Find quick answers about PHDwin V3 features, security, pricing, data migration, and support. PHDwin V3 is a modern software platform for oil and gas reserves, decline curve analysis, and economics evaluation, built by petroleum engineers for engineers, analysts, and auditors. If your question is not answered below, our team is here to help.
PHDwin V3 brings forecasting, economics, scenario management, and reserves reporting into one connected environment, replacing the fragmented workflows that slow evaluations down. The questions below cover what the platform is and how it differs from what came before.
The current release is PHDwin V3.1.20, released in September 2026. It introduces new analysis, risking, reporting, V3Connect, ODBC, PHDwinOUT and SQL capabilities.
PHDwin V3.1.20 introduces Probit and Trumpet plots, a new Risk Tree, updated risking reports, Income Tax Units, V3Connect updates, ODBC 18, PHDwinOUT support, a database status icon and SQL 2025.
PHDwin V3.1.20 introduces dedicated Probit and Trumpet plots based on SPEE Monograph 5 standards. Probit analysis models threshold distributions, while Trumpet plots track uncertainty boundaries against acceptance limits.
The new Risk Tree allows users to model the chance of a dry hole versus a commercially viable discovery. Users can apply risking values to cases, create case dependencies and use compounded risking factors.
PHDwin V3.1.20 updates reports to identify risked cases and summaries. Risked values are shown through italicized cases and summaries or red values in report headers, depending on the report type.
An Income Tax Unit aggregates data from multiple child cases, including revenue, costs, production, local taxes and depreciation. It also supports reporting of income tax-related values.
Excel can now connect automatically to V3 and generate the selected V3Connect report without requiring connection strings. Previous V3Connect reports no longer work and users must use the new provided sheets.
Yes. PHDwin V3.1.20 updates its ODBC dependency to ODBC 18, and V3 users will be prompted to install the new driver.
Yes. V3.1.20 supports a new OUT file format for visualizations and data warehousing, with supported clients able to configure output to Microsoft Access if needed.
The SQL version packaged with PHDwin V3.1.20 is SQL 2025.
Build 20 includes almost 800 addressed issues across areas including economics, fiscal models, graphs, the Global Editor, GUI, imports, transfers, scenarios and wellbore/completion functionality.
PHDwin V3.1.20 adds a new icon to the Home ribbon that helps users identify the database they are currently editing.
PHDwin V3.1.20 adds a Probit graph for normalized curve cases and introduces several graph editing and display improvements.
V3.1.20 improves V2 imports for custom products, includes bookmarked cases in Transfer files and allows Transfer In to create the first database in an instance.
Wellbore ID and Completion ID are now required to be unique, and cases can share wellbore and completion records.
V3 users will be prompted to install ODBC 18, and implementations using the old ODBC driver or SQL Server Native Client are no longer supported. Previous V3Connect reports also need to be replaced with the new provided sheets.
Reserves work is rarely a solo activity, and the numbers it produces frequently end up in front of auditors, lenders, and regulators. These questions cover how PHDwin V3 handles teams, security, and audit requirements.
Yes. Multiple users can edit and run calculations in parallel. Version control and scenario management keep everyone’s work protected, with no overwrites and no lost data, so a large evaluation can be split across a team without the coordination overhead that file-based systems demand.
Yes. PHDwin V3 runs on your own infrastructure through its SQL backend, and it uses secure SQL authentication, role-based permissions, and network deployment. It is also Azure-ready for enterprise setups, so organisations standardising on cloud infrastructure can deploy accordingly.
PHDwin works with major audit workflows including Ryder Scott, D&M, and Haas & Cobb. It is built on standards trusted by banks and regulators, which matters when your reserves numbers have to withstand third-party review rather than simply satisfy internal reporting.
Yes. PHDwin V3 supports SEC-compliant reserves reporting, and its enforced data discipline, consistency, and reduced QC time produce results that are comparable and defensible. For corporate reserves tracking across many projects, PHDRMS integrates with PHDwin to archive reserves and forecasts into a single SQL database.
PHDwin V3 is a Windows application built on Microsoft SQL. The questions below cover what you need before installing and which installer to choose.
PHDwin V3 runs on Windows and installs from a secure, Windows-compatible installer. Full system requirements are published on the download site.
PHDwin V3 is built on the Microsoft SQL platform, the same industry-standard infrastructure most corporate IT teams already maintain. It installs with SQL Express, which comfortably supports databases of roughly 100,000 cases. Organisations working with larger portfolios can move to a commercial or Standard Edition of SQL to grow beyond that threshold.
