Pumping units at work outside Midland in this 2022 file photo. Oil and gas companies are increasingly integrating their production and finance data into one data stream to help make activity decisions and manage their assets.

Joe Raedle/Photographer: Joe Raedle/Getty I

In the infancy of the oil and gas industry, oilmen used gut instinct and intuition to drill wells. Technology today is developing data that serves as that gut instinct, that tuition.

“Today we’re able to have data-driven decision making. It’s not so much a gut feeling of ‘I have a good feeling about this play but I’m looking at the data and it’s telling me this is a good place to drill, this is not a good place to drill.’ It backs up that intuition that’s been key to the industry, I feel, going back to the early days,” said Harrison Bedford, solutions engineering manager at W Energy Software.

Participating in a webinar presented by Hart Energy, Bedford and Michael Tanner, director of FP&A at King Operating, discussed the growing trend of merging production and financial data to offer a more comprehensive picture of an operator’s assets, what is generating revenue and where funds are being sent.

“Collaboration and communication are important because you’re able to increase the efficiency in which different departments can talk to each other, look at the data sets with all their contributing elements and you’re able to have good conversations about the operation of the business. It enables a more holistic and informed approach to spending capital, addressing reservoir management and allocating resources.”

Tanner said integrating production and financial data initially saved his company 10 to 15 hours a week that were spent generating reports and cut down the costs of cleaning and aggregating the data as well as making sure it was accurate. 

In integrating production and financial data – what Tanner called the meat of what managers look at in making decisions on the next well to drill, acquisition strategies and the company’s future direction – be strategic in how the company wants the data pipeline to work, he advised. He said his company made sure the data ran parallel rather than in a series and that information was updated across the board. Also, make sure the software matches with the company’s standard operating procedure. And make sure the company’s staff knows they all have the same goal and work toward a single set of requirements.

“Define the roadblocks specific to your company. Second, define a plan on how you’re going to integrate that data and, finally, get buy in from stakeholders across the organization. You really need everyone working together because ultimately the common goal is making the company more profitable and improving operations,” Bedford said.

The oil and gas industry is undergoing a digital transformation that is probably in the earlier stages than believed, Bedford said. He predicted data-driven decisions will become the new norm, helping companies reduce risks and opening new opportunities.

Tanner urged companies to embrace open source data and said, "the little guy has the advantage." Data integration is now standard and he predicted the "death of the dashboard."

Written by Mella McEwen

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