Data Management: Information Security for Oil and Gas

Threats to Data Management and Information Security

According to a recent report by Booz Allen Hamilton, one of the big data management concerns for the oil and gas industry is information security. According to the report, oil and gas companies are at a constant threat of being hacked, and there is only so much these companies can do to prepare themselves for this threat.

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Oil and Gas Software Isn’t Keeping Up with Industry Technology

In a recent feature in the Independent Petroleum Association of America’s (IPAA) Winter 2013 magazine covering oil technology, one of the key points highlighted is that although oil and gas companies are successfully searching for and implementing technology that will make hydraulic fracturing profitable in the long run, there is a significant gap between that and the oil and gas software they have at their disposal.

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Managing regulatory compliance and risk

I wrote a few weeks ago about environmental regulations and how the difficulty of keeping up with these regulations can shut down business. Another article I read recently, called “Dealing with Regulatory Risk,” from the Oil and Gas Financial Journal, discussed the issue of regulation of fracing and LNG exports. The author, Don Stowers’ big point was that while regulation of these things serves a purpose and is important, over-regulating will have the effect of slowing down the economy and stalling job creation for the energy sector. Stowers also asked several important questions:

  • What is the legitimate role of government in regulating business?
  • Should federal, state or local officials do the regulating?
  • When does government regulation go too far, and who decides it?
  • When happens when excessive government regulation stifles business development and job creation?

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Environmental Compliance increasingly expensive for oil and gas companies

Regulations make or break for some area’s key industry

TIPRO recently published an article in their Fall/Winter edition of Upstream Texas discussing environmental regulations in the United States. In particular, the author discussed how the landscape for government regulation is only getting more difficult. Regulatory compliance drains the US economy of $1.75 trillion a year, and according to the Heritage Foundation, ” the cost of complying with regulations enacted during Obama’s first three years in office exceeds by five times the cost associated with new rules promulgated during the first three years of George W. Bush’s presidency.”

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Compliance as an Opportunity

Last week I wrote about what makes compliance a dirty word in Oil and Gas, as well as the drivers behind its current urgency in the industry. As we dive deeper into compliance, what’s interesting is that everyone agrees on the goals behind compliance – protecting our safety, the environment, royalty owner interests etc. In fact, the real issue seems to be in the implementation.

While implementing a compliance plan can seem daunting, I believe joining the conversation and planning for compliance creates specific opportunities for Oil and Gas companies:

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Nate Richards Speaks on Lease Compliance at Shale Conference

Nate Richards, President of Entrance, presented a case study on lease compliance at the conference, “Managing Regulatory and Legal Issues in Shale Plays” in Houston, Texas. Nate shared the innovative solution implemented for one shale E&P client. He explained how the platform allows proactive notification about lease compliance and is protecting key assets in multiple domestic shale plays from potential lease jeopardy by improving administration of common shale lease language. The case study included an explanation of industry drivers that are causing a new set of pressures on compliance.Read More

Neil Duffin says Regulatory Compliance “More Important than Ever”

ExxonMobil Development Company President Neil Duffin spoke at the Rice E&C forum this evening in Houston, Texas, focusing on managing today’s changing regulatory environment and choosing oilfield service companies who share Exxon’s commitment to regulatory compliance.

Duffin noted that while the number of incidents of non-compliance have decreased, the number of high-consequence incidents were alarmingly high and “eye-opening” for his executive team. Because there is a huge gap between the field and the corner office, the executives were shocked when they took a look into the quantitative information around these risk scenarios. He believes that if the energy industry really examines the small number of truly high-consequence activities, and mitigates the risk of such consequences, Oil and Gas can elevate itself as an industry.

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Risk Mitigation Through Technology

Risks are a part of daily life in the oil and gas industry. And because they are many, varied and unpredictable, software product companies cannot keep up with industry needs. We specialize in creating custom business solutions that respond to changes impacting the Oil and Gas industry long before anyone else comes to the table. We like to think that preparation, visibility, and communication are vital to mitigating risk – and are all aspects that can be improved with good data.

Are you prepared?  Our client is!

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Engineering Intelligence for Pipeline Safety

At a recent industry breakfast, a panel of speakers from Embridge, TerraFina, Plains All American, and the Bauer College of Business discussed their perspectives on both the boom and the coming challenges for the midstream sector. With the introduction of fracking and horizontal drilling, production has increased beyond the transportation infrastructure’s ability to move those hydrocarbons to factories and the market. And with the market flooded with natural gas, both Plains All American and Terrafina are pushing to export. All of this remains good news for the Midstream, because even the best condensates aren’t worth anything if you can’t get them to market.

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Oil and Gas Spotlight – Geology and Geophysics (G&G) Software

Custom Software and SharePoint Consulting for Oil and Gas

Software is an unsung hero when it comes to the Energy Market and the Oil and Gas Industry. Custom software plays a key role at crucial moments throughout industry decision making. Here at Entrance, industry insight drives the custom solutions we develop. We have over a decade of experience tailoring our software to solve complex problems, whether they are broad in scope like helping smooth out large mergers or deep in detail like processing sensor data.  We have industry experience from upstream geology and geophysics all the way to downstream chemical plant processes.

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Award-winning Software Development!

We’re proud to say that our Royalty Compliance project team has been given an award for their performance developing a critical system for one of our Upstream Oil and Gas clients. The complex system of lease jeopardy mitigation software has been a major company-wide strategic effort for our client. And our contribution has not only accomplished the initial goal, but in doing so has set up a centralized system based on 5 databases that synchronizes information across departments, sends notifications when action needs to be taken, and generates daily status reports. We’ll be talking more about the benefits of keeping everyone on the same page in the upcoming weeks!

For now – Hooray it’s Friday! Check out our award! And if you’re curious, we just blogged about the project!

Shale Royalty Compliance

Brad Harris, Senior Manager – Oil and Gas.

Get a warning before you’re ever out of compliance.

With the advent of fracking and horizontal drilling, onshore lease contracts are getting more and more complicated. Lease provisions are getting more granular, time-sensitive and more punitive – and all in the land owner’s favor. Lawyers who used to chase ambulances are now looking at those contracts for their next big paycheck. Are you compliant with every provision? Hundreds of millions are at stake, and our custom oil and gas software will keep scavenging lawyers away. We will warn you before you’re non-compliant and take the risk out of these complex new contracts.

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