Factors Affecting Implementation of Global Remote Operations

Abstract

This paper was pr epar ed for pr es entation at the S PE Intelligent E ner gy Confer ence and Ex hibiti on held in Utr ec ht, T he Netherl ands , 1-3 A pril 2014.This paper was s el ected for pr es entati on by an S PE pr ogr am commi ttee followi ng review of i nfor mati on c ontained in an abstr ac t s ubmi tted by the author(s). Contents of the paper hav e not been revi ewed by the S oci ety of Petr oleum E ngi neers and ar e s ubj ect to c orr ec tion by the author(s) . T he material does not necessarily reflec t any positi on of the S oci ety of Petr oleum E ngi neers, its officers , or members . El ectr onic r eproduc tion, dis tributi on, or st or age of any part of this paper without the written c ons ent of the S oci ety of P etr ol eum E ngineers is pr ohibi ted. P er mis sion t o repr oduc e in pri nt is r estric ted to an abstr ac t of not mor e than 300 wor ds ; illustrations may not be copi ed. T he abstr act mus t c ontain c onspic uous ack nowledgment of SPE c opyright. AbstractRemote operations are fully available today with the current technology for data storage and distribution. There are multiple industry examples of operations performed remotely, without adopting new standard workflows on a global scale.This paper examines elements that have been developed for remote operations, from the rigsite data aggregation and distribution through the real-time analysis and feedback into operations. Two main topics are covered: current functional remote operational processes, such as reservoir navigation (geosteering) and drilling optimization. Secondly are areas where change to remote operation is possible through current technology, but is not implemented.There are many reasons for not implementing complete remote operations, and often depend on geography and company strategy. Areas (described in the paper) where there is reluctance to change are divided into the following categories:-Oil field culture -Company strategy -Understanding and trust in technology -The human factor; reluctance to change -Collaboration and change in work processes between companies -Financial aspect; initial investment and return on capital -Legal aspect; data security and accessibility to experts on a global basis The paper examines each element's ability to increase the speed of implementing into the digital oil field, followed by suggestions and possibilities in overcoming each one of them.The paper evaluates oil field areas where remote operations are successfully implemented with parallels to areas where the implementation is not in place, focusing on solutions for further development of the digital oil field from current successes.Ideas are proposed for developing and increasing the use of remote operations.