From Inherited Dataset to Cloud-Accessible Managed Asset in 7 Days
When Nephin Energy acquired Shell E&P Ireland's 45% stake in the Corrib gas field, it inherited a 17TB, 170,000+ file dataset with an urgent need for integrity verification, taxonomy remapping and remote access. HDS delivered all three — within 7 days of receiving the data — and has provided an ongoing Virtual Data Custodian service ever since.
The Challenge
Acquiring an existing field interest means inheriting data as much as infrastructure. Nephin's 17TB dataset included seismic, well and production data, subsurface models, CAD and DXF/DWG facility drawings, ROV surveys and more — organised to the previous operator's taxonomy and spread across multiple systems. Nephin needed this data rapidly verified, remapped to their own taxonomy, and made accessible to multiple remote teams — without disrupting the due diligence process.
The Solution
HDS deployed GeoSCOPE to crawl and index the full 17TB dataset immediately on receipt. A rigorous data integrity check was completed within days, identifying gaps and inconsistencies that enabled timely vendor data requests to be made. Critically, data was simultaneously classified against both the inherited SEPIL taxonomy and Nephin's own system — with no data duplication in new folder structures.
The complete, remapped database was made available to Nephin and remote consulting teams via a cloud-based solution within 7 days of project start-up. HDS transitioned to an ongoing Virtual Data Custodian Service and has continuously monitored and managed the database remotely since 2017.
The Outcome
Nephin gained immediate, reliable access to a structured, integrity-verified dataset — enabling due diligence to proceed without disruption. The ongoing VDC service ensures the database remains evergreen as new data is acquired and the Corrib field continues production. This project demonstrates how HDS brings large-scale data management capabilities to junior E&P companies, enabling them to operate with the same data rigour as a major.