Remote Casing Control (RCC) is an initiative of the Wellsite Geology Division with the support of Aramcolink. The aim of the RCC team is to provide 24/7 geological support about casing points remotely. Real-time data transmission and the advanced correlation tool are the basic requirements to achieve the end objective of picking the formation tops and casing points remotely. This paper describes the case study that illustrates the great impact of utilization of real-time data transmission and advanced real-time tools to pick casing points and formation tops remotely. The RCC team monitors the active well operation remotely with the help of real-time data streamed by Aramcolink. Moreover, Aramcolink has developed a logic/algorithm to calculate Drill Time from the streamed realtime data. Additionally, the mud logging unit can upload and share the lithology data RCC through the Aramcolink portal. This real-time data is being displayed/exported and downloaded from the Aramcolink viewer. Later it is being used to correlate with some offset wells of the same or a nearby field. Based on the similar signatures of Drill Time and lithology data, formation top and casing points are being picked/ designed. Other than shallow casing points, the RCC team is also picking the 7" liner point remotely with the aid of a mud logging unit to provide them with the lithology and gas readings where the deeper section ROP is not enough to decide and pick the formation tops or casing points. The RCC team also uses RigChat to effectively communicate with rig personnel and keep involved parties informed. This technique decreases the operational cost and avoids the mobilization of a dedicated wellsite geologist on each rig. Ease to manage multiple wells at the same time from office location Effective surveillance and monitoring of the drilling operation Timely and collaborative decisions to save the rig time Effective communication with all involved parties Reduced travel and physical exposure which may cause HSE concerns Minimized logistical cost Record of the historical data for quick quality control (QC) Fast and flexible data interpretation with remote expert support Real-data accessible for surveillance at anytime, anywhere with Extranet Hence, saving time and costs, improving safety, boosting business and return on investment The reliance on high quality real-time data from oil and gas operations has been significantly increased in the past few years. High rate real-time data is the baseline for critical remote analyses and decisions that can lead to a maximized oil/gas recovery, increasing the revenue, reducing the operational cost while minimizing the HSE concerns.

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.

The Wellsite Information Transfer Standard Markup Language (WITSML) is a global open standard for the exchange of geotechnical data in the upstream oil and gas industry.Saudi Aramco has embarked upon a project to implement the transfer and storage of all wellsite real-time data using the latest released WITSML specification. This project is called the Real-Time Data Transmission and Viewer Service (RTDTVS). Through this project the data from all rigs will be captured and transmitted back to the Drilling Real-Time Data Hub (DRTDH), which runs on an Oracle platform with triple redundancy.Drilling sensor data has not in the past been transmitted back for monitoring purposes; instead, Saudi Aramco has previously left the drilling contractor to manage the drilling process. On exploration wells a mud logging contractor is often used, and real-time data has been available to the different asset teams; but on development wells, a mud logging contractor is not used, making the need to capture the drilling sensor data vital not only for safety monitoring, but also for the optimization of the drilling process to reduce well drilling costs.To make accurate calculations of drilling performance indexes it is necessary to have access to some information that is typically not transmitted as part of a real-time data stream, but is available instead through daily reporting and other mechanisms. This paper discusses how the use of the WITSML Open Standard has enabled drilling sensor data stored in the DRTDH to be integrated with report data available through the Saudi Aramco Drilling Knowledge Database (SADK) to provide more efficient and safer drilling practices. IntroductionWITSML is a continually developing open standard for the transmission of real-time, historical and contextual drilling and completions information.

In recent years, the potential value of real-time drilling data has been well documented and applied across the globe within the Oil & Gas Industry. The information is traditionally used for timely and effective decision-making for drilling operations. Real-Time work processes has helped the industry by saving millions of dollars and mitigating the occurrence of critical hole problems. Drilling departments capitalize on the benefits of real-time data even in the planning stages of a well in order to prepare detailed drilling programs based on the history of any nearby wells. The easy access of real-time active and historical data assists the avoidance of incidents based on the witnessed reaction of the formation during the drilling process.In order to do more with the data obtained, further analysis is required on the surface data to calculate the witnessed performance for certain activities on the rig site. The first step is to analyze surface data to prepare an operational recognition system. To automatically recognize drilling activities, an algorithm was developed that uses therealtime surface parameters data to calculate the current operation state, this is based on a 2-level activity classification hierarchy. The second step is then to use the results of the operational recognition system to determine key performance indictors based on the witnessed operations. It is therefore key that both calculated methods are as accurate as possible.This paper will describe the business justification and the process formulated to generate meaningful KPI's for Saudi Aramco to allow for benchmarking and the sharing of best practices.

One of the critical operations during the exploration phase is well testing required determining fluid type, flow rate, and the sustainability of the production. With the right planning, technology and implementation, well testing can ensure reservoir quality and production such as, permeability, initial reservoir pressure, hydraulic fracture parameters, near wellbore formation damage, geometry of the reservoir, and reserve quantities. Exploration Well Testing Operations require a complex integration of various services including surface well testing, artificial lift via coiled tubing, downhole data transmission and on-site operational activities. The increase in exploration activities involves various service companies’ proprietary data acquisition systems that introduce a challenge for decision makers due to segmented data and information. This calls for establishing an integrated unified viewer combining the operational data for engineers to enable real-time data supervision, technical support and decision making from the headquarters to well-site locations reducing operational risks and optimize required cost. This paper highlights the progress of the real time data transmission interface to support highly active exploration well testing operations in Saudi Aramco.