FEBRUARY 2020

Rock Physics

Drilling Fluids

Perforating Systems

Flow Assurance

Deepwater
Intervention

Special Report:
ADIPEC 2019

Technology advances are keeping bits

spinning in shale formations

Rock-Solid Returns
EXPLORATION & PRODUCTION FEBRU ARY 2020
VOLUME 93 ISSUE 02
WORLDWIDE COVERAGE ■

A H A R T E N E R G Y P UBLIC AT ION www.HartEnergy.com

ROCK PHYSICS COVER STORY: DRILLING INNOVATIONS

60 Challenges in the seismic reservoir

18
characterization of the Delaware Basin Drilling
Innovations
DRILLING FLUIDS
64 Enhancing high-temperature
drilling capabilities

PERFORATING SYSTEMS
66 Fine-tuning perforations in refractures

FLOW ASSURANCE
70 Flow assurance in the digital laboratory

DEEPWATER INTERVENTION
74 Smarter, faster well surveillance lights the
way ahead

SPONSORED CONTENT

52 Rock-Solid
Returns

34 Hardware evolution moving rigs

toward automation revelation

44 Innovation grows exponentially

for downhole drilling tools

54 Multilaterals provide an
unconventional approach to
shale reservoirs

INDUSTRY PULSE

8 The emergence of carbon

capture technologies
 SPECIAL REPORT: ADIPEC 2019

80 Embracing new technologies crucial to the

industry’s progress

DEPARTMENTS AND COMMENTARY

AS I SEE IT
Drilling for heat 7

COMPLETIONS & PRODUCTION

Flare no more? 15

OFFSHORE ADVANCES
Managing Guyana’s path to prosperity 17

TECH WATCH
Optimizing every drop from unconventional shale formations 78

ON THE MOVE/INDEX TO ADVERTISERS 86-87

LAST WORD
Dynamic edge intelligence 88

COMING NEXT MONTH The March edition of E&P will be our special 2020 water
management techbook issue. Chapters will include an overview, key players, technol-
ogy, midstream and case studies. As always, while you’re waiting for your next copy of
E&P, be sure to visit HartEnergy.com for the latest news, industry updates and unique
industry analysis.

ABOUT THE COVER Advances in drilling technologies are help-

ing keep rigs and hands busy in Ohio’s Utica Shale. Left, ADIPEC 2019
attracted more than 155,000 visitors from 167 countries. (Cover photo by
Glenn Kulbalko, courtesy of Oil and Gas Investor; Left photo courtesy of
ADIPEC; Cover design by Felicia Hammons)

E&P (ISSN 1527-4063) (PM40036185) is published monthly by Hart Energy Publishing, LP, 1616 S. Voss Road, Suite 1000, Houston, Texas 77057.
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 ONLINE CONTENT FEBRUARY 2020

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Domestic energy supply: DUC and cover!

By Blake Wright, Senior Editor, Oil and Gas Investor
Drilled but uncompleted wells have become an increasing point of
contention—in both how to define them and how to count them.
Driving energy innovation with digital twins
By Faiza Rizvi, Associate Editor, E&P
Kongsberg Digital expects its Dynamic Digital Twin technology to drive down
costs and improve efficiencies for an oil major in the Norwegian North Sea.
The energy industry’s coming decade
By Steve Toon, Editor-in-Chief, Oil and Gas Investor
The energy industry is experiencing great volatility as we enter the third
decade of the millennium.
In the shadow of oil and gas giants
By Darren Barbee, Senior Editor, Oil and Gas Investor
There goes the neighborhood? In early spring 2019, Exxon Mobil announced
it would turn its Permian Basin position into a kind of dreadnought, raising
questions about how it will coexist with its neighbors.
The Permian Basin at 100: Proud past, exciting future
By Leslie Haines, Executive Editor-at-Large, Oil and Gas Investor
A special Oil and Gas Investor report commemorates the 100th anniversary
of the Permian Basin and sheds light on its promising future, as its significance
on the world energy scene increases.
Can the US be a swing producer? ‘Logistical challenges
are immense’
By Mary Holcomb, Associate Editor, Digital News Group
Research shows that the U.S. fails to meet the criteria of a swing producer
unless improbable changes to production take place.
Hart Energy’s Unconventional Activity Tracker
By Richard Mason, Chief Technical Director
Hart Energy’s exclusive rig counts measure drilling intensity. They exclude
units classified as rigging up or rigging down, and also exclude rigs drilling
injection wells, disposal wells or geothermal wells. They are designed to
offer the most accurate picture of what is actually occurring in the field.

2020 Energy Innovators:

Recognizing Today’s Technology Influencers
Check out the 2020 honoree profiles for E&P’s new Energy
Innovators program at hartenergy.com/energy-innovators.

VIDEOS:
■ Executive Q&A: Fifth-generation oilman talks climate change,
minerals business
Robert Hefner V, president and CEO of Hefner Energy, discusses a wide
range of topics including his company’s business model and addressing
climate change.
■ What’s affecting oil prices this week?
This weekly report is an excerpt from Stratas Advisors’ Short-term Price
Outlook service analysis, which covers a period of eight quarters and
provides monthly forecasts for crude oil, natural gas, NGL, refined prod-
ucts, base petrochemicals and biofuels.

By Jessica Morales, Video Reporter, Digital News Group

 As I
1616 S. VOSS ROAD, STE 1000 JENNIFER PRESLEY SEE IT
HOUSTON, TEXAS 77057 Executive Editor
P: +1 713.260.6400 F: +1 713.840.0923
HartEnergy.com
EPmag.com
jpresley@hartenergy.com

ExecutiveDirector
Editorial Editor JENNIFER
LEN VERMILLION
PRESLEY Read more commentary at
Executive EditorDirector
Chief Technical JENNIFER
RICHARD PRESLEY
MASON HartEnergy.com
Chief
SeniorTechnical Director
Editor, Exploration RICHARD MASON
RHONDA DUEY
Group Senior Editor
Senior Editor, VELDA ADDISON
Digital News Group VELDA ADDISON
Senior Editor BRIAN WALZEL
Senior Contributing Editor,
Associate
Offshore Editor FAIZA
JUDY RIZVI
MURRAY
Activity
Associate
Digital
Editor,
Production
Managing
Editor,
News Group
Technologies
Editor, Print Media
Assistant Editor
LARRY PRADO
BRIAN WALZEL
JOALEXA
ANN DAVY
WEST
Drilling for heat
Senior Editor,
Group Managing Editor JO ANN DAVY The combination of new drilling technologies and expertise
Print Media ARIANA HURTADO
Associate Managing Editor ARIANA BENAVIDEZ could lead to unlocking a clean energy resource below
Creative Director ALEXA SANDERS
Corporate Art Director
Senior Graphic Designer
ALEXA SANDERS
FELICIA HAMMONS
our feet.
Senior Graphic Designer FELICIA HAMMONS
Publisher HENRY TINNE

