Desktop GIS Solution for Land/Lease Management
Historical Perspective:
The installation and use of GIS technology provides a superior solution for Land/Lease Management at Union Pacific Resources Company (UPR). UPR is a publicly traded independent Oil & Gas Exploration and Production Company located in Fort Worth, Texas. We are one of the largest E & P Companies in the U.S. and have been one of the top domestic drillers over the last 6 years. During that time UPR has doubled in size with a corporate strategy that has emphasized natural gas and heavy investment in the gas value chain. We have interests ranging from production, to gathering, to processing, to transportation, and finally to marketing. However, the primary asset of UPR is its ownership of land and its ability to develop and monetize this asset. UPR owns in excessŒof 10 million mineral acres and has more than 2.7 million acres under lease in ten (10) different states, two (2) countries and offshore. This translates into 42,000 leases; 5,000 contracts; and over 13,000 active wells. Mapping in the oil and gas industry is a critical tool for the management of our properties. Maps are used to display what we own and its location, to lay out an acquisition or development strategy, to display the relationships between one company's acreage position and a pipeline, or a seismic line, or a well or another company's acreage position. They are used to analyze the mineral ownership and surface topography and relate it to the subsurface stratigraphy or to a region's economics thus enabling a company to select the most optimal location to drill a well. A map is used to display what we want to sell or what we want to buy. They are used as exhibits to contracts and as evidence in judicial and regulatory hearings. In summary, maps are an integral part in the day to day work of all of our operational disciplines. Historically our industry has managed these assets through mainframe based textual information systems while the spatial data was captured separately as hand drawn or CAD maps. The maps were not derived from the text. At best they only represented the text at a certain point in time. Due to the time involved in their creation, they became living documents maintained by hand. Therefore, the text and maps were always out of sync. Additionally, maps of the same geographical area were created multiple times by different end users reflecting each user's own query or analysis and subsequently were stored in their individual files where other users had either no access or knowledge of their existence. Decision making was a painstaking labor intensive process based on out-of-date and unreliable data with opportunities lost through the paralysis of data gathering, display and analysis. Business processes were developed just to ensure that quality decisions could be made regardless of the time, costs or people involved.Motivation for Change:
As an industry, we have seen reserves decline while production increased. Prices have not increased in real terms and if prices continue to remain flat going forward it will be harder and harder for companies to prosper. Yet UPR has prospered and believes it will continue to prosper by growing production volumes and containing costs. To do this, UPR began a transformation process in 1991 under the direction of our President, Mr. Jack Messman. In order to prosper, UPR's strategy was to improve on its quality, productivity and cost efficiency. This involves four elements: Strategy, Process Analysis, Information Technology and People. Our focus here is on Process Analysis or Reengineering and on Technology.
Reengineering is the mechanism by which we review our work processes to ensure they comply with the goals we have established. Our goals are to capture the data only once, to ensure data integrity, to reduce cycle time and to provide for flexible analysis. In order to achieve these goals, we want to apply new technology only where it will improve the process. Our corporate strategy is to move from mainframe to client-server systems. We want applications that will communicate with all of our other applications. However, reengineering is an ongoing process. Through these efforts, we continue to eliminate processes, reduce costs and work but not people. We retrain and redeploy people to address new issues and functions that we have been unable to address before. An example of this was UPR's ability to assimilate the acquisition of a company 20% of our size with no increase in the headcount in Fort Worth.
In analyzing our processes it became apparent that mapping and more specifically GIS technology was a tool that could be and should be applied at UPR. More specifically, the new GIS technologies developed by Environmental Systems Research Institute (Esri) seemed to fit ourŒgoals as well as provide opportunities for the future. However, GIS and Esri have been around a long time. What advancements in GIS technology at Esri now make it so attractive to UPR?
