As president and founder of Novi Labs, we are often considered as an alternative to building similar solutions in house. Clearly, there are pluses and minuses with either approach, but often we see Oil & Gas operators embarking on a “build” path for their analytics journey without a full appreciation of what “building” really means. So, the purpose of this article is to point some reasons why a “buy” approach should be given serious consideration. 1. Oil & Gas Companies Are NOT Software Development Shops While we have seen some pretty amazing technical advances in the industry, it is ..read more

This interactive presentation contains the latest oil & gas production data from all 45,039 horizontal wells in the Permian (Texas & New Mexico) that started producing from 2001 onward, through July 2023. Total Production Permian tight oil production came in at 5.3 million b/d in July (after upcoming revisions, horizontal wells only), good for 60% of total US tight oil output. The reason why the chart above shows a 1-2% lower volume in July, is that as always there are a number of recently completed & producing wells that have not yet been reported by the agencies involved. Natura ..read more

Do you ever wonder what goes on behind the scenes in the oil and gas industry? It turns out that beyond the technicalities and complexities of reservoir engineering, there’s a touch of whimsy and creativity hidden in the names of some wells.  Recently, I was poking around Novi’s Insight Engine oil well name database and I uncovered a few fascinating well names, each with its own unique story. These are just the beginning of what I hope will be a long and entertaining series of blog posts. Join us as we sprinkle some humor into this typically serious world, one well name at a time!   ..read more

There’s been a lot of talk about Gas-Oil Ratio (GOR) in the Permian. But GOR in the Permian has been VERY stable compared to the other unconventional plays, rising only 29% there vs. 164% in the Williston or 74% in the DJ. What’s going on, and what does this mean for supply outlook? Wind back the clock 10 years, and you’ll find the Permian producing just over 3 MCF/bbl, compared to just under 4 mcf/bbl today. Unconventional oil wells naturally produce comparatively more gas to oil as they get older, so we should expect the aggregate GOR of a basin to rise with time as its wells become, on ave ..read more

Optimizing your spacing/stacking design, especially with complex parent-child relationships, is critical to deliver returns across cycles. It’s also one of the hardest problems to analyze. That’s why we are excited to announce the release of Novi’s newest algorithm, Causal Modeling, designed specifically to generate powerful results for spacing and infill scenario analysis.  Drawing on principles from the fields of public health and economics, Novi data scientists have developed Causal Models that give greatly improved spacing sensitivity without sacrificing model accuracy. So how does i ..read more

As E&P companies expand their development programs, the demand on their engineering teams to run production forecasts and build reliable development plans grows exponentially. At first glance, the solution seems straightforward – scale the engineering team by hiring more skilled professionals. However, the reality is not so simple. History has shown us that this conventional approach can lead to a bubble that eventually bursts, leaving companies grappling with inefficiencies and missed opportunities. So, what is this elusive “bubble” I’m referring to? It’s the point at which an operator r ..read more

This interactive presentation contains the latest gas (and a little oil) production data, from all 7,062 horizontal wells in the Haynesville that started producing from 2007, through April this year. Total production Natural gas production in the Haynesville fell to just over 13 Bcf/d in April, from 15 Bcf/d just 2 months earlier. This was the steepest drop in production in the history of the basin. In the first 4 months of this year, 150 horizontal wells were completed, vs. 181 in the same time frame last year. Drilling activity This decline was of course caused by collapsing natural gas pri ..read more

The power of artificial intelligence (AI) is impacting different industries, including oil and gas. Despite this trend, many oil & gas operators remain hesitant to leverage machine learning capabilities. Various misconceptions are keeping many companies on the sidelines as their competitors run with the opportunities AI presents including analyzing acquisition opportunities, making investment allocation decisions, and optimizing drilling programs. In this blog, we’ll debunk some of the most popular myths about artificial intelligence in oil and gas that we have learned working with top ope ..read more

Machine learning provides an opportunity for E&P companies to improve their data-driven decision-making and tackle problems that traditional analytical approaches have struggled to solve. Nevertheless, machine learning is not a shortcut. It requires more than just running data through an algorithm to generate insights. Like any other analytics method, it faces similar challenges In this article, we will look at some of the most common mistakes in developing machine learning capabilities that we have seen while working with oil and gas operators in every major shale play across the western ..read more

This interactive presentation contains the latest oil & gas production data from all 28,920 horizontal wells in the Eagle Ford region, that have started producing from 2008 onward, through April 2023. Total production Tight oil production in the Eagle Ford came in at about 1.1 million b/d in April 2023 (after upcoming revisions, horizontal wells only). April data is only currently available for 90% of the wells, which explains the apparent drop you’re seeing for April in the chart above. Natural gas production for that month was about 6.6 Bcf/d. In the first 3 months of this year, almost ..read more