R
Vice President of Publishing RUSSELL LAAS ight around the time that fracking cracked open the public’s awareness
Editorial Advisory Board
Editorial Advisory Board in 2011, I found myself working for a couple of months in Alaska. In my
CHRIS BARTON short time there, I learned much about alternative energy resources that were
CHRISWood
BARTON
Wood making an impact in the state’s interior at places like the Chena Hot Springs
KEVIN BRADY Resort. Located about 60 miles north of Fairbanks, the resort has the only
Highway
KEVIN9 BRADY
Consulting geothermal-based district heating system operating in Alaska. The current
Highway 9 Consulting
MIKE FORREST system serves all 46 buildings on site, all are heated geothermally using 165 F
Consultant
MIKE FORREST water flowing at 250 gpm, saving the resort an estimated $183,000 per year in
Consultant displaced diesel fuel.
GARRETT FRAZIER
Magnum Oil Tools
GARRETT FRAZIER Chena is one example of many demonstrating the utility of using the planet’s
Magnum Oil Tools natural heat to generate energy. Interest in geothermal is continuing to build,
RICHARD “DICK” GHISELIN, P.E.
Qittitut Consulting
as demonstrated by the recent green-lighting of the Eden Geothermal Project
DICK GHISELIN LLC
Consultant in Cornwall, U.K. The project secured £16.8 million in funding in October 2019
PETER LOVIE to pay for Phase 1, which includes the drilling of a geothermal well 4.5 km into
PeterOLGA
M Lovie
KOPERPE LLC
the granite formation in the summer, according to a project press release.
Battelle
ERIC NAMTVEDT Granite is a hard cry from the softer sedimentary rocks that traditional oil
Namtvedt Energy
PETER LOVIEAdvisors and gas bits cut into. Advancements in metallurgy, design considerations and
Peter M Lovie PE LLC more have made it possible to drill 3-mile laterals with minimum bit changes
DONALD PAUL
USC
ERIC NAMTVEDT in shale. What if we applied that existing knowledge to new ideas to develop a
Namtvedt Energy Advisors better, more suitable bit for use in geothermal drilling?
KEITH RAPPOLD
Aramco Services In December 2019, the U.S. Department of Energy awarded the University
DONALD PAUL
USC of Texas a $1 million grant to launch the new Geothermal Entrepreneur-
EVE SPRUNT ship Organization (GEO), which will bring together engineers, researchers
Consultant
KEITH RAPPOLD and entrepreneurs to develop technologies and launch companies to help
Aramco Services
SCOTT WEEDEN advance the geothermal energy industry, according to a press release.
Consultant
EVE SPRUNT The organization aims to leverage areas of excellence in geosystems and
Consultant drilling engineering at the University of Texas to spur geothermal technology
TOM WILLIAMS
RPSEA
SCOTT WEEDEN development and maturation.
Consultant “It’s a straightforward concept. Drilling technically complex, high-tempera-
ture and high-pressure wells is a core strength of the oil and gas industry. Let’s
TOM WILLIAMS
RPSEA use all of that learning and expertise to drill for heat—tapping a vast CO2-free,
clean energy source,” said Jamie Beard, executive director of the GEO at the
Senior Vice President, Media
E&P/Conferences
University of Texas’ Cockrell School of Engineering, in a press release.
RUSSELL LAAS Oil and gas are often painted in a less than pleasing light by climate activists
Editorial Director pushing for the death of fossil fuels. Climate change is real. The energy transi-
VicePEGGY
President of Content
WILLIAMS
PEGGY WILLIAMS
tion is underway, and oil and gas technologies have a role
Chief Financial Officer to play in the success of that transition. Rather than throw
ChiefCHRIS
Financial
ARNDT Officer
CHRIS ARNDT
the “drill, baby, drill” technology baby out with the bath-
Chief Executive Officer water, let’s put it to good use.
Chief Executive
RICHARD Officer
A. EICHLER
RICHARD A. EICHLER 7
industry
PULSE
The emergence of carbon capture
technologies
Global and domestic initiatives facilitate emissions capture for storage and reuse in
energy development.
Brian Walzel, Senior Editor
E nergy companies around the world have adopted
practices and technologies that have helped
reduce their carbon footprint. And although those
efforts are helping reduce greenhouse-gas (GHG)
emissions on an incremental scale, the rapid adop-
tion of cost-effective and large-scale carbon reduction
technologies are likely what is needed to meet the
goals of the Paris Agreement.
One of the technologies considered able to meet the
cost and scale needs of global, widespread adoption is
carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS). CCUS
technologies capture CO2 from industrial processes and
transport the CO2 via ship or pipeline, after which it is
either stored deep underground or used as a resource
to create products.
Under the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) Clean
Technology Scenario, which sets out a plan consistent
with the Paris Agreement’s climate initiative, CCUS
would account for 7% of the cumulative emissions
reductions needed globally by 2040.
“This implies a rapid scale-up of CCUS deployment,
from about 30 million tonnes of CO2 currently captured
There are several options for underground carbon storage.
(Source: Global CCS Institute)
8 February 2020 | E&P | HartEnergy.com
each year to 2,300 [million tonnes] per year by 2040,”
the IEA reported.
The UK Oil and Gas Industry Association’s “Energy
Transition Outlook 2019” said developing CCUS tech-
nologies is a “fundamental requirement” for meeting its
net-zero obligations.
However, according to McKinsey & Co., one significant
challenge to widespread carbon reuse adoption is that
carbon is a highly inert molecule, meaning transforming
the captured gas into industrial products requires a lot of
energy. Another challenge McKinsey cited is the quantity
of CO2 that could be used for the creation of chemicals,
plastics and carbon fiber would be too small to make an
appreciable difference in global GHG emissions.
“Methods of carbon capture and use that take up
much larger amounts of carbon dioxide gas will there-
fore be needed to help reduce overall GHG emissions,”
McKinsey reported in a January 2018 article.
Work on such methods is well underway, if not fully
in operation. According to the Global CCS Institute, 51
large-scale carbon capture and storage facilities around
the world are in various stages of either operation or
development, with most (23) in North America alone.
More efforts are on the way, from global initiatives
by oil and gas supermajors to tax credits for carbon
capture in the U.S. and continuing grant funding by
the U.S. Department of Energy for industrial CCUS
pilots. CCUS has become a priority for the Oil and
Gas Climate Institute (OGCI), which counts among
its members BP, CNPC, Eni, Equinor, Exxon Mobil,
Chevron, Occidental, Pemex, Petrobras, Repsol,
Saudi Aramco, Shell and Total.
OGCI KickStarter
In September 2019, the OGCI announced its Kick-
Starter campaign, which is designed to boost large-
scale commercial CCUS worldwide. As part of the
program, the OGCI will work to develop five emerging
global hubs into operation in the U.K., the U.S., Nor-
way, the Netherlands and China.
“The aim of KickStarter is to create the necessary
conditions to really facilitate a commercially viable
 industry
PULSE
CCUS industry,” Sue-Ern Tan, group carbon
relations manager at Shell, told E&P. “Because
if you don’t have the right conditions, you’re not
going to get companies making the investments
and joining together, creating hubs for shared
storage and transportation infrastructure.”
According to the OGCI, the KickStarter
program has an early aspiration to double
the amount of CO2 that is currently stored
globally before 2030. The planned hubs and
potential CO2 impact by 2030 have been iden-
tified at Teesside, U.K., with 6 million tonnes
per year (mtpy) of CO2; Norway with 5 mtpy
of CO2; Rotterdam, The Netherlands, with 10
mtpy of CO2; Xinjiang, China, with 3 mtpy of The graphic explains the process for capturing CO2 and utilizing it for EOR
CO2; and the Gulf of Mexico with 200 mtpy of processes in oil and gas production. (Source: Global CCS Institute)
CO2. Of the five, the Teesside hub is the near-
est to operation.
BP, Eni, Equinor, Occidental, Shell and Total have
worked with the U.K., government in moving the
project forward, which has required investments of
$3 billion, according to the OGCI. BP has emerged as
the principal operator of the Teesside hub, which is
expected to enter the FEED phase this year.
The financing will come in part from the OGCI’s $1
billion-plus fund, which has 15 clean technology invest-
ments in its portfolio, according to the institute.
Tan said the biggest hurdle to develop not just the
hubs cited in the KickStarter program but large-scale
CCUS programs worldwide has been insufficient pol-
icies and regulations. She said the recent hike of the
45Q tax credit in the U.S. is an example of the policies
needed globally to push CCUS to scale.
“That tax credit will make a big difference to the
business models for those types of projects in the U.S.,”
she said. “But we’re not getting that level of policy and
regulation at the scale everywhere in the world that we
need certainly to meet what is expected under the sce-
narios for the Paris Agreement. I think the consistency
and deployment of those policies and regulations need
to be far more widespread.”
Operator efforts
The leading operator in carbon capture efforts so far
has been Occidental, which applies CO2 capture tech-
nologies for EOR floods in the Permian Basin of West
Texas and Southeast New Mexico. According to the
company, Occidental injects 2.6 Bcf/d of CO2 in the
Permian, which translates to 950 Bcf/year. The com-
pany states that CO2 EOR can increase oil and associ-
ated gas recovery by 10% to 25%.
10
Meanwhile, Oxy Low Carbon Ventures (OLCV), a sub-
sidiary of Occidental, announced two projects last year
designed to lower carbon emissions. In May OLCV and
Canadian clean energy company Carbon Engineering
announced a plan to engineer and design the world’s
largest direct air capture and sequestration facility.
According to a press release, the companies are evaluat-
ing a facility to be located in the Permian Basin designed
to capture 500 kilotonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere
each year, which would then be used in Occidental’s
EOR operations and eventually stored underground.
The release stated that pairing direct air capture with
CO2 sequestration in EOR operations “is a significant
step forward for the energy industry, as it provides a
mechanism designed to greatly reduce or eliminate the
net addition of CO2 to the atmosphere from oil produc-
tion and use.”
In August OLCV reached an investment agreement
with Cemvita Factory for the development of new bio-
engineered pathways that use CO2 as feedstock for sustain-
able production of intermediate chemicals and polymers.
According to a press release, Cemvita Factory’s technology
includes a CO2 utilization platform that mimics photosyn-
thesis and other natural processes to produce industrial
chemicals and polymers for energy sustainability.
Tara Karimi, Cemvita Factory’s co-founder and chief
scientist, said the company has an “ambitious” goal of
taking 1 gigaton of CO2 out of the carbon cycle over the
next decade.
OLCV President Richard Jackson said in the release
that “Cemvita Factory’s CO2 utilization platform has the
potential to harness the power of nature and create
new, sustainable pathways for the bio-manufacturing of
our products.”
February 2020 | E&P | HartEnergy.com
 completions &
PRODUCTION

