Method including a field management framework for optimization of field development and planning and operation

• US 20070299643A1
• Filed: 05/10/2007
• Published: 12/27/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 06/10/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Chevron USA Incorporated (Chevron Corp.), Schlumberger Technology Corporation (SLB)
• Original Assignee: Schlumberger Technology Corporation (SLB)
• Inventors: Ghorayeb, Kassem, Guyaguler, Baris
• Granted Patent: US 8,620,715 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 703/10
• CPC Class Codes: G01V 11/00 Prospecting or detecting by methods combining techniques covered by two or more of main groups G01V1/00 - G01V9/00

Abstract

A method of performing Field Management is disclosed, a Field Management system including a portable Field Management (FM) framework being initially decoupled from any simulators, one or more adaptors operatively connected to the FM framework, and one or more open interfaces associated, respectively, with the one or more adaptors, the open interfaces each having interface characteristics, the method comprising: modifying one or more of the simulators such that the simulators adhere to the interface characteristics of the open interfaces of the one or more adaptors which are operatively connected to the FM framework; subsequently coupling the one or more modified simulators to the one or more open interfaces of the one or more adaptors of the FM framework in response to the modifying step; and performing the Field Management on the condition that the one or more modified simulators are coupled to the one or more open interfaces of the one or more adaptors of the FM framework. The FM framework is also flexible in that it allows control over how the FM Framework logic is executed in order to accommodate real field situations that require such control. The FM Framework flexibility is demonstrated through control of the frequency at which the balancing action is executed, a use by the FM framework of a set of expressions, and a use by the FM framework of dynamic lists of flow entities. The FM framework is also extensible which is characterized by a use by the FM framework of custom variables and custom actions and custom strategies.

Claims

1. A method of Field Management in a Field Management system, comprising:

(a) checking if execution of a Field Management (FM) strategy is needed; and

(b) executing the Field Management strategy.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

drilling an Earth formation in response to the executing step.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the executing step (b) comprises:

executing, in response to input data, the Field Management strategy, the input data including a well log output record obtained in response to a well logging operation, and a reduced seismic data output record obtained in response to a seismic operation in a section of said Earth formation.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of executing the Field Management strategy comprises:

(c) if execution of the Field Management (FM) strategy is needed in response to the checking step (a), determining if there is an instruction in the FM strategy'"'"'s list of instructions; and

(d) if there is an instruction in the FM strategy'"'"'s list of instructions in response to the determining step (c), determining if a triggering criterion of said instruction is met.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the step of executing the Field Management strategy further comprises:

(e) if the triggering criterion of said instruction is met in response to the determining step (d), determining if a success criterion of said instruction is met; and

(f) if the success criterion of said instruction is not met in response to the determining step (e), determining if there are any actions in the instruction'"'"'s list of actions.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the step of executing the Field Management strategy further comprises:

(g) if there are actions in the instruction'"'"'s list of actions in response to the determining step (f), executing said actions, the Field Management strategy being executed when said actions are executed.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

(h) in response to the step of executing said actions of step (g), determining if said actions modified a topology in a predetermined manner such that balancing is required.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

(i) if the balancing is required in response to step (h), perform a balancing action step.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the Field Management system includes a Field Management Framework, at least one adaptor operatively connected to the Field Management Framework, and an open interface associated with said adaptor, the open interface having interface characteristics.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein said Field Management Framework is portable, the Field Management Framework being portable on the condition that said Field Management Framework is completely decoupled from any simulators, said Field Management Framework being subsequently coupled to one of more of said simulators on the condition that said simulators adhere to the interface characteristics of said open interface associated with said adaptor which is operatively connected to said Field Management Framework.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the step of executing the Field Management strategy comprises:

(c) if execution of the Field Management (FM) strategy is needed in response to the checking step (a), determining if there is an instruction in the FM strategy'"'"'s list of instructions; and

