Reserves workflow - What impact does it have on your bottom line?

Data Consistency: All oil and gas producers require multiple applications to evaluate reserves. Both input and results data are often exchanged between numerous software packages, databases, and most frequently, Microsoft® Excel®. Each time data is passed between applications, the quality and accuracy is at risk due to inconsistent conversion formula, precision, and user error. In February 2010, Fekete took the first steps to mitigating these issues by introducing the IHS Harmony™ platform. IHS DeclinePlus, the first application included in IHS Harmony, integrates traditional reserves evaluation methods such as decline, material balance, volumetrics, and ratio analysis into a single database system. Each analysis method queries a single instance of production, pressure, reservoir properties and attribute information. In addition, each analysis method can be linked to ensure that, for example, the same initial pressure is used in both a volumetric calculation and a gas material balance interpretation.

Duplication of efforts: One of the major time consuming tasks at reserve reporting time is converting day-to-day engineering work into ‘reserves’ forecasts. In any E&P company, production and pressure data is analyzed on a daily basis, whether it is exploitation staff determining reservoir characteristics or production staff diagnosing operational issues. With the emergence of unconventional resources such as CBM and shale, specialized software applications such as IHS RTA, IHS WellTest and IHS CBM, and other tools such as numerical simulators, are required. At the end of the fiscal year, evaluators begin the task of collecting, interpreting, and processing this work. Unfortunately, due to the standard practices in regulatory reporting and auditing procedures, production forecasts based on these more rigorous methods are required to be translated into Arps based traditional decline. In February 2011 Fekete integrated IHS RTA into IHS Harmony. This, in conjunction with IHS DeclinePlus, allows users to seamlessly convert transient analytical model forecasts to Arps based production forecasts and easily export them to economics software. As shown in the diagram below IHS CBM and IHS VirtuWell are also integrated into the IHS Harmony platform.

Casey O’Shea, Fekete Associates Inc.
Posted 13 August 2015

This article was published by S&P Global Commodity Insights and not by S&P Global Ratings, which is a separately managed division of S&P Global.