Flare no more?
A pilot project will convert stranded methane into hydrogen for use as a clean fuel source.

N atural gas, as the cleanest burning fossil fuel, is the

needed bridge to carry the heavy load of the global
energy transition underway. However, natural gas for
JENNIFER PRESLEY
Executive Editor
some is perceived as the invisible climate menace. jpresley@hartenergy.com
“One of my concerns is that gas is being increasingly
marginalized, even vilified and demonized,” BP CEO Read more commentary at
Bob Dudley told attendees at the 2019 Energy Intelli- HartEnergy.com
gence Oil and Money Conference. The challenge of
methane leaks and flaring must be tackled, he noted,
adding that the “gas itself can and must be increas- ol’ fossil fuels. However, the technology has come far
ingly decarbonized.” since that ill-fated Zeppelin ride of 1937.
The leaders of the Navajo Nation Oil and Gas Co. The Apollo 11 mission of 1969 that put the first man
must have heard Dudley’s call, as that is exactly what on the moon relied on a hydrogen-powered fuel cell
is planned as part of a pilot project located south of system for electricity, water and the liquid hydrogen
Bluff, Utah. In late November 2019, the E&P com- needed to fuel the rockets. Building on that knowl-
pany announced that it had signed an agreement edge, hydrogen fuel cell technology has advanced
with renewable energy companies H2Go and significantly, with it being increasingly used in
Big Navajo Energy to convert a wasted vehicle fleets.
stream of methane gas flared from And some 50 years later, Nikola
its Tohonadla oilfield wells into Corp., a designer and manufac-
hydrogen, according to an arti- turer of hydrogen electric vehi-
cle from The Associated Press. cles, energy storage systems,
The project is still in the hydrogen stations and more,
design phase and when oper- is helping to transform the
ational will initially process commercial transportation
600 kg of hydrogen per industry. In November 2019,
day, according to the Utah Anheuser-Busch made its first
Governor’s Office of Energy delivery with one of Nikola’s
Development. The ultimate hydrogen-electric-powered
goal is to capture all flared semi-trucks and has an order
methane, an estimated 80,000 for 800 of the zero-emission
cf/d, to turn into a steady stream trucks in its goal to reduce 25% of
of revenue for the tribe, according its carbon footprint by 2025, accord-
to a KSL.com article. ing to a press release.
With hydrogen selling for $13 The pilot project is based in the Tohonadla oil While some may consider the
to $16 per liter at the more than field, which is located 20 miles south of Bluff, initial step of processing 600 kg/d
40 fueling stations across Califor- Utah. (Source: SevenMaps/Shutterstock.com) of hydrogen as “one small step”
nia, according to the California onto the energy transition bridge,
Fuel Cell Partnership, the environmental and eco- pilot projects like this one by Navajo Oil and Gas Co.
nomic benefits of the operation will be immediate for are “giant leaps” closer to a cleaner environment.
the region. It also is a giant leap in demonstrating to the public
I will admit that upon pausing to consider the use of how gas isn’t the villain that the
hydrogen as a clean fuel source, the Hindenburg did anti-industry activists would have
pop forward in my mind as a reason to stick with good the world believe.

HartEnergy.com | E&P | February 2020 15


Managing Guyana’s path to prosperity
Proper governance and management are critical as the poverty-stricken country faces a
potential financial windfall.
I n late August 2019, the Liza Destiny FPSO arrived in
the Stabroek Block offshore Guyana. Liza Destiny’s
arrival signaled the beginning of a new era in Guyana,
which by all accounts will include vast amounts of
both oil and money. Oil production began in Decem-
ber 2019 in the massive Stabroek Block, which is esti-
mated to hold more than 6 Bbbl of oil and has seen
more than a dozen discoveries.
Currently, Guyana is one of the poorest nations in
the world, with a 2018 GDP of $3.1 billion, ranking
163rd out of 205 countries, according to the World
Bank. This will very likely soon change. The World
Bank estimates that Guyana’s economy will grow by
more than 30% in 2020 alone, thanks to the impend-
ing oil boom.
But Guyana faces challenges similar to other devel-
oping nations that are rich in natural resources but
seemingly poor in their abilities
to produce and manage them
(see: Venezuela). It is a question
whether the tiny South American Guyana is on the
nation has the right political,
structural and physical organiza- verge of cashing
tion and infrastructure to avoid in a winning
falling victim to its fortune. Some
are skeptical.
lottery ticket.
In a recent Altamar global affairs
podcast hosted by Peter Schechter,
former Atlantic Council senior vice
president, and David Goldwyn, former U.S. assistant
secretary of energy for the U.S. Department of Energy’s
Office of International Affairs, the speakers explained
how Guyana can successfully navigate its oil windfall.
“Guyana is really a country at risk,” Goldwyn said.
“The next five years will be bumpy…Guyana is going
to need a small, tight team of people making deci-
sions in a timely way. They’re not there yet. If they can
do that, they can be a big success. If not, and I hope
this is not the case, in 10 years we’ll be talking about
how hard it is for countries with resource wealth to
turn that into real prosperity.”
Goldwyn suggested Guyana would need to rely on
an “enlightened government” that can avoid cor-
HartEnergy.com | E&P | February 2020
offshore
ADVANCES
BRIAN WALZEL
Senior Editor
bwalzel@hartenergy.com
Read more commentary at
HartEnergy.com
ruption and encourage accountability. So far the
country seems to be on the right track. Last year the
government of Guyana committed $20 million to aid
the Guyana Petroleum Resources Governance and
Management Project. The project is supported by
the World Bank with the objective of “supporting the
enhancement of legal and institutional frameworks
and the strengthening of the capacity of key institu-
tions to manage the oil and gas
sector in Guyana,” according to
the World Bank.
Last year API and the Interna-
tional Association of Oil and Gas
Producers provided training to the
country’s government on key stan-
dards for measuring the flow of oil
from Guyana’s wells and the reve-
nues generated by production.
Guyana is on the verge of cash-
ing in a winning lottery ticket. But
the promise of newfound fortunes brings with it the
risk of mismanagement of its financial and natural
resources. According to the Guyanese government,
more than 36% of the country’s population lives in
poverty. Billions of dollars in potential revenue could
undoubtedly reverse such conditions.
“Guyana has hit the jackpot,” said Maria Cortez,
Latin America upstream senior research manager for
Wood Mackenzie, in a press release. “If this small
South American nation, with a population of about
750,000, can properly manage the
billions of dollars of revenue about
to come its way, it may become the
richest corner of the continent.”
17
 COVER STORY:
DRILLING INNOVATIONS

