Automated operations one important step

Transcription

1 Automated operations one important step As the oil industry plunges into the new era, new boundaries are being set and pushed ever forward as we strive to improve the way we drill for oil. The challenges are many, on both sides of the negotiating table. For the operator it is the need to maintain constant progress in order to achieve depth goals and well completion dates. For the equipment supplier the challenge lies with delivering systems that shall meet these demands without a 100% realistic test area during development. For a driller to allow him- or herself to focus fully on the process and data being feed from downhole sensor, tripping tanks and mud return values, they need to trust the equipment they are using, and more importantly, they need to trust the automated systems controlling them. The Multi Machine Control system is developed to perform the same tasks as the operator do, using the same interface as they do, but at a much faster and safer speed. Implemented on a new and reliable platform for integrated software, the MMC is currently in operation, performing tripping operations on three 6 th generation semi s today. This presentation will show the economic impact this system has and also introduce new areas where MMC is introduced to bring automation to drill floor processes.

2 Slide 1, video running Thank you very much, and I greatly appreciate that I was accepted to speak here at IADC World Drilling Conference. Our presentation Automated operations one important step that Kjell Rohde and myself wrote, is just the starting point, the presentation will show were we are today and were we can go in the future. Also how that it can change the industry to a more modern process. I use the word process because I think we have to look at the great picture instead of just what happens on the drillfloor. I like to use some of my Bosses words, when we look at next generation drilling rigs we consider 6 things. 1. Firstly Safety, not just personal but also process safety, ref Macondo we have to take both of them in strong considerations. 2. Second one is Reliability, technology that does not work right does not help anyone, it might even complicate and give us a setback, people tend to get very conservative and step backwards when they meet challenges that they have to explain and justify the choices taken to upper management. But thanks to Mearsk and companies like that, that are willing to explore and utilize new technology. Products like MMC (multi machine control) have seen the daylight; it had also never been in the market if it wasn t for Fredrik and Gregers thank you. 3. Third is the overwhelming amount of data that has to be digested by the driller, how do we use that information, and how do we distill that information. What is it telling us, are we infract getting to much information, we (NOV)are making new alarm systems that will help here, divert the alarms to the right places/persons/roles. Ref spam s, everyone that get spam s knows what too much information is. 4. Environment, we are playing in several different areas, arctic, North sea, desert and offshore Brazil the whole globe, we have to consider this when we make and design new equipment.

3 5. Training, what good does the new technology do, if the person does not know how to operate it? Are we making it safer, are we telling them what to do? 6. Finally Economics and the reason that I put economics at the bottom is that my boss did the same. Slide 2: Why human free drilling you say? Is it the Direct cost of having humans onboard, like Salary, Food, Accommodations that Is the driving force for this, or is it the Indirect cost of having humans onboard, the need for a living module, No living module results in - Smaller rigs (less steel etc), or Same rig size, but larger deck capacity OR is it faster to oil that is the driving factor? Slide 3. Describe what has been done over the last 30 years, and as Pete says the next development is not on the mechanization side, but a stronger integration Slide 4. Video of MMC on West Pegasus, tripping out

4 Slide 5. The Potential Slide 6. Unlike the car industry, drilling for oil is not 100% predictive (or is it Jim?) I think that a degree of human interaction is necessary for analysis! I think that Processes can be automated, analytical decisions may need approval by humans, but we still have a long way that we can go. I also think that the grunt work can be automated, decision making may not be fully automated yet, but it can get a whole lot better and more integrated then it is today. I think we need to Focus resources where it matters Technical Barriers (suppliers) Slide 7. Letting go of the old ways Machines are now designed for manual use and adapted for automatic operation They should be designed for automation and adapted to manual use Economic Barriers (Operators / contractors) I have mentioned earlier The cost of failure makes us conservative we need to be much better at making equipment fit for purpose

5 The nature of what we re doing dictates caution, not only economically but environmentally also (ref Macondo) And with conservative I mean we as an industry tends to step back when someone fails Slide 8. The next step We have had Successful deep water testing of one man drilling operations One man tripping on a 6th generation vessel performed with continuous speeds up to 4000 ft per hour limited by machine speed only we have even been up to 5050 ft/hr Camera coverage of all important activities in the process, this even make a fully remote operated drillfloor possible Slide 9. Describe consistency and the fact that it is possible to trip with a quite constant speed, but what is disturbing is very often the environment that the driller is working in, he has several tasks that is not related to the process that he is driving. Fx Answering phone Numbers in tally (should be automatic) Etc etc.

6 Slide 10. What s next? One man drilling One man standbuilding Zero man pipe transfer Remote Drilling What about two buttons only. Oil or Gas