-on-one connections also needs someone to agree to pay for the work, either the software company or the operator.

Companies are increasingly looking to move data from one software package to another, because they are looking to analyse and develop data in many ways, and do not want to limit themselves to just software from one company, Energistics says.

And typically, with one to one software connections, one company ends up being the 'main' platform and the other one a kind of servant to it, with the company running the main platform having control over the data structures and what can be done. This gives them power to restrict what other software companies the client works with, which is something they may wish to do in order to keep the business for themselves.

There are also problems if data objects which aren't part of the main platform need archiving.

With RESQML, the data exchange is vendor neutral, the files can be read at any time in future with no dependencies, and metadata can be part of the standard.

Operators can make a mix of different applications, they can make partial data transfers if they want to, and the archive is not dependent on any vendor.

'This was a tremendous demo of the power of standards to facilitate collaboration, eliminate data friction and improve efficiency,' says Ross Philo, CEO of Energistics. 'As you can appreciate, it was something of a jaw-dropping moment for the audience.'

Most of the major cloud providers have joined Energistics' organisation, Mr Philo says, so they can implement the standards as part of their native stack.

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» Energistics

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