Technology Focus: Drilling Automation and Innovation (February 2023)

Abstract

With the arrival of the digital age, solutions in big data, automation, and artificial intelligence are rapidly opening the door to a deeper and more-comprehensive understanding of drilling operations around the world. The exponential growth in data acquisition, modeling, and prediction capabilities allows multiple drilling teams to identify hidden patterns and correlations to deal with the most-complicated challenges in well construction. In related SPE papers, it was interesting to read about promising initiatives undertaken by operators, service companies, and academia, not only to recognize details on past drilling events but also to accurately simulate, anticipate, and automate complex situations. Topics such as machine learning for improved decision-making, equipment-failure prediction, well placement lookahead, and autonomous operations have attracted great interest from the industry. Therefore, demand for a skilled workforce in digital technologies will continue to grow in drilling-related disciplines and new information and technology work flows will be incorporated into the well life cycle. As the active rig count continues to increase, safety must remain top priority for drilling operations. Advances in digital technologies and automation contribute to this objective while keeping a focus on cost management, operational consistency, and carbon-footprint reduction. Ongoing actions will also help to accelerate the development of geothermal energy as part of the future mix of renewables. The selected papers highlight some interesting contributions to drive innovation and promote efficient use of processes and technologies. Recommended additional reading at OnePetro: www.onepetro.org. SPE 205899 Measurements During Drilling Through an Innovative Microchip Technology To Determine Accurate Wellbore Properties for Efficient Drilling Operations by Zuyang Zhu, Sinopec, et al. SPE 211791 A Novel Real-Time Well-Collision Avoidance Monitoring by Definitive Dynamic Surveys and Passive Magnetic Ranging by Mahmoud ElGizawy, SLB, et al. SPE 210306 Drilling Heat Maps for Active Temperature Management in Geothermal Wells by Mohamed Shafik Khaled, The University of Texas at Austin, et al.