Dealmaking Trifecta: Opportunity, Networking and the Wisdom of Big Data

Article
November 5, 2019

DIGITAL DATA TOOLS


Big data is not a stagnant process and behind the scenes there is a small army of multidisciplinary professionals continuously cleansing, standardizing, integrating and interpreting this data so that it can talk. The good news is that the data foundation is largely built and now the application of machine learning allows for predictive analysis of great accuracy. In the shale world, the ability to integrate subsurface geology, log data, formation tops, drilling history, historical vertical, landing zones, production and completion data allows for greater predictability of well performance and lower costs.


For companies, big data goes beyond just technical evaluation. It is evolving toward all company operations, including drilling, land management, accounting, budgets, marketing, benchmarking and finance. This full cycle of business is now in the process of being integrated to achieve a single goal: Maximize efficiencies and lower costs. This means tasks like billings to the contract pumper, AFEs, joint interest billings, pipeline flows, hedging and more are all being automated, standardized and integrated.

For dealmakers, having these tools at your fingertips in conjunction with courthouse records, land records, ownership data, company objectives, contacts, rig information, permits and more allows you to execute more quickly. Within the financial industry, big data is also rapidly lowering the barrier to entry into our industry and democratizing the playing field, which is good news as it brings more players into our industry. Currently, this is opening the door wider for more private capital to enter our industry with direct investments.


Big data is precisely the underlying factor that allowed the U.S. shale revolution to become the dominant force in today's energy world. It is also why we've witnessed multiple land rushes with no greater example than the Delaware Basin back in 2016 and 2017 where we saw ever soaring prices. In an evolving industry, there is one constant that does not change - rock quality and the capture of the best quality rocks was and is the name of the game.

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