“Fitting Square Data

Into Round
Databases – Data
Management in the
Papua New Guinea
Foldbelt”
S Kreibich
Geotechnical Data Analyst
Oil Search Ltd
PPDM 2011 Perth Data Management Symposium

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 Oil Search Limited

Iraq
Tunisia
Papua Juha
Yemen
New Hides
Guinea Mananda

Iagifu Hedinia

Gobe
Global Fold & Thrust Belts PNG Foldbelt

Was incorporated in Papua New

Guinea (PNG) in 1929
Is PNG's largest oil and gas producer
and operates all of PNG's currently
producing oil and gas fields
Has exploration activities in PNG,
Yemen, Iraq and Tunisia Port Moresby

SRTM (Synthetic Radar Topography Model)

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 Remote & Rugged Environment
Looking SW to Hides Hegigio Gorge Highlands Highway

Strickland Gorge Hides Gas Plant Gobe/SE Gobe Facility

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 PNG Oil Fields Mountainous
Terrain
Hides 2700m
Mt Sisa 2270m

Moran 1760m
Mananda 2000m Mt Kerewa 2930m

Mt Bosavi 2500m

Hedinia Iagifu 1380m

Moro 830m
Iagifu Ridge Camp 1390

Lake Kutubu 800m

SE Hedinia 1120m

* All heights Approximate Mt Kosciuszsko =2,228m

DEM (Digital Elevation Model)

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 A Centralised Dataset

2007 - Well Data Clean Up

Duplicate and un-qc’d data across multiple Geoframe Projects
3 Year Project

2009 - Exploration Department implemented

Landmark’s Openworks R5000 (OW)
“Out of the Box” database
Same database for both interpretation tools & qc’d data
R5000 Openworks Master & Interpretation Projects

Migration & QC performed in-house

Data from Geoframe using Openspirit
Able to migrate only the QC’d Geoframe data
Beneficial to the Well Clean up Project

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 Data Migration & QC

Produced Well Data Set with QC’d:

Well Header
Deviation Surveys
Well Logs

Benefits:
Understand our data better
Act of migrating as
valuable as the
database migrated to Data Management Archaeology

QC’d Data Identified by the Corporate Interpreter:

“AAA”

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 Defining Corporate Stratigraphy

Geoscientists collaborated to produce

standardised stratigraphy

Subset of PNG Stratigraphic Column linking Major Play Divisions across Applications

Exploration wells correlated in OW – “AAA” set of picks

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 Square Data?
We may all encounter data from time to time
which doesn’t quite fit into our database.

“Square Data” at Oil Search includes:

Multiple well names
Seismic Datums & Height Datums
Formations that are repeated, over turned,
faulted

As Data Managers it is just as important to

understand the data that doesn’t fit into the
database, as much as the data that does

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 The Square Example

A fictional scenario of an Exploration Well in

the Highlands called:

“Square 1”

and how Square Data is accounted for in

Openworks

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 Square Seismic Acquisition
Juha
Hides

Hedinia - Iagifu

Gobe

FoldBelt 2D Seismic Helicopter Transportation Explosives Lowered Though Sky Hole

Bridging Planting Geophones Percussion - Rock Hammer Drill

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 What Are Seismic Datums?
REAL WORLD vs. SEISMIC WORLD
Depth Domain Time = Distance Time Domain
Velocity

Datum Static = (SRD-Elevation)

RepVel
0 ms SRD
Datum
ZERO COMMON RepVel
Static
Elevation REFERENCE
POINT
0m MSL
DEPTH

TIME
Changes to the SRD = Seismic Reference Datum And /Or RepVel = Replacement Velocity

Will Result in Picked Horizon Time Being Different!!!!

It is essential to keep a record of both
Eg: SRD = 2800, RepVel = 3500 is often written as 2800m@3500m/s
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 Effects of Datums on Seismic

If the Seismic Reference Datum & the

Replacement Velocities Are Different
Seismic Does Not Tie

PN00-501 PN00-500-ch01 PN00-504-os11 PN00-501 PN00-500 PN00-504

2000m 2000m 2800m

@ @ @ 2000m@3000m/s
3000m/s 4000m/s 3500m/s

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 Why Not Re-Datum Seismic
It is not possible for all the seismic to exist on the same Datum
Historical data processed with different datums – would require
reprocessing
Changing replacement velocity can affect subsurface processing

Juha
Hides

Komo

Iagifu Ridge
Moro

Gobe

Highlands Seismic Datasets which Cannot Currently be Tied in Time Domain

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 Seismic Datums In Openworks

We record the SRD and RepVel in the Remarks section

of the Seismic Data Manager

SRD & RepVel combination is the most important piece

of information to record with our seismic dataset

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 Tying Depth World to Seismic
World
2000m@4000m/s 2800m@3500m/s
We Tie Wells
to Seismic –
Not Seismic to
Wells

By Adjusting
Checkshots

Different
checkshot for
different
datums

Checkshot Naming Convention = “INTERPRETER_DATUM_WELLNAME”

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 Wells Have Height Datums Too!

