By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Aug. 30 -- President George W. Bush's "E-government" agenda to improve the effectiveness of government service via electronic program implementation is proving effective for some agencies. The US Department of the Interior's Materials Management Service Gulf of Mexico region, for example, initiated a web-based ordering system several months ago to make well logs available to the industry faster and easier, the agency said.
While historically it took about 30 days to fill a customer's request for well logs, which was limited to about 125 well logs, the new system completes an order in less than 30 minutes, and there is no limit to the number of logs that can be ordered, MMS said.
The system allows customers to select from more than 200,000 well log images stored in tiff raster files. Customers build custom CD-ROMs containing up to 200 selected log image files for a flat fee of $15 per CD and order it via a secure credit card transaction. Customers can also create CDs as needed and purchase them at a later date, review their order history, and track orders that have been filled and mailed.
"This is proving to be a success for the many users of well logs in the energy and geologic community," MMS Director Johnnie Burton said. "The response from the customers has been very positive. During the first 2 months of operation, 180 CDs containing over 33,000 well log images have been delivered."
Ongoing communication with customers has resulted in improvements to the system. "We are listening to the customers and making changes accordingly," Burton said. Plans call for expanding the system's inventory to include paleo and seismic data as well as publications and reports.
