Esri Joins Microsoft Oil and Gas Sector Effort

Esri is participating in the Microsoft Upstream Reference Architecture initiative, an endeavor to enhance applications integration and interoperability for the upstream oil and gas sector. The initiative supports Microsoft's effort to enable collaborative workflows and multivendor data accessibility across the full exploration and production business life cycle. Esri will provide a spatial foundation for geoscience applications interoperability.

Esri's geographic information system (GIS) platform is used by petroleum companies and vendors throughout the world, and Esri has established a long track record of providing the spatial data management foundation for oil and gas users. In collaborating with other Microsoft Upstream Reference Architecture solution providers, Esri brings its geospatial expertise and GIS capabilities to the initiative.

Leveraging technologies from several partners, many of which are already using Esri's ArcGIS products and services, the project combines data, systems, and workflows from exploration, production, operations, finance, and other critical business areas. "Management of the oilfield life cycle demands complete integration from subsurface interpretation to production," said Ali Ferling, managing director of Worldwide Oil and Gas Industry at Microsoft. "A flexible and open IT foundation is critical in delivering a common, integrated approach to digital oilfield operations. With its sole focus on providing spatial data management capability, Esri will play an important role in the realization of the Microsoft Upstream Reference Architecture initiative, bringing the capability for full GIS integration to initiative-enabled operations and production systems."

The initiative will provide participating organisations with an invaluable road map to streamlining the implementation of integrated, workflow-oriented, smart field operations technologies.