Updating Diskos

Diskos is the national database for petroleum data; well data, seismic and production. All such data that is reported to the NPD will be uploaded in Diskos.

Diskos plays an important role in digitalising the petroleum industry in Norway. Seamless access to high-quality data facilitates better use of data in analysis work while also stimulating development of technology and new work methods. The industry must embrace the opportunities provided through data analysis and machine learning.

In the current solution, this data is stored in the Green Mountain data centre on Rennesøy island in Rogaland County. Diskos currently contains a total of more than 13 petabytes of data. This represents a huge increase since 2014, when Diskos contained a “mere” 1 petabyte of data.

13 petabytes translates into an enormous volume of data. One petabyte is equivalent to one billion bytes; 1000⁵ or 1015.

Diskos is subject to specific rights; in other words, which companies have permission to view and use the data. In many ways, Diskos is like an online bank. You can make deposits and withdrawals, and you only see your own “accounts”. The bank is open 24/7.

Most of the data in Diskos is subject to a duty of confidentiality for a specific period of time. When this period has expired, the NPD uses Diskos to release data. This means that the data becomes available to all companies that have access to Diskos. For others who are not members of Diskos, the data is available via Diskos' public portal. Users of this portal must pay an administrative fee to gain access.

Today, 33 members and 45 associate members cooperate in the Diskos system. The database is currently operated by a third-party supplier, while the Norwegian authorities are responsible for administration. The NPD has legal responsibility, and is the manager of Diskos.

Diskos was established in 1995 and it is a true success story – an endeavour where the authorities, suppliers and companies on the Norwegian shelf have worked together to create an extremely useful database solution for the industry, while also building a culture to ensure stewardship of this data. The competitive element lies in how this data is used and interpreted.