T&T energy data inadequate

Improved industry data is essential for T&T’s energy sector to become more globally competitive, says David Borde, managing director of PetroCom Technologies Limited. He said data acquired over the life of the energy industry in T&T needs to be integrated.

Borde, a geophysicist, spent 25 years in Houston before returning to T&T to establish PetroCom Technologies eight years ago. He told the T&T Guardian he is not satisfied with the quality of data on the local energy sector. 

“Our data is still not as organised as it could or should be. Once we get that done it would really help further energise the industry because in turn we can make better decisions. It reduces uncertainty and risk.”

He said said the fact that “we don’t have a clear definition where we are with reserves,” causes a lot of confusion.

“Remember we have different companies here from different countries and their reporting methods are different. That does not add up to what we read in the newspapers. We get these summaries that are reported on an annual basis.

Borde, who spoke during workshop hosted by his company during the T&T Energy Conference, which took place earlier this week at the Hyatt Regency in Port-of-Spain, is planning to consult with industry stakeholders to get input on improving energy data.

“Data is one of the biggest drivers of this business. We need to modernize how we store, make that data accessible, how we share that data. Everything is really about data in this industry.

Borde, in describing the poor state of T&T’s energy data, explained: “We have had over 15,000 wells drilled . . . but it is not truly integrated and made accessible so the industry can be made globally competitive. That’s one of the big issues we address everyday—how do we keep this industry more globally competitive?”

He said during his time working in Houston, he worked with seismic, production and well log data. 

“We can’t be storing data in boxes and things like that. We have to mine our data. We have everything in place. Even though there is a downturn, T&T can improve its position but we’ve got to get modern.” 

Borde said PetroCom Technologies was established to make suitable technology available to the energy sector.

“We see ourselves as a locally structured company serving the region. We are even doing projects for West Africa. We are based in T&T, we use T&T expertise and global technologies,” he said.

“We have helped the (Energy) Ministry with preparation for bid rounds with the screening and high grading of their seismic data. We have done projects with virtually all the oil companies to do rapid analysis of their seismic data so they can advance the workflow with how they interpret seismic data. We also help them with seismic projects.

Borde said the company will soon be introducing technology locally which will “make big difference with production.” He explained that the technology, Blue Spark, is a production stimulation method for energy reservoirs.