What Happens to Directional Drillers When Computers are Directing Drillers?

Abstract

Behind every driller drilling a horizontal well is a directional driller. And increasingly, there is a screen in front of the driller showing what to do next. “It is like a navigation system for drilling,” said Ginger Hildebrand, operational efficiency manager for North America land drilling at Schlumberger. Based on surface and downhole data, it delivers “step-by-step directions, shows you where you are and how well you are performing.” In other words, the directional drilling advisory software (directional advisor) is designed to do what a directional driller does for a living. The goal of algorithm-driven decision making is to “industrialize directional drilling operations.” That means more consistent, efficient drilling, as measured by the time it takes, the ability to consistently deliver complex well designs, the quality of the borehole, and facilitating decisions that determine the long-term value of the well. That quote came from a recent paper, Transitioning the Directional Driller Off the Rig (SPE/IADC 184682). It told how Precision Drilling managed to reduce, or eliminate, directional drillers on rigs by using a computerized drilling advisory system developed by Schlumberger and Pason Systems, which developed and runs the data network. Reliable communications are critical for new systems that connect teams of people, some-times with directional drillers remotely monitoring the work. Schlumberger and Pason have a sys-tem on the market as does Motive Drilling Technologies, a pioneer in the field that was recently bought by Helmerich & Payne. Tesco, which makes drilling tools, is developing an advisor as part of its Automated Rig Control system, and a startup, xnDrilling, is trialing one that uses drill path location information from Hawkeye Directional software. The addition of a directional advisor on a drilling rig raises an unanswered question about what directional drillers will do. One possibility is working at a console in a remote center tracking a handful of drilling projects in progress using directional advisors. The idea of removing a key member of the rig team, though, has run into opposition.