First, it is now available on a PC. Historically, end users in the oil and gas industry have typically been at either end of the technology spectrum. Users either required the power of UNIX to run technical or scientific applications or they labored with mainframe applications that managed their records. There were also users whose work involved access to and information from both of these platforms. However, neither platform was user friendly and both required extensive training to use. There was no communication across platforms and no commonality in applications. Therefore, potential users would rather rely on their own manual methods of perfoming their work rather than learn and stay current with these complex systems. Today, mainframe applications are migrating to a client-server systems using PC clients at the desktop. With the help of Microsoft Windows and others and their massive advertising efforts and new products, we are finding users not only willing to use a PC, but embracing it. From a corporate standpoint, a PC's versatility, ease of use and cost efficiency makes it the most logical choice as a tool to be located on everyone's desk. Yet mapping in strictly the PC environment is just not as robust as on the UNIX platform. Esri's development of ArcView has opened doors for mapping that have not been available before. It's ability to access, display and utilize GIS data previously available only to UNIX users has brought mapping tools to everyone's desk.
Second, we now have the connectivity and a working relationship with relational database management systems (RDBMS). One of the primary concerns, is to ensure that the spatial and textual data are in sync. Arc coverages and libraries that are prebuilt from dynamically changing textual databases suffer data rot as soon as they are built. If the GIS data cannot be kept in sync with our textual data, a GIS system will become obsolete as soon as it is introduced. Additionally, performance at the desktop is greatly impacted by data volume and the method of accessing attribute data. The Spatial Database Engine (SDE) provides us the opportunity to maintain our spatial and textual data as one dataset. This functionality enhances synchronization, allows the user to dynamically access and manage this data without significantly impacting retrieval performance.
Technology (Functionality) Development:
In addition to the development of these products, there are certain technological functionalities that lend themselves very well to what oil and gas companies are trying to capture or analyze with their maps. Some of these functionalities are new, while some have been around awhile but are now coming more into play with new product development and desktop deployment.
First is region topology. Every oil and gas lease can have many tracts with each tract having its own unique attributes that we need to be able to summarize. These tracts can be contiguous, noncontiguous or have coincident boundaries. Basically, lease tracts will overlap with other lease tracts. For example, consider the State of Hawaii as a lease, with each of Hawaii's islands representing a lease tract. Each has its own unique boundary and attributes. However, unlike the Hawaiian Islands, lease tracts can and do overlap. Complicating this problem, lease tracts can be further subdivided by depth. Region topology gives the user the ability to filter through these overlapping tracts to identify unique or aggregate similar information. No other mapping package offers this ability. In our example, we might want to identify such unique information as island name or aggregate such similar information as island population. Historically, this analysis required a manual work process that would involve several people days or even weeks to research and quantify. This tool effectively reduces cycle time and enhances the analysis process. Œ
Second is the PC coming of age. Concurrently with development of GIS tools, the PC seems to have grown up. We now have PC's with pentium chips running at 166 to 175 Mhz with 24 - 32 Mb of RAM operating on a thirty-two bit operating system. WindowsTM 95 or WindowsTM NT are becoming the standard. This is important because we now deal with complex operations, graphically intense data and large distributed data volumes. As we know, ArcView is capable of accessing a largecombination of data sources. This data can be distributed across both UNIX and PC networks. For instance, ArcView can use a shapefile with embedded attribute data stored locally on the PC and at the same time access a map library layer on a UNIX data server with attribute data stored on a UNIX Oracle database server. Information from the UNIX map library layer could be combined directly with a local DBF file or a local shapefile could be combined directly with attribute data from a UNIX Oracle table. However, ArcView performance is impacted greatly by data volume since ArcView stores all data in memory during a session. Sixteen bit operating systems place a physical limit on the total volume of data that can be accessed. Even though ArcView has built-in tools to limit the amount of data accessed from map libraries, such tools are not available for external data sources such as Oracle where the number of rows accessed from an Oracle table is entirely dependent on the SQL clause used to extract data from Oracle. With the movement to thirty-two bit operating systems, we expect improved speed in accessing large volumes of data.
Additionally, we are able to use ArcView and most of its functionality remotely on a laptop on a limited data set. Large segments of our user community functions out in the field or in a courthouse buying leases, checking ownership records and clearing title to prospective land. The ability to use ArcView on a laptop in these remote locations to work in conjunction with localized relational databases establishes a single point of capture enhancing the data capture process. Also, we can transmit the data captured via modems for instant access and analysis in house reducing our cycle time. All of this is not possible without the growth of the PC.
