Plenary Speakers Bio & Abstracts

Monday 12. September

Monday 18:55  What can your data really tell you?
- Harald Wesenberg, Equinor

Data is valuable, and the more data, the more value, right? In a world that is increasingly data driven, we are getting more and more value from our using the data that we have stored for decades. But are there limits to what our data can tell us?

Abstract - There is an adage stating that “applications age like fish, while data age like (fine) wine”, meaning that data become more valuable as it gets older. And that is certainly true for a lot of the data collected in the oil and gas industry. Long timeseries of production data, 4D seismic and reservoir models, and more continue to provide value to companies, while also providing the basis for new value opportunities in machine learning and artificial intelligence.
However, experience has shown us that there are limits to what the data can tell us. While data gives us insight, it does not give us perfect insight. Our insight will be shaped by our assumptions on the data and the world they represent. These assumptions can prove deadly in high-risk organizations.

Tuesday 13. September

Hilde Nordbø is Assistant director Data management at the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD). Hilde believes in increased value from data through a close collaboration with the industries, both via Diskos and other arenas. She has more than 20 years of experience from the management consulting and the energy industry, including Cap Gemini, Accenture and Equinor before joining the NPD in 2021. Hilde holds a Master of Science in Industrial Economics and Technology Management from NTNU.

Tuesday 08:35  NPD 50 years – the role of data and data management on the NCS

- Hilde Nordbø, Assistant Director Data Management, Norwegian Petroleum Directorate

To which extent has data, data management and collaboration between the industry and the authorities shaped the NCS and enabled success? A look into the the development of the shelf through “data lenses” from the authorities’ perspective and glimpse into the potential value creation from data in the future.

M Hartung has over 30 years of E&P expertise from geophysicist to strategic leader, Matthias possesses profound knowledge of people, processes, and technology management. In his previous positions as Vice President Technical Data, the Chief Data Officer, he co-led the digital transformation of business processes of an energy super-major. Matthias shares his change management expertise as a sparring partner, to touch those he works with, creating targeted solutions and mutually beneficial partnerships. He values organizations which are strong in innovation, in their lived values and with tangible contributions to society.

Tuesday 08:55  Data Governance – Hidden Value in a Mature yet Transforming Operator
- Matthias Hartung, Head of Data & Information Management, Wintershall Dea
Learnings from Data Governance in Support of Compliance, Enterprise Content, Production Optimization, Environmental Reporting and Management towards Net-Zero.

Abstract: This paper will present the value and learnings of effectively implementing data governance within a mature operator, that is investing significantly into digital transformation of its upstream processes and that is committed towards net-zero emissions by 2030. Examples will be given in the field of regulatory compliance, environmental reporting, production optimization, and enterprise information (content) management. It will show how to effectively master data, how to integrate data and how to build the data foundation for digitally transforming business processes. The talk will touch on organizational capabilities as well as staff competencies needed in data management, data engineering and data sciences. The paper will also raise dilemmas to discuss at the conference as well as offer practical learnings for participants to take home.

Henk Tijhof is a geophysicist who has worked for >30 yrs in Shell. Following geophysical assignments in NL and Nigeria, he moved to the UK and worked in technical and integrated subsurface and field development roles before returning to NL.  He then further broadened into global field development, assurance and discipline roles. In the last 7 years he worked as the global manager for subsurface and wells software deployment and head of techncial data management since 2017. He currently works as advisor in the subsurface data and digital team to support the transition to OSDU, with focus on the integration between data and applications to the benefit of the users.

Tuesday 09:20  The Shell OSDU Strategy and experience to data
- Henk Tijhof, Sr. Advisor Subsurface and Wells Digital Ecosystem, Shell
The importance of OSDU in Shells strategy for Subsurface and Wells workflows and decision making.

Abstract: For the past decades, subsurface and wells users in Shell have been well-served in their data requirements via a connected, on-premise network of data bases and tools that combine 3rd party vendor products and in-house applications. This data environment can no longer cope with the demands of the business or the explosion in data volumes that we are seeing today. New cloud based data architecture with stronger separation between the data and the applications and workflows is the direction the industry is going and Shell has advocated strong support for OSDU initiative from the start. Shell has chosen to replace the entire subsurface and wells data ecosystem with the OSDU data platform. This presentation will cover the vision Shell holds for the OSDU platform, our journey so far and it will explore some of the benefits we expect to see from this major transformation as well as challenges the industry working together in OSDU has to resolve.

David Holmes - A pragmatic climate optimist, David leads Dell Technologies Energy business with a focus on accelerating the energy transition whilst maintaining energy supply and security. His global team is responsible for solutions development, product strategy & go to market and is highly valued for their industry subject matter expertise and ability to demonstrate the transformational impact of technology in the Energy industry. A firm believer in the value of community led open industry standards, David was elected to The Open Group OSDU Forum Management Committee and is also a member of the GridWise Alliance Policy Committee. He has previously served on a number of industry bodies including the European ECIM Management Committee and SPE’s “Petabytes in Asset Management.” He has delivered numerous technical papers at conferences around the world and holds a patent for his work on the remote visualization of geotechnical applications.

