Process-related systems and methods

A process development system for use in predicting operation of an oil/gas field which comprises a plurality of wells and has a plurality of process variables, comprising:

• an event identification module operative to test process variables from within a data set against predetermined criteria to identify one or more events, wherein each event is a condition relating to one or more process variables and at least one event represents a continuous time period during which one or more process variables satisfy a predetermined criteria, with the at least one event having assigned start and end times;
• an event association module operative, for each identified event, to determine whether the event is a cause event or an effect event and an association with one or more other events;
• and
• an event control module operative, in response to input of one or more process variables, to provide a control indication that identifies one or more events, and, for each identified event, identifies the event as one of a cause event or an effect event and identifies the one or more events associated with the identified event as effect events for the identified event being a cause event or as cause events for the identified event being an effect event;
• and wherein the event association module is operative to estimate a time period between the identified event and one or more of the events associated with the identified event.

A process control method for use in controlling operation of an oil/gas field which comprises a plurality of wells and has a plurality of process variables, the method comprising the steps of:

• logging from the oil/gas field one or more process variables;
• testing the logged process variables to identify one or more events, wherein each event is a condition relating to one or more process variables for the oil/gas field and at least one event represents a continuous time period during which one or more process variables satisfy a predetermined criterion, with the at least one event having assigned start and end times;
• for each identified event, determining whether the event is a cause event or an effect event and determining an association with one or more other events;
• providing a control indication in response to each identified event, where the control indication identifies the event as one of a cause event or an effect event and identifies the one or more events associated with the identified event as effect events for the identified event being a cause event or as cause events for the identified event being an effect event;
• and
• estimating a time period between the identified event and one or more of the events associated with the identified event.

A process development method for use in predicting operation of an oil/gas field which comprises a plurality of wells and has a plurality of process variables, the method comprising the steps of:

• testing process variables from within a data set against predetermined criteria to identify one or more events, wherein each event is a condition relating to one or more process variables and at least one event represents a continuous time period during which one or more process variables satisfy a predetermined criteria, with the at least one event having assigned start and end times;
• for each identified event, determining whether the event is a cause event or an effect event, and determining an association with one or more other events;
• in response to input of one or more process variables, providing a control indication which identifies one or more events, and, for each identified event, identifies the event as one of a cause event or an effect event and identifies the one or more events associated with the identified event as effect events for the identified event being a cause event or as cause events for the identified event being an effect event;
• and
• estimating a time period between the identified event and one or more of the events associated with the identified event.