Third is the ability to customize ArcView . The ability to customize ArcView using Avenue scripts creates opportunities for industry and discipline specific functionality. An oil and gas industry example of this would be the ability to convert legal descriptions to latitude/longitude coordinates (geocoding). Oil and gas land management involves managing legal documents such as deeds, leases and assignments under which companies acquire or divest ownership in surface or mineral rights. The primary concern is to ensure that the legal descriptions contained in these instruments are accurately replicated spatially. ArcView tools developed by Eagle Information Mapping allow the end user to generate points, lines and polygons from legal descriptions and capture both the spatial and attribute data.
Development of a GIS Land Mapping System
In 1993, UPR initiated a review of its Land Department, its processes and its systems. In addition to process and methodology changes, three system initiatives were identified out of this Land Department reengineering effort. First, UPR selected the Land Management Systems developed by Innovative Business Solutions, Inc., to be the client-server solution for its mainframe Land records. Second, UPR established a team to design and develop a title management system that would be the tool to link the Land work done in the field with work done inhouse a heretofore manual process. Third, UPR established a mapping team to identify opportunities to spatially capture its properties and the activity of its competitors. With this directive, the mapping team began the process of evaluating UPR's needs versus available and developing technology.
Separately, Amoco Corporation was also evaluating the processes and systems used to support its Land Department s operations. Amoco Corporation is an integrated Oil and Gas Company facing the same challenges as UPR to prosper in the current industry environment. They developed aŒstrategy to move their Land Records from the mainframe to a client©server platform. In developing this strategy, Amoco also selected Innovative Business Solutions, Inc., to be the client-server solution for its Land records. Additionally, Amoco wanted a PC based integrated GIS mapping system to access attribute data stored in the IWS database.
UPR and Amoco both recognized that ArcView with its connectivity to ArcInfo as well as the other tools being developed by Esri appeared to be the basis for a solution. In focusing on Esri both companies individually identified Eagle Information Mapping as a third party developer of Esri products who could customize and enhance ArcView to further satisfy their needs. In identifying Eagle, Amoco and UPR began to communicate with each other regarding their mapping requirements. Although Amoco is an industry competitor, they had very similar needs to UPR and it was felt that the two companies would benefit from joining forces to create a product.
In light of this, a partnership was formed in early 1995 to create an online GIS mapping system which would graphically represent all of an Oil and Gas Company's properties and their relationship to competitor properties within the framework of their cartigraphical, cultural and land grid data. This system would have to be able to create, edit and access spatial data as well as performing attribute and spatial queries through dynamic links with relational databases.
Besides UPR and Amoco, The partnership to develop this product consisted of the following parties. Eagle Information Mapping is an Esri third party developer who brings a strong history of product development in the oil and gas industry. Innovative Business Solutions, Inc. (IBS) is the leading provider of Land Management Systems to the industry which are created on relational databases and accessible both at the Desktop and on a laptop. All of these parties jointly designed the functionality of a Land Mapping System with Eagle then developing the mapping side and IBS modifying their Land Management Systems to provide the space and functionality to capture and store the spatial data.
The final product is called LandGIS. The base componant of LandGIS is ViewPoint which is Eagle's core mapping product. It is based on ArcView but provides a variety of extensions beyond ArcView "out of the box." These extensions allow users to access and store maps and map components at a finer level of granularity than ArcView . ViewPoint contains program modules providing discipline specific extensions for Land Management. Two of these modules are Boundary Builder and ViewPoint-Land. LandGIS, is the foundation for all modules. However, the interfaces of these modules differ based on their functionality. All of the modules have a common look and feel with ArcView .
The BoundaryBuilder module provides a full set of tools to convert legal descriptions to latitude/longitude coordinates and graphically capture, update and edit lease boundaries. This set of tools includes a means for entering both textual and spatial data through a series of menus and forms integrated with a map interface window. These tools are dynamically integrated with ViewPoint's analysis and mapping functions and IBS' Integrated WindowsTM-based Software (IWS) and Chain of Title (CoT) Systems. BoundaryBuilder includes tools to address the the complete data capture cycle, from master database download to QC and final upload.
