Articles
Over the last 10 months, I’ve had the privilege of serving on the Society of Petroleum Evaluation Engineers Software Symposium with a focus on a “Bake-Off” for automated/assisted Decline Curve Analysis. It’s been a great experience and (I hope) a very useful exercise for the industry, so here goes a brain dump of lessons learned, […]
Time series data in O&G is super common, has enormous potential value, and is (unfortunately) a huge pain in the neck. We’ve been playing with some newer tools on the market (specifically, Seeq) and are seeing some promise for the first time. So let’s walk through this – what are the pain points, where are […]
Bad data usually doesn’t directly lead to bad decisions, but mostly a loss of speed. It makes us double-check our work, doubt our processes, and question each other instead of just getting the job done. Slow, slow, slow. To me, that’s a common thread across E&Ps: the need for speed without sacrificing quality. RIP, Goose. […]
I recently wrote on Power BI vs. Spotfire for E&P use cases, and basically made the claim that they each have their strengths, and there are good reasons today for E&P companies to use both. But it’s much more interesting to try to peer into the future to see what’s coming, so let’s make some […]
In a recent blog post, I made the claim that API numbers make lousy corporate Well ID’s, which I was happy to see stirred up some agreement in the O&G data community (along with some disagreement!). Now that we have torn the venerable API number down, it’s time to build it back up. So, what […]
This really happened. It’s easier to teach someone to go to space than to teach someone to drill a well. This is well established in the true life documentary film “Armageddon” in which Bruce Willis saves the earth by hitting TD on an asteroid. While Ben Affleck may not buy that story, it felt easier […]
Coming fresh out of yet another client meeting about which number to use as a consistent well ID, I have something to get off my chest. API numbers are useful for many things, but they make LOUSY corporate Well ID’s. Three reasons: Formatting Inconsistent availability Shifting meanings by discipline We’ll walk through why these are […]
Software applications, as much as we love them, are like Bricks – they fill a spot in a wall, but they never exactly fit together. The gaps between those tools can be frustrating and costly to fill, which is why we believe so strongly in investing in good Spackle. What the heck do we mean […]
December is chock-full of fun. Crackling fireplaces, holiday ornaments, eggnog, and three major leases expiring under their own terms. Wait…….what?? That’s right. One well, which held 640 acres of leasehold and millions of dollars of PUD value, went down in late October. The production team is covered up with work, but they see value in […]
Like this, except ctrl+f is a thing and that guy moves at the speed of light Modern Oil & Gas companies are handling more data than ever. Staff productivity must improve for your business to remain competitive, whether you’re running a small PE-backed startup or managing a multi-asset E&P powerhouse. Data drives decision-making, efficiency, […]
As a data analytics nerd in O&G, a very common question I get is “Which do you like better, Power BI or Spotfire?” This is a lot like asking me which of my kids I like more: I love them both equally and I couldn’t imagine life without them. But they each drive me crazy […]
There’s 3 big questions every oil company of every size should be able to answer: “How much oil/income did I make?” “Which wells are making money?” and “What am I spending my money on?”. To answer each those questions I’ve spent countless hours logging into separate systems, exporting bits of data, combining all that data […]
I love changing lightbulbs – it’s quick, useful, and so very satisfying. But pouring a foundation or laying a roof? Heck no, that would be a complete disaster. In both homebuilding and data analytics, Construction should usually be outsourced, but Upkeep should be done in-house. Outsource the Heavy Lifting We bought our house in 2011 […]
In my 15 years of experience in the O&G industry, I have been deeply involved (most times acting as the middle-woman) in the intricate relationship between the Operations and Accounting departments. While they may seem worlds apart, both rely on accurate spending data for their success. However, accessing and consolidating this data has always been […]
This is a diatribe against standardization in E&P software technology. And also a diatribe against customization in E&P software technology. That’s because while One Size can *almost* Fit All, it never quite gets there. Skip to the end for some tips on balancing between standardization and customization! When I was a newbie reservoir engineer at ExxonMobil […]
Last week I had a chance to attend Quorum’s Qnections conference in Las Vegas. The purpose of the event was to showcase Quorum’s new and updated software offerings to current and potential Quorum customers and help make connections with 3rd party consultants like Velocity Insight who can help integrate data systems post-merger, implement new software, […]
Master Data Management (MDM) is one of those things you’ve either never heard or have (strong) opinions about. Let’s dive into why you need to wrestle with it, why it’s known as “the shortest four-letter word in data”, and how to make it better. Why should you care about MDM? MDM is an all-industries kind […]
When we at Velocity Insight get started with a client on an implementation project, we almost always find that it turns into a Data Quality project eventually. And while I love a perfectly clean dataset, it’s crucial to remember: Clean Your Kitchens, Not Your Basements. Kitchens My wife and I are celebrating our 15th anniversary […]
You know about the Grammys, Emmys, Tonys and more. You may have heard of the Darwins, Webbys, or even the Bum Steers. But I guarantee you haven’t heard of the MIEPS, the Most Important E&P Software Deal of 2022! This first annual award is determined with a highly rigorous selection process. The nominating, voting, ballot counting, […]
The most common question we hear each week is: “So which do you prefer, Software X or Software Y?” It’s a good question, an important question, but it’s usually not the most important one if you’re investing in technology. A better question is “How could I improve the implementation of the software I already own?” […]
Here at Velocity Insight, we see a bunch of databases. Like LOTS of databases. And since most of us have been in the industry for a decade or two, we’ve had a front-row seat to a big change that’s occurring in the data stack of E&P companies – a trend that we call The Shattering. […]
