Petrobras develops web-based software to sort, filter rig information, KPIs

By Joanne Liou, associate editor

To integrate key information about its growing number of rigs into one database, Petrobras has created a web-based software to sort and filter rig specification and safety information, display statistical charts and compare a rig’s overall process and personal safety records against other rigs based on key performance indicators (KPIs). Raiffy D’Ávila, Petroleum Engineer at Petrobras, said the project was driven by a need to integrate the wealth of rig information, which was already available but existed in different types of files and formats, into one user-friendly source. “Sondópolis normalizes information and ties them together … automatically and periodically,” he said.

In the past four to five years, Petrobras more than doubled its fleet from fewer than 30 rigs in 2007 to approximately 70 rigs today. “We have experienced a steep growth of the rig fleet, and people were spending more time to get (rig) information, and making decisions was getting harder,” Mr D’Ávila said last week at the 2014 IADC International Deepwater Drilling Conference in Rio de Janeiro. Petrobras engineers found that valuable time was being consumed just sorting a multitude of spreadsheets and systems to check the specs and status of a rig. “It wasn’t easy to see a drilling contractor – how safe they were. We didn’t have a snapshot of that,” he said.

The company decided to create a web-based software that would allow Petrobras personnel to access an overview of its rig fleet from anywhere in the world, without requiring any special software installation. “In a well-behaved world, it’s much easier to work and make big decisions and easier to rank the rigs,” Mr D’Ávila explained. “Sondópolis helps pinpoint rigs’ safety issues and gives a quick peek to keep users in track with rig safety status and current operations.”

Besides ranking and sorting rigs by safety performance, the rigs can be filtered by:

• Operation information, which displays rigs’ productive time and NPT;
• KPI histograms, which feature KPIs for each rig and can be filtered by drilling contractor and current operations. Examples of KPIs that are tracked are NPT, ISPS and ISEG. ISPS is based on events or accidents related to equipment while ISEG is based on people-related accidents and high-potential incidents;
• BOP layout and campaign, which displays the structural layout of the BOP and records of BOP tests and operations;
• BOP database search engine, where users can search for BOPs based on specific criteria, such as manufacturer;
• Automated decision graphs, which can answer questions such as which BOPs are equipped with two blind-shear rams. This can be done automatically with the Sondópolis database information; and
• Drill pipe and casing shearing data, which tell whether the element is shearable and display test data registered in the database.

Petrobras is providing a limited version of Sondópolis to its drilling contractors so they can access information about their own rigs. The NOC is also adding drilling and rig equipment information to the software to develop a more comprehensive database, which will help to produce more decision graphs. “Decision graphs are like computer programs,” he said. “If we can answer the question nodes automatically, it’s possible to ‘run’ a decision graph like an executable.”