ViewPoint-Land provides a suite of analysis tools for the management and development of a company's properties. This set of tools provides a means to perform specialized analysis, querying and "what if" scenarios and merging the results with a company's existing property position and its cartigraphical, cultural and land grid data. ViewPoint-Land is also dynamically integrated with IBS' Integrated WindowsTM-based Software (IWS) and Chain of Title (CoT) Systems providing for real-time results to analysis using these attribute sources.Œ
Before we look at the functionality of ViewPoint, let me review the recommended environment
for its utilization. First, we recommend that the PC client desktop configuration be a 586 (90 Mhz or
better) with a minimum 24 Mb of memory and a 2 Mb (+) graphics accelerator card. The
recommended PC client laptop configuration would be a 586 (90 Mhz or better) with 24 Mb of
memory and a 28.8 modem. Both the desktop and laptop will operate on a thirty -two bit operating
system such as Windows 95 or Windows NT. The server requirements include those platforms that
are supported by Esri. SDE will be the preferred platform to manage both the spatial and attribute
data.
Figure 1: Data Architecture-Current
Figure 2: Data Architecture-Future
A view of the Data Archectecture at UPR as it appears today and how we anticipate it looking tomorrow is represented in the diagrams above. Figure 1 represents a generalized view of the data architecture as it exists today in the UPR environment. This diagram demonstrates the configuration of both relational databases and ArcInfo sitting on UNIX servers and the ability to connect to ViewPoint on the PC client through NFS and TCPIP protocol. The home for spatial and attribute data is the relational database with the spatial coordinates managed in ArcInfo libraries, coverages and shapefiles. Figure 2 represents a generalized view of the data architecture as we anticipate it working tomorrow. This diagram demonstrates the configuration of relational databases with spatial data loaded directly into an SDE server. Since the spatial data is maintained in the RDBMS, a regularly scheduled update process will need to be run to update the layers held in SDE. SDE will then connect directly to ViewPoint on the PC client.
Case Study (Business Process Functionality):
As we examine the functionality of ViewPoint and two of its modules BoundaryBuilder and ViewPoint-Land, it is best to look at them in the context of the business process that created the need for their development. We will break the Land/Lease Management processes into three broad functionalities, first is Property Acquisition, second is Property Management and third is Property Development. In addition to ViewPoint, we will discuss some of the functionality of three of Innovative Business Solution's Land Management applications. The IBS products that will be discussed are, KSYS for Contract Administration, Leasedata for Lease Management and Chain of Title for Title Management.
A. Property Acquisition (accompanied with a demonstration of functionality) Property Acquisition is a process involving a cross-disciplined team of Petroleum Geologists, Geophysists, Engineers and Landmen. Their focus is to find areas that have oil and gas potential geologically and stratigraphically, have a correlation with existing production and have mineral rights available for lease. The availability of the mineral rights require individuals to analyze the deed records remotely in the county courthouse. This process is initiated in the IBS Chain of Title (CoT) system where the area is identified spatially using ViewPoint but both spatial and attribute data are stored in CoT. This data is downloaded viaΠdiskette or modem to a laptop in order that the analysis can be performed locally in the courthouse. The results of the analysis are captured spatially using BoundaryBuilder's legal to lat/long convertor and stored on the remote CoT Watcom database. Shapefiles of the newly captured data can be built for local viewing or for transmittal to the office for interim views of the progress in the field. Upon completion of the field analysis, the data is transmitted back to the office and loaded directly into the Chain of Title (Oracle) database from which ViewPoint can dynamically regenerate coverages to reflect the new data. This data capture cycle is displayed in figure 3 below.
Figure 3: Data Capture Cycle
When UPR acquires new leases, they can be input directly into Leasedata (Lease
Management system). In defining the legal description for tracts during the input process,
we are able to start ViewPoint directly from Leasedata with our view centered on the basic
descriptive parameters we input initially in Leasedata. Upon entering ViewPoint our Legal
Pad is activated immediately. Figure 4 displays the Legal Pad.