We talked in this space before about The Data Pyramid, a way of thinking about how AI, ML, and other buzzy techniques rely on data quality to be effective. I’ve found it to be an enormously useful metaphor when thinking about how to add value with data. But companies don’t quite act like our Pyramid […]
We just completed a project for a large operator to help them understand how their peers use data, and ended up spending a lot of time thinking about Data Lakes, Data Warehouses, and Data Marts. Whether those terms are old hat or completely new to you, stick with me – knowing which to use in […]
Volume, Velocity, and Variety. These three components are often used to characterize the scale of data problems in a business or workflow, but I’ve never seen anyone explicitly put them into an Oil & Gas context. The earliest reference I can find to this framework is a post by Doug Laney from 2001 – read […]
For years now, I’ve been using the metaphor of the O&G Venn Diagram of Doom. A typical E&P company owns dozens of pieces of software, sometimes even hundreds. The longer a company exists, the more likely that it has accumulated software with heavily overlapping feature sets. I love this metaphor because everyone loves a good […]
A while back, we wrote about our framework on the E&P software categories that we call the Big Six. Those categories are the most central, most integration, and most expensive pieces of software at a typical E&P: As expected, we quickly heard the complaint “Why isn’t <insert software here> included?! It’s crucial to how we do things […]
Buying enterprise O&G software kind of sucks. There are an enormous number of vendors, a bewildering array of features and capabilities, and a horde of internal stakeholders you’ll need to convince if you want them to adopt something new. One framework I’ve found useful is to distinguish Displacers from Augmenters. Displacers come to market attempting […]
Upstream O&G land data is a pain in the neck. Acreage reports are built on a weekly, monthly, or quarterly basis and acreage numbers are constantly changing as companies buy and lease, and as leases expire. To make matters worse those acres can be counted as mineral acres, royalty acres, or leasehold acres and can […]
Last week, I had a chance to attend the Energy Venture Investment Summit, a joint conference between EnerCom and the Colorado School of Mines. The purpose of the event was to connect energy-related startups with capital providers, so it was structured as a series of 15 minute pitches, with the audience being primary VC firms […]
I was talking to a client the other day about how modern data tools “smash and blend” data together, and ended up using the analogy of a trash compactor. It’s a useful analogy when thinking about data management and data analytics, so forgive me as I stretch this metaphor to its (absurd) limit in the […]
Written in collaboration with our Supply Chain Advisor, Amy McClenathan. Cutting costs has always been the name of the game in the oil and gas industry. While just yelling at your vendors works occasionally, the real ROI comes from efficiency gains like trimming waste, eliminating unnecessary work, and rooting out fraud. Again and again, these […]
The beautiful part of business intelligence tools is that they automatically update as your database changes or as you change databases, so the time you spend getting this graph just right doesn’t have to be spent again for each new database or database update. In my previous article I outlined several of the ways new business intelligence tools […]
As a software purchaser, you’ll never come across a more controversial, tempting, and frightening price than “free”. Freeware isn’t new by any means, but its recent spread in the world of oil and gas software means that everyone from E&P IT departments to software vendors need to grapple with it. In this post, we’ll dive […]
Recently, Zack Warren was interviewed by the Digital Wildcatters. They discussed Entrepreneurship, nicknames, conferences, and of course, Oil and Gas Data. It’s a fun listen!
Velocity Insight attended the virtual Enverus Spark 2021 online conference late last month. The event was free and offered almost 30 sessions to choose from to learn more about Enverus Business Automation solutions. The sessions were recorded and are now available for attendees and non-attendees here. While the majority of conference attendees were finance, accounting, and supply chain professionals, the Business […]
If you’ve been a reservoir engineer for any amount of time it’s likely you’ve interfaced with Landmark’s ARIES software in some way. And if you’ve interfaced with ARIES, you’re aware of the myriad ways it can make your life difficult, hide things from you, display data that’s not complete, or otherwise mislead the user. It’s […]
I spent much of the week at the AAPG/SEG joint convention – a quick read for those who couldn’t make it! Having spent most of my career in subsurface roles as a reservoir engineer, I’ve always been “geoscience curious”. With the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) and Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG) joining forces […]
When you’re talking to an industrial software company, there’s always a spot at the end of the meeting where you want to know – “so how much does this thing cost?” But that’s really not a helpful question – a much better one is “so what’s your commercial model?” Why is that a better question? […]
If you’re new to Cloud services like AWS, Azure and Google Cloud, you may be in for a shock when you arrive. Prepare yourself for…..The Microservice Maze. If you’re going to take advantages of The Cloud (and those advantages are huge, so you should be considering it), you’ll need to learn to navigate The Maze.
Getting your arms around software at an E&P company can be overwhelming Most E&P’s have dozens or even hundreds of enterprise software systems. But if you’re starting an effort on data quality, data integration, or software rationalization, where do you start? I’ll argue that at E&P companies, any digital strategy has to start by addressing […]
Velocity Insight attended the 26th annual Enercom Oil & Gas Conference in Denver this week. It’s always a nice venue to see what investors and C-suites are thinking about – if you didn’t make it, the recordings are available. VI was invited to sit on a panel Wednesday afternoon with some smart data-oriented folks – Luis Rodriguez, Pete Fischer, […]
You can’t go to a business-focused conference these days with someone talking about how Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning are the future, but it’s pretty clear they aren’t reality yet. I’m fascinated by the upside of AI/ML, but I haven’t seen much ROI in many industrial settings yet. Why the disappointment? It’s because of the […]
The Unconventional Resources Technology Conference is the biggest unconventional oil & gas conference for petrotechnical nerds, and a great place to see what’s happening in O&G software/tech.
Here are five quick takeaways if you missed it: