GOM3 News - February 2022

GIS Tools in GOM3: Search & Utilities

Continuing the refresher on the ESA Toolshammer of ArcGIS, in this issue we're looking at the final categories of tools. The Search category tools assist in locating data. The Utilities (including 3D) category has wide-ranging tools for both simple and complicated uses. The final category links to the Analytics Addon, with the various high-end tools available there; see more at this link. Details on other tools are available in the previous newsletters here and here.

Name Index

The Name Index contains all of the nicknames for fields, discoveries and prospects in the GOM3 database. Clicking on the name will load the matching layer and then select and zoom to the specific feature. The full list can also be exported.

NameIndex

This is also a good time to describe these three datasets in greater detail. The fields dataset contains all of the fields listed in BOEM's master field list. Although the outlines are created from a proprietary algorithm to create the sand-body reservoirs in three dimensions and then union up the field outline, the underlying data all comes from BOEM. The discoveries and prospects, however, are entirely created by researching independently. Earth Science Associates goes through numerous articles, primarily online, to locate and add to this dataset. These sources are linked when viewing the Discovery or Prospect Report. Discoveries and prospects are mapped by the block location.

ESA Data Search

The second tool for locating data is the ESA Data Search tool. Because GOM3 is so broad and covers so many types of datsets, it can be difficult to locate something specific. It can also be difficult to home in on where BOEM stores certain information.

There are two primary ways of searching in the ESA Data Search and both are available for specific datasets or simply searching all. The first way is to look for a certain type of data, such as checking which datasets have Pressure data, as in the example below. This search scans the column names to locate a match. The second way is to search for a specific value, such as Aconcagua for a field name or Chevron for a lease operator. Naturally, searching for one value through all datasets is not recommended; it is a very long process. But it can be done quickly if you are searching just one or two datasets to confirm the presence of a value.

DataSearch

When datasets are found containing a match, they are listed at the bottom of the form. From there they can be added to the map. At this point the search does not include standalone tables, which is an important part of GOM3 and is planned to be included when the tool is created for ArcGIS Pro.

AutoSave File

The Utilities category begins with the AutoSave tool, a tool designed for a time when ArcGIS crashed more often (though if you still encounter such errors due to latency or other reasons, this may be very useful). It is very simple: choose how often the project should save and the tool will run in the background saving at that interval. The input also takes in different intervals when typed in. This tool has not been recreated in ArcGIS Pro because of the different structure of saving the APRX files, though this may be added with enough feedback.

AutoSave

Show Notes

The ability to attach notes/files to a feature in ArcGIS is one of the many important features of the Hotlink tool hotlink (which will be covered in the next newsletter). The Notes allow any type of file or website to be associated with the feature in the map and viewed within your organization, but it can be difficult to locate the specific item with notes attached. This tool quickly selects those features so the Hotlink tool can be used to click the feature and view the attached file.

ShowNotes

NoteEx An example Word document linked to a block for reference. Everyone in the organization can now click the block to view the linked document.

Chart Velocity Data

The Chart Velocity Data tool is an early tool that is just as handy today. After selecting wells in a map, such as these selected from wells with velocity surveys in Green Canyon, the Chart Velocity Data tool will load the velocity survey values into Excel and create the graph below. This is especially helpful in locating outliers very quickly in your area of interest.

VelocityMap
VelocityGraph

Return TVD/MD, Lat, Lon for given Depth

This tool takes an API Number and depth (either MD or TVD) and returns the converted depth, latitude and longitude. The tool reads directional survey data from BOEM and interpolates between its one hundred foot intervals of measured depth to locate the appropriate coordinates.

ReturnTVD

DMS > DD (Degrees-Minutes-Seconds to Decimal Degrees)

Possibly the simplest tool in the ESA Toolbox, this tool converts between Degrees-Minutes-Seconds and Decimal Degrees.

DMS

"Sandwich" Tool

The Sandwich Tool was created as a secondary step to the Paleo Wizard (shown later in this newsletter), but is applicable to many more uses. At its core, this tool takes a raster, intersects it with a point and inserts the raster cell value into the point layer's attributes. So in the case of the Paleo surfaces, the specific horizon of a fossil such as Cristellaria S can be created and then the depth of the horizon can be added to the Completions to compare whether it is above or below that horizon. Subsequently, other horizons could be added and the Sandwich tool would used to add the depths of those horizons as well, to eventually discover where the Completion was "sandwiched" between those horizons.

Sandwich

By the time the tool was originally created ArcGIS included a similar tool within their toolset, the Extract Values to Points tool. Although the Sandwich tool is handy for including input for the new column name, with the Extract Values to Points tool in place this tool was not recreated for ArcGIS Pro.

Paleo Wizard

The final two utilities are used in 3D scenes, so within ArcGIS Pro, they are separated into a 3D category in the ESA Toolbox. First up is the Paleo Wizard, a tool used within a 3D Field View to grid the horizon of different Paleo options, either the series/stage or the specific fossil. Sand data from BOEM contains the series and depositional environment for each sand, so creating horizons based on the paleo picks is an excellent way to divide the sands in finer detail.

Paleo

The Paleo Wizard finds the shallowest paleo pick on each well that matches the input, then creates the raster surface and inserts it into the scene. This image shows the undulating Bolivina thalmanni surface at the Mars field. Not only is the wizard helpful in visualizing the geology of a field but it can also identify poor paleo depths in a way that BOEM likely does not check.

PaleoEx

Surface Wizard

The Surface Wizard, to this point, is used to map mud weights from OOSA (if your company is a subscriber to the Offshore Oil Scouts) or BOEM's weekly drilling records (if your company subscribes to the GOM3 Analytics Addon). A range is necessary to select the fluid weight to grid because operators only submit records each week. In the image below, a range of 14 - 14.4 is used to show the approximate depth where the operator began using 14lb mud.

SurfaceWizard

Like the Paleo wizard, this tool will locate the shallowest sample from each well to create a surface of the top of this pressure horizon. In the image below looking east across the Mars field, the operator clearly started adding 14lb mud at shallower depths along the southern end of the field.

SurfaceEx

The Surface Wizard certainly has room to grow for gridding other datasets. If you have a need for quickly gridding certain data, please request it here.

Launch Analytics

The final tool in the ESA Toolbox is the link to the high-end analytics of the GOM3 Analytics Addon. These tools provide in-depth analysis, visualization and efficiency to a variety of users, far more than can be described here. Instead, do check out the entire page (with videos) for each of these tools for a better understanding of how helpful and insightful these tools can be to your organization.

DMS

For a list of past newsletters, click here. Also be sure to check out our YouTube page for helpful videos and if you have suggestions for videos you would like to see to aid your work, please let us know here.