Figure 4: Legal Pad
From the Legal Pad, we are able to input descriptions through the use of the QBS (Quarter
by Section) or M & B (Metes and Bounds) tools. These are displayed in figure 5 below.
While using either of these tools, a user will see the feature actually being drawn
interactively on their view. Once the user captures the feature that is being described,
clicking of the OK button on either tool will write the textual description captured to the Legal
Pad. This is repeated until all tracts associated with a lease have been captured on the
Legal Pad. Clicking OK to the Legal Pad will write the textual legal description, the
coordinates for the polygon vertices, a minimum bounding box for the lease and the
calculated acreage for the lease back to Leasedata. This same process can be used in both
KSYS (Contract Administration) and Chain of Title for competitor leases.
Figure 5: QBS and M&B Tools
Historically, a textual description as well as a hand drawn map would be captured several
times both internally and externally as a lease traversed its way from the field to its final
resting place internally. In this process and with the interfacing among all of the relational
databases and ViewPoint, textual descriptions and polygon coordinates are captured only
once and stored in only one place. That being the relational database. This capture process
can be done either externally in the field or internally in the office. Wherever the data is
captured, the entire company will now be viewing and analyzing the same data.
B. Property Management (accompanied with a demonstration of functionality)ΠProperty Management involves the analysis and maintenance of the properties acquired
above. These functions can be performed by any member of the Business Team as well as
Corporate Management or any of the various administrative entities within our corporate
environment. The analysis tools developed in ViewPoint-Land are designed to help the user
solve problems or access data spatially on his properties or establish a relationship between
his properties and surrounding properties. Some of these tools conduct operations using
region topology within the context of depth restrictions as defined in the previous Hawaiian
Islands example. Others provide immediate access and/or display of attribute information
stored in a relational database. Five of these tools are identified below.
Rollup Tool - The rollup tool allows the user to aggregate a single attribute from overlapping
polygons to a level of non-overlapping polygons. These attributes reside in a relational
database and since they are depth sensitive, the overlapping polygon is restricted as to
depth or formation ranges. The rollup tool will run against selected features of a target theme
and create a new output attribute and a new theme for the surface polygon feature
symbolized by the new attribute. Figure 6 below, reflects a common query posed in the oil
and gas industry. What is my working interest in a specific tract? The Rollup tool provides
a quick vehicle to perform that analysis.
Figure 6: Rollup Tool
Surface Polygon Report - The surface polygon report is a version of the Rollup Tool that
aggregates a fixed number of attributes such as a company's working interest, revenue
interest or net acres on a tract basis. Unlike the Rollup tool, the Surface Polygon Report will
select a tract or tracts on which to aggregate multiple attributes. Like the Rollup Tool, the
attributes are stored in a relational database, are depth sensitive and if a surface polygon
theme does not exist on the map the tool will create one. The calculated values are
appended to the polygon attribute table for the surface polygon theme.
Figure 7: Surface Polygon Analysis
IWS X-Ref Update - The IWS X-Ref Update is tool that provides the Land Administrator the
ability to spatially cross reference multiple records in IBS' IWS relational database. The user
identifies a selector theme and a target theme. The selector theme is used to find all
intersecting features in the target theme. File numbers for the intersecting features of both
themes are cross referenced and are returned to the IWS database.
Provisions Tools - The three provision tools under the analysis menu will each run against
a single feature (a well) on a well theme. These tools provide the user with a quick analysis
of the lease status when a well that is maintaining the existence of the lease ceases to
produce. These tools run against specific attributes in the IWS relational database.
Charting wells - The well charting tools perform specific queries on attribute information
stored in relational databases regarding wells. This information can be associated to a single
well or to multiple wells across a region. Upon conclusion of the analysis, the tool creates
a chart document for the selected well(s).
