With the digital transformation well underway in the upstream oil and gas industry, standardized data formats are needed to support the exchange of data and other information while ensuring a high level of trust in the information shared.
Anyone who has worked with PVTsim or other PVT software knows how tedious it is to enter fluid compositions and PVT data and how easy it is to make mistakes. Although PVTsim supports copy-paste from Excel and lists the components of an extended GC analysis with C7+ isomers in the same order as the PVT laboratories, manual input is still a source of error.
Energistics (https://www.energistics.org/) is a global consortium working actively to develop data exchange formats for the upstream oil and gas industry. Operators and service companies have joined effort with Energistics to define a standard for storing oil and gas compositions and PVT data. This PVT standard is part of the PRODML standard and holds fluids compositions, routine PVT data and gas injection PVT data in xml file format.
PVTsim Nova 5 supports the PRODML XML format. To import a PVT report written in PRODML format into PVTsim, all the user has to do is the click on the Import PRODML XML file icon and enter the name of the XML file, which holds the fluid composition and the PVT data. A few seconds later a message will appear saying that the fluid composition and PVT data have been imported. The user is now ready to perform PVT simulations and compare simulation results with the measured PVT data from the imported report.
While the work to support the PRODML standard was ongoing, Calsep received inquiries as to whether it might be possible to import PVT reports from various PVT laboratories directly from Excel. We started an internal project to investigate this possibility. After some time, we had to conclude that it was not realistic to develop a general Excel import. There is too much variation in the Excel formats used by the PVT laboratories.
Instead, we chose to define a Calsep Excel file format for PVT reports. Fluid compositions and PVT data reported in this format can be imported directly into PVTsim or exported to a PRODML XML file. Some PVTsim users have asked the PVT labs to report in Calsep Excel format. Others have developed their own Excel to PRODML XML export applications inspired by PVTsim’s option for export from Calsep Excel format to PRODML XML.
The PRODML standard is gaining ground among PVT laboratories and in the oil industry in general. Once fully adopted, PVTsim users will be able to concentrate on PVT modeling without first having to spend time on manual input.