Tuesday 10:30  Embracing the Future – The Transformational Effect of the OSDU Data Platform
- David Holmes, General Manager – Energy, Dell Technologies (behalf of The Open Group OSDU Forum)
The state of the OSDU universe, where are we and how did we get here - What can I do with the OSDU Data Platform today - Why should the OSDU Data Platform be a core part of my technology roadmap, how will I manage the transition?

Abstract: An opportunity to work with industry colleagues and peers to discuss the different ways in which problems can be solved with OSDU. Using ‘crowd-sourced’ problems individual teams of 8-12 people will work together on building solutions identifying different approaches including:
a.    Changes or extensions to the platform architecture
b.    Support for new data types within the platform
c.    Integration with existing legacy systems
d.    Development of new applications (either as community projects, through academia, by ISVs or internally to materialize an operator’s own IP in software)

Wednesday 14. September

Francesca Bell is the Senior Investor Relations Advisor at Offshore Energies UK and has responsibility for OEUK’s investor relations and environmental, social, and governance (E,S&G) workstreams, supporting members navigating investment in energy in a finance transition. Francesca also coordinates fiscal policy work within OEUK, including engaging in both fiscal and wider energy policy progression. Joined OEUK in 2020 from EY’s audit practice, which gave her experience in the upstream and midstream sectors. She is the industry chair of BEIS Early Careers Professional Forum for CCUS and represents OEUK on BEIS’s Hydrogen Expert Group.

Sakthi Norton is the Scheme Manager of SEQual, a pre-qualification scheme operated by LOGIC (a subsidiary of Offshore Energies UK) on behalf of the offshore energy industry. Sakthi fulfils an operational and strategic leadership role, ensuring SEQual brings together the buying and supplying communities in reducing risk and supporting effective procurement. With over ten years in the industry, Sakthi has worked with a wide range of stakeholders to deliver collaborative services in data, education, and procurement for the UKCS.

Wednesday 11:50  Are You Ready for ESG Data Management?
- Francesca Bell, Senior Investor Relations Advisor
  Sakthi Norton, SEQual Scheme Manager, Offshore Energies UK (OEUK)
ESG; Environment, Social, Corporate Governance; evolving value of data. Recognising that E,S&G is here to stay and the management of this dataset will eventually become a routine part of business, what can we learn from the evolution of geotechnical and operations data management in the energy sector? What might an analytics-ready application for capturing E,S&G data look like?

Abstract - The data we have gathered for years has a new context, in an evolving energy and finance landscape being driven by a transition in societal and business values. Environment, Social, and Corporate Governance (E,S&G) covers a broad scope and has to be analysed collectively rather than as individual data points. The people responsible for the capture, analysis, and exchange of this data must embrace a wide spectrum of data types, formats, and vintages from across technical and non-technical sources.  Recognising that E,S&G is here to stay and the management of this dataset will eventually become a routine part of business, what can we learn from the evolution of geotechnical and operations data management in the energy sector? What might an analytics-ready application for capturing E,S&G data look like? We propose that supplier pre-qualification datasets are a rich and undervalued source of E,S&G (and other) data across the industry. Using the SEQual portal as a case study, we discuss the considerations for designing an analytics-ready service fit for current and future needs.

Chandra Yeleshwarapu is Senior Director, Products, Customer Experience, and Business Development. His responsibilities include product strategy, business development, marketing, customer success, and delivering the digital tools for our industry, OpenEarth® community and platform, iEnergy® Cloud, SmartDigital® innovation services and artificial intelligence and machine learning with the Big Data Center of Excellence (CoE).  In his previous role, Mr. Yeleshwarapu was Senior Director of R&D, Customer Support, and Global Services at Halliburton Landmark.

Prior to joining Landmark in 2011, Mr. Yeleshwarapu was Senior Director of Solutions Management at Ariba (now SAP), and Director of Product Strategy and Product Management at Oracle.  Mr. Yeleshwarapu is co-author of multiple patents and patent applications. He is a Board of Director at Energistics, the upstream industries data exchange standards organization. He is the Halliburton focal point in Open Subsurface Data Universe (OSDU) forum.
He has a Bachelor's degree in Industrial Engineering from Pune University in India, a Master’s degree in Software Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University, and an MBA from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management.

Wednesday 12:10  Data Factory "How to" using DataOps principles for O&G
- Chandra Yeleshwarapu, Senior Director, Halliburton - Landmark
Transformation of your organization to harvest the insights from data by enabling access to and delivering right data, insight at the right time to every user in your organization by using principles of DataOps.

Abstract - By taking a few use cases in data driven organizations from across B2C and data and insight companies in B2B, we will describe a new framework for Data factory in O&G. The framework will dwell into how to implement a data factory using DataOps principles and fine tune it for O&G. We will also discuss some key challenges to overcome and some alternate models on how to make data factory a success in your organization.

Jamie Cruise is the Head of Products for Data Management at Schlumberger.  Jamie has over 25 years’ experience in delivering transformative solutions for upstream data management for both corporate and government clients.

12:35  Data without Borders – New Business Models for Data Management
- Jamie Cruise, Head of Products, Data Management, Schlumberger
The industry has finally delivered new platforms for upstream data management. Inside your corporation, you can now stream data to your applications and data scientists using vendor neutral formats. But why limit ourselves to the corporation? In this talk we consider new business models that enable partnership and collaboration across the old barriers between corporate, public and proprietary data sources. We talk about new operating models for data exchange including crowd sourcing, evergreening, and federating external data sources.