Explorers vie with servicers to control information on wells Contractual language evolving to speak to who owns it A battle for big data is brewing in the oil patch. The service companies that map underground pockets of oil, drill the wells and lift crude from miles below are generating vast new amounts of data they never before realized could be valuable. But their exploration customers are essentially saying hands off to anything coming out of their wells, including the streams of zeros and 1s. “There’s no doubt to me, we are producing two resources: the oil and gas, and the data,” said Philippe Herve, a Schlumberger Ltd. veteran who now helps oil companies use artificial intelligence at SparkCognition. “The oil and gas is very clear: it belongs to the operator. But who owns the data?” Answering that question will mean real money for a global industry climbing out of […]