The Ultimate Breakthrough for Drilling Automation May Be Simply Finding a Business Case

Abstract

The biggest meeting of the year dedicated solely to the topic of drilling automation revealed that the ultimate barrier facing this emerging development is not the technology. It’s how the business of drilling is done. This is according to many of the technical professionals that participated in a recent symposium held jointly by SPE’s Drilling Systems Automation Technical Section (DSATS) and the IADC’s Advanced Rig Technology Committee. The annual event held in conjunction with the IADC/SPE International Drilling Conference and Exhibition departed from its usual format of speakers issuing well-rehearsed presentations. Instead, it took on the form of a multipronged focus group that saw dozens of participants hailing from operators, drilling contractors, and service companies who huddled into the four corners of a conference ballroom in Galveston, Texas. Their chief objective was to help update the DSATS’s “roadmap” that identifies which technological breakthroughs are needed to bring about a true step change in drilling automation by 2025. But as that year draws near, the odds of reaching most of the key milestones are dimming, and so, the symposium leaders decided to instead look toward what should be achieved by 2030. What DSATS wants to see become possible in the coming years is a rig in which “well plans are uploaded into an interoperable drilling system that automatically delivers a quality wellbore into the best geological location.” Though we have seen pieces of drilling automation come together in recent years—among others, this includes automated rig floors and automated rotary steerable systems (RSS)—we have not seen a truly automated rig as outlined above. And few of those attending the meeting expressed optimism that such a development is within reach. “We are not trending toward hitting this vision in 2025,” said Esben Thorup, who was speaking from the perspective of an offshore drilling contractor. “We see pilot projects heading in the right direction, but wide adoption of automation is not happening.” Thorup is the head of digital innovation with Maersk Drilling (and soon to be Noble Corp. upon the impending finalization of a $3.4 billion merger announced in November 2021). He was one of several panelists tapped to lead the four focus groups and offer back to the entire gathering some key points raised during those discussions. For Thorup, the biggest thorn in the side of drilling automation is the business case, or lack thereof. “We would absolutely love to put automation systems on all of our rigs,” he said while noting that some automated components have been deployed on Maersk’s rigs. “But we are not necessarily being rewarded often.” Dan Hoffarth, CEO of onshore contractor Citadel Drilling, led another group and seemed to echo his offshore counterpart in asking the big question of the day: “Does our business model work as individual companies?”