CRITICAL ISSUES IN DRILLING & COMPLETIONS
contractors in the US, and we have been
running them internationally in regions
like Latin America. Just recently, we
deployed some of our newest automation
technology on rigs in Saudi Arabia, which
is an exciting milestone for Nabors and the
Middle East market.

What long-term role do you see drill-
ing contractors playing in the energy
transition? Q&A with Bonnie Black, Pioneer,
continued from page 15
Most of the rigs that we’re running
today were built during the boom we saw
in the early 2010s. With the pace of today’s
drilling operations, we’re definitely push-
ing their limits to drill faster and far-
ther. As we continue to require more from
those rigs in the coming years, we will
likely need things like higher torque on
top drives, better iron roughnecks, higher
racking capacity and probably bigger mud
pumps. Pioneer is also very focused on gen-
erator management as part of our car-
bon reduction efforts and ESG in general.

Technologies that can help us to run gen-
erators efficiently and minimize diesel
usage will be beneficial. Ultimately, we
Q&A with João Henrique Rittershausen,
Petrobras, continued from page 27
When it comes to innovation for off-
shore rigs, what upgrades would you
like to see?
Today, it is not easy to request big
changes in drilling rigs, so we are try-
ing to hire rigs that will require the
least amount of changes to operate for
Petrobras. However, we still see some
advancements that would be good, par-
ticularly technologies around diesel con-
sumption reduction and riserless opera-
tions. We would also like to see BOPs
with a higher shearing capacity, because
when you look at a risk matrix for an oil
company, a blowout is the highest risk we
have. We need to do everything we can to
I see two ways drilling contractors can
play a role in the energy transition space.

One is by lowering the carbon footprint of
their rigs because that is something that
is within their control. By deploying or
developing technologies, we can reduce
the amount of fuel consumption on our
rigs. In turn, that will create value for
ourselves, for our customers and for the
environment. Apart from that, there are a few adja-
cent industries where we can play a role.

Geothermal is one of them, which is why
Nabors has invested in that.

I would not say that drilling contractors
should go headlong into energy transition
projects because they are not necessarily
going to be aligned to the core business.

It depends upon the strategy that each
drilling contractor has. I believe that oil
and gas will remain important even as the
world’s energy mix diversifies in the com-
ing years. DC
may also see the industry gravitate toward
electrifying rigs and running on highline
power. I think there’s a lot of opportunity
for both operators and service companies
to continue exploring in this space.

I don’t have the solution, but I do believe
that it is the obligation of everyone who is
part of this great industry to help attract
the next generation. This means that we
have to tell our story and show people
how much good we do for people and the
planet. For the young people we do attract into
our industry, we also need to make sure
they understand the role they’re playing in
energy security. Compared with previous
generations, I think young workers today
place a much heavier emphasis on hav-
ing a sense of purpose. They’re looking for
meaning in their work, and they want to
be proud of what they do. That means our
industry has to make sure we’re creating
an atmosphere where our purpose is not
only understood but also appreciated at all
levels of the workforce. DC
What are your views on the difficulties
that our industry faces in attracting
next-generation workers?
I’m the mom of two college-aged boys,
and one of them recently went to a career
fair where he said every single company
there had a long line of students waiting to
talk to them, yet there was no one at the oil
and gas table. I think that is very illustra-
tive of the challenge we’re facing. The next
generation has been persuaded by society
that our industry is bad, and that’s hugely
problematic for us.

ensure we will not have an uncontrolled
well. We would also like to see more dynami-
cally positioned (DP) rigs that are capable
of operating in shallow waters. Today’s
environmental restrictions mean that
sometimes we cannot use moored rigs to
drill and complete shallow-water wells
anymore, and we need DP rigs that can
allow us to conduct abandonment opera-
tions for those types of wells.

And, of course, digitalization is a very
important point to us because we see
automated drilling as the future. We are
discussing new initiatives with rig con-
tractors and service companies to use
automation systems so that, no matter
who the driller is, we can always have
software that is using the best knowledge
of the best driller to control the drilling
system. We are confident that automation
can increase the efficiency and value cre-
ation throughout the drilling process.

If we look at well completions specifi-
cally, what do you see as the biggest
challenges and technology gaps?
For us, it’s all-electric completions. We
want to move from a mix of hydraulic/
electric to all-electric completions that can
be more reliable and cost effective. We are
working with several companies to have
all-electric completions qualified.

Within the next couple of years, we
expect to install the first electric, open-
hole intelligent completion, and we expect
this to be a game-changer for us in terms
of reliability and capability to manage the
reservoir. DC
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