Advances in drilling technologies are

helping keep rigs and hands busy in
Ohio’s Utica Shale. (Photo by Glenn
Kulbalko, courtesy of Oil and Gas Investor)

Technology advances are keeping bits

spinning in shale formations
18 February 2020 | E&P | HartEnergy.com

Jim Redden, Contributing Editor
A n updated program is needed these days to identify
the players and positions in the unconventional
drilling arena. The driller is being recast as a process
manager, robotics have replaced mangled fingers that
once manhandled pipe on the drill floor, and direc-
tional drilling has morphed from an art to a science as
sophisticated algorithms take over much of the responsi-
bilities of highly prized directional drillers.
For sure, a contemporary U.S. onshore drilling
ecosystem can perhaps best be described as an amal-
gamation of software driving hardware toward a
wholesale recalibration of what was once considered
optimum efficiency. As the sector takes more of a
manufacturing approach to well construction, and
with more operations transferred to the office, U.S.
land has been ground zero for advances in automa-
tion and digitalization. That assessment was born out
by the industry-funded Drilling Systems Automation
(DSA) Roadmap, sponsored in part by the Society of
Petroleum Engineers’ Drilling Systems Automation
Technical Section and the International Association
of Drilling Contractors’ Advanced Rig Technology
Committee and Drilling Engineering Committee.
Each pod in H&P Technologies’ Dallas command center
enables experienced directional drillers to oversee
automated directional drilling and sliding operations in
real time in the field. (Source: H&P Technologies)
HartEnergy.com | E&P | February 2020
COVER STORY:
DRILLING INNOVATIONS
“The transformation [toward automation] is advanc-
ing the quickest in the USA land drilling environment,
which will provide both a platform and an understand-
ing for future developments and global adoption,” con-
cluded the initiative’s final report released on June 1.
Optimum drilling efficiency was once described
loosely as reaching programmed depth, at penetration
rates as fast as safely possible and with minimum non-
productive time (NPT) along the way. The end result
was handing off a usable wellbore to the completions
team. While that definition still holds, the crowded
subsurface environment of multiwell drilling pads has
raised the stakes appreciably. Steering and well place-
ment have taken on ultracritical roles as operators
must avoid bumping into existing wells and putting the
clamps on maximum reservoir drainage. Not surpris-
ingly, directional drilling has taken top billing on the
land-centric automation stage.
Variations in rotary walk and build, geologic target
changes, anticollision considerations, costs associated
with high tortuosity, and the risks of reduced production
and EURs are among the myriad directional drilling
anomalies that can cognitively tax even the most experi-
enced and talented directional driller.
“There are too many variables for a human to con-
sider in real time,” Bill Chmela, vice president of
19
 COVER STORY:
DRILLING INNOVATIONS
business development for H&P Technologies, said of
the demands placed on directional drillers, magnified
with the subterranean complexities of multiwell pads.
“If automated cars can navigate our roads, automated
directional drillers should be able to navigate the sub-
surface and land well locations defined by geologists,
geophysicists and reservoir engineers.”
Automated directional drilling, sliding
The wholly owned subsidiary of premier land drilling
contractor Helmerich & Payne (H&P) Inc. took that
proposition to heart with the development of an auto-
mated bit guidance system, which in early 2019, was
expanded with the debut of automated sliding technol-
ogy. While the bit guidance system automatically dic-
tates when to slide or rotate, based on preprogrammed
economic and production considerations, the auto slide
implements those decisions.
“When you execute a slide, the driller must work the
torque off the pipe, orient the tool and go to bottom
where the bit sees some reactive torque,” Chmela said.
“As you’re drilling, the toolface orientation wants to
move, so the directional driller has to decide whether to
add weight, take weight off or evaluate the flow rate to
keep the toolface stable and maximize ROP. We devel-
oped an algorithm that does that automatically, so the
system says when to slide.”
Unlike the rig-agnostic bit guidance system, the auto-
mated sliding component, for now, is reserved solely
for H&P rigs. “Part of the reason is that interfacing the
[sliding] decision-making tools to the rig control system
is complex, and when you’re controlling the actual
The AutoSlide automated sliding technology (top) maintains precise toolface positioning.
During a manual slide (bottom), the directional driller must make a number of decisions to try
to keep the toolface position on its intended track. (Source: H&P Technologies)
20
equipment on the rig, you want to make sure it’s done
right and tested extensively,” he said.
The genesis of the closed-loop directional drilling
technologies, and by extension H&P Technologies, can
be traced to a small team within a Dallas independent,
charged some eight years ago with investigating the
glaring performance disparities between wells on a sin-
gle pad.
“The drillers were saying ‘why are we drilling this well
in 30 days and this well in 20 days?’ The production
guys were saying ‘why is this well producing this much
and the one right next door is producing 30% less?’
They were also asking why they were able to easily run
casing in one well but couldn’t in an adjoining well,”
Chmela said. “They came to the conclusion that the
biggest factor in all these things was the skill of the
directional driller, so we started looking at the tasks a
directional driller does and how much of that we can
improve through automation.”
Developers were moved to the rig site where they wrote
and tested algorithms to replace manual calculations,
such as motor yield when drilling a curve, the bottomhole
assembly (BHA) tendencies while rotating and other cog-
nitive decisions once made by the directional driller.
“We found that a computer could do all those cal-
culations much, much faster and more reliably. After
building the [bit guidance] system, we found we were
making much better decisions,” he said. “The direc-
tional driller still has to do it, but everything that
would be considered in decision-making is incorpo-
rated in the system.”
With the downturn gaining traction in late 2014, the
in-house development group—with
the operator’s blessing—spun off
into Motive Drilling Technologies.
Contractor H&P acquired Motive
and its algorithm-driven bit guid-
ance system in June 2017, followed
six months later with the acqui-
sition of Denver-based Magnetic
Variation Services LLC (MagVAR)
and its proprietary technology for
cleansing the errors and uncer-
tainties from raw MWD data. As its
name implies, the company cor-
rects for magnetic variances and
errors caused by metal interference
with the drillstring and BHA within
the directional drilling field.
“Survey corrections help oper-
ators get their spacing right,”
February 2020 | E&P | HartEnergy.com
 COVER STORY:
DRILLING INNOVATIONS

said MagVar veteran George Colbert, now H&P and the current position of the bit, but in a much more
Technologies’ director of business development. “When sophisticated way than a person can do it in real time.”
you try to space these wells, there’s an ellipse of uncer- Described as the “next evolutionary step” in true drill-
tainty. The survey may say ‘here’s where your well is,’ ing automation, AutoSlide enables immediate recogni-
but it’s somewhere between this 500-foot to 700-foot tion and reaction to downhole changes.
ellipse. What we do is reduce that level
of uncertainty.”
In late 2018, H&P acquired soft-
ware-based training and consultancy
company Angus Jamieson Consulting
Ltd. of Inverness, Scotland, round-
ing out the triumvirate, collectively
rebranded as H&P Technologies.