(d) if there is an instruction in the FM strategy'"'"'s list of instructions in response to the determining step (c), determining if a triggering criterion of said instruction is met.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the step of executing the Field Management strategy further comprises:

(e) if the triggering criterion of said instruction is met in response to the determining step (d), determining if a success criterion of said instruction is met; and

(f) if the success criterion of said instruction is not met in response to the determining step (e), determining if there are any actions in the instruction'"'"'s list of actions.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the step of executing the Field Management strategy further comprises:

(g) if there are actions in the instruction'"'"'s list of actions in response to the determining step (f), executing said actions, the Field Management strategy being executed when said actions are executed.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

(h) in response to the step of executing said actions of step (g), determining if said actions modified a topology in a predetermined manner such that balancing is required.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

(i) if the balancing is required in response to step (h), perform a balancing action step.

16. The method of claim 10, wherein said Field Management Framework is flexible, the flexibility of said Field Management Framework being characterized by a frequency at which said balancing action is executed.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the flexibility of said Field Management Framework is also characterized by a use, by said Field Management Framework, of a set of expressions adapted for ordering of entities in building dynamic flow entity lists, selection criteria for building a dynamic list of entities, triggering and success criteria for instructions, constraints and objectives for balancing actions, and customized Field Management.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the flexibility of said Field Management Framework is also characterized by a use, by said Field Management Framework, of dynamic lists of flow entities adapted for building a dynamic list of groups or a dynamic list of wells qr a dynamic list of well completions.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the step of executing the Field Management strategy comprises:

(c) if execution of the Field Management (FM) strategy is needed in response to the checking step (a), determining if there is an instruction in the FM strategy'"'"'s list of instructions; and

(d) if there is an instruction in the FM strategy'"'"'s list of instructions in response to the determining step (c), determining if a triggering criterion of said instruction is met.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the step of executing the Field Management strategy further comprises:

(e) if the triggering criterion of said instruction is met in response to the determining step (d), determining if a success criterion of said instruction is met; and

(f) if the success criterion of said instruction is not met in response to the determining step (e), determining if there are any actions in the instruction'"'"'s list of actions.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the step of executing the Field Management strategy further comprises:

(g) if there are actions in the instruction'"'"'s list of actions in response to the determining step (f), executing said actions, the Field Management strategy being executed when said actions are executed.

22. The method of claim 21, further comprising:

(h) in response to the step of executing said actions of step (g), determining if said actions modified a topology in a predetermined manner such that balancing is required.

23. The method of claim 22, further comprising:

(i) if the balancing is required in response to step (h), perform a balancing action step.

24. The method of claim 18, wherein said Field Management Framework is extensible, the extensibility of said Field Management Framework being characterized by a use, by said Field Management Framework, of custom variables and custom actions and custom strategies.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the step of executing the Field Management strategy comprises:

(c) if execution of the Field Management (FM) strategy is needed in response to the checking step (a), determining if there is an instruction in the FM strategy'"'"'s list of instructions; and

(d) if there is an instruction in the FM strategy'"'"'s list of instructions in response to the determining step (c), determining if a triggering criterion of said instruction is met.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the step of executing the Field Management strategy further comprises:

(e) if the triggering criterion of said instruction is met in response to the determining step (d), determining if a success criterion of said instruction is met; and

(f) if the success criterion of said instruction is not met in response to the determining step (e), determining if there are any actions in the instruction'"'"'s list of actions.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the step of executing the Field Management strategy further comprises:

(g) if there are actions in the instruction'"'"'s list of actions in response to the determining step (f), executing said actions, the Field Management strategy being executed when said actions are executed.

28. The method of claim 27, further comprising:

(h) in response to the step of executing said actions of step (g), determining if said actions modified a topology in a predetermined manner such that balancing is required.

29. The method of claim 28, further comprising:

(i) if the balancing is required in response to step (h), perform a balancing action step.

