Why Has the Data Wave Passed Over the Land Department?
Oil and Gas, Finance, and Manufacturing have spent billions of dollars on data. According to Dataversity, Data Analytics alone is estimated to generate $18.4 billion in spending in 2021. Everyone talks about data, and how to leverage it for better results, yet Land typically must use data from other departments to achieve those results..
Oil and Gas companies have always had “Big Data”, considering the size of geotechnical, reservoir, and subsurface data, but began realizing value around more modern data analysis starting in the late 1990’s. These companies beefed up their financial systems, integrated E&P systems, built advanced sensor technology, and tied together various departmental data into a central view. Soon Exploration and Drilling were sharing information with Production, and companies were making better-informed decisions. Unfortunately, on average the Land Department has been left behind.
We believe there are a couple of reasons for this. First, Land deals with legal documentation, which requires extensive interpretation while verifying ownership and obligations. There are several initiatives to provide artificial intelligence to assist here. Second, Land tends to be reactive to business initiatives. In other words, markets dictate acquisitions and divestitures. Geology and engineering dictate where to drill and how to organize the asset. Land plays a crucial role in both scenarios but has to rely on data from other business units, as well as public information. Public data is rarely available electronically, and no two counties offer access or data in the same way.
To summarize, Land is often asked to respond to, rather than direct, data analysis efforts. They’re also asked to make sense of a wide array of data types from a variety of data systems. There are a variety of Land “systems” on the market today, yet they all require data conversion from other systems before they can provide value. PLM was faced with this issue on a larger scale, working with multiple companies, with multiple data sources and various Land systems. We developed our own unique way of providing actionable Land data in a logical manner.
We approach Land requirements from a consultative angle. We know that every equity firm, mineral buyer, oil and gas producer, trader and lease buyer has their own “special sauce”. Therefore, we work to understand the unique needs for each and collate the data into a single reference point, delivered in a map. We don’t offer a “system”, but a customized workflow to deliver information(data) where needed and in the proper context.