The development of WITSML started in 2000 with the objective of building an XML standard for the transmission of wellsite data in a consistent form that would enable the integration of information from different suppliers. Energistics (formerly POSC) was involved from the outset and has provided independent hosting of the standard since early 2003. BP and Statoil were early sponsors and a Special Interest Group was formed. This has evolved steadily and today it includes representatives from all major energy and service companies. Most energy companies have now either implemented WITSML technology for real-time and historical wellsite data transmission or are planning to do so in the near future. The number of WITSML compliant products is growing rapidly in response to this demand and increasingly WITSML is being specified as a contractual requirement, particularly at green field sites. The industry is approaching a position where the non-use of WITSML will be by exception. This paper has two main areas of focus. The first is the technical delivery of the new version 1.4.0 WITSML release and the second is the business justification for the continued energy company uptake which is based on successful use cases. The paper is co-authored by members of the WITSML SIG and therefore contains detailed information from end users and suppliers with considerable working experience. More than ever there are now compelling reasons to deploy WITSML. It is an enabler for data integration and smart tools and is the underlying technology behind many drilling collaboration centres. It is helping drilling operations globally to benefit from better access to engineering expertise at a time when the number of experts is declining and the complexity of operations is increasing. Introduction This paper describes the evolution of WITSML (Wellsite Information Transfer Standard Markup Language), from its origins in 2000 (Holt et al, SPE 74480, Kirkman et al, SPE 84066) to the latest release that will provide the underlying real-time data communications definition for many drilling and completions operations on a global basis. It addresses the key challenges to adoption by suppliers and end users and reviews the essential elements that must come together to deliver a convincing business case for adoption. The drilling and completions industry faces many challenges in today's operating climate. It is focussed on cost reduction, developing more challenging wells in increasingly difficult environments and coping with the loss of expertise through the progressive retirement of an ageing workforce. Most operators recognise that "business as usual" is not an acceptable strategy and are exploring new technolgies such as remote collaboration centres (Wahlen et al, SPE 78336; Sawaryn et al, SPE 99069; Edwards et al, SPE 100113), real-time data feeds coupled to intelligent tools (Pickering et al, SPE 110388, Lauche et al, SPE 99774) and more sophisticated interpretation of downhole information. For this technology to be deployed at scale and in an economic manner the implementation of an open standard is essential. This explains why there has been increasing momentum in the development and deployment of WITSML in the last 1–2 years.

BP is looking to implement a standard data architecture for real-time drilling & completions information. This will enable us to make wider use of our collaboration centres through a common approach and will allow us to leverage the developing WITSML standard more effectively in our operations. BP uses many different service organisations to deliver its global drilling & completions agenda. In the past, this has resulted in a lack of standardisation in real-time information flow. We have been unable to share data and expertise readily between different operating centres. Applying a common approach to information access on a global basis will enable us to streamline our operations and make wider use of emerging collaboration technologies. WITSML is now finding greater uptake in our industry and we are seeing new compliant intelligent software tools emerging from different vendors. These will undoubtedly enable us to drill and complete smarter but we need a standard information infrastructure to deploy them widely and consistently. It is these smart tools that will ultimately deliver real value to oil companies. The adoption of a standard D&C information architecture may seem an obvious step but there are very few oil companies that can claim to have delivered it. WITSML is the vehicle to allow this to happen and over the next few years it is likely that there will be much more emphasis on open connectivity between different vendors and services supporting the drilling & completions functions. 1. Introduction The rapid development of digital technology is touching all disciplines in the oil industry and is providing exciting new opportunities and capabilities in areas such as automation, remote monitoring, simulation and enhanced visualisation. In terms of capital employed in digital technology, there can be few functional areas that have the potential to deliver a higher return on investment than drilling and completions due to the sheer magnitude of today's operational costs. A saving of at least a few percent in non-productive time should be readily achievable for most oilfield operators and service companies with more effective use of real-time data to improve operational efficiency and the productivity of scarce, highly qualified discipline specialists. Data capture from drilling rigs has for a long time been the responsibility of the service contractors (typically the MWD/LWD contractors). Their task has been to monitor information real-time on the rig and increasingly at remote onshore data centres. The oil company has generally had the option to have a real-time WITSML feed from the service contractors' data centres and has been able to monitor offshore operations using a proprietary real-time viewer. Typically, at the end of the drilling and completions operation, the oil company is supplied with an archive of the real-time information on a portable media such as tape or CD-ROM. How effectively this information is then used varies widely across the industry. When this approach was first introduced, it was excellent as it represented a significant step forwards from paper logs and other manually gathered data. However, with the expansion of the digital world, the demand for information has grown significantly and a number of opportunities now exist to make better use of real-time information:-Remote operation and support at oil company collaboration centres.Smart algorithms to improve operational efficiency.A greater desire to capture lessons learned and to influence future operations.Integration of all data sources from the rig including MWD/LWD, weather, anchor, positional, etc.

