Mineral Evaluations with ComboSync: Auto Updates and Streamlined Data Integration

We sat down with Daniel Gosch, a Reservoir Engineering Technician at Faulconer Energy to delve into the technological evolution and strategic adoption of ComboCurve by a company with 40 years of industry expertise. Daniel shares insights on ComboSync’s pivotal role in streamlining their mineral evaluations, incorporating third-party integrations, production allocation, auto updates and enhancing overall operational efficiency. 

A Leap Toward Efficiency 

Daniel first learned about ComboCurve in early 2020, hearing positive reviews on LinkedIn. Upon joining Faulconer Energy in 2022, he found the company already equipped with a ComboCurve license, and eager to explore its capabilities, he dove right in. According to Daniel, ComboCurve swiftly became integral to their daily workflow, specifically for Mineral Evaluations. One of the standout features for Faulconer Energy was ComboSync, ComboCurve’s data integration solution that has significantly reduced setup time for mineral evaluations, particularly with external sources like Enverus and IHS. 

“We went through the ComboSync data integration. We conduct Mineral evaluations about 2-3 times a week on average, and every time you set up a project, you pull in data from external sources, whether its Enverus or IHS so there’s a lot of setup work involved. As soon as I heard about ComboSync, I knew we needed that because we’ll have all that data available to us immediately every time we open up ComboCurve. Plus, it auto-updates all projects so that was a no-brainer to us – we can now get creative with what we’re doing because we’ve got all the data ready-to-go!” 

Historically, manual data uploads were time-consuming and cumbersome. The automation provided by ComboSync not only saves time but encourages revisiting older projects for valuable insights.

 

Easy Setup, Resources, and Support 

What sets ComboCurve apart for Faulconer Energy is not just the robust features but the continuous support they receive.  

Training sessions and obtaining certifications to help navigate ComboCurve’s software further solidified its position as an indispensable asset. “I’ve got the reserves certification, and our production engineer signed up for the production engineering certification – I might join that too.”

Daniel emphasizes the importance of engaging with ComboCurve’s Customer Success (CS) and Customer Support Engineers (CSEs), highlighting the assistance they provide. ComboCurve’s data integration team’s assistance and Daniel’s customization efforts streamlined the process, showcasing the adaptability of ComboCurve to individual needs. 

“Engagement with CS and CSEs are always there to help, and that has been an important factor for us. And the ComboCurve data integration team set up our standard IHS connection, views and pipelines, and I took it a step further and customized my own views and worked with them to update that so it’s customized to our needs. They’ve been very helpful.”

Because everything is set up on the remote SQL server which will make your views, no prior experience is required with that. Daniel was able to update Faulconer Energy’s views exactly as they wanted it, with only having some basic SQL experience.

Presently, ComboCurve is working on offering more certifications and building out an on-demand video self-service through our knowledge base. This would provide more information and resources for even more granular custom integrations.

Internal Collaboration and Data Management 

Faulconer Energy’s primary use of ComboCurve is to create daily type curves for the mineral evaluations, focusing on offsets. The team envisions eventually transitioning to ComboCurve for reserves and production engineering, enabling more streamlined processes and increased data sharing internally. 

“However we’ve got everything set up in ARIES at the moment and making that transfer is going to be a major project – essentially I’ll have to keep up two databases and keep the ARIES database running until the point we’re ready to transfer over to ComboCurve. We just haven’t had the time.”

Production Allocation Simplified 

Daniel shed light on the intricacies of production allocation in the state of Louisiana and how ComboCurve’s solution addresses the complexities, especially for horizontal wells.

“The standard IHS connection ComboCurve provides in the state of Louisiana production is allocated by sections. When you have a horizontal well that goes through multiple sections, the state will report production per section. While IHS will give you multiple cases for each section in that wellbore, Enverus does not differentiate by section and will roll it up into one. Combocurve will feed us the data by section, my goal was to roll it up into one case so that we can see allocated production for the entire horizontal.”

Thanks to ComboCurve’s flexibility and Daniel’s SQL expertise, he was able to develop a workaround for aggregating data, overcoming the nuances of the Louisiana allocation process.

“I wrote an SQL query in SSMS that will roll up that production (all those cases) into one case and then our chosen ID in ComboCurve becomes the API instead of the entity ID.  

Unlike Louisiana, Texas doesn’t allocate production like they do in Louisiana – Essentially, I was trying to model that: one well has all the entities attached to it and it’ll show up just like that in ComboCurve, and we’re able to do it quite successfully so I could imagine with ComboCurve, if they were to set this up for other customers, they now have a solution to that problem.”

 

Auto-updates and Custom Views 

The mapping and viewing of incoming data is important. Standardized data mapping and the enhanced usability it offers gives us a high-level overview of the data. Because SQL offers unparalleled versatility, Daniel is able to customize views and make significant changes directly in ComboCurve. The key lies in structuring views to align with the standard IHS mapping, ensuring smooth data integration as long as the well-type adheres to ComboCurve’s naming conventions.

“You can do anything with your data in SQL so really, I can change anything on my end. If I create my views in such a way that the data is fed into the standard IHS mapping, as long as the well-type matches the naming convention in ComboCurve, then that data will feed right into that header.”

A standout feature of ComboSync for Faulconer Energy is its auto-update capability that ensures that your data remains accurate and up-to-date, even in the face of unforeseen circumstances.  

“Even with a recent human error where API 10 and 12 were not initially populating due to an oversight. And once I added them, the views in ComboCurve were automatically updated to include them with the next scheduled update.”

Old Dog, New Tricks 

Adopting new technologies can be a challenge for companies deeply rooted in tradition. Many Oil and Gas companies have been in business for decades and prefer to continue working with established legacy software, making it hard to introduce new software like ComboCurve into the tech stack… So how did Faulconer Energy LLC make the transition? 

As Daniel simply puts it, “We recognize that as technology progresses, we can’t be left behind.”

The company’s open-mindedness and support for innovation allowed them to seamlessly integrate ComboCurve, proving to be a huge complement to internal workflows.

Faulconer Energy’s adoption of ComboCurve exemplifies the possibility of introducing new technology into traditional workflows. Moreover, it’s a testament to the adaptability and efficiency this brings to even the most seasoned players in the industry.