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The
NewsRoom
Release #: 3102
Date: August 25, 2004
New
Digital Well Data Contract to Advance Electronic Government Effort
The Minerals Management
Service will soon have access to better quality digital well data, due
to a new contract with A2D Technologies. The contract is another major
step in the MMS electronic government effort.
“Obtaining well data as an
on-line service will assist MMS and industry in realizing time and
cost savings, and provide citizens with more customized and
user-friendly access to information,” said MMS Director Johnnie
Burton.
The new electronic
capabilities provided by the contract, along with the upcoming OCS
Connect Project, will help MMS keep pace with the increasing
complexity of oil and gas operations and greater workloads. Together,
they will provide more sophisticated technical analyses and data
exchange and ensure more accurate assessments of the nation’s offshore
energy resources. OCS Connect is a phased, multi-year e-Government
transformation program that will dramatically reform and streamline
business operations.
According to Burton, the
electronic information provided will assist MMS improve and enhance
its geologic and geophysical evaluations. “Precise interpretation of
this data is critical for much of the work done by MMS, especially in
estimations of oil and gas reserves, geologic field determination,
calculation of fair value, royalty relief determination, and reservoir
conservation,” said Burton. “The new contract will ensure data quality
and completeness, provide speed of delivery, and save a significant
number of man-hours for the agency.”
The five-year contract
calls for A2D Technologies to collect, process, and provide
standardized digital well data for MMS and the public. The contract,
which became effective June 1, 2004, supports the MMS Gulf of Mexico,
Pacific and Alaska regional offices.
As the MMS agent, A2D will
receive digital and hardcopy Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) well log
data submitted by OCS operators, and then provide MMS with quality
data sets for all OCS wells. Digital vector data sets from all three
of MMS’s regional offices will be stored by A2D. As the data sets
become releasable to the public, A2D will offer them for purchase,
thus providing “one-stop-shopping” for digital vector data sets. While
A2D digital vector data for the Gulf of Mexico region will be
available only from A2D, similar data for Alaska and the Pacific will
also be available from MMS Alaska and Pacific regional offices.
The Minerals Management
Service is the federal agency in the U.S. Department of the Interior
that manages the nation’s oil, natural gas, and other mineral
resources on the Outer Continental Shelf in Federal offshore waters.
The agency also collects, accounts for, and disburses mineral revenues
from Federal and American Indian lands. MMS disbursed more than $8
billion in FY 2003 and more than $135 billion since the agency was
created in 1982. Nearly $1 billion from those revenues go into the
Land and Water Conservation Fund annually for the acquisition and
development of state and Federal park and recreation lands.
Relevant Web Sites
MMS Main Website
Gulf of Mexico Website
Media Contacts
Debra Winbush
(504) 736-2597
Caryl Fagot
(504) 736-2590
MMS: Securing Ocean Energy & Economic Value for
America
U.S. Department of the Interior |