Multiple Height Juha Datum

datums in use Hides Datum

Kutubu Datum
(AKA Chevron Construction Datum)
Chevron Datum
Difference between (AKA CPD)

them can be up to 21 Gobe Datum

metres

Incorrect Height
Datum will give
Incorrect Elevation LAT Kumul
Kumul34

Local Height Datums in PNG Oil Fields

* R Stanaway, Quickclose, “Review and Validation of Geodetic Datums used in the PNG Oilfields - Report 2.0” 2008
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 Why Are Elevations Important?

Can alter the Oil / Water Contact

If one well in the field is using the wrong
elevation
This affects Reserves Calculations

Value of the Company

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 Elevations in the Database

All wells in
Openworks are
referenced to MSL
Some areas of
company still use
Local Height Datum
Remarks section
notes KB @ MSL & KB
@ Local Height
Datum

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 Too Technical???

As Data Managers we need to know what

information needs to be recorded in the
database
Even if we don’t understand it
Communicate with people who do

Back to “Square 1”

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 “Square 1” – Selecting the
Location
Proposed Coordinates
“Square 1” proposed Proposed Elevation
Target Box on Topography Proposed Trajectory
Proposed Well Name

Square 1 Target Box

Scouting Trip
2 possible Well Pad 2 Proposed Coordinates
Locations 2 Proposed Elevation
Coordinates & Elevations 2 Proposed Trajectory
using handheld GPS from a 1 Proposed Well Name
helicopter

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“Square 1” – Defining the
Location
Location Selected 2 Proposed Coordinates
Well Pad Constructed 2 Proposed Elevation
2 Proposed Trajectory
2 Proposed Cellars
2 Well Names
Square A
Square B

Cellars Constructed
Survey Report by Licensed Final Coordinates
Surveyor Final Elevation
Proposed Trajectory
Cellar Selected & Rig
Mobilised 1 Well Name

Well called Square 1 again

Before Square 1 is Spudded :

Coordinates = 6 Trajectory = 6
Elevations = 6 Names = 3

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 “Square 1” – Drilling Begins
800m - Rig is Skidded Well New Final Coordinates
Re-Spudded New Final Elevation
New Coordinates New Trajectory
New Surveyors Report New Well Name
New Name
Square 1A

Square 1A is sidetracked 3
times 3 BH Coordinates
Square 1A ST1 3 Trajectory
Square 1A ST2 3 Well Names
Square 1A ST3

The Square 1 ,1A & Sidetracks have produced:

Coordinates = 7 Trajectory = 10
Elevations = 7 Names = 7

Which may explain why pre-migration & QC there were 1902 boreholes in the database and now there are only 540

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 So What Did We Find in Square
1AST3?
A Simplified Example of what had happened:

Compression

Compression
&
Folding

Compression Vertical
Folding &
& Overturned
Faulting Beds

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 Square 1AST3
Square 1AST3

Stratigraphic Order

Fault 1

Inverted

Fault 2

Repeat Inverted

Fault 3

Inverted & Repeat

Inverted

Multiple occurrences
= observations
Type of observation =
Remarks

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 Square 1A Becomes the Square
Field

DISCOVERY!

The Development Group want to use the Openworks dataset

New Development Specific Square Data

Other areas of the Company want to use Exploration's QC’d

dataset
Document Managers, Engineers, Cartographers ….

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 Epilogue
Fast forward to 2026, 15 Years after Square 1 was
spudded and the field has produced at record levels:
The P&A’d Square 1A ST3 is re-entered to function as a water
injector and is now called SWT 1ST3
All interpretation packages in use, talk directly to a centralised
database
Company wide centralised repository for Well & Seismic
information
Interpretation tools re-datum checkshots on the fly
Local Height Datums are stored in the database

However, despite all these advances, there are still

Foldbelts with Datums & unusual Geological Features
and we still need to deal with
“Square Data”

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 Questions?

The Contributions to this presentation by staff at Oil Search Ltd, in particular; John Noonan, Jeremy Iwanec,
Geoff Mansfield, Simon Skirrow, Peter Hamilton & Tony Young, are gratefully acknowledged
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