Posts tagged ‘PetroTrek’
iStore Launches Digital Oilfield Online for the Cloud
iStore launched Digital Oilfield Online, a cloud-based hosting service for its PetroTrek® software suite, at the Microsoft Global Energy Forum. iStore, which helps oil and gas companies access, organize and visualize exploration and production (E&P) data, has adopted the Microsoft Windows Azure Services platform for delivering Digital Oilfield solutions in the cloud.
On-premise Digital Oilfield technology requires substantial IT infrastructure to support data storage and information delivery. With the launch of Digital Oilfield Online, iStore will tackle the industry’s information management needs by applying the on-demand scalability, elastic computing and new cost structure offered by cloud computing. The new service creates immediate value, saving companies as much as $200,000 on hardware and software, in addition to recurring maintenance and operating costs.
Digital Oilfield Online allows oil and gas companies to host their information-centric Digital Oilfield projects securely online. This includes asset management, production monitoring, health /environment / safety management, and joint venture collaboration. It also enables leveraging of on-premise data and external E&P content, such as IHS wells and production data, through iStore’s data access and integration technology. The new service supports the Public Petroleum Data Model (PPDM), an open standard widely accepted by the industry for business-oriented data storage. This gives companies a roadmap for moving data management to the cloud.
“iStore is led by the market and our customers are telling us that agile, elastic IT is very important to their business going forward,” commented Barry Irani, president and CEO of iStore. “Cloud computing not only helps our customers eliminate costly hardware and server software licenses, it jump-starts Digital Oilfield projects by cutting out the time-consuming infrastructure procurement process associated with delivering decision support solutions. The industry as a whole will make the leap when they know that their information is as safe or safer outside the corporate firewall – that’s why we consider data security the number one priority for doing business in the cloud.”
To ensure that Digital Oilfield Online meets the rigorous security standards required by the petroleum industry, CSC, a Windows Azure Technology Adoption Program (TAP) partner, is assisting iStore with architectural review, security auditing and the commercialization of the service.
“CSC is proud to team with iStore on the Digital Oilfield Online. CSC is at the forefront of cloud computing through our work with clients and CSC’s Leading Edge Forum. As a result of our research and hands-on experience, our clients are benefiting from a cost-effective platform that enhances collaboration and improves asset optimization and business performance. The cloud makes this innovative solution available to a wide range of E&P companies in a very flexible business model,” said Bob Welch, president of CSC’s Chemical, Energy and Natural Resources Group.
In 2009, CSC and iStore announced an alliance agreement in which CSC would act as primary systems integrator in the global distribution of iStore’s PetroTrek solutions.
“iStore’s Digital Oilfield Online offering is an example of the type of solution Microsoft envisioned when we launched Windows Azure to the oil and gas industry earlier this year,” said Craig Hodges, Microsoft general manager, Manufacturing & Resources Sector. “Today’s oilfield business and operations climate is defined by unprecedented complexities and the continuing need to do more with less. Solutions like this one that eliminate costs and promote better business intelligence using the Microsoft platform in a secure computing environment will be instrumental in launching a new level of efficiency in the industry.”
iStore Turns 15, Plans to Take Digital Oilfield to the Cloud
The Information Store (iStore), a “digital oilfield” pioneer, celebrated its 15th anniversary with customers from around the globe at an event at the St. Regis Hotel in Houston, TX. The company’s PetroTrek® Web-based software enables oil and gas companies to connect disparate islands of E&P data to enhance business intelligence and decision-making at a fraction of the cost of traditional approaches. Today, PetroTrek supports common industry platforms such as Microsoft Office SharePoint Server, and is used by Marathon Oil, BP, and some of the other largest oil companies in the world. iStore makes it easy for geoscientists, engineers and managers to identify, track, capture and share corporate knowledge to support exploration and production asset management, including field optimization and reservoir management.
Phiroz “Daru” Darukhanavala, Chief Technology Officer for BP, who delivered the keynote address at the event, recalled when data was hard to uncover. “We used to say ‘wouldn’t it be nice to have more data, so we can make better decisions?’ Be careful what you wish for. Now we are drowning in a sea of data. Today we collect every second what we used to collect in a week. Data is useless until you can make it actionable, which iStore enables us to do.”
Going forward, the company plans to introduce the oil and gas industry’s first cloud computing service offering. This new computing model takes the digital oilfield to the next level by allowing oil companies to improve efficiency and productivity, reduce operating costs, and enhance asset management and business intelligence. Stay tuned to PetroComputing for more details.
CSC Launches Upstream BI Solution
CSC has launched its Petroleum Enterprise Intelligence offering, a business intelligence solution designed to help exploration and production (E&P) companies integrate technical, operational and financial information across the enterprise. The solution, which employs Oracle’s business intelligence (BI) applications and the Information Store’s (iStore) data access and visualization technology, enables companies to understand the financial impact of field decisions, optimize well production and maximize effectiveness of operational decisions. Integrating upstream and operational systems data, Petroleum Enterprise Intelligence provides analytical functions for exploration and production, refining and pipeline marketing, energy trading, financials, supply chain and workforce management. The offering addresses four key areas: business processes, information management, operations and technology infrastructure.
“Upstream oil and gas companies can significantly impact their growth and profitability when they have the ability to make fast, smart business decisions,” said Bob Welch, president of CSC’s Chemical, Energy and Natural Resources Group. “Encompassing everyone from drilling engineers to financial analysts, our approach enables oilfield workers to optimize asset performance by delivering the right information to the right people at the right time.”
