Knowledge base system for an equipment market

• US 20030074391A1
• Filed: 07/30/2002
• Published: 04/17/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 07/30/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: IHS Global Incorporated (Markit Group Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: One Offshore, Inc.
• Inventors: Carter, Steven, Cochrane, Stuart, Isherwood, Ryan, Lindsay, Jeremy, Bouzek, Mark
• Granted Patent: US 7,512,544 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/200
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/04 Forecasting or optimisation specially adapted for administrative or management purposes, e.g. linear programming or "cutting stock problem" market predictions or forecasting for commercial activities G06Q30/0202
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06315 Needs-based resource requirements planning or analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0201 Market modelling; Market analysis; Collecting market data
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0202 Market predictions or forecasting for commercial activities
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0205 Location or geographical consideration
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0206 Price or cost determination based on market factors

Abstract

A system and method for managing and processing supply and demand information in an equipment market comprises a business logic engine, a database and interface engine and communications engine on a web host server. The communications engine is configured to enable the community of participants in the market to send market inquiries from the demand side of the market, and the business logic engine is configured to process market inquiries and responses to include them in the database of supply and demand information. The database is configured to enable the search engine to retrieve all types of data relevant to business planning and executing of equipment contracts and activities from community data and published data. The business logic engine comprises tools for collaboration, calculation, optimization and forecasting in the equipment market. In the exemplary embodiment the equipment is offshore drilling rigs.

Claims

1. A computer implemented system for managing and processing supply and demand information for participants in an equipment market, the system comprising:

a data processor programmed to receive and store electronically received data in a relational database in an electronic storage medium;

a business logic engine comprising computer readable program code stored on a host computer wherein the business logic program code comprises

a search engine for selectively retrieving data from the database, and

an interface engine for communication between a system user and the data processor and the business logic engine whereby the business logic engine operates on data processed by the data processor and the interface engine displays the results of operation by the business logic engine; and

a communications engine for receiving a market inquiry from a demand side market participant and forwarding said inquiry to a supply side market participant and for receiving a response to said inquiry from a supply side market participant and forwarding the received response to the demand side market participant.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the search engine and communications engine each comprise computer readable program code and wherein the business logic engine further comprises computer readable program code modules selected from the group comprising a personalization tool module, a search engine module, a report engine module, a forecast tool module, an equipment planning tool module, an equipment usage sequences tool module, collaboration tool module, an equipment deployment optimization tool module and a day rate calculation tool module.

3. The system of claim 2 wherein the interface engine comprises means for generating graphical output, means for generating a graphical user interface and means for generating tabular output.

4. The system of claim 2 wherein the equipment is offshore drilling rigs and wherein the database further comprises one or more equipment related performance records wherein each record comprises one or more unique equipment identifiers and data associated with the identifiers wherein the associated data comprises equipment performance data selected from the group comprising well specifications, well location, water depth, drilled depth, well angle, hole size, casing design, mud type, displacement, mechanical details, rig name, operator, hole problem incidents, HSE incidents, lost time incidents, downtime incidents, drilling costs, downtime, flat time and total time, stratigraphic description and stratigraphic penetration indices.

5. The system of claim 4 wherein the data processor, communications engine and business logic engine are stored on a host computer coupled to the Internet.

6. The system of claim 4 wherein the means for generating graphical output comprises means for generating a Gantt chart image wherein the Gantt chart image generating means comprises:

means for creating a session object from each of the search criteria and the search results to generate result objects;

a server-side script for generating a hypertext markup language page having embedded therein image tags wherein each image tag has embedded therein an “

src”

component;

an image rendering engine;

means for using the “

src”

component of the embedded image tags created by the server-side script to pull the search criteria from the session object;

means for calculating the width and height of the image to be produced by the rendering engine;

means for generating an image map from the calculated width and height of the image in combination with the search results;

means for generating a buffered object for receiving a drawn image;

means for drawing rows on the buffered object;

means for drawing each of the result objects on the buffered object wherein each result object becomes a chart element that relates to a discrete event in time;

means for compressing the buffered object having the result subjects drawn thereon;

means for encoding the buffered object as a streamed encoded image; and

means for sending the encoded image to an Internet browser for display by the browser to the user.

7. The system of claim 2 wherein the equipment comprises rigs and the forecast tool module comprises means for building a query to invoke operation of the search engine to retrieve data selected from the data group comprising rig data, contract data and activities data to facilitate creation of a set of market assumptions and wherein the forecast tool module further comprising means for operating on the market assumption set to forecast equipment supply, demand and pricing.

8. The system of claim 2 wherein the equipment comprises rigs and wherein the equipment planning tool module comprises means for building a query to invoke operation of the search engine to retrieve data selected from the data group comprising data, contract data and activities data to facilitate creation and updating of equipment deployment plans for effective utilization of available equipment in the equipment market.

