American Oil and Gas Reporter - April 2015 - 130

SpecialReport: Performance Drilling

Automation Improving Rig Capabilities
By David Metzger

WEST CHESTER, PA.-In light of
today's oil price environment, drilling
contractors across the country are adapting
new technologies in pursuit of cost efficiency. Now, more than ever, operators
are looking for advances in automation
and remote-presence technologies that
will allow them to minimize costs and
reduce cycle times in order to get the
most out of each well as quickly and
safely as possible.
Efficient and productive drilling depends on managing complexities-from
multifaceted geology and downhole heat
and temperature variables, to topside well
spacing and leading-edge oil field technologies. The most sought after rigs allow
operators to manage the rapidly expanding
quantity of drilling subsystems and ancillary equipment connected to them.
They also provide real-time operational
data to optimize process variables and
efficiencies, limit nonproductive time,
enhance decision making while drilling,
and ultimately, land a higher-quality borehole at planned depth on budget.
In fact, the best-in-class drilling rigs
available in U.S. unconventional oil and
gas plays operate using a fully digital
backbone that provides operational site
data remotely, simplifies processes, and
provides well site data integration where
it is needed without redundant sensors,
controls or operating systems.

In an unforgiving environment where
mistakes can be costly, equipment makers
must aim to make their systems reliable
and intuitive, while they reduce the operator's workload. Technologies that add to
operator workload run the risk of lowering
efficiency and safety performance. The
goal is to realize a level of automation that
supports operators' decision-making
processes.

Simplify Through Automation
Since the beginning of the U.S. shale
boom, companies throughout the industry
have developed various drilling technologies and techniques to increase resource
recovery. The development of pad drilling,
which has been largely responsible for
record-breaking production, arguably is
one of the greatest advances in recent
memory.
The advantages of multiwell pad
drilling include the ability to perform
batch drilling as well as simultaneous
drilling and completion operations; minimized environmental, health and safety
risks; and reduced mobilization and demobilization requirements.
The newest generation of walking and
sliding rigs can move unassisted around
a multiwell pad to each new location,
and no longer require the traditional twoaxis, rail-mounted system. Rigs can selferect, eliminating the need for cranes and
other large, costly pieces of equipment.
The combination of pad drilling and high-

The new generation of walking and sliding rigs can move unassisted around a multiwell
pad to each new location. Drilling rigs can self-erect, eliminating the need for cranes and
other costly pieces of equipment.

130 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER

mobility rigs purpose-engineered for horizontal pad operations has enabled operators to slash several days of drilling
time per well and to substantially reduce
well construction costs in unconventional
resource plays.
However, there are other innovations
that have the potential to have an equal
effect on optimizing drilling performance
and efficiency, although they may not be
as readily visible. For example, advances
in automation allow companies not only
to drill wells faster, but to also improve
operational safety.
Automated and robotic pipe handling
systems are the area that has seen the most
innovation for the better. Modern pipe
handling would be unrecognizable only a
generation ago. Properly designed automation and mechanization systems remove
some of the potential for human error,
making operations safer and more cost effective, and increase product life span.
Drilling automation serves a greater
purpose than simply providing a different
method for rig operation. Its greatest advantage is utilizing operational data that
can be interchanged freely with other drill
site equipment to drive step-change improvements across the entire drilling process.
Enabling equipment to work together productively benefits all aspects of wellbore
construction, allows for tighter and more
functional integration of all the component
technologies in a drilling system, and dramatically enhances analytical and diagnostic
capabilities if a problem does arise.

Diagnostic Systems
Today's drilling site contains a plethora
of systems running the gamut of complexity. A failure in any one of these
component parts can shut down the entire
system. With so many systems operating,
failures will happen. The goal is to limit
the impact of a part failure on productivity.
Rapidly diagnosing the failed component
is critical to resuming operations.
Before the advent of the sophisticated
diagnostic systems available today, technicians were required to travel to the
drill site to begin manually checking
equipment, systems and parts when problems arose. The different operating parameters, maintenance, and troubleshooting procedures for each subsystem could
make each event very complex. Compounding the issue are the multiple vendors

American Oil and Gas Reporter - April 2015

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Oil and Gas Reporter - April 2015