30. A method of performing Field Management, a Field Management system including a portable Field Management framework initially decoupled from any simulators, one or more adaptors operatively connected to said Field Management framework, and one or more open interfaces associated, respectively, with said one or more adaptors, the open interfaces each having interface characteristics, said method comprising:

modifying one or more of said simulators such that said simulators adhere to the interface characteristics of the open interfaces of said one or more adaptors which are operatively connected to said Field Management framework;

subsequently coupling the one or more modified simulators to the one or more open interfaces of the one or more adaptors of the Field Management framework in response to the modifying step; and

performing said Field Management on the condition that said one or more modified simulators are coupled to said one or more open interfaces of said one or more adaptors of the Field Management framework.

31. The method of claim 30, wherein the step of performing said Field Management comprises:

(a) checking if execution of a Field Management (FM) strategy is needed; and

(b) executing the Field Management strategy.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein the step of executing the Field Management strategy comprises:

(c) if execution of the Field Management (FM) strategy is needed in response to the checking step (a), determining if there is an instruction in the FM strategy'"'"'s list of instructions; and

(d) if there is an instruction in the FM strategy'"'"'s list of instructions in response to the determining step (c), determining if a triggering criterion of said instruction is met.

33. The method of claim 32, wherein the step of executing the Field Management strategy further comprises:

(e) if the triggering criterion of said instruction is met in response to the determining step (d), determining if a success criterion of said instruction is met; and

(f) if the success criterion of said instruction is not met in response to the determining step (e), determining if there are any actions in the instruction'"'"'s list of actions.

34. The method of claim 33, wherein the step of executing the Field Management strategy further comprises:

(g) if there are actions in the instruction'"'"'s list of actions in response to the determining step (f), executing said actions, the Field Management strategy being executed when said actions are executed.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein the step of performing said Field Management further comprises:

(h) in response to the step of executing said actions of step (g), determining if said actions modified a topology in a predetermined manner such that balancing is required.

36. The method of claim 35, wherein the step of performing said Field Management further comprises:

(i) if the balancing is required in response to step (h), perform a balancing action step.

37. The method of claim 30, wherein said Field Management framework is flexible, the flexibility of said Field Management framework being characterized by:

a frequency at which said balancing action is executed, a use by said Field Management framework of a set of expressions, and a use by said Field Management framework of dynamic lists of flow entities.

38. The method of claim 37, wherein said Field Management framework is extensible, the extensibility of said Field Management framework being characterized by a use by said Field Management framework of custom variables and custom actions and custom strategies.

39. The method of claim 38, wherein the step of performing said Field Management comprises:

(a) checking if execution of a Field Management (FM) strategy is needed; and

(b) executing the Field Management strategy.

40. The method of claim 39, wherein the step of executing the Field Management strategy comprises:

(c) if execution of the Field Management (FM) strategy is needed in response to the checking step (a), determining if there is an instruction in the FM strategy'"'"'s list of instructions; and

(d) if there is an instruction in the FM strategy'"'"'s list of instructions in response to the determining step (c), determining if a triggering criterion of said instruction is met.

41. The method of claim 40, wherein the step of executing the Field Management strategy further comprises:

(e) if the triggering criterion of said instruction is met in response to the determining step (d), determining if a success criterion of said instruction is met; and

(f) if the success criterion of said instruction is not met in response to the determining step (e), determining if there are any actions in the instruction'"'"'s list of actions.

42. The method of claim 41, wherein the step of executing the Field Management strategy further comprises:

(g) if there are actions in the instruction'"'"'s list of actions in response to the determining step (f), executing said actions, the Field Management strategy being executed when said actions are executed.

43. The method of claim 42, wherein the step of performing said Field Management further comprises:

(h) in response to the step of executing said actions of step (g), determining if said actions modified a topology in a predetermined manner such that balancing is required.

44. The method of claim 43, wherein the step of performing said Field Management further comprises:

(i) if the balancing is required in response to step (h), perform a balancing action step.

