Smart Agent is a web-based solution for establishing bidirectional communication between an infusion pump and an electronic health record (EHR). It eliminates the need for clinician double check of medication administration using an infusion pump. Because the clinician already is using the EHR to review patient health information and update status, the addition of the web service would help eliminate the potential for human error when using a manual system. The Smart Agent process encompasses the reading of pertinent patient data from the EHR, determination of a new medication dosage based on an internal protocol, input of the dosage into an infusion pump, confirmation of the medication dosage acceptance at the infusion pump, and recording the medication change back into the EHR. The widespread use of Smart Agent–type algorithms with bidirectional communication capabilities would result in safer, more efficient provision of care, as well as better value.

This paper describes the benefits and lessons learned from drilling 44 deep gas reservoir sections with sodium and potassium formate brine drilling fluids in Saudi Arabia's prolific Ghawar field from 2004 through 2008.Initially in Saudi Aramco, the formate brine drilling fluids were used primarily to prevent formation damage across the pre-Khuff sandstone reservoirs. As formate use burgeoned, their ancillary benefits such as stuck pipe mitigation, better bit performance, better than expected reservoir performance, lower pump pressures, torque and drag, solids content and enhanced temperature stability; use as a completion fluid and recyclability became evident.The fluids have been used in a variety of reservoir drill-in fluid applications in the pre-Khuff, Jauf and Unayzah sandstones with bottom hole temperatures (BHT) up to 323°F. The formates have also been used by Saudi Aramco in the Khuff carbonates for single and dual lateral horizontal wells where the drilling fluid overbalance to formation pressure sometimes exceeds 1,400 psi.In addition to the return permeability testing conducted prior to actually drilling the first wells with formates, the fluids nondamaging properties were proved up in the case of the Tinat-A well, a Unayzah-A re-entry/horizontal sidetrack, that had to be shut in for three years, due to a mechanical obstruction in the completion, with a 90 pounds per cubic foot (pcf) sodium/potassium formate completion fluid left in the hole as kill fluid. After removing the obstruction via a snubbing unit workover the well initially tested at 30 mmscfd with 4,320 psig FWHP, which was much higher than estimated.In a JFYN Unayzah B/C well, JFYN-A, only 1,214 ft of 5-7/8" hole was cut across the reservoir using a recycled 92 pcf potassium formate and the well flowed back at 45 mmscfd with 358 bopd oil on a 44/64" choke, which was also much higher than expected.Laboratory return permeability to gas test with Khuff-C cores showed 91% return permeability after flowing through the cores with potassium formate drilling fluid with 2% commercial lubricant as compared to 40% return permeability for the KCl Polymer drilling fluids of the same density normally used across the Khuff-C.The formates have also been used in combination with fine, medium and coarse calcium carbonate functioning as a bridging agent to drill in extreme overbalance situations across the Khuff-C reservoirs. The best example of this practice is UTMN-J, a Khuff-B re-entry sidetrack, where an 81 pcf sodium formate brine served as the base drilling fluid to drill and complete the 3675 ft horizontal section. The well was flowed back at a rate of 35 mmscfd without enzyme treatment or acid stimulation.

Technology improvements are continuing to expand the capability of coiled tubing directional drilling (CTDD) worldwide. Increased CTDD activity in advanced underbalanced re-entry applications that require precise wellbore (multilateral) placement and real-time monitoring of downhole parameters has led to the development of bottom-hole drilling assemblies (BHAs) with enhanced functionality. Saudi Aramco identified CTDD as an important technology for redeveloping its gas reserves and is dedicated to expanding the technical limit of CTDD application. Saudi Aramco successfully completed its first underbalanced re-entry coiled tubing drilling (UBCTD) pilot project and is now progressing to consolidate this technology in subsequent UBCTD operations. A great impetus has now been placed on further improving UBCTD project economics through improved operational efficiency and the introduction of new underbalanced coiled tubing drilling techniques and services. This paper provides an overview of the new Rib Steered Motor (RSM) technology and its potential benefits to UBCTD. It details recent worldwide deployments of the rib steering motor technology focusing on operations in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia which provide the perfect testing ground when geosteering with RSM. Future advances using UBCTD geosteering technology rely on a close working relationship between the field operator and the service company. Successful application of UBCTD applys to a wide range of mature oil and gas fields for enhancing access to the producing reservoir to drive the economic extraction of additional reserves.

Drilling through total loss zones without returns at surface is a common practice for Operating Companies in the Middle East. This is known as the Mud Cap/Blind Drilling technique and it has been used for a long time in the region. The lessons learned throughout these years have produced well established procedures and "rules of thumb" for estimating mud density, volume and pumping schedule of the mud cap for different situations. The application of this Mud Cap/Blind Drilling technique becomes more challenging when drilling through oil reservoirs with a high H2S content and combining zones with pressure regimes significantly different in the same hole section. This situation is often the case for some well designs commonly used to re-enter oil producer wells in Saudi Arabia. Under these circumstances, the main well control strategy is to maintain enough of a mud cap to prevent any migration of the hazardous gases and/or liquid hydrocarbons to the surface. This approach often results in a conservative design of mud cap densities and volumes, which in turn generates huge expenditures in mud material and puts tremendous stress on logistics and transportation. The Pressurized Mud Cap technique offers a safe alternative to Blind Drilling. This technique uses regular Managed Pressure Drilling (MPD) equipment to monitor the behavior of the reservoir at all times, improving the safety of the operation, by having accurate well control and realizing substantial cost savings, by optimizing the usage of drilling fluid materials and other resources associated with the mixing and pumping of the mud cap. This paper describes the successful implementation of this technique for re-entering oil wells in an onshore field in Saudi Arabia. The paper also provides details for the equipment and procedures utilized to maintain a full column of fluid under pressure, by keeping the MPD choke fully closed while drilling without any returns at the surface. The results, when compared with the conventional Mud Cap/Blind Drilling Technique, show significant improvements in safety (well control), cost efficiency and logistics.

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