Industry Analogies for Successful Implementation of Drilling Systems Automation and Real Time Operating Centers

Wardt, de; John, P

doi:10.2118/163412-ms

Cited by 6 publications

References 19 publications

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Drilling-Systems Automation: Current State, Initiatives, and Potential Impact

Macpherson

Wardt²,

Florence

et al. 2013

SPE Drilling &Amp; Completion

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Drilling automation is the control of the drilling process by automatic means, ultimately reducing human intervention to a minimum. The concept of automating the drilling process has generated considerable interest, yet there is a lack of agreement on exactly what it is, what it entails, and how to implement it. As with industrial automation in the 1990s, the adoption of open standards enabling automation will have a significant impact on the underlying business model. In the oilfield-drilling industry, the business model describes the relationship between operator, drilling contractor, service company, and equipment supplier.The goal of drilling-systems automation is to increase productivity and quality, improve personnel safety, and effectively manage risk. Principal drivers of drilling automation include well complexity, data overload, efficiency, repetitive well manufacturing, access to limited expert resources, knowledge transfer as a result of the exodus of skilled employees, and health, safety, and environmental concerns. With so many drivers, and their potential economic benefits, it is understandable that there are many automation-related initiatives within the industry.Drilling through geopressured, possibly erratic, lithologies to a remote and possibly poorly defined target in a safe manner is not a simple task to automate. It is challenging. Drilling automation focuses on the drilling system and drilling operations, which entail combining various subsystems, including the downhole bottomhole assembly (BHA) and its measurement and active components, the drillstring, fluid, and drilling rig and its subassemblies. Operations include conventional overbalanced-, managed-pressure-, and underbalanced-drilling operations, and their various procedures, such as tripping and making connections. This paper examines and defines drilling-systems automation, its drivers, enablers and barriers, and its current state and goals. In particular, the paper looks at the vision of drilling-systems automation, and the role played by open, collaborative initiatives among all segments of the drilling industry. Although commitment to automation by the drilling industry appears by many to lag behind the level of commitment in other major industries, there are segments of the drilling industry that have reached a high level of automation on a commercial basis. There is also significant collaboration among interested parties in creating a standardized, open environment for data flow to foster the development of systems automation.

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Drilling-Systems Automation: Current State, Initiatives, and Potential Impact

Macpherson

Wardt²,

Florence

et al. 2013

SPE Drilling &Amp; Completion

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Real-Time Operations Support for Geographically Dispersed Operations

Kucs

Lehnert

Thorogood

et al. 2016

SPE Drilling &Amp; Completion

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Summary This paper addresses the problem faced by an operator working on a much smaller scale needing to provide a few geographically dispersed rigs with the benefits of real-time support technologies through high-quality communications and a clearly defined work flow involving collaborative working between the rig, operations office, and the head office in Europe. We describe how the real-time systems were implemented for a number of global drilling operations without installing a real-time operation center. A case study of implementation in one area is presented. This approach enabled the decision makers in the field to access the experience of and support from the rest of the organization. The global real-time collaboration environment allowed the specialists to direct their attention, as required, to operations most in need of support at any particular time. By not installing a real-time operations center, the organization saved resources and encouraged the local teams to use the analysis tools themselves to manage their operational performance. The head-office organization provided technical and administrative support. It facilitated the design of the work flows and set common standards for the information-technology and communications architecture. The work flows were essential to create a structure for using the software tools within a local drilling team and to make sure that problems were detected as early as possible. The work flows aimed to strike a balance between not allowing early-warning signals to be overlooked while giving the operations team the freedom to responsibly manage the operation on the rig. Through the way that the system and the work flows were used on a daily basis, the rig personnel gained confidence that the system was set up purely to support them and for their benefit. The design and the implementation of these work flows used state of the art real-time drilling-data analysis and drilling-support tools. The setup of the infrastructure and software worked surprisingly well because of permanent communication between all stakeholders in the organization. The fully operational status was reached without the need for any capital expenditure, and the operating costs are low because of nearly no additional personnel requirements for the operator. The organizational changes to increase collaboration and support in the dispersed organization are harder to implement. Especially the development of an up-to-date skill map of the drilling-skill pool is a challenge. The methodology defining how and when to escalate a support request upward in the operator's organization was proved to work satisfactorily. When operational problems were encountered, by acting as a knowledge broker, the central organization drew from its worldwide skill pool to organize problem-specific multidisciplinary support for problem-solving, peer review, and functional sign-off for program changes. These “on-call” teams ensured that the knowledge of the organization was leveraged and experience shared. It enabled the head-office organization to provide resources to assist in following up that the analysis of positive and negative events will be performed properly and result in lessons learned and updated best practice.

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