A method of communicating between hydrocarbon management-related computer programs having non-identical data formats. Tools associated with each of the computer programs are obtained. Each tool represents a functionality of its respective computer program. Representations of the tools are displayed in a toolbox. A plurality of the displayed representations are selected such that the displayed representations are placed in a displayed workspace to establish a graphical representation of a workflow. Displayed representations from more than one computer program are selected. The displayed representations are positioned in the graphical representation of the workflow in a sequence corresponding to a desired workflow sequence. The workflow is executed according to the desired workflow sequence. Inter-program communications is facilitated between the computer programs to enable the workflow to execute by transferring messages and data between the computer programs in a common data format.