45. A program storage device readable by a machine, tangibly embodying a set of instructions executable by the machine, to perform method steps for performing Field Management, a Field Management system including a portable Field Management framework initially decoupled from any simulators, one or more adaptors operatively connected to said Field Management framework, and one or more open interfaces associated, respectively, with said one or more adaptors, the open interfaces each having interface characteristics, said method comprising:

modifying one or more of said simulators such that said simulators adhere to the interface characteristics of the open interfaces of said one or more adaptors which are operatively connected to said Field Management framework;

subsequently coupling the one or more modified simulators to the one or more open interfaces of the one or more adaptors of the Field Management framework in response to the modifying step; and

performing said Field Management on the condition that said one or more modified simulators are coupled to said one or more open interfaces of said one or more adaptors of the Field Management framework.

46. The program storage device of claim 45, wherein the step of performing said Field Management comprises:

(a) checking if execution of a Field Management (FM) strategy is needed; and

(b) executing the Field Management strategy.

47. The program storage device of claim 46, wherein the step of executing the Field Management strategy comprises:

(c) if execution of the Field Management (FM) strategy is needed in response to the checking step (a), determining if there is an instruction in the FM strategy'"'"'s list of instructions; and

(d) if there is an instruction in the FM strategy'"'"'s list of instructions in response to the determining step (c), determining if a triggering criterion of said instruction is met.

48. The program storage device of claim 47, wherein the step of executing the Field Management strategy further comprises:

(e) if the triggering criterion of said instruction is met in response to the determining step (d), determining if a success criterion of said instruction is met; and

(f) if the success criterion of said instruction is not met in response to the determining step (e), determining if there are any actions in the instruction'"'"'s list of actions.

49. The program storage device of claim 48, wherein the step of executing the Field Management strategy further comprises:

(g) if there are actions in the instruction'"'"'s list of actions in response to the determining step (f), executing said actions, the Field Management strategy being executed when said actions are executed.

50. The program storage device of claim 49, wherein the step of performing said Field Management further comprises:

(h) in response to the step of executing said actions of step (g), determining if said actions modified a topology in a predetermined manner such that balancing is required.

51. The program storage device of claim 50, wherein the step of performing said Field Management further comprises:

(i) if the balancing is required in response to step (h), perform a balancing action step.

52. The program storage device of claim 45, wherein said Field Management framework is flexible, the flexibility of said Field Management framework being characterized by:

a frequency at which said balancing action is executed, a use by said Field Management framework of a set of expressions, and a use by said Field Management framework of dynamic lists of flow entities.

53. The program storage device of claim 52, wherein said Field Management framework is extensible, the extensibility of said Field Management framework being characterized by a use by said Field Management framework of custom variables and custom actions and custom strategies.

54. The program storage device of claim 53, wherein the step of performing said Field Management comprises:

(a) checking if execution of a Field Management (FM) strategy is needed; and

(b) executing the Field Management strategy.

55. The program storage device of claim 54, wherein the step of executing the Field Management strategy comprises:

(c) if execution of the Field Management (FM) strategy is needed in response to the checking step (a), determining if there is an instruction in the FM strategy'"'"'s list of instructions; and

(d) if there is an instruction in the FM strategy'"'"'s list of instructions in response to the determining step (c), determining if a triggering criterion of said instruction is met.

56. The program storage device of claim 55, wherein the step of executing the Field Management strategy further comprises:

(e) if the triggering criterion of said instruction is met in response to the determining step (d), determining if a success criterion of said instruction is met; and

(f) if the success criterion of said instruction is not met in response to the determining step (e), determining if there are any actions in the instruction'"'"'s list of actions.

57. The program storage device of claim 56, wherein the step of executing the Field Management strategy further comprises:

(g) if there are actions in the instruction'"'"'s list of actions in response to the determining step (f), executing said actions, the Field Management strategy being executed when said actions are executed.

