Drilling automation
This edition highlights three offshore technology papers that address a common industry theme: how targeted engineering solutions can reduce uncertainty, shorten operations, and make technically constrained offshore well activities more executable.
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With operators under pressure to deliver more energy with fewer resources, predictable drilling performance is more important than ever. Discover how a unified digital workflow can turn drilling data into better decisions and consistent execution—providing the foundation for autonomous drilling and more predictable, profitable, and productive wells at scale.
Current classifications often do not capture the complexity of autonomy in drilling systems. By integrating concepts from aerospace, control theory, and other high-risk industries, this study presents a quantitative framework for systematically assessing and comparing levels of drilling autonomy.
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The service companies plan to co-market an emerging well control system that can integrate with established managed-pressure-drilling components to enhance well construction safety and efficiency. -
Brazil’s national oil company details the results of 6 years of real-time drilling monitoring. The next step is to move toward optimization, then automation.
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An intelligent drilling optimization application performs as an adaptive autodriller. In the Marcellus Shale, ROP improved 61% and 39% and drilling performance, measured as hours on bottom, improved 25%.
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A real-time deep-learning model is proposed to classify the volume of cuttings from a shale shaker on an offshore drilling rig by analyzing the real-time monitoring video stream.
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The best way to know how drilling affects drill bits is to visualize the bits. A device that creates high-resolution images for precise measurements is one of three technologies being featured in a JPT series on drilling measurement innovations.
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A group of people who really care how drillers code the memos added to the daily drilling report is the data scientists—who find that the coded tags do not match the activity. A program that helps drillers code is one of three technologies featured in a JPT series on drilling measurement innovation.
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ExxonMobil’s rig automation experiment is accelerating, with plans to push the number of rigs in the system from three to nine. Drilling efficiency was improved by use of an automated pipe-handling system, which reduced the median time required for connection at one location by 20%.
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Engineering career tip of the day: If you are using Microsoft Excel at work, don’t leave it open on your computer when your boss is nearby.
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Drilling rig automation is increasing as the industry realizes its benefits. What about downhole automation of the drilling process, specifically directional drilling? What problems might it solve and what opportunities might it create? The opportunity is huge, if only we look in the right place.
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Hess is testing whether it can drive drilling improvement by combining drilling rigs equipped with automated functions and humans determined to find a way to beat the programmed drilling.
