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Welcome to the PWLS Curve Catalog

At a Glance

  • The Practical Well Log Standard (PWLS) defines the meaning of well-log measurements.
  • The PWLS Curve Catalog documents how companies label those measurements in practice.
  • The catalog is a community-maintained, Git-based resource mapping proprietary curve mnemonics to PWLS Property Kinds.
  • It is informative, not normative, supporting interoperability, automation, and data discovery across vendors.

Want to contribute?

The PWLS Curve Catalog is community-maintained on GitLab.
Submit additions or updates via merge requests:
https://community.opengroup.org/energistics/pwls-curve-catalog

Quick Start

New here? Start with one of these:

Overview

The PWLS Curve Catalog is an Energistics-initiated, community-maintained project hosted on GitLab, where companies publish well-log curve mnemonics and map them to the Practical Well Log Standard (PWLS) Property Kinds.

PWLS, developed by Energistics, defines the standardized meaning of well-log measurements through a structured hierarchy of Property Kinds and Quantity Classes. The Curve Catalog complements PWLS by documenting how those measurements are labeled in real-world operational data.

As part of the PWLS v4.0 release, company-specific mnemonic listings were intentionally separated from the core standard. This allows PWLS to remain stable and vendor-neutral, while enabling curve mnemonics—which evolve frequently—to be maintained independently in a transparent, version-controlled environment.

Participation and Membership

Contributing to the Curve Catalog does not require Energistics membership.
Participation in the development of the PWLS standard itself is managed through Energistics membership programs.

Intended Audience

This site is intended for anyone working with well-log data across organizational and vendor boundaries, including:

  • Service and technology companies publishing and maintaining mappings from proprietary curve mnemonics to PWLS Property Kinds
  • Operators and data managers normalizing and comparing multi-vendor log data
  • Software vendors and system integrators building ingestion, quality control, search, and analytics workflows
  • Standards users and implementers seeking alignment with PWLS without embedding company-specific content in the standard itself

How the Curve Catalog Is Used

PWLS defines what is measured through Property Kinds and Quantity Classes.
The Curve Catalog provides examples of how those measurements are labeled by individual companies.

In practice, the catalog is commonly used to:

  • Map proprietary curve mnemonics to PWLS Property Kinds during data ingestion
  • Facilitate cross-vendor comparison and normalization
  • Support automation workflows where appropriate

Important

The Curve Catalog is informative, not normative. Consumers should apply validation and governance appropriate to their use cases.

Company-Supplied Content

Content in the PWLS Curve Catalog is authored and maintained by the contributing companies.

Energistics provides the hosting platform and structure but does not validate, reconcile, or arbitrate individual curve definitions or mappings.

Consumers should apply appropriate validation, quality control, and governance based on their own use cases.

What the Curve Catalog Is Not

  • It is not a replacement for the PWLS standard
  • It does not impose required curve names or mappings
  • It does not resolve differences between company definitions

RP66 Company Codes

The Curve Catalog uses RP66 company codes as a stable identifier to distinguish curve mnemonics originating from different companies.

RP66 is a long-established list of numeric company codes originally defined as an API Recommended Practice and later maintained by Energistics. These codes are used in industry standards such as DLIS and earlier PWLS versions.

Within the Curve Catalog, RP66 company codes ensure that curve mnemonics can be uniquely identified—even when identical names are used across different organizations.

While alternative approaches to company identification are possible, RP66 was selected to preserve continuity with historical well‑log data, existing standards, and industry practice.

Contributing

All modifications and additions to the Curve Catalog are managed through the project's GitLab repository:

https://community.opengroup.org/energistics/pwls-curve-catalog

  • Submitting changes
    Additions and modifications are made via merge requests in GitLab. Contributors should follow repository guidelines when proposing changes.

  • Company-owned catalogs
    Each company is responsible for maintaining its own catalog entries.

  • Cross-company changes
    Changes to other companies' catalogs should be proposed via GitLab issues.

  • Review and publication
    Accepted changes automatically trigger updates to the website and downloadable artifacts.

Downloads

Current References

Description Download Link
PWLS Curve Catalog Download
Practical Well Log Standard (PWLS) v4.0 Download