Creating an Open Source Drilling Community

Modeling the drilling process allows us to understand the physics driving our systems. Proposed tools and procedures can be tested without the time and risks of rig trials. In the near future, it will be inconceivable to put a new tool in the ground or new control system on a rig without fully testing the full system for performance and stability.

ExxonMobil challenged the industry, contributed models, and gathered a coalition of experts to start this effort. Additional models have been submitted by Scientific Drilling, NORCE, Texas A&M, and the University of Calgary, with more coming. MathWorks has helped convert the initial ExxonMobil code to Simulink^®, improve code stability, optimize the execution speed, and document how to use the models. All models, data, and test cases are freely available for academic and commercial use.

The University of Calgary is coordinating the organization’s web and GitHub sites. To join this effort, go to the Open Source Drilling Community and add your contact information to the mailing list on the Contribute tab.