Deployment cycle
Prior to deployment, the directional
drilling team meets with the operator
to analyze the programmed drilling
parameters and primary objectives,
with corresponding economic and pro-
duction considerations inputted into
the system.
“We sit down beforehand with a
checklist. Where are your lease lines?
Where are your other boreholes and
how close can we get to those bore-
holes? If we go up or down, left or
right, how will that affect your pro-
duction? So all the directional drilling
decisions have the influence of the res-
ervoir engineer, geophysicist and geol-
ogist, which no one has consistently
done before,” Chmela said.
In the first step of the deployment
cycle, all real-time surface and down-
hole data are acquired on location and
subsequently aggregated into a single
medium. The MWD data are continu-
ously streamed to H&P Technologies’
Denver hub, where it is scrubbed and
returned for programming into the bit
guidance system. At this point, automa-
tion takes control by orienting the cor-
rected data to the real-time well con-
ditions, followed by deciding and then
executing where precisely to point the
bit and when to rotate or slide.
“We first analyze all the data to just
orient us as to what’s currently going on
downhole,” Chmela said. “We calculate
the motor yields, the BHA tendencies

HartEnergy.com | E&P | February 2020 21

 COVER STORY:
DRILLING INNOVATIONS
“Once you get into the slide the system has told
you to make, you may find, for instance, that you’re
not getting the proper yield. Before we reach the
end of the programmed slide, the system may either
say we’re good to go or extend the slide by 1.5 feet
or 2.7 feet, whereas a human might say we’ve done
our [programmed] 10-foot slide, or else they may say
we need to add 20 feet to the slide. The economic
ramifications of that can be huge and you can even
ruin a wellbore,” Colbert said. “The auto slide judges
toolface precision, so the directional driller may be
sliding faster, but the toolface is all over the place.
What comes out of this man versus machine is that
the technology is as good, if not better, than the best
directional driller, but it performs consistently over
and over again, and consistency wins out in the end.”
‘Sky’s the limit’
Metaphorically, having an active BHA at the surface that
enables immediate recognition and reaction to chang-
ing downhole conditions would radically enhance the
directional steering and wellbore placement exercise. So
says Halliburton Sperry Drilling of its digital twin, which
replicates “wellbore propagation in real time on the
surface” and is the backbone of the LOGIX automated
drilling director.
Using intricate physics-based models and machine
learning to project the well path, LOGIX controls steer-
ing to accurately place the wellbore and avoid collisions,
while at the same time managing vibration and pressure
parameters. The steering recommendations based on
those projections, in turn, are automatically downlinked
to the modular iCruise intelligent rotary steerable sys-
tem (RSS), which packs sophisticated algorithms, multi-
ple sensors, advanced electronics, survey packages and
high-speed processors that collectively deliver downhole
measurement data at the rate of 1,000 times per second
for toolface control.
Simply put, “iCruise tells us what’s happening [in real
time], while LOGIX predicts where you’ll be in 500 feet
or 1,000 feet and tells you the toolface and duty cycle
you need to follow to be there,” said Global Drilling
Automation Manager Julien Marck, pointing out the
“consistent and reliable performance” of LOGIX inte-
grated with the iCruise RSS effectively closes the once
huge gap between theory and actual practice.
“If you combine the LOGIX recommendations at
the surface, the downhole CruiseControl algorithms of
the [iCruise] tool and the knowledge you get with the
sensors, you can really close the loop,” he said. “First,
you need toolface control [positioning] for perfect well
22
Gamma, pressure-while-drilling and three sets of inclination/azimuths
are among the dataset measurements the iCruise RSS records during
a directional drilling operation. (Source: Halliburton Sperry Drilling)
placement, but you also need consistent performance
and good steering decisions.”
It all began with what Marck described as the “perfect
digital twin,” which demonstrated precisely how the
tool would behave in the face of ever-changing oper-
ational and geological conditions and at a challeng-
ing 15-degree/100-ft dogleg severity. The digital twin
enabled iCruise designers to determine exactly how the
tool would react under various operational factors, such
as weight on bit, flow rates and bit selection.
The next step was to leverage that behavioral insight
into a predictive platform that could make immediate
recommendations during a directional drilling opera-
tion. Enter LOGIX, which began as an advisory system,
computing downhole trends and the resulting steering
behavior. It has evolved into a full suite of software with
an expanding portfolio of services.
The iCruise RSS was engineered at the onset with the
aim of tying into LOGIX and eventually providing a
fully automated directional drilling system, with vertical,
inclination and azimuth steering controls built into the
tool. “When we began designing iCruise, we asked what
can we do to get the data we’ll need in a few years to
enable automation. The tool was built from the start for
automation,” Marck said.
The RSS comes with multiple sensors that, along
with surveys, take numerous dataset measurements,
including gamma, vibration, pressure-while-drilling and
three sets of inclination/azimuths, which are critical for
steering control. “When you’re collecting data at 1,000
times per second downhole, there is no way to send all
those data to surface, so we focused on putting some of
the advanced technologies and control algorithms right
into iCruise,” he said. “With all the sensors, you can
almost perfectly know what kind of reliable and consis-
tent performance you’ll get.”
February 2020 | E&P | HartEnergy.com

