To enable sharing the model between specialists over
the life of the field, from discovery to abandonment
many decades later, technical software platforms are
employed to provide critical insight into well, field,
and surface performance.
The software platforms must integrate all available
data while enabling real-time data capture. Moving data
in real time from the drilling rig or production facility
to the office has become standard procedure—the real
value is created in how the integrated data drive oper-
ational and investment decisions. In addressing an
industry challenge, three different perspectives must
be accommodated. First is the earth model perspective
that sees the overall reservoir shape, size, and type as
well as the variation of parameters across many kilo-
meters. Second is the wellbore model, built at a scale of
a few meters around the borehole to provide granular
information for safely, efficiently, and economically
characterizing the reservoir and drilling the well. Third
is the production management aspect, which tracks the
drainage of the reservoir over time and considers how
each well should produce and how pressure should be
maintained in the production gathering system.
These perspectives overlap. Each contributes to the
overall knowledge of the field, and each must interface
seamlessly with the oth-
ers in a time frame that
enables the best possible
decisions to be made.
Schlumberger provides a
dedicated platform for
each unique perspective:
the Petrel* E&P software
platform builds the shared-earth model from seismic
data to simulation, the Techlog* wellbore software plat-
form integrates all data in and around the wellbore
in an intuitive manner, and the Avocet* production
operations software platform combines well opera-
tions, production management systems, and integrated
engineering models to measure past field performance
and predict future production.
The platforms are used across the whole range of
oilfield development with specific workflows for each
type of reservoir and operating environment, from con-
ventional to unconventional. The knowledge derived
from each platform is shared and linked by the Studio*
E&P knowledge environment and the platforms can be
extended with the Ocean* software development
framework using input from individuals, academia, and
E&P operators as well as from Schlumberger.
6
Data require validation before they are used
in a model. Research Engineer Alyssa
Charsky loads a rock sample for analysis of
total organic carbon to validate wireline logs
from Litho Scanner* spectroscopy service.
Total organic carbon is important for
characterizing unconventional resources.
Data from many sources
must be integrated into a
model that is consistently
updated over time.
