Published:
The Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) has today (Monday 25 March) launched what is believed to be one of the largest open releases of data with the creation of the UK's first UK Oil and Gas National Data Repository (NDR).
Freely-available to everyone, the NDR is an online platform which is home to 130 terabytes of well, geophysical, field and infrastructure data, (equivalent to around eight years' worth of HD movies) covering more than 12,500 wellbores, 5,000 seismic surveys, and 3,000 pipelines.
The NDR aims to help achieve maximum economic recovery of the estimated 20 billion barrels of oil and gas that remains; unlocking new investment, new technology and more exploration activity. In addition, the NDR will play an important role in the energy transition, including for example enabling future carbon capture, usage and storage (CCUS) projects, thanks to the wealth of reservoir and infrastructure data available.
Claire Perry, Minister for Energy and Clean Growth said: "The UK's oil and gas industry is an integral part of the economy, contributing over £334 billion in taxes while meeting around half of our energy needs. The NDR will help position the sector at the front of the data revolution and enable industry to unlock the full potential of the UK Continental Shelf, delivering further energy security, tax revenues and the high paid jobs that are at the centre of our modern Industrial Strategy."
Professor John Underhill, Chief Scientist & Chair of Exploration Geoscience, Heriot-Watt University said: "The OGA's efforts in releasing and providing public access to data via the new National Data Repository will be a game-changer for academics undertaking subsurface research that benefits geoscience in general and the wider academic community in particular."
The NDR can be found here.