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 failure of the Raptor rig to drill its first-ever well offers a short history of the challenges that came with creating the first automated drilling rig. -
Drilling automation is not “there” yet, but it no longer seems like a pipe dream.
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This paper describes how severe rig limitations were overcome through an optimization plan in which an optimal bottomhole assembly was designed and drilling practices were customized.
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This paper presents a methodology that aims to allows the anticipation of problems such as mechanically stuck pipe or lockup situations when running casing or completion strings in hole.
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The 2021–2022 Drillbotics competition will require the contestants to integrate human factors engineering considerations into their automated drilling rigs for the first time.
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Intellilift and Transocean are working together on a software solution to expedite the well construction process.
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The buzz about the future of automated drilling and it becoming reality depends on improvements in downhole data gathering now. Halliburton is working on it.
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ExxonMobil has drilled a horizontal well with a rig billed by Nabors as the first fully automated land rig. The big question now is whether ExxonMobil will come back for more after this three-well test.
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“What is the drilling state” has become an important question among data scientists and automation experts. The simplest definition of a complicated concept is that it is what the driller is doing at the time.
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Can a camera on the drill floor, or one on a mobile phone, measure what is going on during drilling or evaluate drill-bit wear more consistently than a human?