By using data internally, the tool immediately identifies
and reacts if it starts to deviate from the programmed
well path. “The tool automatically senses that trend and
adapts to bring the tool back to the target,” Marck said.
Importantly, he said, the modularity of the iCruise
enables Sperry Drilling to collaborate with operators to
customize a solution that addresses their specific well
plan and objectives. Adapting the modular geometry of
the RSS enables numerous plug-and-play functionalities
and consistently predictable performance, Marck said.
All pertinent data from the operator’s well program,
including the landing point, inclination and lateral
length, are inputted into LOGIX, along with nearby
wellbore information for anticollision measures.
“Between the sensors and the sophisticated downhole
control algorithms of iCruise and the coupling at the
surface with LOGIX, I would say the sky’s the limit,”
Marck said. “Because all applications are web-based, we
can be in Houston and automatically land a well in the
Permian Basin or in the Middle East.”
HartEnergy.com | E&P | February 2020
COVER STORY:
DRILLING INNOVATIONS
As for the suggestion that push-button directional
steering, with zero human involvement at the well site,
is on the near-horizon, Marck said, “I’d argue we’re
almost, if not already, there, but safety must always
come first. So I would say that even though we can, [it]
doesn’t mean we should. We can drill wells now with
very little human interaction, but from a safety perspec-
tive, you have to keep humans in the loop.”
Under-budget 3-mile lateral
In July 2019, the iCruise intelligent RSS drilled what is
believed to be a Permian Basin record 15,382-ft lateral
in two runs with sustained ROP averaging 110 ft/hr.
Matched with a Halliburton GeoTech (GTi) drillbit and
NitroForce high-flow, high-torque motor, the iCruise
tool eliminated a planned third run, reaching target
depth below the authorization for expenditure in 140
rotating hours.
By maintaining optimal drilling parameters, activating
the tool’s internal CruiseControl and using LOGIX at
23
 COVER STORY:
DRILLING INNOVATIONS
the surface, the major operator reduced well time and
achieved the required dogleg to accurately steer within
the programmed geological target, thereby helping
increase production and maximize asset value.
Putting data to work
Much of the earliest work on automation centered on
the more repetitive and hazardous rig floor activities,
like transferring pipe from slips to subsurface engage-
ment and back. While automating the slip-to-slip process
remains the core of the National Oilwell Varco (NOV)
NOVOS reflexive drilling system, the massive volume
of downhole data now being generated has spawned a
host of tie-in applications, according to Matt Jackson,
NOVOS product development supervisor. Typically inte-
grated with the company’s wired drillpipe technology,
the NOVOS platform is being expanded from more
than 300 channels to nearly 1,000 data-collecting tags.
“Since we’re now automating all of the [rig] processes,
we have a plethora of datapoints that tell us everything
from whether we’re in a reaming process or in the fric-
tion test process. It shows us the datapoints we’re extract-
ing from torque and drag, pickup and slack-off values,”
he said. “We see NOVOS as kind of a hub where more
advanced systems, like ROP optimization and wired drill-
pipe applications, can be tied into the rig control systems.
Of course, pipehandling and multimachine control are
integrated into the system as well.”
Illustrative of the evolution of the automation plat-
form, NOV (as of late July 2019) had successfully
completed a series of field trials, orchestrated to test
the feasibility of integrating managed pressure drilling
(MPD) into the NOVOS system. “Now we have a very
large backlog of new features and functionality, so we’re
prioritizing what’s important,” Jackson said.
The NOVOS system debuted in the Permian Basin
in October 2016 as part of an integrated program that
A Houston-based workstation enables the user to conduct a
simulated NOVOS automated slip-to-slip process. (Source: NOV)
24
included wired drillpipe and other data collection tech-
nologies, and it demonstrated its capacity to consistently
and expeditiously pick up pipe, drill down the stand
and return to the slip with no hands-on involvement.
The process includes engaging the formation “in a
controlled way,” Jackson said, pointing out that NOVOS
picks up formation vibration signals, for instance,
enabling the system to maintain vibrations in a normal
range for 78% of tag bottom events, some 42% better
than that achieved manually. Corralling vibrations, in
turn, reduces NPT and unnecessary trips, and it reduces
wear on bits, drillpipe and other downhole tools.
“Since we have those downhole vibration measurements
at our fingertips, we’re able to tag the formation much
more intelligently,” Jackson said. “We like to say that
we’re trying to elevate the driller’s view from essentially an
advanced crane operator to more of a process manager.”
Intelligently tagging the formation includes the capac-
ity to automatically make adjustments as downhole con-
ditions warrant, said Andrew Macleod, North America
sales manager for the NOV eVolve integrated optimi-
zation service. “In shale you want high ROP and low
weight to tag bottom, so with NOVOS you can change it
foot by foot. If, for example, you see pressure going up
and surge and swab becoming a problem, you can tell
NOVOS to make the necessary adjustments. NOVOS
allows us to digest massive amounts of data and auto-
mate those in a repeatable process,” he said.
While consistency remains the primary driver for
automation, the downturn forced operators to squeeze
out efficiencies to reduce drilling costs and the HSE
footprint. “There are also some hidden benefits in
consistency,” said Chris Christopher, NOV drilling auto-
mation advisor. “With the tag bottom app, for instance,
maybe you’re tagging bottom at the same speed of
the driller on average, but what’s hidden is that with
NOVOS you’re protecting the bit every time you tag
bottom. Now, you get one bit run instead of three.
And, of course, you’re controlling the process to take
humans out of the risk zones, and the ability to control
surge and swab leads us to better well control.”
Furthermore, automatically cleaning tremendous
downhole data streams replaces tedious and time-
consuming manual cleansing and delivers data that are
sufficiently filtered into a usable format. Exporting and
processing raw data through the NOV analytical dash-
board to connected rigs enables customers to customize
how they wish to visualize the data.
“Clients don’t want more data; they want usable
data that help them do their jobs. As everything that’s
recorded on the rig is streamed through NOVOS,
February 2020 | E&P | HartEnergy.com
 COVER STORY:
DRILLING INNOVATIONS
DRILLER (WELL 1) VERSUS NOVOS (WELL 2) - CONNECTION TIMES (MIN)
10
9 S2B
7
Average: 5.62
6
5
4
Driller Well 1
Driller Managing Connections
Compared to its unassisted counterpart, the NOVOS-enabled driller (right) delivers significantly faster bottom-to-slips (B2S),
slips-to-slips (S2S) and slips-to-bottom (S2B) connection times. (Source: NOV)
you can write an app to control anything on the rig,”
Macleod said.
Crucial to that end has been a keen industrywide
focus on preventing “dirty data” from making its way
into an automated or digitally enhanced process, accord-
ing to Pradeep Ashok, senior research scientist at the
multidisciplinary Rig Automation and Performance
Improvements in Drilling (RAPID) group at the
University of Texas at Austin.
“The quality [of data] has definitely improved, not
necessarily because of the [rig] sensors, but the compa-
nies supplying the data are putting a little more effort
into cleaning the data before it gets to the end user,”
he said. “Not a lot has been done on the surface sensor
side over the past two to three years to improve data
quality. Downhole [sensors] are not necessarily better
than surface sensors; they’ve just improved much more
over the past two to three years.”
Digital health check
While those data have been used consistently to reduce
NPT downhole (one of the primary drivers for drilling
automation), the exorbitant costs associated with unex-
pected failures of critical surface equipment cannot be
understated. A single failure on the top drive on a land
26
B2S
S2S
Average: 3.63
NOVOS Well 2
Driller Managing Connections with NOVOS
rig, for instance, can shut down drilling for a day or
longer and cost upward of $120,000 to restore service,
according to the RAPID group.
Typically, the scheduled-based maintenance pro-
grams devised by the original equipment manufac-
turers fail to take into account factors such as specific
operating and environmental conditions and human
errors. Attaching instrumentation to surface equipment
to continuously monitor the useful life remaining and
provide immediate alerts for any operational upsets
can eliminate the budget-draining NPT of incurring
a breakdown while drilling a well, according to Chris
Harshbarger, vice president of digital technology for
Forum Energy Technologies Inc. Harshbarger heads
up the company’s neoteric AMPIX predictive mainte-
nance and condition monitoring systems, which were
rolled out, respectively, in 2018 and earlier this year.
The initiative to engineer a suite of digital technol-
ogies to monitor the health of rig surface equipment
began two years ago, initially with an analysis of the
sensors and controls on catwalks, iron roughnecks and
other equipment in Forum’s portfolio.
“Predictive maintenance has models running in the
background that are based on the physical design [of
the equipment], so we use physics in the beginning
February 2020 | E&P | HartEnergy.com
 COVER STORY:
DRILLING INNOVATIONS
Every rig connected to the AMPIX preventative maintenance
and/or condition maintenance systems are monitored around
the clock in the Houston Remote Monitoring & Diagnostics
Center. (Source: Forum Energy Technologies)
and then we mesh in operating conditions. We com-
bine physics models and data-based models to create
this machine learning algorithm that learns how the
equipment is going to operate and identifies the failure
modes,” he said.
The plug-and-play capabilities of the preventative
maintenance system enable customization to any piece of
surface equipment the operator so desires, with individ-
ual rigs now fitted with anywhere from 20 to 100 sensors.
The dashboard for the predictive maintenance platform
is equipped with a “health meter” that, depending on the
specific equipment, visualizes the hours, cycles or strokes
remaining before major maintenance is required.
“They can plan ahead to fix something, be it a
bearing, motor, gear box on a top drive, a valve, a pis-
ton, a fluid end in a mud pump or other equipment,
rather than having it go out in the middle of a well,”
Harshbarger said. “By pinpointing exactly when some-
thing is going to fail, you can plan whether to start the
next well or shut down for maintenance.”
Meanwhile, the sister condition monitoring system
sends an immediate alert upon identifying an opera-
tional hiccup that signifies an impending failure. Also
included beneath the AMPIX umbrella, the condi-
tion-based monitoring component is largely reserved
for critical surface equipment, such as the top drive,
drawworks and mud pumps, where specialized instru-
mentation primarily measures temperature and vibra-
tion levels as well as pressure and oil quality values.
As for top drives specifically, researchers in the
RAPID group exploit data collected from existing rig
sensors to signal when a failure is approaching. The
data were incorporated in a recently developed phys-
ics-based thermal model, used in combination with a
28
fault detection algorithm, to enable condition-based
monitoring to head off costly failures.
Harshbarger said AMPIX condition monitoring alerts
have come up for everything from looming deteriora-
tions of a gear box or bearings in a top drive to loose
connections. “Another thing we monitor is the air con-
ditioner in the doghouse and power house. If we see
the temperature rise, we let the rig know immediately,
because if the power house gets too hot, those drives will
overwork and shut down, and then you’re not drilling.
There may be something wrong with the compressor,
but usually when they check it out, someone has either
left a door open or something has gotten disconnected.
We’ve saved a ton of NPT that way.”
He cited one operator that conservatively saved more
than $1.5 million in a single year by eliminating failure-
induced NPT across its multirig fleet.
Field to office
Hand in hand with its role in the steady progression of
automated drilling, meteoric advancements in teleme-
try have likewise helped accelerate the transfer of key
personnel from the field to remote operating centers.
Bolstered by improved rig connectivity, MWD hands and
directional drillers are among the latest to replace expo-
sure to sweltering West Texas summers and sub-freezing
North Dakota winters with the comforts of an office and
regular work hours, according to Baker Hughes.
“The decoding of the telemetry we now get from MWD
to surface is much more reliable and stable, so we can
handle control of it at the end of the communications
link, rather than having someone on location,” said John
Macpherson, chief consulting scientist in the company’s
Drilling Technology group in Celle, Germany. “That’s
allowed us to facilitate de-manning at the rig site.”
Dean McCoy, who at the time of this interview was
operations manager for North America Land Remote
Field Operations Centers, said Baker Hughes began look-
ing at establishing remote operations centers to handle
MWD services around 2007, but at the time, communi-
cations between rigs and offices were unacceptably slow.
Given the rapid advancements in rig-to-office commu-
nications networks, the company revisited the concept
in 2011. “We asked every area across North America to
make it work, which they did. So we brought people into
offices to run MWD services remotely,” he said.
However, given area-specific practices and communi-
cation protocols, every location was working on a differ-
ent wavelength, creating an operational gap. “Everyone
had different connectivity rates; some of it was due to
communications and some was rig procedures. People
February 2020 | E&P | HartEnergy.com
 COVER STORY:
DRILLING INNOVATIONS
Former field personnel now work in an office environment
decoding pressure pulses from an MWD tool at Baker Hughes’
Remote Field Operations Center in Oklahoma City. (Source:
Baker Hughes)
were doing things differently. Granted, you need some
fluctuation, depending on where you’re drilling, but we
needed to standardize across our North America Land
region,” he said.
The company did just that in August 2015 by consoli-
dating all of the areas’ remote centers into a centralized
remote operations center in Houston with standardized
procedures, communication protocol and documenta-
tion. The remote MWD business “exploded” in 2018,
which McCoy attributes to clients’ push for improved
per-rig drilling efficiency, safety and cost. “We basically
did more work in 2018 than we did through August
2015 to December 2017 combined. That forced us in
July 2018 to open a second remote operations center in
Oklahoma City,” he said.
The directional drilling side followed suit, as opera-
tors requested directional drillers be moved into their
offices where they could interact with peers as well
as the geologists and other operator personnel. As
opposed to having a single directional driller at the rig
site, assembling a number of directional drillers in one
room sharing insight on different hole sections, for
instance, has helped drill wells faster with better quality
wellbores. “Anything you can do from a [rig site] cabin,
you can do remotely,” McCoy said.
H&P Technologies, for one, has relocated a number
of experienced directional drillers to command cen-
ters in Dallas, Denver and Calgary to provide oversight
of ongoing field operations and ensure consistency is
being met. In the current setup at the Dallas headquar-
ters, six work stations, or pods, equipped with vertical
screens are each capable of constantly monitoring eight
rigs simultaneously.
“We’re kind of like air traffic control, as we watch the
guidance that the bit guidance system comes up, as well
30
as that of the auto slide system,” said Dave Simpson,
manager of the Dallas center. “We watch them execute
the slides and make sure it’s doing things that are not
going to get us into trouble. It minimizes the mistakes
made by human error to maximize the on-bottom time
and minimize the off-bottom time.”
Operators in the Marcellus-Utica Shale play in the
Appalachian Basin were early movers in displacing direc-
tional drillers from the rig site to offices. “In the northeast
[U.S.], we’ve been working with rotary steerable systems,
which are automated to a degree that enables us to move
the directional driller from the well site to a remote cen-
ter,” Baker’s Macpherson said. As of December, more
than 5 MMft of hole have been drilled unmanned across
U.S. basins without a directional driller on site.
“The MWD people are in our remote centers, while
the directional drillers are with the geologists in the cli-
ents’ remote centers, which enables faster decision-mak-
ing and allows us to get really high performance out
of these wells,” Macpherson said. “Having the commu-
nication infrastructure and the software that enables it
really moves us closer to factory-style drilling and get-
ting these wells down faster and faster.”
With directional drillers and MWD personnel validat-
ing that operations can be carried out effectively from
remote locations, it’s only a matter of time before other
subject matter experts (SMEs) are brought into the fold.
“If I have a drilling optimization engineer sitting next to
the directional drillers and geologists, the whole process
is streamlined,” McCoy said. “Then you include reser-
voir navigation and wireline so you can start looking at
future portions of the well, including the completions. It
can be a totally different way of doing business.”
Macpherson pointed out that the field-to-office move-
ment does not so much represent a wholesale cultural
change but rather an organizational shift. “If you look
at it from a manufacturing perspective, you’re basically
moving the SMEs up the decision-making tree and using
that expertise to properly improve the efficiency of the
operation,” he said. “The SMEs have become extremely
valuable in automation, for example, by helping develop
algorithms and roll out training. When we develop these
automation pieces, they take them to the field to make
sure they can actually use what we produce.”
He added, “Your job’s not disappearing; you’re just
changing roles.”
Furthermore, one of the more enduring challenges
facing the industry as the automation wave sweeps
across the unconventional landscape is dealing with the
human factor, in particular, convincing humans that
automation is not a threat to their livelihoods.
February 2020 | E&P | HartEnergy.com

