US Patent 8061440 Combining belief networks to generate expected outcome

A computer usable medium including computer usable program code for determining an oilfield parameter for a drilling operation. The computer usable program code when executed causing a processor to identify first decision factors and second decision factors about the drilling operation, where each of the first decision factors is contained within first nodes, and where each of the second decision factors is contained within second nodes, where the first and second nodes contain common nodes. The computer usable program code further causing the processor to associate the first nodes to create a first belief network and associate the second nodes to create a second belief network, associate the common nodes of the first belief network with the common nodes of the second belief network to form a multinet belief network, and generate at least one oilfield parameter from the multinet belief network.