58. The program storage device of claim 57, wherein the step of performing said Field Management further comprises:

(h) in response to the step of executing said actions of step (g), determining if said actions modified a topology in a predetermined manner such that balancing is required.

59. The program storage device of claim 58, wherein the step of performing said Field Management further comprises:

(i) if the balancing is required in response to step (h), perform a balancing action step.

60. A computer program adapted to be executed by a processor, said computer program, when executed by said processor, conducting a process for performing Field Management, a Field Management system including a portable Field Management framework initially decoupled from any simulators, one or more adaptors operatively connected to said Field Management framework, and one or more open interfaces associated, respectively, with said one or more adaptors, the open interfaces each having interface characteristics, said process comprising:

modifying one or more of said simulators such that said simulators adhere to the interface characteristics of the open interfaces of said one or more adaptors which are operatively connected to said Field Management framework;

subsequently coupling the one or more modified simulators to the one or more open interfaces of the one or more adaptors of the Field Management framework in response to the modifying step; and

performing said Field Management on the condition that said one or more modified simulators are coupled to said one or more open interfaces of said one or more adaptors of the Field Management framework.

61. The computer program of claim 60, wherein the step of performing said Field Management comprises:

(a) checking if execution of a Field Management (FM) strategy is needed; and

(b) executing the Field Management strategy.

62. The computer program of claim 61, wherein the step of executing the Field Management strategy comprises:

(c) if execution of the Field Management (FM) strategy is needed in response to the checking step (a), determining if there is an instruction in the FM strategy'"'"'s list of instructions; and

(d) if there is an instruction in the FM strategy'"'"'s list of instructions in response to the determining step (c), determining if a triggering criterion of said instruction is met.

63. The computer program of claim 62, wherein the step of executing the Field Management strategy further comprises:

(e) if the triggering criterion of said instruction is met in response to the determining step (d), determining if a success criterion of said instruction is met; and

(f) if the success criterion of said instruction is not met in response to the determining step (e), determining if there are any actions in the instruction'"'"'s list of actions.

64. The computer program of claim 63, wherein the step of executing the Field Management strategy further comprises:

(g) if there are actions in the instruction'"'"'s list of actions in response to the determining step (f), executing said actions, the Field Management strategy being executed when said actions are executed.

65. The computer program of claim 64, wherein the step of performing said Field Management further comprises:

(h) in response to the step of executing said actions of step (g), determining if said actions modified a topology in a predetermined manner such that balancing is required.

66. The computer program of claim 65, wherein the step of performing said Field Management further comprises:

(i) if the balancing is required in response to step (h), perform a balancing action step.

67. The computer program of claim 60, wherein said Field Management framework is flexible, the flexibility of said Field Management framework being characterized by:

a frequency at which said balancing action is executed, a use by said Field Management framework of a set of expressions, and a use by said Field Management framework of dynamic lists of flow entities.

68. The computer program of claim 67, wherein said Field Management framework is extensible, the extensibility of said Field Management framework being characterized by a use by said Field Management framework of custom variables and custom actions and custom strategies.

69. The computer program of claim 68, wherein the step of performing said Field Management comprises:

(a) checking if execution of a Field Management (FM) strategy is needed; and

(b) executing the Field Management strategy.

70. The computer program of claim 69, wherein the step of executing the Field Management strategy comprises:

(c) if execution of the Field Management (FM) strategy is needed in response to the checking step (a), determining if there is an instruction in the FM strategy'"'"'s list of instructions; and

(d) if there is an instruction in the FM strategy'"'"'s list of instructions in response to the determining step (c), determining if a triggering criterion of said instruction is met.

71. The computer program of claim 70, wherein the step of executing the Field Management strategy further comprises:

(e) if the triggering criterion of said instruction is met in response to the determining step (d), determining if a success criterion of said instruction is met; and

(f) if the success criterion of said instruction is not met in response to the determining step (e), determining if there are any actions in the instruction'"'"'s list of actions.

