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"What are pumpers in the Permian Basin doing
with regards to using hand-helds or laptops to capture their
field data, or are they still relying on hand-prepared
reports?" This straightforward inquiry led to a survey,
primarily of Permian Basin operators. Operators ranged from
very small independents to large independents to majors.
Visits were with company owners, pumpers, production
engineers, field foremen and office accounting managers.
This article focuses on the field
perspective and production accounting, while acknowledging
that financial accounting exerts significant influence on the
systems selected.
Consider this an interim report with more
visits planned since technology is improving and more oil and
gas operators are initiating pilot programs using hand-helds
and laptop computers for data gathering and transmission.
There are many different perspectives represented in the
results so far. If asked to state just one conclusion, the
title of this article expresses it well.
Objective of the
Survey
The objective of this survey was to: (1) accumulate
information on the techniques/methods operators in the Permian
Basin were using to collect, record and transmit daily
production (oil, gas, water) and other associated operational
data; and (2) determine if the methods employed correlated
with size of the operator (operations) and/or location (remote
or centralized).
The first objective involved visiting
operators both in their production offices and field offices.
Also a significant amount of information was gathered by
telephone. This has been time consuming but rewarding. Below
is a list of the companies contacted, followed by a list of
companies where some information was gathered. Overall, I
talked with 18 different operators, making 25 visits.
Regarding Operator
Size and Location, The Survey Reveals: No direct correlations
could be made with the method employed. Why?
Practices are in rapid flux, being strongly influenced by
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State-of-the-Art
Summary
