The Kansas Geological Survey's Digital Petroleum Atlas (DPA) Project
Authors: Carr T.R. , Adkins-Heljeson D. , Gerlach P.M. , Gerhard L.C. , Guy W.J. , Kruger J.M. , Watney W.L. 
Published: December 2007

The Kansas Digital Petroleum Atlas (DPA) is a new approach to generating and publishing petroleum reservoir, field, play and basin studies. Atlas products are available anywhere in the world using a standard point-and-click World-Wide-Web interface. All information and technology in the DPA can be accessed, manipulated and downloaded in order to provide efficient transfer of the technology for client-defined solutions. The DPA design provides a dynamic product that is constantly evolving through new information structures, the latest research results, and incorporation of additional data. Through complete and flexible user access to both interpretative products and underlying reservoir and well data, the DPA significantly alters the relationship between research results, data access, and the transfer of technology.

Introduction

The traditional role of technical publication is to formalize and record scientific and technical results in time, and to transfer technology to potential users. The published petroleum atlas is a time honored approach to illustrating by analog the latest petroleum exploration and development knowledge and application. References 2 through 9 are notable compilations of reservoir, field and play studies. Similar proprietary compilations are common at major petroleum companies. The underlying goals of these petroleum atlases have been to:–Synthesize information on major reservoirs, fields, plays and basins;–Assist in efficient exploration and development by increasing technical knowledge of trapping, discovery and production of oil and gas;–Serve as analogs for reservoirs, fields and plays similar to those described; and–Provide an overview and introduction to the various petroleum basins described.

Publishing a traditional atlas is a time consuming and expensive process that results in a static paper product. Typically, products and data are limited by space and cost considerations to summary information at the field or reservoir level. For each play, field or reservoir only a relatively small number of author-selected maps, cross-sections, charts and other summary data are included. Typically, the paper atlas does not provide access to well and lease data or to intermediate research products (such as digital geographic and geologic components of maps, interpreted and uninterpreted subsurface data, well test analyses, thin section images, and other traditionally unpublished material). Without access to the data and intermediate products, modifying and updating a published field study to fit a user-defined application or new scientific idea is a difficult and time consuming process.

Today, traditional channels of scientific and technical communication represented by the petroleum atlas are being challenged by the shear volume of publication, increased unit costs, relatively decreased resources of academic and industrial library systems, and rapid technical change. In addition, the networks, storage servers, printers, and software that make up the Internet are rapidly changing the world from one in which research organizations, publishers and libraries control the printing, distribution, and archiving to a world in which individuals can rapidly and cheaply "publish," provide access and modify scientific results on-line. These changes offer significant challenges and opportunities both to public and private sector participants and to the traditions of technical publication.

The Kansas Digital Petroleum Atlas (DPA) is an on-line publication available on the Internet using a standard point-and-click world-wide-web interface. The Uniform resource locator (URL) is http://www.kgs.ukans.edu/DPA/dpaHome.html. The DPA is a new approach to generating and publishing petroleum reservoir, field, play and basin studies. It is a dynamic, evolving product with new structure, research results, and data appearing almost daily. P. 771^