9. The system of claim 8 wherein the equipment planning tool module further comprises means for building an equipment supply query from data selected from the data group comprising equipment location, equipment operator, equipment contractor, equipment type, equipment activity status and equipment technical capabilities.

10. The system of claim 8 wherein the equipment planning tool module further comprises means for building an equipment demand query from data selected from the group comprising equipment location, equipment operator, equipment type, equipment status and demand requirements.

11. The system of claim 8 wherein the equipment planning tool module comprises means for building an equipment specifications query from data selected from the group comprising equipment technical specifications and wherein the query invokes the search engine to cause the report engine to produce a report presenting a side by side comparison of the equipment specifications responsive to the query.

12. The system of claim 1 wherein the business logic engine further comprises computer readable program code for operating on selected data stored in the relational database wherein the operations are selected from the group comprising searching for selected data, comparing selected data, applying an optimization algorithm to selected data, and applying a forecasting algorithm to selected data.

13. The system of claim 12 wherein the forecasting algorithm comprises drilling activity factors selected from the group comprising well location, well water depth, total drilling depth, maximum well angle, hole size, maximum well displacement, number of casing strings, and drilling mud type.

14. The system of claim 2 wherein the equipment comprises rigs and the equipment usage sequencing tool module comprises means for building a query to invoke operation of the search engine to retrieve data selected from the data group comprising rig data, contract data and activities data to facilitated selection of a rig, activity of the selected rig, and contract activity of the selected rig to invoke operation of the report engine tool to create an activity sequence for the rig.

15. The system of claim 2 wherein the equipment comprises rigs and the collaboration tool module comprises:

means for invoking operation of the interface engine to display a data entry form for defining a set of requirements for a project requiring use of equipment;

means for invoking operation of the search engine to retrieve rig data for rigs matching the project requirements input; and

means for invoking the communications engine to submit the requirements to selected supply side market participants.

16. The system of claim 1 wherein the relational database comprises:

a plurality of equipment records containing information about specific pieces of equipment within an equipment category wherein each record comprises a unique equipment identifier and data associated with that identifier wherein the associated data is selected from the data group comprising technical specifications for the equipment, type of equipment, equipment owner, equipment contractor, current equipment activity, current equipment status, equipment availability date, equipment ownership history, and equipment technical upgrade history; and

one or more equipment related activity records wherein each record comprises a unique activity identifier and data associated with that identifier wherein the associated data comprises data selected from the data group comprising activity location, activity status, activity operator, activity technical specifications, and equipment rental rate for the activity.

17. The system of claim 2 wherein the equipment deployment optimization tool module comprises

means for invoking the interface engine to display a data entry form for defining a plurality of sets of requirements for a plurality of projects requiring use of equipment, a set of supply side market participants, and a set of objective project functions;

means for invoking the communications engine to send the data entered in the data entry form to the data processor to invoke operation of the search engine to query the database in response to the entered data; and

means for invoking the business logic engine to apply an optimization algorithm to the data resulting from operation of the search engine to determine optimal trades and economic incentives for optimal trades with the supply side market participants.

18. The system of claim 17 wherein the database further comprises one or more equipment contract records wherein each record comprises contract data selected from the group of data comprising equipment operator, equipment rental rate, and contract length.

19. A method for creating a plan for equipment usage comprising the steps of:

providing a database contained in a computer storage medium for storing information relevant to participation in an equipment market wherein the database comprises

a plurality of equipment records containing information about specific pieces of equipment within an equipment category wherein each record comprises a unique equipment identifier and data associated with that identifier wherein the associated data is selected from the data group comprising technical specifications for the equipment, type of equipment, equipment owner, equipment contractor, current equipment activity, current equipment status, equipment availability date, equipment ownership history, and equipment technical upgrade history, and

one or more equipment related activity records wherein each record comprises a unique activity identifier and data associated with that identifier wherein the associated data comprises data selected from the data group comprising activity location, activity status, activity operator, activity technical specifications, and equipment rental rate for the activity;

querying a database to identify and select an equipment group;

querying the database to identify activities for which the equipment can be used; and

assigning activities identified in the activity identification query step to equipment identified in the equipment identification querying step.

20. A method for calculating economical day rates for a group of drilling rig for use in drilling wells in underwater formations comprising:

Determining a mechanical difficulty index for the well based on factors selected from the group comprising well location, well water depth, total drilling depth, maximum well angle, hole size, maximum well displacement, number of casing strings and type of drilling mud;

Determining a drilling performance index based on factors selected from the group comprising stratigraphic well description and drilling performance as a function of the described stratigraphy;

Determining a capability index based on identification of rigs available for the project, contractor capabilities associated with each of the available rigs, and combined contractor and rig performance histories;

Calculating a rig/hole performance index based on the mechanical difficulty, drilling performance and contractor capability indices;

Calculating the number of days required to complete the drilling project; and

Calculating an economic day rate for each of the available rigs based on the rig/hole performance index and the days requirement to complete the drilling project.

