A Practical Perspective on APEGGA's Guideline for Ethical Use of Geophysical Data

Summary APEGGA (the Association of Professional Engineers, Geologists and Geophysicists of Alberta) published its Guideline for Ethical Use of Geophysical Data v1.0 in May of 2010 in response to industry feedback. The Guideline speaks for APEGGA. As members of the Canadian Society of Exploration Geophysicists (CSEG), we take a practical look at the guideline from a CSEG perspective. APEGGA developed the Guideline in response to issues concerning the business use of licensed geophysical data in the oil and gas industry, with the intent of clarifying the responsibilities of professional members when dealing with various ownership classifications of such data. The most difficult of these issues were found to centre on what parties can or cannot do with licensed data. We discuss some of the more important or contentious issues addressed in the Guideline, the Guideline’s positions on those issues and their ramifications. As members of the CSEG, we also offer what we feel are practical suggestions relative to APEGGA’s Guideline, one of which is a proposed re-examination by the CSEG of its 2001 Master License Agreement (MLA).