Data Managment Models (Standards in Oil and Gas Industry)

Data management models provide frameworks for organizing, storing, and manipulating data within information systems. Relational Management Models are the most widely used data management model. It organizes data into tables (relations) consisting of rows and columns. Relationships between tables are established through keys.

To understand databases and various types of data modeling please refer to: Database Technologies for Oil and Gas Industry

Various Data Models do exist in the oil and gas industry; however those models are being used as a part of open or closed source data management environments. At least Three Major Upstream Data models can be identified.

1. PPDM by Energistics
2. Seabed by SLB
3. OSDU (originally by Shell)

1- PPDM by Energistics

The PPDM (Petroleum Data Model) developed by Energistics is a standardized framework for organizing and managing oil and gas exploration and production data. It facilitates interoperability, data exchange, and integration among different systems and organizations within the industry. Key features include a comprehensive data model covering various data domains, support for data integration and exchange, metadata management, geospatial integration, and continuous evolution to align with industry needs. Overall, PPDM promotes data consistency, efficiency, and better decision-making in upstream oil and gas operations.

2-Seabed by Schlumberger

The Seabed data model represents a purpose-built database platform renowned for its remarkable capabilities and adaptability. It facilitates swift development and uniform deployment of petrotechnical applications necessitating seamless workflows across applications or domains. Seabed serves as a unified data model, empowering workflows spanning exploration, engineering, development, production, economics, and other upstream oil and gas domains.

The integrated ProSource environment alongside Seabed technology facilitates comprehensive corporate information management via a unified desktop application. This application streamlines browsing, editing, creation, management, and transfer of data from multiple repositories.

3-OSDU (Originally by Shell, Now Owned by OpenGroup)

The Open Subsurface Data Universe (OSDU) is an initiative in the oil and gas industry aimed at creating a standardized platform for managing, sharing, and analyzing subsurface data related to exploration and production activities. It seeks to establish common data formats, metadata, and APIs to enable interoperability and data exchange among different software applications and organizations. OSDU adopts a cloud-native architecture to facilitate scalable storage, processing, and analysis of large volumes of subsurface data. The initiative promotes collaboration among industry stakeholders to collectively develop and maintain the platform, with the ultimate goal of fostering innovation, improving efficiency, and unlocking value from subsurface data assets.

OSDU has a unique approach to data management where the main model is based on document-based NoSQL approach that is very different from relational models used previously, this provides a better control of OSDU use cases and more flexible schema for Oil and Gas Operators wishing to create their own Ad Hoc schema or data structures.