TX 75083-3836, U.S.A., fax 01-972-952-9435. AbstractThe unique challenges posed by deepwater wells of everincreasing complexity continue to force operators and service companies to explore new and innovative well delivery solutions. In early 2002, Shell Exploration and Production Americas took an important step towards well performance optimization with the initiation of a pilot study into real-time, remote monitoring of exploration and production wells in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM). Starting with a small-scale "war room" concept with limited scope, the pilot quickly grew into the current New Orleans-based "Real-Time Operations Center" (RTOC), which monitors all offshore wells in the GoM as well as major exploration wells globally. Main objectives of this multidisciplinary collaboration center are to enable more pro-active well planning and improve well execution by reducing non-productive time (NPT) and invisible lost time (ILT). The success of the RTOC, as well as that of other independent well visualization and monitoring pilots in the Shell Group, has meanwhile led to significant steps towards global expansion and coverage.In a follow-up to earlier papers 1,2 , we describe the current state-of-the-art in real-time operations monitoring technology deployment in the RTOC, and how it has evolved from the original pilot phase. We discuss the center's various activities, demonstrate how they add value and how this value is being measured. Key hurdles and success factors for implementation of an operations center are summarized. Moreover, the preliminary learnings from global deployment are shared.The information may serve as a blueprint for the planning, design and operation of a real-time operations center both locally, regionally and globally. The expansion of real time engineering and monitoring services across the globe is a challenging and pioneering undertaking. Consequently, we hope that this paper will help to lead the way in expanding this capability in the oil and gas industry in general. Historical EvolutionThe progression in utilization of operations center technology in Shell E&P Americas can be succinctly captured by the following three phases: to members of Shell's Operations Center CIN (

TX 75083-3836, U.S.A., fax 01-972-952-9435. AbstractThe unique challenges posed by deepwater wells of everincreasing complexity continue to force operators and service companies to explore new and innovative well delivery solutions. In early 2002, Shell Exploration and Production Americas took an important step towards well performance optimization with the initiation of a pilot study into real-time, remote monitoring of exploration and production wells in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM). Starting with a small-scale "war room" concept with limited scope, the pilot quickly grew into the current New Orleans-based "Real-Time Operations Center" (RTOC), which monitors all offshore wells in the GoM as well as major exploration wells globally. Main objectives of this multidisciplinary collaboration center are to enable more pro-active well planning and improve well execution by reducing non-productive time (NPT) and invisible lost time (ILT). The success of the RTOC, as well as that of other independent well visualization and monitoring pilots in the Shell Group, has meanwhile led to significant steps towards global expansion and coverage.In a follow-up to earlier papers 1,2 , we describe the current state-of-the-art in real-time operations monitoring technology deployment in the RTOC, and how it has evolved from the original pilot phase. We discuss the center's various activities, demonstrate how they add value and how this value is being measured. Key hurdles and success factors for implementation of an operations center are summarized. Moreover, the preliminary learnings from global deployment are shared.The information may serve as a blueprint for the planning, design and operation of a real-time operations center both locally, regionally and globally. The expansion of real time engineering and monitoring services across the globe is a challenging and pioneering undertaking. Consequently, we hope that this paper will help to lead the way in expanding this capability in the oil and gas industry in general. Historical EvolutionThe progression in utilization of operations center technology in Shell E&P Americas can be succinctly captured by the following three phases: to members of Shell's Operations Center CIN (

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