Digital Platform Reveals North Sea Secrets
The UK Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) has announced that more than 50 years’ worth of “crucial” North Sea data has been made available through the National Data Repository (NDR).
According to the OGA, the digital platform reveals valuable secrets of the North Sea and helps companies make better informed decisions as part of the transition to net zero.
The introduction of the new data will assist in areas including exploration and production efficiency, as well as the identification of potential sites for carbon storage, the OGA highlighted. This data was previously expensive and time-consuming to retrieve, according to the organisation.
The NDR first opened as an online platform in 2019 and originally housed 100 terabytes of well, geophysical and other petroleum licence data. Now, transferred to the OGA’s cloud-based Digital Energy Platform, a further 400 terabytes will be uploaded in the coming months, the OGA revealed. The service is used by more than 100 energy companies to report data under the Energy Act 2016 and Petroleum Act 1998.
“Accessible data is absolutely essential to the future of the industry,” Nic Granger, the OGA director of corporate and chief financial officer, said in an OGA statement.
“It’s vital for exploration, production and for reuse and decommissioning and the drive to net zero … The OGA is determined to meet that need by taking data and digital to the next level to enable a digital energy transition. The enhanced NDR is a key part of that improved service which we are proud to offer to industry,” Mr Granger added in the statement.
UK Energy and Climate Change Minister, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, said, “across industry, government and academia, data is key to ensure the UK continues to lead the world in tackling climate change and builds back greener”.
“The National Data Repository will provide greater accessibility to the data needed to support the UK’s oil and gas sector in the transition to a low-carbon energy future, including identifying sites for carbon storage, which is key to us meeting our climate commitments,” Trevelyan added.
The OGA works with the industry and government to maximise the economic recovery of UK oil and gas and support the UK government in its drive to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, the organisation notes on its website.
The OGA, which states that it is fully committed to enabling the achievement of the UK government’s commitment to reach net zero, highlights on its site that government forecasts
show that oil and gas will remain an important part of the energy mix for the foreseeable future, including under net zero.
In June, the OGA issued consolidated and updated guidance on flaring and venting, which it said sets out a tougher approach to driving reductions. In March, the organisation launched a stewardship expectation which set out how the oil and gas industry should reduce its greenhouse gas emissions and support the delivery of the UK’s net zero target.
Source: Rigzone