“The Petroleum Enterprise Intelligence solution enables the presentation of data across the enterprise from geoscientists to engineers, including non-specialists, through use of business intelligence functionality, as well as modeling, planning and analytics,” said Catherine Madden, senior research analyst, Energy Insights, IDC. “We believe that for oil and gas companies, a comprehensive view of the data permits a company to prioritize different opportunities. At the same time, key decision makers for all assets are using a single view of the inputs, and able to collaborate with other decision makers to determine where to optimize plans.”
“As the industry continues to develop the Digital Oilfield, this offering uniquely positions CSC, iStore and Oracle to help E&P companies reduce operating costs, increase production and operate in a safer and more effective manner,” said Oracle’s Hossam Farid, senior director of Oil & Gas Solutions.
Earlier this year, CSC and iStore signed an alliance agreement under which CSC acts as the prime systems integrator and consulting services provider for iStore’s PetroTrek® Digital Oilfield solutions. (See Aug. 4, 2009 post.)
“By making PetroTrek available through CSC’s Petroleum Enterprise Intelligence offering, the industry benefits from iStore’s proven digital oilfield technology and the breadth and depth of CSC’s global presence,” commented Barry Irani, president and CEO of iStore.
iStore, CSC Ease Decision Making for the Oil and Gas Industry
The Information Store® (iStore) and CSC have signed an alliance agreement under which CSC will act as the prime systems integrator and consulting services provider for iStore’s PetroTrek® Digital Oilfield solution. The parties will team to make iStore’s PetroTrek Digital Oilfield solution available under CSC’s Petroleum Enterprise Intelligence offering.
Petroleum Enterprise Intelligence enables oil and gas companies to optimize operational performance by effectively managing work processes and information. The solution gives users across the enterprise a consistent decision-support framework, helping connect the right people with the right information at the right time.
The new Web-based solution simplifies how production managers, engineers and geoscientists locate and view key technical, operational and financial information on wells, fields and reservoirs in the context of their work, saving time and improving their decision-making capabilities.
Petroleum Enterprise Intelligence combines business process management with business intelligence technology, featuring Web-based Key Performance Indicator (KPI) dashboards that integrate data. iStore’s core Digital Oilfield technology virtually integrates multiple, disparate data sources, from commercial data repositories to proprietary systems and unstructured data. CSC’s solution extends the Digital Oilfield by adding business intelligence functionality, as well as enabling optimization through modeling, planning and analytics.
iStore and CSC are teaming to develop and deliver the solution worldwide. As a global leader in providing technology-enabled solutions and services, CSC opens new distribution channels and opportunities for iStore’s software products and technology.
“We are very excited about working with CSC to expand and deliver iStore’s Digital Oilfield offerings,” said Barry Irani, iStore’s president and CEO. “Our vision and direction are a natural fit – we strive to help our customers in the petroleum industry achieve better results by providing innovative technology and business solutions.”
Robert Welch, president of CSC’s Chemical, Energy and Natural Resources Services Group, stated: “For years, energy and production companies have struggled to obtain faster access to field information and to make productive use of the tremendous volume of digital data already in their possession. This joint offering provides near-real-time data and presents it in meaningful context to support faster and more informed business decisions.”
iStore, Infusion Launch PetroTrek App on Multi-Touch Platform
The Information Store (iStore) and Infusion Development have expanded the PetroTrek Digital Oilfield application onto the Microsoft Surface multi-touch presentation platform. The petroleum industry’s first Surface solution was unveiled at this year’s Microsoft Global Energy Forum for the Middle East and Africa.
The co-developed solution combines iStore’s PetroTrek data access technology and oilfield content visualization on Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 with Infusion’s custom surface application, Falcon Eye, to give users a powerful new medium for accessing and interacting rapidly with E&P information.
The combined Falcon Eye and PetroTrek Digital Oilfield solution for Microsoft Surface delivers a multi-touch interface for a revolutionary user experience that puts the right information at the fingertips of the right people. The application leverages the GIS capabilities of Microsoft Virtual Earth to give users a top-to-bottom view of an area of operation, such as a producing field.
In addition, it allows users to drill down through the data to specific points of interest, such as wells, facilities and platforms. Production data, charts, key performance indicators (KPIs) and human resources or logistic information are easily plotted in context. Users simply touch the Surface interface to interact with the data, including zooming, panning and scrolling to display various vantage points.
“Out of the box, our new Surface offering gives the petroleum industry a whole new interface to their world that just a few years ago would have been considered science fiction,” said iStore President and CEO Barry Irani.
Added Ezat Zarasvand, iStore’s general manager for the Middle East and Africa: “At a time of sinking oil prices and cost cutting there is strong demand in our industry for cost-effective, compelling and streamlined technology that quickly plugs in to the petroleum enterprise to enhance productivity and improve asset value.”
Falcon Eye, Infusion’s 3D operational dashboard, seamlessly integrates information from multiple sources and displays the data streams on a virtual map. Combined with PetroTrek and displayed on the Microsoft Surface, it provides a unique and appealing experience.
“The appeal of this solution is more than its cutting-edge appearance; it’s in the functionality,” said Vimal Sethi, general manager, Infusion Development – Middle East & Africa. “This solution allows executives to visualize and manage the ‘big picture,’ but it also contributes and assists managers and team members in finding, managing and manipulating E&P data important to their everyday work.”
“Many customers expressed the need for an interactive, collaborative and location-intelligent solution to help them better manage asset performance and empower informed decision making,” said Omar Saleh, Microsoft’s Middle East & Africa Oil & Gas sales manager. “The combined solution from Infusion and iStore – leveraging Microsoft’s Surface, Performance Point and Virtual Earth – provides executives and geoscientists with an unparalleled, out-of-the-box user experience that brings sophisticated asset mapping and drilldown KPI monitoring to their fingertips, while delivering an agile and expandable platform for collaborative and intelligent asset management.”
PetroComputing 