The Tangguh Project in West Papua Province, Indonesia represents significant challenges in terms of drilling conditions, extreme remoteness, and social and environmental sensitivity. The Tangguh Drilling "Advanced Collaborative Environment" (ACE) was designed to enhance drilling performance and safety. Very positive results were achieved within the first months of the drilling operation. This paper describes the design approach, implementation and subsequent operational experience of the Tangguh Drilling ACE. A number of features of this ACE have since become exemplars for BP's drilling operations globally.The two-rig Tangguh development drilling campaign of 15 wells faced particularly difficult challenges with total losses, high vibration and the extreme remoteness of a location two timezones ahead of the office. To enhance drilling performance, an ACE was developed based on BP's global design principles covering people, process, technology, physical environment and organisation. The ACE connects each rigsite drilling team to the BP office in Jakarta and the onshore supply base. Real time drilling data in WITSML (Wellsite Information Transfer Standard Markup Language) format and high quality video conferencing were essential components to support the Wellsite Leader in the execution of the drilling plan.Tangguh drilling commenced in May 2007 with a successful 10 months of field operations. The Wells Manager attributed a significant part of this success to ACE and associated working practices. The drilling ACE made a significant contribution towards reducing the recovery period from major non-productive time incidents and has promoted better connectivity between rigsite and office. This has improved teamwork and the sharing of information. It is consistent with BP's goal for Field of the Future™, "Better Decisions Faster".Critical to the success of the ACE was engagement and ownership by the Wellsite Leaders and drilling operations management. Significant organisational and interface challenges were overcome, including applying vendor neutral data standards between different service companies. This was a first for Indonesia. A number of other firsts were achieved also:-• First BP drilling ACE designed specifically for performance enhancement.• First BP multi-rig drilling ACE.• First drilling ACE in BP using full time high quality video conferencing over satellite and wireless broadband.

BP has developed an internal Recommended Practice for the deployment of a standard data architecture for real-time drilling and completions information. This architecture uses WITSML communications as much as possible although data aggregation on the drilling rig can still employ WITS, OPC or even a proprietary language. Most deployments in BP are built on the latest Version 1.3.1 of WITSML. Early deployments in Indonesia revealed some inter-operability problems which had to be resolved quickly to eliminate operational delays. This experience highlighted the value of pre-deployment testing and subsequent deployments have all been staged in an independent test facility hosted for BP by SAIC in Aberdeen.The BP WITSML test laboratory has already staged drilling and completions data systems for BP businesses in Gulf of Mexico, UK North Sea and Oman prior to field deployments. In addition, the Business Units have also been keen for the laboratory to provide an operational support function post deployment. Testing has also been conducted in conjunction with main BP equipment suppliers to demonstrate compliance for future installations.Various problems have been identified during testing which will be described in the paper. The value of identifying these problems in a laboratory environment, rather than potentially exposing drilling operations to delays during equipment commissioning, is very considerable. The testing has been conducted with a very positive commitment from our suppliers which has resulted in significant learnings for all parties.BP, along with other major energy companies, sees WITSML as an important enabler for remote operations, collaboration environments and the deployment of new technologies to support its future drilling and completions operations. The WITSML laboratory testing has been a critical step in building confidence in the robustness of WITSML and demonstrating its performance capabilities.

Most of the existing drilling and completions engineering applications in use today were designed to compute snapshots at a single point in time for one user, rather than presenting the acceptable operating envelope and its associated constraints over time and supporting interaction of multi-disciplinary teams in collaborative environments. The massive increase in data now available from real time sensors can make identification of critical factors more difficult and can hinder, rather than enhance the decision making capability and response to alarm conditions. Currently, interaction between individual team members is cumbersome and it takes place outside the applications. Teams are increasingly multi-cultural, which places additional demands on the human-computer interface and cultural and linguistic preferences need to be considered, particularly where collaboration centres span international boundaries. The applications are also part of a growing portfolio, including office and knowledge management tools. Their usefulness and efficiency depends on successful integration. In turn, this depends critically on standards. The working practices emerging from the use of these environments means the earlier applications are no longer optimised for the circumstances in which they are to be used. The paper contains a discussion of these changes and the new functionality required of the applications using a popular model in industrial psychology. It draws on practices from other industries, observations in collaborative environments and other, earlier work within our own industry that appeared before their time. It is concluded that new applications are needed for this new era and that some may bear more resemblance to gaming software than raw calculating engines. It also concludes that a number of the constraints may be self-imposed, by our failure to keep pace with the rapid and continuing developments in information and communications technology and the business models developed for the virtual world. Introduction Observations of working practices and technologies may highlight factors that if addressed, would greatly enhance their effectiveness. In some cases early recognition of these factors may be critical to the project's success. In the 1980's efforts to implement collaboration centres were hampered by inadequate attention to human factors and immature technologies1. Now, variations of these centres are in common use in both operator and service company offices worldwide. Even if successful, it is normal for these limiting factors to change over time. As weaknesses or opportunities are identified and addressed, capabilities leap-frog each other leaving another aspect at the bottom of the pile and so the cycle continues. In some cases second generation centres have already been constructed, incorporating lessons learned from the first attempt2 and we see this cycle applies to drilling collaboration centres too. Observations over the last seven years in drilling collaboration centres in Norway and Aberdeen suggest the emphasis is now changing. Whilst human factors are still key3, in established centres greater attention is now being directed towards the technology and tools and how they are used.