Patent ID: 7565305

Claim:
A method for optimizing a portion of an oilfield operation used to generate hydrocarbons from a downhole reservoir, the method comprising: identifying a first work element and a second work element for a first workflow element of the portion of the oilfield operation; identifying a third work element for a second workflow element of the portion of the oilfield operation; performing, on a computer processor, a first statistical analysis of a first plurality of scaled rankings of the first work element to determine a first existing state value and a first enhanced state value of the first workflow element, wherein the first plurality of scaled rankings of the first work element is obtained by interviewing at least one operator of the oilfield operation; performing, on the computer processor, a second statistical analysis of a second plurality of scaled rankings of the second work element to determine a second existing state value and a second enhanced state value of the first workflow element, wherein the second plurality of scaled rankings of the second work element is obtained by interviewing the at least one operator of the oilfield operation; performing, on the computer processor, a third statistical analysis of a third plurality of scaled rankings of the third work element to determine a third existing state value and a third enhanced state value of the second workflow element, wherein the third plurality of scaled rankings of the third work element is obtained by interviewing the at least one operator of the oilfield operation; calculating, on the computer processor, a first difference between the first enhanced state value and the first existing state value for the first work element; calculating, on the computer processor, a second difference between the second enhanced state value and the second existing state value for the second work element; calculating, on the computer processor, a third difference between the third enhanced state value and the first existing state value for the third work element; in response to selecting the first work element for the first workflow element, combining the first difference and the third difference to generate a change in value of the portion of the oilfield operation; displaying the change in value of the portion of the oilfield operation; in response to selecting the second work element for the first workflow element, combining the second difference and the third difference to generate an updated change in value of the portion of the oilfield operation; and optimizing the portion of the oilfield operation based on the updated change in value.