BP and Schlumberger Ltd. unveiled a new means of generating oil and gas prospects via the internet at the opening Wednesday of the ninth annual North American Prospects Expo in Houston.
The new service, with the trademarked designation of VirtualProspect, is the �next step toward creation of the virtual oil company� by providing the means and information for industry experts to interpret data and generate prospects anywhere in the world, said officials for the two companies.
It could revolutionize oil and gas exploration by enabling additional independent experts to examine a particular property without the previous inherent delays, officials said. And it provides the opportunity for explorationists skilled in a certain type of play to apply their knowledge to similar prospects around the globe.
With the system, a geologist in Vail, Colo., can �come home from a day of skiing, get on the internet and make some money� by generating a prospect in the Gulf of Mexico, BP officials said.
The process was developed by BP and IndigoPool.com, Schlumberger�s electronic commerce company, which will make a commercial version available to the industry in July.
The service was successfully piloted in December, when BP offered five Gulf of Mexico properties for prospect development through IndigoPool�s website. Included in that offering were Matagorda Island blocks 518/519/487 and 622/623; blocks 261/264 and 222/232 in East Cameron; and West Cameron blocks 292/293/294 in the western gulf.
�These properties are very core to our gulf operations. Matagorda Island 622/623 is one of our largest operations on the gulf shelf,� said Steven Decatur, BP�s exploration manager for that area.
BP�s own exploration and development staff was busy with other prospects, so those were made available through the internet for evaluation by outside experts. �We�ve got 10-12 rigs working nearly all the time on the shelf,� said James Bartlett, spokesman for BP America Inc.
Although the properties were not otherwise advertised, the proposal attracted multiple hits from 40 prospective interpreters from around the globe, BP officials said.
Using electronic applications available through the web site, seven outside companies submitted proposals to do geological and geophysical evaluations of prospects, �usually for more than one property,� Decatur said.
The applicants picked their own compensation options from a menu, based on fee guarantees, prospect quality, and success. The greater up-front risk assumed by an applicant, the bigger the potential reward.
If BP elects to farm out a proposed prospect, the applicant has an opportunity to market it to a third party to drill.
Five consulting companies were selected from those applicants to receive the necessary data for development of prospects. Although the interpreters have until mid-March to develop the proposals they�ll present to BP, Decatur said, �We�ve already had our first review� of one proposal.
BP officials are so pleased with the initial offering that they will probably put up another 30 offshore gulf blocks for consideration. Other BP divisions may offer prospects from US onshore, Alaska, and the North Sea, said Decatur.