72. The computer program of claim 71, wherein the step of executing the Field Management strategy further comprises:

(g) if there are actions in the instruction'"'"'s list of actions in response to the determining step (f), executing said actions, the Field Management strategy being executed when said actions are executed.

73. The computer program of claim 72, wherein the step of performing said Field Management further comprises:

(h) in response to the step of executing said actions of step (g), determining if said actions modified a topology in a predetermined manner such that balancing is required.

74. The computer program of claim 73, wherein the step of performing said Field Management further comprises:

(i) if the balancing is required in response to step (h), perform a balancing action step.

75. A program storage device readable by a machine, tangibly embodying a set of instructions executable by the machine, to perform method steps of Field Management in a Field Management system, the method steps comprising:

(a) checking if execution of a Field Management (FM) strategy is needed; and

(b) executing the Field Management strategy.

76. The program storage device of claim 75, further comprising:

drilling an Earth formation in response to the executing step.

77. The program storage device of claim 76, wherein the executing step (b) comprises:

executing, in response to input data, the Field Management strategy, the input data including a well log output record obtained in response to a well logging operation, and a reduced seismic data output record obtained in response to a seismic operation in a section of said Earth formation.

78. The program storage device of claim 75, wherein the step of executing the Field Management strategy comprises:

(c) if execution of the Field Management (FM) strategy is needed in response to the checking step (a), determining if there is an instruction in the FM strategy'"'"'s list of instructions; and

(d) if there is an instruction in the FM strategy'"'"'s list of instructions in response to the determining step (c), determining if a triggering criterion of said instruction is met.

79. The program storage device of claim 78, wherein the step of executing the Field Management strategy further comprises:

(e) if the triggering criterion of said instruction is met in response to the determining step (d), determining if a success criterion of said instruction is met; and

(f) if the success criterion of said instruction is not met in response to the determining step (e), determining if there are any actions in the instruction'"'"'s list of actions.

80. The program storage device of claim 79, wherein the step of executing the Field Management strategy further comprises:

(g) if there are actions in the instruction'"'"'s list of actions in response to the determining step (f), executing said actions, the Field Management strategy being executed when said actions are executed.

81. The program storage device of claim 80, further comprising:

(h) in response to the step of executing said actions of step (g), determining if said actions modified a topology in a predetermined manner such that balancing is required.

82. The program storage device of claim 81, further comprising:

(i) if the balancing is required in response to step (h), perform a balancing action step.

83. The program storage device of claim 75, wherein the Field Management system includes a Field Management Framework, at least one adaptor operatively connected to the Field Management Framework, and an open interface associated with said adaptor, the open interface having interface characteristics.

84. The program storage device of claim 83, wherein said Field Management Framework is portable, the Field Management Framework being portable on the condition that said Field Management Framework is completely decoupled from any simulators, said Field Management Framework being subsequently coupled to one of more of said simulators on the condition that said simulators adhere to the interface characteristics of said open interface associated with said adaptor which is operatively connected to said Field Management Framework.

85. The program storage device of claim 84, wherein the step of executing the Field Management strategy comprises:

(c) if execution of the Field Management (FM) strategy is needed in response to the checking step (a), determining if there is an instruction in the FM strategy'"'"'s list of instructions; and

(d) if there is an instruction in the FM strategy'"'"'s list of instructions in response to the determining step (c), determining if a triggering criterion of said instruction is met.

86. The program storage device of claim 85, wherein the step of executing the Field Management strategy further comprises:

(e) if the triggering criterion of said instruction is met in response to the determining step (d), determining if a success criterion of said instruction is met; and

(f) if the success criterion of said instruction is not met in response to the determining step (e), determining if there are any actions in the instruction'"'"'s list of actions.

