This paper highlights the tremendous impact of real-time data transmission and visualization through the Aramcolink solution for monitoring geosteering operations in Saudi Aramco. It was very challenging to move from multiple real time data providers to a single solution, which can connect with different service providers by utilizing WITSML, which is industry real-time data transmission protocol. Nevertheless, Saudi Aramco has decided to explore this frontier to provide their operational geoscientists/engineers with a single system through which all should be able to simultaneously monitor several actively drilling wells with ease.Considering the drilling operation in Saudi Arabia, a system with advanced capabilities of data quality control (QC), rescaling, filtering, alerting, and chatting, was essentially required to assist operational geoscientists in optimizing production through geosteering a well by drilling through the sweet zone and achieve good net to gross value. The new solution ЉAramcolinkЉ is not only limited to these capabilities but distinguishes itself among other rival solutions by unmatched features such as data cross-plotting, on the fly azimuthal image dip calculation, built in petrophysical analysis and electrofacies computation, 2D and 3D well trajectory visualization, and others.Moreover, information is now provided on how using such an approach helped in enforcing Saudi Aramco's standard for real-time log naming, measurement unit, and scaling, thereby facilitating more automated operational workflows. The paper concludes by sharing lessons learned and recommendations for future improvements.

After the setup of a real-time drilling data feed from the Rig site to the operations center, the obvious question is - How good is the data that is being streamed? Real-Time rig sensor data could be an effective input for drilling optimization, However, the confidence in the results of these analysis or interpretations is directly associated to the trustworthiness of the data acquired. Measuring the quality of the data has been a difficult issue for many years. This paper shows the approach used by a large oil & gas operator to measure the quality of the information received from the rig providers, which is obtained from the sensors installed on every rig. The Real Time Data Quality is measured by analyzing six different parameters: completeness, uniformity, sensibility, resolution, structure and format. The combination of these six indexes provides a deep understanding of the level of the quality of the data received, as well as the elements to be improved. Various KPIs including Footage KPI, Data QC Availability and Data QC Channels, are generated by the powerful engine of Automated Rig Activity Measurement (ARAM) to check the data quality of different vendors. Starting from having a check on data availability, these KPI's are capable of analyzing every row of time based data in real-time. Data generated by a proprietary system for these KPI's is also being used in a Real Time Data Quality Dashboard. This measurement provides the drilling engineers with a systematic way to filter analysis results based on data of poor quality by specifying their acceptable data quality range. This daily analysis also allows the operator to identify Rigs that are performing better and rigs that needs to be pushed for higher quality data.

This paper highlights the tremendous impact of real-time data transmission and visualization on hydraulic fracturing, also known as "fracing." Here, we will focus on tight reservoirs. Utilizing the advanced real-time visualization system with high-resolution data transmission enables the frac engineers to achieve promising results, and ensures effective decision making and data substantiation from real-time fracing centers at their base offices. Saudi Aramco adopted single-viewer visualization solutions to support a wide range of different operations with a single system through which Aramco users can simultaneously monitor various activities, including drilling and post-drilling activities with ease. This solution was approved to support the high supremacy of hydraulic fracking operation and their requirements by attaining the high speed of data transmission and visualization at the rate of minimum one-second data. The data transmitted all the way from the rig site to the base monitoring centers and displayed on customizable templates to meet the requirements of the data visualization with real-time calculations. The importance of real-time monitoring micro-seismic data is the key tool to determine the frequency of hydraulic fracturing during frac operations. This type of operation needs to be verified with the simulation models, and the whole range of complex operations is made possible with the advance technique to transmit real-time data. This real-time data was used for monitoring and treating wells at the most required rate of data availability at the base where complete optimization teams utilize different simulation applications to connect direct real-time data feeds, which are used to capitalize on the industry-standard well data transmission protocol (WITSML).

This paper describes the continued & increasing impact of WITSML on the Drilling & Workover real time operations. The Wellsite Information Transfer Standard Markup Language (WITSML) is an Industry Standard that is used for transmitting GeoTechnical Data from the Wellsite to specialised databases. Saudi Aramco has been and remains to be the largest user of WITSML and is the Leader in the development of innovative techniques that improve Well Safety and Efficiency. Saudi Aramco Drilling & Exploration teams have commenced a project of Picking Shallow Casing Points Remotely from their corporate offices. From past experiences we found that sending wellsite geologists to rig sites to select these Casing Points has always required people which could be utilized for other frontline exploration jobs. Due to the remote locations Saudi Aramco are also eliminating the risks associated with these field trips. Saudi Aramco teams determined to utilize the real--time data transfer and pick those shallow Casing Points from the office. Across these shallow sections, loss circulation is more likely to happen which means rate of penetration (ROP) data is the only entity that we depend on in order to pick these shallow Casing Points. Based on this understanding, and based on the fact that we can easily get the ROP data of the pilot well and also having ROP data of the offset wells, we see the great benefit of starting such project. In this trial project, Drilling, GOC (Geosteering Operations Center) and exploration teams were able to pick the formation tops to set the shallow casing point remotely from a few fields. This critical requirement was achieved by using AramcoLink's Real--Time software that collects and transmits surface parameters data. This Paper will address the important operational aspects that were implemented and demonstrate how this innovative technique has led to improved employee safety and operational cost savings.

A suite of applications was developed to help real-time operation centers engineers and geoscientists to monitor drilling operations and improve the effectiveness of the decision making process. These robust applications automate monitoring of drilling and logging operations and provide various advance capabilities for engineers and geoscientists. Considering the recent immense increase in drilling operation in Saudi Arabia, a system with advanced capabilities of data quality control (QC), rescaling, filtering, alerting, and chatting is essentially needed to assist operation centers within Saudi Aramco to meet their targets.Furthermore, one of main applications that are used by Real-Time Operation Center is RTOC toolbox which consists of the following systems: workflow, critical well scheduling, alert & recommendations, cost avoidance and reporting. Aramcolink System is another major application that is used in real-time operation centers and it visualizes the real-time data stream coming from the rig-site. Aramcolink System consists of several modules that serve different user community and objectives. These modules are: geo-steering, drilling, remote casing control, and unconventional resources.In this paper, RTOC Tool Box system and Aramcolink system will be discussed in details including their impact on improving real-time operation center internal process automation and improving accuracy of well placement.