Robert Gordon University (RGU) has teamed up with researchers on a £400,000 data project which could save billions for oil and gas operators.
The university is part of a joint project with flow measurement specialist firm, NEL, and the Scottish Government funded Data Lab to develop a state-of-the-art system which will allow the teams to analyse 30 years’ worth of data for the first time.
Glasgow-based company NEL, which acts as the National Measurement Institute responsible for the management of the UK national standard for flow measurement, is investing the six figure sum in order to analyse its vast flow measurement data archive.
The combined data science expertise of RGU and NEL’s flow measurement capability will develop state-of-the-art data mining software tools to monitor ongoing performance and trends.
The researchers believe that these “intelligent meter health checks” will save operators billions of pounds per year from unnecessary calibrations, maintenance and shutdowns.
The new system will enable greater scrutiny of NEL’s archive to analyse a much larger array of data available from devices, and to pick up on historical performance trends in the oil & gas industry.
Muir Porter, NEL’s group manager, said: “This is an industry-first that will deliver operators the ability to analyse data on very large complex data sets to better inform decisions that have huge potential for cost optimisation.
“NEL is the UK’s National Measurement Institute, responsible for maintaining the flow measurement national standard.
“By delivering this unique capability, we will also be able to feed into high-impact industry research and guidance going forward.”
John McCall, director of RGU’s Smart Data Technologies Centre, said: “Our data science knowledge, combined with NEL’s flow metrology expertise, creates the opportunity to analyse data in a novel way, enabling us to provide previously unobtainable insights.
“We will uncover hidden data trends and relationships that will help operators to better understand and predict the condition of their meters, allowing them to minimise operational costs and maximise well revenues.”