How One Mapping Tool Powers Oil Rigs, Armies, and Starbucks

Maps quietly run the entire oil and gas world, you just never noticed. This one breaks down GIS without the jargon, from Google Earth doodles to the software that decides exactly where to drill. Richard Webb and Zach Harlan of Exprodat explain how mapping tech places wells, dodges the neighbor's boundary, and powers everything from Zillow to the military. Plus drilling on Mars, conspiracy toll roads, and why there are no dumb questions when the whole planet is your dataset.

Click here to watch a video of this episode.

Join the conversation shaping the future of energy.
Collide is the community where oil & gas professionals connect, share insights, and solve real-world problems together. No noise. No fluff. Just the discussions that move our industry forward.
Apply today at collide.io

Click here to view the episode transcript.

00:00 What URTeC is and why mapping matters
03:40 Life as a map and rock guy
06:42 What GIS means and the old guesswork days
08:40 The pro software behind the maps
10:29 Who uses these tools and how they learn
14:40 Placing wells and the horizontal revolution
19:11 Customizing every answer for the customer
24:19 Data overload and the days before GIS
29:45 Famous drilling mistakes and how basins differ
34:20 Finding things in an ocean of blue
38:26 AI, Collide, and toll road conspiracies
42:44 GIS everywhere, from the military to Starbucks
44:53 Mapping the sky and outer space
48:21 Breaking into GIS and drilling on Mars

https://twitter.com/collide_ai

https://www.tiktok.com/@collide.io

https://www.facebook.com/collide.io

https://www.instagram.com/collide.io

https://www.youtube.com/@collide_io

https://bsky.app/profile/collide-ai.bsky.social

https://www.linkedin.com/company/collideai