C. Property Development (accompanied with a demonstration of functionality)ΠProperty development is the ability of our business teams to take all of the acreage and the
mineral rights we have acquired and convert it into productive property that maximizes our
interest and reduces our risk. Many factors, beyond just identifying a prospect which was
done under Property Acquisition above, go into determining the right place to make the
investment of drilling a well. Some of these additional factors are well spacing, formation
drainage, fracture orientation, stratigraphic relief, accessability, regulatory compliance and
property ownership. These are analyses that are performed with a variety of tools. In the
case of property ownership, The tools identified above are used to perform the analysis.
However, once these factors are analyzed, additional tools are required to take the results
of these analyses and identify the appropriate places to drill a well or wells and to ensure
achieving maximum allowable production from the well. The chart in figure 8 reflects the
results of the Prospect Analysis.
Figure 8: Prospect Analysis
Once this analysis is complete, ViewPoint provides tools by which the user can set the
location for a well, identify proposed unit (a collection of leases which either overlap or are
contiguous to each another) boundaries for production or devise a plan of development for
an area. The following are examples of these tools.
Footings Tool - The footings tool calculates an offset to two linear features. Normally these
features are lease or geopolitical boundaries. This tool provides the user the ability to spot
a well at a location that is legal under regulatory guidelines. The user operates the tool on
lines selected graphically. The tool requests a direction and distance with the result being
a point written to an acetate layer.
Traverse Tool - The traverse tool calculates one or more offset points (traverses) to a
starting point. This tool provides the user the ability to spot one or more well locations from
an existing well taking into account distance and orientation. It invokes a dialog menu box
requesting a series of bearing and distance calls. The result is a graphic written to the
acetate layer.
Well Unit Planner - The well unit planner is a tool similar to the Surface Polygon Report in
terms of attributes calculated and its depth sensitivities. Its purpose is to provide the user
a tool to quantify specific attributes on a region of leases and to designate these leases into
groupings known as units to maximize the user's interest in and ability to develop the
property. Like the Surface Polygon Report, it can aggregate multiple attributes contained in
the IWS relational database and append the calculated values to the theme's attribute table.
Unlike the Surface Polygon Report, the Well Unit Planner does not analyze existing leases
but potential well units. It operates against a single selected polygon on the acetate layer
that may cut across existing polygonal features requiring the tool to be able to dissect
polygons. The tool allows the user to play "what if" scenarios that would maximize the users
interest yet prudently develop the property.
Wish List:
Looking ahead, there is functionality that UPR and our partners in the development of ViewPoint would like to see Esri address in future enhancements and releases of ArcView and SDE . These items no particular order are: 1) The ability to type in a scale for maps; 2) Improvement in ArcView'sŒoverpost resolution; 3) The ability to easily distribute customizations (Avenue Scripts) to other projects; 4) The ability to post grid lines and graticules; 5) A form creation tool;
Conclusion:
As it has been previously stated, in order to prosper in the current business climate we must
grow
volumes while containing costs. To do this, we must first improve our processes to be more efficient
and then apply technology where it aids or improves the process. Technology by itself is not enough.
Technology must be used in the context of how your business is operated. That is why in the design
of ViewPoint and the BoundaryBuilder and ViewPoint-Land modules, the tools were conceived from
the processes and not the other way around. In doing this, we believe that ViewPoint, ArcView and
GIS are and will be critical tools to the future success of the oil and gas industry. In that belief, Union
Pacific Resources Company is applying GIS with its new products along with the development in
technology and functionality as one of its resources in its reengineering efforts that will allow it to
prosper in the current market and in the future.
Primary Author Martin (Marty) J. Schardt Union Pacific Resources Company 801 Cherry Street Ft. Worth, TX 76102 (817) 877©6779 Office (817) 820©7843 Fax mjschardt@uprc.com
Contributing Authors Dennis James Robert (Bob) Kline Amoco Corporation Union Pacific Resources Company 501 WestLake Park Blvd. 801 Cherry Street Houston, TX 77079 Ft. Worth, TX 76102 Tracy Torleifson Pete Murphy Eagle Information Mapping, Inc. Innovative Business Solutions, Inc. 6565 West Loop South, Suite 500 6565 West Loop South, Suite 500 Bellaire, TX 77401 Bellaire, TX 77401