Evolution of Real-Time Operations Monitoring: From Concept to Global 
Implementation

Oort, Eric van; Rosso, Ricardo; Cabello-Montero, Jesus

doi:10.2523/97059-ms

Cited by 10 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…Clearly, the emphasis of the overall performance improvement effort needs to be on the former NPT events, not on ROP improvement (although a more compelling case can be made for it in deeper sediments). As has been shown (Ursem 2003, van Oort, 2005, GOM deepwater operations benefit greatly from 24/7 monitoring and real-time interactions by an RTOC with the rig team to prevent NPT events, presenting a compelling case for its use. By comparison, NPT times and costs for onshore well delivery in North America have historically been modest (typically less than 10% of overall well delivery time and cost), and the opportunity for improvement here lies with cutting down ILT / flat times and improving ROP / on-bottom drilling time.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…ARAD (van Oort 2008, Andersen 2009) algorithms take data from surface sensors (pumps on/off, rotation on/off, block movement yes/no, etc.) and process it to provide a quantified historical log of the rig activity and the associated efficiency of the operations, which can be compared on a well-by-well, rig-by-rig, crew-by-crew, even individual driller-by-driller basis.…”

Section: Performance Improvement Examplesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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How to Accelerate Drilling Learning Curves

Oort

Griffith

Schneider

2011

SPE/IADC Drilling Conference and Exhibition

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Given the current economic climate and continued volatility in oil and natural gas prices, extracting maximum benefit from drilling performance optimization is key to the economical exploitation of many resource plays around the world. Shell Upstream Americas is employing a highly effective performance improvement team to help drive performance optimization and the delivery of top quartile performance on its wells in North America and beyond. Central to this group is a dedicated team of optimization engineers that deliver drilling efficiency optimization techniques, the innovative use of real-time optimization centers, and value-adding root-cause failure investigations to various land and offshore well delivery teams in a fit-for-purpose way. Using the optimization approaches taken, it has been possible to help accelerate well delivery times and associated learning curves by as much as a factor of three, often in a minimum amount of time. A main conclusion is therefore that this approach is a highly effective way to bring performance optimization focus to field operations. This paper highlights the modus operandi of these optimization engineers, the techniques and tools they employ, and the remarkable results achieved. The workflow and organizational structure was applied to well delivery optimization with projects ranging from shale gas drilling in the Continental US and Canada as well as hard rock drilling in the Middle East. IntroductionA perception may exist in the oil and gas industry, and among its many stakeholders, that large multi-national oil and gas companies struggle to compete with smaller national or independent companies due to their size and associated overhead, bureaucracy, adherence to global standards, etc. (Sneider 1993, Morel 2002. Direct costs for multi-national companies may indeed in some cases be higher due to differences in well construction standards and the associated assurance risks that are deemed acceptable, and a higher need for on-site supervision particularly in the area of occupational safety. A high-level generalization about "slow and expensive" multi-nationals, however, often fails to recognize some key strengths that larger multi-national companies can bring to the table to make them more competitive. These include the ability to develop (or, with partners, co-develop) important performance improvement technologies and having the in-house resources to mature those technologies and quickly capitalize on them in the field. Any higher upfront costs may then be offset by superior well delivery performance, and in particular by improvements in well delivery time. This theme is explored in the present paper, where we show how technologies for drilling efficiency were successfully deployed in the onshore gas plays of the United States and Canada, thereby accelerating learning curves and making well delivery operations in these areas highly competitive. Moreover, the learnings from these operations were quickly carried over to other areas, most notably hard rock drilling operations ...

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 96%

Section: Performance Improvement Examplesmentioning

confidence: 99%

How to Accelerate Drilling Learning Curves

Oort

Griffith

Schneider

2011

SPE/IADC Drilling Conference and Exhibition

Self Cite

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“…This graphical output should be reviewed in a real time format during the test to allow for the ability to view changes and anomalies during the test. In most of our FSTs, we currently employ real-time test monitoring and data-processing using our real-time operation center (RTOC) facilities 16 , which are well-suited for this task. Real-time processing of FST information allows for e.g.…”

Section: Test Viewingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Improving Formation Strength Tests and Their Interpretation

Oort

Vargo

2007

All Days

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TX 75083-3836 U.S.A., fax 1.972.952.9435. AbstractVerifying pressure integrity of a casing string and the adjacent formation is an important requirement during drilling of a well. Crucial decisions on mud weight, kick tolerance, and the setting depth of the next casing string are based on the outcome of formation strength tests (FST) such as leak-off tests (LOT) or formation integrity tests (FIT). Moreover, government regulations usually require that a minimum integrity is guaranteed before a well may be deepened.Yet the majority of FSTs and their interpretation currently carried out in the field can only be characterized as inadequate. Commonly, FSTs lack quality and accuracy due to (in)sensitivity in the hydraulic system to subtle pressure effects in the wellbore, use of highly compressible synthetic or oil muds, non-linear thermal profiles, poorly-understood formation stress and strength behavior, or simply by poor data capturing (e.g. by hand-generated plots). This may have a significant negative impact on the drilling operation. For instance, when mud weight windows are incorrectly assessed after testing, lost circulation or well control problems may ensue on wells with tight drilling margins.Here, we highlight several of the problems underlying current FSTs and their interpretation, illustrating them with actual field examples (such as the discrepancy often observed between surface readings and downhole pressure-while drilling (PWD) readings obtained while testing), and show how test artifacts can be either avoided or accounted for. A case is made for the use of downhole recorded pressure data to correctly determine casing shoe strength.

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“…By this time, Shell's real-time operations center (RTOC) in New Orleans, LA (U.S.A) was functional 2 and supporting global projects. Having identified the root causes for problems in the first drilling phase, the RTOC was geared to provide value to the operations.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optimization of Deepwater Drilling With Real-Time Operations

Hamed¹,

Waheed²,

Oraby³

et al. 2007

Proceedings of SPE/IADC Middle East Drilling and Technology Conference

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TX 75083-3836 U.S.A., fax 1.972.952.9435. AbstractThe following-up of drilling operations in "real time" from a remote location has been on the wish list of some drillers for quite a long time. In recent years, this has become a reality with phenomenal advances in digital technologies, satellite communications, remotely controlled systems, and collaboration centers that allow locations in different parts of the world to follow up on an operation on a round-the-clock basis.The primary objective for the exploration drilling of oil and gas wells is to find and develop new energy sources that can meet the energy demands of the future. It is also universally accepted that this objective must be met safely and efficiently.Real-time operations go a long way toward ensuring safety for the oilfield; the ability to remotely monitor operations avoids the need for experts or other non-essential people on location. This reduces the exposure risks associated with travel or rigsite presence for a number of people. The safety factor extends beyond the physical transportation or presence of individuals at a work location because, by monitoring subsurface pore pressure trends, shallow flow hazards can be detected early and a recourse taken. The well is essentially under the discernible watch of several experts at critical points ensuring the delivery of a safe and efficient well.Several other operational benefits can be realized from real-time operations. This paper discusses several of the tangible gains realized from this type of operation and the future it holds for its users.

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Evolution of Real-Time Operations Monitoring: From Concept to Global Implementation

Cited by 10 publications

References 3 publications

How to Accelerate Drilling Learning Curves

How to Accelerate Drilling Learning Curves

Improving Formation Strength Tests and Their Interpretation

Optimization of Deepwater Drilling With Real-Time Operations

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