Digitising Tunisia's National Petroleum Archives at Scale

HDS catalogued, scanned and databased over 85,000 E&P hardcopy documents, well logs and well files for ETAP — Tunisia's national petroleum company — building a fully indexed, GIS-linked archive across 1,000+ wells in just 16 months.

The Challenge

Decades of exploration activity had generated extensive physical and digital archives at ETAP's Petroleum Research & Development Centre in Tunis. Well logs, seismic sections, study reports and maps existed in multiple formats and states of organisation — valuable data, but largely inaccessible without a comprehensive cataloguing and digitisation effort.

The Solution

Sub-contracted by OvationData as their preferred data management partner, HDS established the necessary workflows, then mobilised, trained and supervised 20 local staff across a 16-month engagement. The team catalogued and processed:

• 25,796 seismic sections scanned, classified and linked to surveys and 2D lines

• 12,570 well logs databased against ETAP's approved taxonomy and linked to individual wells

• 47,455 assorted well files, study reports and enclosures (maps, sections) — fully indexed

HDS deployed GeoSCOPE to manage and record the workflow, automate data classification and maintain spatial linkage to well objects on a GIS map. Jointly with OvationData, HDS also assisted ETAP in rationalising their seismic survey database and establishing a unique survey and line identification system.

The Outcome

The client now holds a fully indexed, GIS-linkable E&P archive — accessible, searchable and built to a taxonomy they own. All data is cross-linked to over 1,000 individual wells, enabling fast, reliable data retrieval for exploration and production planning. ETAP formally commended the quality and efficiency of the services delivered.