Performance monitoring for efficiency of drilling operations

Tural Garibov

Regional Sales Manager @ tde driving digital transformation in energy

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Introduction

In the dynamic world of oil and gas extraction, everyone faces the challenge of optimizing drilling operations to ensure both efficiency and cost-effectiveness. While established operators benefit from sophisticated drilling engineering solutions, emerging operators often find themselves navigating through the complexities without having the luxury of time, resources or dedicated tools like real-time operating centers (RTOCs). This gap frequently results in hindering productivity and profitability for the latter. I’ll try to summarize below how performance monitoring with tde pronova can bring significant change and advantage to such operators at a minimum cost.

The challenge

Emerging operators possess extensive knowledge of drilling engineering solutions, but often lack the capacity to establish an RTOC from scratch. Reasons for that can be same as mentioned above. But without data streaming and processing, they miss the benefits not because of the lack of an RTOC, but because the insights from data are left untouched. If no relevant industry solution is used to analyze the drilling data and it’s done manually, this task becomes cumbersome, time consuming and with open questions on data quality control and its integrity.

Performance monitoring benefits

  • Locate inefficiencies. Performance monitoring allows operators to identify inefficiencies both retrospectively and in real-time. We at tde can process mud logging data, WITS0, WITSML for real-time analysis and help our clients perform gap analysis of historical wells via ingestions of LAS files, PDF, XML, etc. as long as the time stamps from the rig meet the requirement of 10 seconds or less in the data files. By tracking drilling parameters and identifying them automatically we can compare operations, identify best performers and make repeating improvements.
  • Predict equipment failures. In cases where sensor data is available, we can also perform health checks on rig equipment and pin-point anomalies for the attention of supervisors. Tracking various parameters, like vibration, rotation speed, etc. and comparing them with the fleet we enable operators to see variances and implement preventive maintenance actions where and when required. This in return paves the way to pro-active and predictive maintenance capability of the organization and extends the lifespan of critical drilling assets.
  • Stay aware and informed. With real-time (or historical data) processed and analyzed, drilling crew both on the rig and in office can make informed, tuned decisions. This is particularly crucial during unplanned events, as timely responses can prevent setbacks. Performance monitoring aids in cost reduction by minimizing NPT, optimizing drilling operations, and preventing unplanned downtime. This is especially beneficial for operators with limited budgets.

Forward thinking

As technologies continue to advance, integration of performance monitoring solutions like tde pronova to drilling operations becomes essential. Looking ahead, embracing innovative technologies, exploring data-driven insights, and continuously optimizing drilling processes will be the key to staying competitive in the evolving landscape of E&P.

In conclusion, the benefits of performance monitoring are undeniable for those seeking to remove invisible loss time. Such technologies can help operators to embark on a journey towards enhanced efficiency, improved decision-making, and long-term sustainability, all while keeping their investment requirements to a minimum.