DI G ITALI ZATION OF DR I LLI N G
The Field Development Planning application allows Aker BP to model the optimal trajectory of each well within a field develop-
ment so they can reach optimal targets. The app can also illustrate various drilling parameters, like rate of penetration, as
heat maps displayed along the trajectory of a planned well. Using the app, engineers can now easily see visualizations of vari-
ous wells instead of relying on Excel spreadsheets and reports to analyze data.
cation is still provided for the entire well plan when using this
workflow .
“With the factory drilling mode, essentially you press a but-
ton, and it automatically works for you,’” Mr Germain said. “ But
in cases where you have a lot of unknowns and uncertainty, you
need a more iterative process. Sometimes during the field plan-
ning stage, you don’t have much information – you just have
rough ideas.
“The system models the uncertainties and does some scenario
analyses. There can be different variations where, for instance,
you run your simulation based on possible geo-pressures. This
workflow is more like a scenario management, where you can try
and refine different options to see which one works better as you
acquire more data.”
The factory drilling option applies to many brownfields with
standardized operations worldwide , Mr Germain said, while the
interactive workflow is typically used in greener field develop-
ments where there may be greater uncertainty regarding subsur-
face data.
“Every user is different, every company is different, every well
is different – that was the tricky part in developing this system,”
he explained. “How much do you allow the user to manage, and
how much do you put in the prescribed workflow? We’ve hit a
balance where you can utilize a minimal workflow, but in cases
where a customer wants more control over the planning, it can
still incorporate their policies and their cases. It leaves room and,
16 more importantly, time for the user to do some of their own con-
cepts in the design.”
After the well is designed in the Digital Well Program, the Well
Operations Monitor creates a digital twin of well operations,
which enables users to monitor well activities against the well
plan in real time. Used during drilling, this application provides
advisory alerts on potential hazards that may increase NPT.
Further, it records any adjustments made to the well plan during
drilling and runs revised engineering models to determine what,
if any, changes need to be made to the drilling program – for
instance, if ROP or WOB need to be increased in a particular sec-
tion of the well to achieve optimization.
“We’re taking repetitive workflows and streamlining them,”
Mr Germain said. “We’re making sure everybody’s aware of what
is happening and making sure engineers are not using obsolete
information to design or drill their wells. That’s a game changer
and a big time saver.”
Optimizing field development
Aker BP was one of the first companies to adopt Halliburton’s
Digital Well Program in 2019, and the applications’ automated
workflows have become a key component of the operator’s efforts
to improve the well design process for its wells.
In particular, the company’s drilling engineers now have much
better understanding of their data by using 3D visualization, ver-
sus the old way of using spreadsheets to view and process data.
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