PHDwin V3 is available from the official download site at phdwindownload.com. Most users should choose the recommended executable installer, while IT departments managing deployments can obtain the .msi installer and its dependencies from the current release page.
sers installing from the .msi should note that SQL Server 2025 Express, the ODBC Driver 18 (msodbcsql18), .NET Framework 4.8.1, and the Visual C++ 2015 redistributable must be added manually, because the .msi cannot install these components automatically
Existing V3 users upgrading to 3.1.19 will typically only need the .NET Framework 4.8.1 component if they do not already have it. Everything else carries over from the previous installation.
Adopting new software is far easier when it reads the data you already have. PHDwin supports a wide range of vendor formats and legacy systems.
Yes. PHDwin imports from ARIES, Excel, OGRE, and Mosaic, and exports to Spotfire, Tableau, and Power BI. This means legacy evaluations can move across without being rebuilt, and finished results can flow into whatever business intelligence layer your organisation already uses.
PHDwin imports ARIES data directly through Access databases, and V3.1.19 specifically improves that import experience across lookup tables, investment, expense, ownership, and projection data. TRC publishes a dedicated Aries vs PHDwin comparison for teams evaluating a move.
PHDwin V3 imports from Mosaic, so evaluations built there can be brought into PHDwin rather than recreated. Because every migration differs in scope, we recommend starting a trial or contacting the team to confirm how your specific data maps across.
PHDwin supports more than twenty-five data vendors and file types in addition to database and spreadsheet sources, including Accumap, Divestco, DrillingInfo and Enverus, IHS, Merak, Rystad, WellDatabase, and WoodMackenzie, along with standard CSV and Access files. For larger or more complex migrations, TRC’s database conversion service can assist directly.
Forecasting is where engineers spend much of their day, and the economics engine is what turns those forecasts into decisions.
PHDwin V3 offers five methods: Arps decline in exponential, hyperbolic, and harmonic forms; Stretched Exponential Decline for tight and unconventional formations where traditional Arps tends to overestimate EUR; Scheduled projections for development drilling and facilities-constrained profiles; Lin-Time linear projections for late-life and stripper wells; and Flat Projections for plateau phases and contractual commitments.
Yes, and this matters considerably for unconventional producers, because a single well frequently passes through multiple flow regimes across its producing life. Combining methods within one well lets the forecast follow the physics rather than forcing the physics to fit one model
Engineers can manipulate hyperbolic decline directly on the chart using the Drag and Drop Bendy B Factor rather than re-entering parameters by hand, while Flow Regime Indicators automatically identify transient, boundary-dominated, and linear flow periods. Multi-graph displays and child case overlays allow several production streams or offset wells to be compared in one view.
V3 includes Max Cum Cash Flow for economic limit calculations, support for differentiating sunk and discretionary investments such as PDP versus PUD plugging, and economic hurdles based on discounted cash flow, non-discounted cash flow, and ROI. Revenues, expenses, and taxes can be plotted directly on production graphs so economics and reserves appear together.
Reporting is where an evaluation becomes a decision, and PHDwin V3 is built to make that step fast rather than laborious.
Yes. Engineers can change report formats and ranking metrics without re-running economic evaluations, switching between templates or analysing metrics such as value rank and present worth inside the same workflow. Structured results export to Excel in seconds.
Yes. PHDwin V3 features a highly definable interface where Forms place data anywhere on the screen and Views group those Forms into task-specific layouts that can be shared across a team. True multi-monitor support scales that workspace across every display on your desk.
Mass-editing tools include copy and paste from Excel, a Global Editor, and a Grid Editor, eliminating manual re-entry across hundreds of cases. Graph models can be applied to one, many, or all cases at once, and when a model changes, every case using it updates automatically.
Yes. TRC offers a 14-day free trial with no credit card required, using a secure, Windows-compatible installer. It gives you access to the full software so you can evaluate it against your own data rather than a demonstration dataset.
Pricing is published on the PHDwin pricing page, with standard and network options available on both annual and quarterly terms. For a quotation matched to your team size and deployment model, contact the TRC team directly.
Yes. TRC operates an academic program for universities and students, details of which are available on the PHDwin site.
Yes. The SQL architecture supports both local installations and client and server deployments for multi-user teams, along with virtual machine, local area network, hybrid, and managed hosting options.
PHDwin offers United States-based engineering support, personalised onboarding, classroom and online training, tutorials, and PHDwin certification. Support is available by phone at 512-467-2639 or 888-248-8062, Monday through Friday.
TRC provides database conversions for moving legacy data into PHDwin cleanly, integration consulting to connect PHDwin with your wider systems, custom reports tailored to the formats your stakeholders and regulators expect, and PSC and PSA modeling for international production sharing structures.
Classroom, online, and onsite training sessions are listed on the PHDwin download site, alongside historic how-to content and quick start guides for V3.
Existing users can reach United States-based engineering support through the PHDwin support site or by phone during business hours. The client portal also provides account and licensing management.
