The Practical Well Log Standards initiative sets out to homogenize and standardize lists of well log curves. The SIG has financial support from ExxonMobil, Shell, Norsk Hydro and Statoil, the US DOI, the Norwegian NPD and 9 service sector companies. The standard is said to have influenced version 3.7 of the PPDM data model. PWLS V1.0 was released in 2001 and is already used by Baker Atlas Recall. PWLS V1.0 classifies some 2,500 curves from three logging companies. V2 sets out to better satisfy the two main uses of log mnemonics—in acquisition and in interpretation/processing. This involves mapping from contractor nomenclature to company nomenclature.
Shell’s nomenclature
Nancy Tso presented Shell’s global standard log curve names, Shell’s fluid codes (water, oil original ... gas flushed etc.) and lithology symbology. Shell’s standards have been offered to POSC for standardization and adoption by the industry at large. One driver for is the need to populate WITSML’s mud log classification.
Data storage solutions
The aim of the data store solutions SIG is to leverage POSC cataloging and reference value initiatives in the field of data management and exchange. Participants include Anadarko, BP, ChevronTexaco, ExxonMobil, Pioneer, ONGC and Shell, along with government and vendor companies. A subset of the DSS is the Global Well ID initiative which plans to offer a globally unique naming service for wells – see below.
E&P Catalog Standards
Jeroen Kreijger (Shell) expanded on the E&P catalogues talk he gave at the 2004 PNEC data management conference (Oil ITJ Vol. 9 N° 6). A study of POSC standard use in Shell found that WITSML was top of Shell’s standards priority list. With WellHeaderML, WellLogML and the PWLS just behind.
Global unique well ID
John Adams (ConocoPhillips) introduced the Well Identity Service Initiative (GUWI) which sets out to ‘form and operate a world-wide, well and wellbore identity service.’ Since the GUID RFC was published on the POSC website earlier this year, comments from oils have been encouraging. Data vendor IHS Energy made a lengthy comment—because the company already offers such a service. Today, the IHS service is only used by IHS Energy clients. IHS would prefer that this existing service be extended, rather than starting afresh. A request for proposals is to be issued later in the year.
WITSML SIG
Current WITSML work involves the adaptation of POSC data transfer standards including WellPath, WellLog, WellSchematic, WellHeader and LogGraphics to integrate the WITSML ‘architecture and characteristics.’ Jake Booth presented ExxonMobil’s (EM) work on mud logging and proposed that this be continued under the auspices of WITSML. Matthew Kirkman (BP) said that WITSML is moving towards a ‘web services’ based standard for drilling, leveraging W3C standards including WSDL. BP is currently using WITSML to exchange real time data between remote locations and is working with vendors to extend the specification to well paths, daily reporting and geological data exchange. BP also hopes to ‘deepen the use of the current standard with vendors’ and to ‘add WITSML server functionality to other applications.’
WITSML ‘compelling’
Danny Bush, ChevronTexaco, stated that for ChevronTexaco (CT), WITSML is ‘the most compelling activity in POSC today’. CT wanted to integrate its well bore mechanical application with a well bore viewer and has successfully deployed a WITSML server to buffer data from Geolog and OpenWorks for viewing in its well bore and log curve viewers. INT assisted CT with the integration effort. A likely spin-off is the availability of a WITSML extension for completion data.
INT’s WITSML
James Velasco described INT’s generic WITSML data viewer. INT likes WITSML because of its openness, modularity and above all its ‘buzzword-compliance!’ INT’s WITSML Explorer supports log curves, with completion and schematic objects under development. Velasco was very positive about the benefits of working with the WITSML group which offers genuine sharable standards, and desire to keep the specification ‘pure’. WITSML is ‘in the right place at the right time’
Integrated Operations SIG
The Integrated Operations SIG is POSC’s foray into what has become know as the e-field, the i-field or even the x-field. The focus is of intelligent, machine-driven operations, where field output results are compared with model results in real time and are used to optimize production via down hole actuators etc. A workshop at the University of Houston earlier this year noted the problems of exploding real time data volumes, of different time scales for optimization, the applicability of high-end deepwater well optimization to more mundane cases and safety concerns with automated procedures. Diane Vaughan (BP) presented a proposal for an XML standard for distributed temperature data from glass fiber gauges. This can give important information during a field’s lifetime on what is happening behind the production tubing. BP’s proposal, DTSML, has been submitted for standardization via POSC. Possible routes to a standard are: stay with DTSML, roll into WITSML, or use OLE for Process Control.
This report is abstracted from a 7 page report produced as part of The Data Room’s Technology Watch Reporting Service. More from tw@oilit.com.
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