The angst factor
The emergence of robotics and algorithms as preferable
to humans for repetitive and highly inflexible tasks has
generated an understandable measure of angst among
rig floor hands. While the DSA Roadmap conceded
automation, by intent, is meant to decrease the human
population on the rig, automation will not, in and of
itself, be responsible for the wholesale tossing of rig
crews into unemployment lines.
“Most industrial automation experts agree that
a completely autonomous system without direct
human interaction is not a practical goal. This
means that the role of humans at the well site will
not disappear but will change dramatically as tasks
and responsibilities are systematically shifted to auto-
mated machines and remote operating centers,” the
final report concluded.
Nevertheless, introducing any automated technol-
ogy instantly sends up alarms that can make engaging
operational personnel more than a little bit challeng-
HartEnergy.com | E&P | February 2020
COVER STORY:
DRILLING INNOVATIONS
ing. “When you talk about automation in the oil field,
people envisage robots taking their jobs,” says NOV’s
Macleod. “So you have to explain and demonstrate that
this is a system to assist you in the things you already
do. You’re in charge of the system; it just makes your
life easier.”
As H&P Technologies discovered, telling veteran
directional drillers that a significant portion of their job
is being taken over by computers can be an especially
tough sell. “The field guys will say ‘I’m not letting a
box tell me how to do my job.’ They’ll deny at first that
it can even work. Once they see it in operation, they
begin accepting it,” H&P’s Chmela said.
Halliburton’s Marck added, “You don’t automate
jobs; you automate tasks. When you automate the
steering, this allows the directional driller to concen-
trate on ROP optimization, without having to be con-
cerned with the survey or steering direction.”
He concluded, “Some tasks can be automated easily,
but new tasks are also being created.”
31
 COVER STORY:
DRILLING INNOVATIONS
Hardware evolution moving rigs
toward automation revelation
Coupled with software enhancements and machine learning, manned
rigs of today are morphing into autonomous units of tomorrow.
Blake Wright, Senior Editor, Oil and Gas Investor
T he evolution of the land drilling rig has historically
revolved around making these workhorses of the oil
and gas industry more powerful, more capable and more
efficient. The first two challenges are being met through
improved mechanics and robust hardware that have
taken rig capabilities into the stratosphere with so-called
“super-spec” units, complete with 1,500-hp drawworks,
a 750,000-lb hookload rating, 7,500-psi mud circulating
system and multiple well pad capabilities. The last chal-
lenge has been built into both emerging mechanical
designs as well as complex new software initiatives that
are enabling drilling rigs a level of autonomy—and safe,
repeatable functionality—never seen before. Rig hand
functions are being turned over to rig apps that can offer
single-button control over everything from making up
pipe to maximizing engine performance.
Land driller Patterson-UTI runs Cortex, its operating
system for its APEX drilling rigs, and its suite of apps to
control and/or monitor everything from drilling auto-
mation to vibration mitigation. The Genesis app is used
to control the rig’s generators and engines, which now
boasts an eco-friendly hybrid design.
“Eco-Cell is making a hybrid out of our drilling
rig,” said Patterson-UTI CEO Andy Hendricks at
the September 2019 Barclays CEO Energy-Power
Conference. “It is a bank of lithium-ion batteries that
can replace an entire generator system on the rig. It
can store energy when we have extra. Granted, this is
a lot of batteries, and it is a large structure at the well
site. But we’ve been testing this for over a year now, and
we’ve seen improvements in emissions and reduced fuel
usage. It’s a way to run a drilling rig in a hybrid mode.
We can run it off batteries when we need to, or we can
power off diesel if we need to.”
Drilling rigs have come a long way over the past
decade. Manual tasks have been automated. Procedural
tasks have been streamlined. Some rigs can walk, and
more and more rigs now share components that talk to
one another via high-speed data transfers. All of this is
34
leading to a world where the average unconventional
well will be drilled by a fully automated robotic drill-
ing unit. While there are still giant hurdles to clear,
both technological and cultural, a future featuring
unmanned iron in the oil field could become as com-
mon as the smartphone.
Cantankerous casing connections no more
During low points in the oil field’s cyclical nature, talk
between operators and service companies tends to shift
more toward efficiencies—getting the most bang for
fewer dollars—than searching for the next big techno-
logical breakthrough. It becomes more about getting
the most out of what a company has versus plowing
investment dollars into making dreams come true.
While the softening of the onshore rig market in the
U.S. is painful for some, for others it can prove to be a
motivator behind the evolution of drilling equipment.
Rigs have become bigger, faster, more powerful and
smarter in recent years. With that, the push to become
safer and more affordable advances.
Through its 2017 acquisition of Tesco, Nabors
Industries has matured its tubular services offerings
to include added functionality to existing equipment
and a software suite allowing clients to manipulate that
hardware like no other time in history. Using the rig as
its canvas, Nabors is moving the needle on automation
by introducing new ways to move manpower out of the
equation and introduce a safer, streamlined operation.
The focal point centers on the further integration of
the Casing Drive System (CDS) into the driller’s fleet.
“We believe in the future we’re heading toward full
automation,” said Brad Riley, CDS integration champion
at Nabors. “Every major drilling contractor is looking
at the same thing. We’re all looking at ways we can
enhance our product line offering, offer more things to
our customers, and doing so with automation to reduce
the amount of manpower. To be quite honest, in the
casing running portion of it, the more people we can get
away from the rotary table, the better. A lot of the inju-
ries that casing companies see across the Lower 48 come
from running tongs. There are a lot of moving parts. A
February 2020 | E&P | HartEnergy.com
 COVER STORY:
DRILLING INNOVATIONS