21. The method of claim 20 wherein the step of determining the well mechanical difficulty index comprises the substep of determining drilling performance as a function of mechanical difficulty and a real earth model.

22. A computer implemented method for analyzing supply and demand information in an equipment market comprising:

Providing a relational database for receiving and storing in an electronic storage medium data relevant to supply and data relevant to demand;

Providing a first set of computer readable program code for processing incoming data for storage in the relational database;

Providing a second set computer readable program code for selectively retrieving data stored in the relational database;

Providing a third set of computer readable program code for performing operations on data stored in the relational database wherein the operations are selected from the group comprising searching for selected data, applying an optimization algorithm to selected data, applying a forecasting algorithm to selected data and calculating a price based on historical and current data stored in the relational database; and

Providing a user interface for selectively invoking operating of each of the first, second and third sets of computer readable program code.

23. The method of claim 22 further comprising a fourth set of computer readable program code for providing a user interface for invoking the functions performable by each of the first, second and third sets of computer readable program code.

24. A method for analyzing supply and demand information in an equipment market having a discrete number of market participants comprising:

creating a database from published information sources containing equipment supply data and equipment demand data;

selectively adding to the database information received from one or more of the discrete market participants;

providing a graphical user interface for the discrete number of market participants to organize and access selected information and to provide data for inclusion in the database; and

providing analytical tools for operating on data in the database wherein the analytical tools include an optimization tool and a forecasting tool.

25. The method of claim 24 wherein the selectively adding step comprises segregating public information so that private information can be accessed only by subsets of the discrete number of market participants.

26. An Internet based knowledge base system for participants in a market for equipment wherein the participants include owners of the equipment and users of the equipment, the system comprising:

a relational database for receiving and storing information relevant to the market, said relevant information comprising

equipment information, comprising equipment technical specifications and equipment activity information, and

market participant information, comprising participant identification information and participant market activities information;

computer readable program code for selectively retrieving information from the database in response to input queries from one or more of the market participants;

computer readable program code for selectively receiving information from market participants and storing the information in the relational database; and

computer readable program code for enabling the real time exchange among market participants of information about availability of equipment and needs for equipment.

27. The system of claim 26 wherein the equipment comprises drilling rigs for drilling in underwater formations and wherein the equipment technical specifications and equipment activity information comprises data comprises rig performance information selected from the group comprising well specifications, well location, water depth, drilled depth, well angle, hole size, casing design, mud type, displacement, mechanical details, rig name, operator, hole problem incidents, HSE incidents, lost time incidents, downtime incidents, drilling costs, downtime, flat time and total time, stratigraphic description and stratigraphic penetration indices.

28. The system of claim 27 wherein the equipment technical specifications and equipment activity include mechanical specifications, type of equipment, equipment owner, equipment contractor, current equipment activity, current equipment status, equipment availability date, equipment ownership history, and equipment technical upgrade history.

29. A method for generating a Gantt chart image from data stored in a database in response to search criteria entered by a program user comprising:

providing a search engine in communication with the database for receiving the search criteria entered by program user and for generating search results in response to the entered search criteria;

creating a session object from each of the search criteria and the search results to generate result objects;

providing a server-side script for generating a hypertext markup language page having embedded therein image tags wherein each image tag has embedded therein an “

src”

component;

providing an image rendering engine;

using the “

src”

component of the embedded image tags created by the server-side script to pull the search criteria from the session object;

calculating the width and height of the image to be produced by the rendering engine;

generating an image map from the calculated width and height of the image in combination with the search results;

generating a buffered object for receiving a drawn image;

drawing rows on the buffered object;

drawing each of the result objects on the buffered object wherein each result object becomes a chart element that relates to a discrete event in time;

compressing the buffered object having the result subjects drawn thereon;

encoding the buffered object as a streamed encoded image; and

sending the encoded image to an Internet browser for display by the browser to the user.

30. A computer program product for generating a Gantt chart image from data stored in a database in response to search criteria entered by a program user comprising:

a search engine in communication with the database for receiving the search criteria entered by program user and for generating search results in response to the entered search criteria;

means for creating a session object from each of the search criteria and the search results to generate result objects;

a server-side script for generating a hypertext markup language page having embedded therein image tags wherein each image tag has embedded therein an “

src”

component;

an image rendering engine;

means for using the “

src”

component of the embedded image tags created by the server-side script to pull the search criteria from the session object;

means for calculating the width and height of the image to be produced by the rendering engine;

means for generating an image map from the calculated width and height of the image in combination with the search results;

means for generating a buffered object for receiving a drawn image;

means for drawing rows on the buffered object;

means for drawing each of the result objects on the buffered object wherein each result object becomes a chart element that relates to a discrete event in time;

means for compressing the buffered object having the result subjects drawn thereon;

means for encoding the buffered object as a streamed encoded image; and

means for sending the encoded image to an Internet browser for display by the browser to the user.