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| Current level of Drilling Automation |
This week I am going to attempt to provide some answers to
the question of “Why we aren’t further along with implementing Drilling
Automation?”.
The thing that got me started thinking about this topic was
an article in the Journal of Petroleum Technology discussing data accuracy, mainly a paper recently presented at the IADC/SPE
Drilling Conference. The topic of that paper was An Algorithm to Automatically Zero Weight on Bit and DifferentialPressure and Resulting Improvements in Data Quality.
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| Abstract: SPE189636-MS |
The paper details a study by Pason, a company
that collects, analyzes, and distributes real time and historical drilling data
from rigs in North America. They conducted a study on the accuracy of Weight On
Bit measurements and determined that the majority of the WOB data was incorrect
due to drillers not properly zeroing the WOB indicator. They proceeded to
develop an automated algorithm that zeroed the WOB and another key measurement,
differential pressure. This improved the accuracy of the data collected
immensely.
The thing in the JPT article that caught my eye was the
question, paraphrased here, “What is keeping the industry, as a whole, from
collecting more accurate data?” The main answer seems to be that collecting more
accurate data is not free. Due to needing to utilize more accurate sensors and
having, at minimum, personnel regularly recalibrate those sensors, to
developing better sensors and systems, it all costs more money than the current
standard provided.
This is a parallel to what we are seeing as a hindrance to
progressing with Drilling Automation. Operators want the lowest price they can
get to drill their wells, service & equipment providers want the highest price
they can get for their equipment, products, & services, and in most cases,
what you wind up getting is low-cost provider solution (read minimum quality
for cheapest price).
In recent history, most operators have not wanted to help develop
new technology and/or practices. While you do see companies like Statoil, Royal
Dutch Shell, Apache, and others investing in drilling automation projects and sometimes
partnering with service providers to do this, the majority do not.
I think part of the reason why we are not seeing large scale
advancements with Drilling Automation is that there is not one entity in
control of the entire operation. Factory automation is far easier for at least
two reasons: Factories are usually controlled by a single entity and the tasks
that are automated are simple, repeatable steps.
Drilling a well is not the same as operating a robotic
factory. You can automate a lot of things that are repetitive and can be
accomplished by robots. Drilling a well is not the case. There are exponentially
more variables involved with drilling a well than welding pieces of a car
together. Due to that expansive number of variables, changes in each multiply
the contingencies and potential responses needed. To sum it up, it is not an
easy task to accomplish. Not impossible, mind you, just not easy.
A lot of wells involve a minimum of three or four different
companies working to drill the well. All with different goals and business models.
That adds to the complexity. This can be somewhat caveated by Red or Blue rig
models where a single service company provides most or all of the various
services to the operator on the rig, OR the independent Operator model where
they hire their own consultants and utilize third-party suppliers for equipment
& products.
So, because of all this complexity, in addition to
variations in the market (read: Current, hopefully over, crash in the
industry), it makes it hard to make progress with drilling automation.
BUT, there are changes afoot! Industry conferences are
starting to highlight Drilling Automation. More companies are becoming involved
in the space. With the progress being seen in artificial intelligence, things
that someone had to “feel” or “intuit” may soon be reduced to a routine validated
by a computer algorithm.
We are starting to see progress. Interest from multiple players,
large and small. Companies transferring their expertise from wetware to
hardware and software. The singularity for Drilling Automation is not tomorrow.
We may never get to a totally automated drilling process with no human
involvement, but if we can get 95% there, that will be a huge reduction in cost and increase in efficiency!
And, as always, let me know what you think in the comments.
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