Oil and gas companies rely on their information banks as tools to guide their exploration, production, reporting, environmental compliance, and permitting processes. Accurate access to well reports, seismic data, lease stipulations and production rates are needed to protect the environment, maximize recovery, and to reduce drilling costs and risks. However, much of this data remains locked in a manual, paper-bound reporting process for small and mid-sized petroleum companies maybe scattered across many disparate and geographically remote databases for large companies.

Because the petroleum industry is one of the most heavily regulated industries in the United States, state and federal agencies have been collecting information about exploration and production, environmental protection measures, and refinery operations and compiling it into such data vaults as the Risk Based Data Management System (RBDMS) for years.

Figure 3. Beyond the existence of a data source, successful E-Commerce is dependent on three areas of systems analysis and program development.

Better access to regulatory agency data will give operators the ability to improve performance in the following ways:

Improved ability of the industry to access and to mine data will lead to better decision making. Access to information at anytime from anywhere will make these decision-making processes quicker and more accurate. Increasing data availability to operators, federal agencies and state agencies will require much additional work. The Ground Water Protection Council (GWPC) has identified a triple focus for a program-wide approach (see Figure 3):

In terms of e-commerce and its applications, the standardization of a data exchange format remains at the root of data cost control issues. By using a common data transfer format states, BLM, MMS, and industry can more effectively communicate and process permits. Indeed, communication between disparate computer systems is dependent on such standardization. To help with this problem, the GWPC worked with state regulatory agencies to coordinate the development of an XML schema for oil and gas production and injection reporting. The eReport.xsd (version 3.5) is now being used in six states, with other agencies planning to follow suit as funding becomes available. In addition, though contingent on budgeting constraints, the GWPC is working on a joint effort with its member-state agencies and the Bureau of Land Management to develop a schema that agencies and industry can share for oil and gas well permitting data.

The GWPC has demonstrated through its electronic report work in a limited number of states that data applications (browser-based or Win Forms) can be combined with XML Web services to deliver datasets that have the appropriate restrictions dictated by state business rules to industry. For example, the datasets delivered to industry can be programmed to omit confidential or other restricted records. In this way, industry can use the same tool the agencies use internally to connect to the agency Web database to mine and use information.

Figure 4. New York Division of Mineral Resources electronic commerce web page traffic

GWPC has found from its eReport work that releasing appropriate datasets from agency databases to industry is now resulting in improvements in the data quality. Regulators in Pennsylvania and New York, for example, have reported that these new-generation tools have been a catalyst for identifying and correcting data errors and omissions through joint agency/industry scrutiny of oil and gas well-related information. New York also reports a significant increase in web traffic (Figure 4).

These new e-commerce technologies, being pilot tested by the GWPC, have introduced another means of maintaining data reliability through multiple layers of quality control checks that take place during both forms and server validation.

The development of automated workflow systems to route permit notices through the approval process is the third component of the e-commerce technology that the GWPC has identified as critically important in improving agency response times to industry. Intended to work in conjunction with electronic permitting and electronic reporting applications, such programming will allow operators to monitor the status of permit applications throughout the regulatory review process.

Through the use of new technologies such as XML Web services, most agency standard forms (e.g. completion, plugging, drilling, mechanical integrity, and testing) can be made available on the Web. An operator can fill in the required fields and submit these forms to the agency Web server. Once received by the agency, the automated workflow system can then route these forms electronically within the agency. Procedures for review, approval, and merging of permit application data into the primary database can be automated.

The benefits of such back-office automation include a compressed timeline for permit application review, review status availability, and a greatly streamlined and more visible regulatory oversight process. Such visibility goes beyond merely knowing the status of a current permit application. The visibility inherent in workflow automation software will help agencies identify resource constraints, bottlenecks, and opportunities for improving overall business process design. Additionally, increased visibility improves accountability to agencies’ customers.

The benefits of implementing workflow automation software are significant. Work is streamlined because tasks are assigned priorities. Higher priority tasks get done faster because users, through their task list, can see each task’s priority. As one user completes a high-priority task, the subsequent task in the process becomes visible to the next user immediately. If the task is not completed within a designated amount of time, it may be escalated. User-calendars ensure that tasks are not sent to those who are out of town or on vacation, and balancing can spread the workload across multiple users who are capable of doing the same task. In short, linking internal business operations, tasks, transactions, and resources in a workflow automation system will simplify and streamline current regulatory business processes.

The RBDMS states are automating their oil and gas production and injection reporting functions through a Web-enabled application linked to the RBDMS SQL Server data source. The Web application will be suitable for oil and gas representatives to use to report monthly well production, disposition by entity, gas plan operation, and injection volume. The application will also be able to accommodate uploads of large record sets in addition to single-entry forms (Figure 5). Utah, Nebraska, Montana and New York are in the process of testing this application.