Fully autonomous drilling at scale inches closer to reality, but challenges remain

Nabors Industries has been at the forefront of automated drilling systems in recent years, with the company deploying, among other things, a fully automated land rig featuring its SmartROS operating system. In a presentation at the IADC World Drilling 2022 Conference in Paris, Ram Murthi, the company’s Senior Manager of Controls and Automation, said these initiatives have been a part of Nabors’ pathway to enabling fully autonomous drilling at scale. Speaking to DC in this exclusive interview, Mr Murthi explains how close the industry is to seeing that ambition turn into reality, as well as the biggest remaining hurdles. Mr Murthi also discusses results from a case study of Nabors’ Smart Suite of integrated automation systems in the Bakken.