Project Briefing
The Client required a comprehensive study into the impact that advances in technology, science and work methods had made on exploration efficiency since the 1990s.
In addition, the Client required insights on how potential future technological developments could impact future exploration efficiency, based on examples from global petroleum provinces.
Our Process
a) Understand the client business
- Westwood collaborated with the Client to understand how it could facilitate / influence the utilisation of technologies that offered the greatest potential to improve exploration efficiency
- Westwood also sought to understand ‘problem’ basins / geologies that had yielded disappointing results, so that international analogues could be best identified
b) Understand the Client challenge, questions and problems to solve
- Detailed discussions with the Client to understand specific technologies of interest and the geological applicability of these technologies
c) Assess how we could help
- Westwood suggested complimenting the Client’s data (regulatory well data) with Westwood’s proprietary Wildcat and Atlas products to provide a comprehensive database to underpin the study
- In addition, Westwood suggested using a combination of in-house knowledge, consultations with senior explorers & service providers and desktop research to provide a comprehensive overview of the technological drivers of exploration success globally, and how key global lessons learned might be applied to the Client’s country
The Outcome and Benefit
Westwood proposed a study with several components:
- Analysis of well data and results to allow a quantified assessment of the impact of technology on exploration success
- Consultations with leading explorers to gain a granular understanding of the efficacy & benefits of different exploration technologies in different geologies / basins
- Consultations with relevant oilfield services companies to understand the most commonly used technologies, the efficacy of these technologies under different conditions, and future areas of R&D
- Literature review (industry case histories and presentations) to provide an overview of currently marketed technologies, and their likely application to the Client’s home market
Westwood’s analysis allowed the Client to gain a robust understanding into the impacts that different technologies had made on exploration efficiency in both home and global markets. Westwood’s analysis highlighted a tendency for E&P Operators to overestimate pre-drill volumes, suggesting that the most impactful technologies for improved exploration efficiency may be those that allow pre-drill uncertainty windows to be more accurately characterised.
