Data model for drilling information and its application

As computing technology has evolved, so have the demands placed by the user community on the functions it provides. The expectations of software used in drilling operations are changing from a convenient way of producing the daily drilling report, to acquiring drilling data for use in engineering analysis programs. This data is expected to provide insight into an increasing array of complicated engineering operations questions. There are a number of commercial morning reporting systems in use throughout the industry. However, after collecting many years worth of drilling data, the engineer is finding that their morning reporting system cannot easily provide the answers to some very basic questions. Many providers of drilling information systems have built their applications founded on daily wellsite operations, using the latest Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) to ensure their case of use. The data model is usually an afterthought, and is generally time rather than activity based. In some cases, the data model is used as a tool to further the system`s {open_quotes}user-friendliness{close_quotes}. This robs the application of its versatility in performing even some of the most fundamental analysis of the data. To date, neither POSC (Petrotechnical Open Systems Corporation) nor the PPDM (Public Petroleum Data Model)more » have initiated studies to develop a drilling data model. The authors will present a data model that was used as a basis for Shell Canada`s (SCan) Drilling Information System. The provision of a sound data model, that accurately reflects the fundamental data used by drilling (or other operations), is paramount to the success of any information system. Without it, the utilization of engineering operations analysis tools for optimization would be extremely difficult.« less