87. The program storage device of claim 86, wherein the step of executing the Field Management strategy further comprises:

(g) if there are actions in the instruction'"'"'s list of actions in response to the determining step (f), executing said actions, the Field Management strategy being executed when said actions are executed.

88. The program storage device of claim 87, further comprising:

(h) in response to the step of executing said actions of step (g), determining if said actions modified a topology in a predetermined manner such that balancing is required.

89. The program storage device of claim 88, further comprising:

(i) if the balancing is required in response to step (h), perform a balancing action step.

90. The program storage device of claim 84, wherein said Field Management Framework is flexible, the flexibility of said Field Management Framework being characterized by a frequency at which said balancing action is executed.

91. The program storage device of claim 90, wherein the flexibility of said Field Management Framework is also characterized by a use, by said Field Management Framework, of a set of expressions adapted for ordering of entities in building dynamic flow entity lists, selection criteria for building a dynamic list of entities, triggering and success criteria for instructions, constraints and objectives for balancing actions, and customized Field Management.

92. The program storage device of claim 91, wherein the flexibility of said Field Management Framework is also characterized by a use, by said Field Management Framework, of dynamic lists of flow entities adapted for building a dynamic list of groups or a dynamic list of wells or a dynamic list of well completions.

93. The program storage device of claim 92, wherein the step of executing the Field Management strategy comprises:

(c) if execution of the Field Management (FM) strategy is needed in response to the checking step (a), determining if there is an instruction in the FM strategy'"'"'s list of instructions; and

(d) if there is an instruction in the FM strategy'"'"'s list of instructions in response to the determining step (c), determining if a triggering criterion of said instruction is met.

94. The program storage device of claim 93, wherein the step of executing the Field Management strategy further comprises:

(e) if the triggering criterion of said instruction is met in response to the determining step (d), determining if a success criterion of said instruction is met; and

(f) if the success criterion of said instruction is not met in response to the determining step (e), determining if there are any actions in the instruction'"'"'s list of actions.

95. The program storage device of claim 94, wherein the step of executing the Field Management strategy further comprises:

(g) if there are actions in the instruction'"'"'s list of actions in response to the determining step (f), executing said actions, the Field Management strategy being executed when said actions are executed.

96. The program storage device of claim 95, further comprising:

(h) in response to the step of executing said actions of step (g), determining if said actions modified a topology in a predetermined manner such that balancing is required.

97. The program storage device of claim 96, further comprising:

(i) if the balancing is required in response to step (h), perform a balancing action step.

98. The program storage device of claim 92, wherein said Field Management Framework is extensible, the extensibility of said Field Management Framework being characterized by a use, by said Field Management Framework, of custom variables and custom actions and custom strategies.

99. The program storage device of claim 98, wherein the step of executing the Field Management strategy comprises:

(c) if execution of the Field Management (FM) strategy is needed in response to the checking step (a), determining if there is an instruction in the FM strategy'"'"'s list of instructions; and

(d) if there is an instruction in the FM strategy'"'"'s list of instructions in response to the determining step (c), determining if a triggering criterion of said instruction is met.

100. The program storage device of claim 99, wherein the step of executing the Field Management strategy further comprises:

(e) if the triggering criterion of said instruction is met in response to the determining step (d), determining if a success criterion of said instruction is met; and

(f) if the success criterion of said instruction is not met in response to the determining step (e), determining if there are any actions in the instruction'"'"'s list of actions.

101. The program storage device of claim 100, wherein the step of executing the Field Management strategy further comprises:

(g) if there are actions in the instruction'"'"'s list of actions in response to the determining step (f), executing said actions, the Field Management strategy being executed when said actions are executed.

102. The program storage device of claim 101, further comprising:

(h) in response to the step of executing said actions of step (g), determining if said actions modified a topology in a predetermined manner such that balancing is required.

103. The program storage device of claim 102, further comprising:

(i) if the balancing is required in response to step (h), perform a balancing action step.