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Case Study: PGNiG Norway Rapidly Deploys E&P Operations in a Competitive Market and Successfully Bids in Licensing Rounds
“The turnkey solution had us up and running in no time, with everything we needed for PGNiG Norway to get started, including petro-technical infrastructure, software, data, information management, and end-user training and support. Guidance on Norwegian rules and regulations was also a real plus.”
Marek Hoffmann
Deputy Exploration &
Production Manager
PGNiG Norway
“Our relationship with the SIS project manager was good. In hindsight, it would have been better to have this resource on site—all the time. It would have improved our communication and secured quicker resolution to challenges.”
John Arne Ørke
Chief Information Officer
PGNiG Norway
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SIS Ready to Explore solution jump-starts new office setup on the Norwegian Continental Shelf with customized analysis tools and regional guidance
Challenge
Become quickly operational in remote region with sophisticated technology; dedicate geologists and geophysicists (G&G) exclusively to interpretation efforts; understand new market.
Solution
Design and implement a fit-for-purpose Ready to Explore solution with
- fully managed petrotechnical infrastructure
- Petrel, ECLIPSE, and Interactive PetrophysicsTM software applications
- regional data, formatted and ready for interpretation
- high-end stereo visualization room
- data management services
- regulatory consultation/guidance.
Results
Expedited new office setup with SIS expertise, support, and project management methodology; enabled G&G professionals to focus on core business using interpretation-ready data; ensured early success by dealing with local rules and regulations beforehand.
Set up new E&P office with optimized petrotechnical environment
Polish Oil and Gas Company (PGNiG), the largest gas exploration and production (E&P) company in Poland, planned to set up a new office location in Norway to participate as quickly as possible in the country’s offshore oil and gas exploration opportunities. This aggressive time frame necessitated having a support system for both G&G and IT efforts, as well as an understanding of regional E&P operations.
By having the initial infrastructure setup and the ongoing everyday details handled by an outside entity, the company’s internal G&G resources could be free to focus on domain- specific tasks of well and seismic data interpretation. This work arrangement, coupled with a state-of-the-art optimized petrotechnical environment, would also provide a competitive advantage in the recruitment of highly qualified staff.
Implement Ready to Explore components
Schlumberger Information Solutions (SIS) was selected because it had implemented several Ready to Explore solutions for other oil and gas companies exploring the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS).
Based on its proven track record, SIS was able to meet the following business drivers:
- greater focus on exploration and development activities
- scalable, cost-effective, flexible solution
- new functionality and higher performance
- G&G data consolidation and integrity
- easy access to additional communication services
- single provider for the petrotechnical environment with clear roles and responsibilities
- scalable foundations for future optimized E&P workflows.
PGNiG Norway initially purchased several licenses for Petrel seismic to simulation software and ECLIPSE reservoir simulation software, and then launched its overall plan for an infrastructure that would grow as the office operations expanded. A petrotechnical team, fully trained on the selected application suite equipped with an optimized IT infrastructure, helped maximize the value of the setup.
A customized turnkey solution
The Ready to Explore solution, while essentially turnkey, is customized for a company’s specific needs in a particular region. PGNiG Norway worked with SIS to tailor the appropriate products and services required for its new office, including the following tasks:
- design, configure, install, and monitor scalable petrotechnical infrastructure to meet current needs and anticipated growth. This includes
- centralized storage of Petrel data and mirroring of this data to the Schlumberger location for disaster recovery (current system is part of SPINE Schlumberger terrestrial network, a strategic backbone for future PGNiG operations)
- centralized installation of Petrel software on server blades with remote display software to optimize the user experience
- fully imaged high-end laptops for G&G users
- continued support through the SIS Customer Service Center (CSC)
- secure connectivity to the Internet and Secure Oil Information Link (SOIL)
- wireless access at PGNiG’s Norwegian office
- implement Interactive Petrophysics software for reservoir property analysis and summation
- collect, prepare, and organize all G&G data, including preformatted NCS public well and seismic data ready for analysis by Petrel software
- design and implement a high-end stereo visualization room for asset team collaboration.
Local regulatory assistance
PGNiG Norway benefited from the accumulated SIS knowledge of local Norwegian G&G rules, regulatory requirements, environmental measures, etc. This saved the company precious ramp-up time in a very competitive market. Involving such expertise early in the set-up process was key to the project’s eventual success.
Maximized operational efficiency and helped win NCS licenses
The company’s new operational presence in Norway was established quickly and seamlessly thanks to the SIS infrastructure design, NCS exploration know-how, and cross-domain support. Not only was SIS helpful as a software vendor, it also gave PGNiG Norway a hand in setting up an entire E&P operation from scratch. The Ready to Explore solution (providing everything from computers to software to servers, along with specialized data services) took the pressure off valuable G&G resources, enabling them to focus full time on their core competencies while petrotechnical support and information management tasks were performed entirely by SIS.
This turnkey solution was both a time- and a money-saving proposition that allowed PGNiG Norway to operate virtually hassle-free in a country with its own set of unique conditions and laws starting on day one. The powerful software technology was another major advantage, as it provided efficient modeling, interpretation, and analysis capabilities.
At the time of publication, PGNiG Norway was incorporated under Norwegian law and ready to begin its operations with two new licenses secured by purchasing NCS oil and gas field assets (Skarv and Snadd) located approximately 200 km west of Sandnessjøen.
Lessons learned
As with all successful projects, there are important lessons learned that are worth noting to improve future endeavors. In this case, the following recommendations were offered:
- The remote project manager worked well, but a local project manager who is actually on site would have been even better.
- Training related to changing the petrotechnical platform for the new solution was estimated at 45 minutes per user. This time allocation proved to be too short.
- In general, the time needed for the change management process should not be underestimated.
PGNiG
PGNiG SA is the leader in the field of natural gas in Poland. The company is active in exploration and exploitation of deposits of natural gas and crude oil and the importation, storage, marketing, and distribution of gas and liquid. In Poland, PGNiG is one of the largest and oldest companies.
PGNiG Norway AS was established in May 2007, and the Company’s head office is located in Sandnes. The objective of the Company is to carry out activities in connection with exploration and production of oil and gas, as well as any other activities directly or indirectly connected with this in the whole value chain, including participation in relevant infrastructure projects and trading in liquid markets.
Schlumberger Information Solutions
Schlumberger Information Solutions (SIS) is an operating unit of Schlumberger that provides software, information management, IT, and related services. SIS collaborates closely with oil and gas companies to solve today’s tough reservoir challenges with an open business approach and comprehensive solution deployment. Through our technologies and services, oil and gas companies empower their people to improve business performance by reducing exploration and development risk and optimizing operational efficiencies.
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