DI G ITALI ZATION OF DR I LLI N G
Above: Aker BP’s Field Development Planning application, de-
veloped jointly with Halliburton and launched this year, can
model multiple wellbores within a single field. The app allows
the operator to analyze the risk profiles of each well as they
relate to one another – for instance, it can visualize potential
collision risk between wellbores.
Right: Halliburton’s Digital Well Program, launched in 2019 as
part of the company’s DecisionSpace 365 line of software
solutions, enables users to streamline well planning by run-
ning automated simulations of the well to be drilled and de-
tecting potential issues that could arise during drilling.
Automated simulations help to analyze risks
in well construction
One of Halliburton’s entries into the world of digital well plan-
ning is DecisionSpace 365, an umbrella name covering a line
of cloud-based geoscience, production, reservoir and drilling
applications. Two of these applications are Digital Well Program
and Well Operations Monitor, both launched in 2019, which allow
users to design a well plan, create a digital twin of the planned
well and monitor activities against that plan.
To design a well using the Digital Well Program, two work-
flows are available: factory and interactive. The factory drilling
workflow essentially uses the concept of the program template
or archetype, requiring inputs on target and surface location, the
well template to be used and confirmation about the subsurface
data. The program will run automated simulations of the drill
plan, including well trajectory analyses, geological prognoses,
well integrity analyses, well completion analyses and estimated
drilling time and costs.
If the system does not detect any issues with these variables,
the user gets a green light. If issues are detected, the system will
alert the user with either an orange or red light, depending on the
severity of the issues detected, as well as provide analysis of the
detected issues. As the user revises the well plan, the system will
also run automated workflows using new engineering models
and update the activity on the fly.
Under the interactive workflow, users can analyze the risk
probabilities of various scenarios based on a wide range of dif-
ferent factors. For instance, if the user is unsure about how much
WOB to apply, the system can run concurrent simulations of the
well plan using different WOB levels. A green-orange-red indi-
DRILLING CONTRACTOR • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2023
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