Master plan for dynamic phase machine automation system

1. A method of automating an oil & gas drilling process performed by a plurality of process components, the method comprising:

executing with at least one processor at least a portion of a dynamic phase machine, wherein the dynamic phase machine controls the plurality of process components to implement the oil & gas drilling process and includes a plurality of phases, wherein the dynamic phase machine further includes a plurality of agents, each assigned to a phase among the plurality of phases, the plurality of agents including a first agent assigned to a first phase among the plurality of phases; and

retrieving data from a master plan accessible by the plurality of agents and associated with the oil & gas process during execution of the dynamic phase machine for use in implementing the oil & gas drilling process, wherein retrieving data from the master plan is performed by the first agent when the dynamic phase machine is in the first phase to determine a parameter to be used by the first agent when implementing the oil & gas drilling process.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the dynamic phase machine is resident in a drilling automation system, and wherein retrieving data from the master plan is performed by the drilling automation system to determine a next step in a workflow.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining data from the master plan based upon at least one of a time parameter and a spatial parameter associated with the oil & gas drilling process, wherein retrieving data from the master plan includes retrieving time and/or spatial correlated data based on the at least one of the time parameter and spatial parameter.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising, with the master plan, correlating plan data based upon at least one of the time parameter and the spatial parameter to generate the correlated data.

5. The method of claim 3 , wherein the spatial parameter is selected from the group consisting of a position, an absolute depth, a relative depth, and a position relative to a geological feature.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining data from the master plan based upon a measurement associated with the oil & gas drilling process, wherein retrieving data from the master plan includes retrieving measurement correlated data based on the measurement.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the master plan is generated by a drilling simulator.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the master plan includes at least one tripping schedule.

9. The method of claim 7 , wherein the master plan is generated by modifying a template generated by the drilling simulator.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the dynamic phase machine is resident in an automation system, wherein the master plan is implemented in an agent, and wherein the method further comprises registering the agent with the automation system.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the master plan includes a plurality of drilling parameters.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the master plan is generated from a master plan template generated by a drilling simulator.

13. An apparatus, comprising:

at least one processor; and

program code configured upon execution by the at least one processor to automate an oil & gas drilling process performed by a plurality of process components, the program code configured to:

execute at least a portion of a dynamic phase machine, wherein the dynamic phase machine controls the plurality of process components to implement the oil & gas drilling process and includes a plurality of phases, wherein the dynamic phase machine further includes a plurality of agents, each assigned to a phase among the plurality of phases, the plurality of agents including a first agent assigned to a first phase among the plurality of phases; and

retrieve data from a master plan accessible by the plurality of agents and associated with the oil & gas process during execution of the dynamic phase machine for use in implementing the oil & gas drilling process, wherein the data is retrieved from the master plan by the first agent when the dynamic phase machine is in the first phase to determine a parameter to be used by the first agent when implementing the oil & gas drilling process.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein at least a portion of the program code and the dynamic phase machine are resident in a drilling automation system, and wherein the program code is configured to retrieve data from the master plan to determine a next step in a workflow.

15. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the program code is configured to determine data from the master plan based upon at least one of a time parameter and a spatial parameter associated with the oil & gas drilling process, and retrieve time and/or spatial correlated data based on the at least one of the time parameter and spatial parameter, and wherein the master plan is configured to correlate plan data based upon at least one of the time parameter and the spatial parameter to generate the correlated data.

16. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the program code is further configured to determine data from the master plan based upon a measurement associated with the oil & gas drilling process, and retrieve measurement correlated data based on the measurement.

17. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the master plan is generated by a drilling simulator and includes at least one tripping schedule and at least one drilling parameter.

18. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the dynamic phase machine is resident in an automation system, wherein the master plan is implemented in an agent, and wherein the program code is further configured to register the agent with the automation system.

19. A program product, comprising:

a non-transitory computer readable medium; and

program code resident on the computer readable medium and configured upon execution to automate an oil & gas drilling process performed by a plurality of process components, the program code configured to:

execute at least a portion of a dynamic phase machine, wherein the dynamic phase machine controls the plurality of process components to implement the oil & gas drilling process and includes a plurality of phases, wherein the dynamic phase machine further includes a plurality of agents, each assigned to a phase among the plurality of phases, the plurality of agents including a first agent assigned to a first phase among the plurality of phases; and

retrieve data from a master plan accessible by the plurality of agents and associated with the oil & gas process during execution of the dynamic phase machine for use in implementing the oil & gas drilling process, wherein the data is retrieved from the master plan by the first agent when the dynamic phase machine is in the first phase to determine a parameter to be used by the first agent when implementing the oil & gas drilling process.