lot of pinch points. It is our vision to never have a set of tractor was running integrated casing jobs on 23 rigs: 10
tongs back on a Nabors rig, if possible. Fully integrated in the Permian Basin of West Texas, a couple in both
from surface to production strings, we’ve been highly South and East Texas, a few in North Dakota and one
successful getting some of that done thus far.” in Oklahoma. All of Nabors’ rigs in the continental U.S.
The CDS is a hydraulically actuated tool. A valve bank can support the CDS modifications.
is installed on the rig’s top drive that
matches up with a block on the CDS.
The rig’s hydraulics are plumbed
directly into the tool giving the driller
full control to make up casing connec-
tions. A new software system, developed
by Nabors in concert with subsidiary
Canrig, allows the driller to make up
a connection by touching a single but-
ton. The button engages a cross-thread
detection sequence for which parame-
ters were predetermined and set in the
software. If there is an issue, a signal is
sent to stop the connection makeup,
the pipe can be backed out and the
thread can be checked. If no cross-
thread is detected, the makeup contin-
ues at a predetermined speed. When
the required torque is achieved, the
top drive knows to slow the connection.
Another benefit of this automation is
the integration of autofill, a service that
balances string weight on the fly.
“Whenever companies are making
up pipe, usually they have to stop
maybe four to five different times,
maybe more, in a production string
and fill for 30 minutes to an hour
to be able to get the added string
weight,” Riley explained. “We can
incorporate that into the one-button
setting to where you can autofill your
pipe on the fly. We pump at predeter-
mined strokes into the casing itself.
The pumps shut off as you are convey-
ing pipe down to the rig floor. By the
time you are releasing the tool and
running back up for your next joint of
pipe, there is little to no fluid coming
out of the tool, so you’re not getting
mud all over the rig floor or on any-
thing else.”
To date, Nabors has released the
new CDS system across the Lower 48
and has valve banks installed on 61
rigs. As of early September, the con-

HartEnergy.com | E&P | February 2020 35

 COVER STORY:
DRILLING INNOVATIONS
“We’ve identified the newer rigs as the best candi-
dates because we would have to upgrade some of the
software that is on the rigs,” Riley said. “The biggest
thing that ends up happening is not a structural or
mechanical issue. It is a software upgrade that the older
rigs would need in order to run the system. We are very
pleased with the success we’ve had on the X rigs, the B
rigs and F rigs. We’ve been very pleased with what we’ve
experienced so far on those.”
The system is allowing casing jobs that typically could
call for six hands to be done with just three. The run
times are matching those done with more people, while
the autofill feature is saving more time, usually up to 2
to 3 hours. Rigup times are also quicker.
“For the Nabors plan going forward, we’d love to have
CDS operations on every Nabors rig in the Lower 48,”
Riley said.
Pushing the bit? Get slick
A rig fleet’s higher end is making meaningful advance-
ments toward things such as automation integration.
Specialty service companies have been looking to push
the envelope in other critical areas with tool and soft-
ware advancements that bring in a well faster, safer
Weatherford’s Magnus RSS uses push-the-bit design for precise
directional steering in any environment. (Source: Weatherford)
36
and on budget while also offering the type of advanced
construction and optimal landing efficiency that will
pay dividends into its production phase of life. After
all, a well that hits paydirt is great, but a well that offers
a clear path to the heart of the formation is that much
better. In 2016 Weatherford began looking at customer
needs when it came to rotary steerable systems (RSS)
to get a punch list of requirements that would end up
being the backbone of its Magnus system.
“Most of our engineering over the past three years—
as we perpetually think we are coming out of this
downturn—most of those efforts and R&D investment
have gone into technology where we’ve spent a signif-
icant amount of time with our customers upfront to
understand their drivers and core requirements,” said
Etienne Roux, president of drilling and evaluation at
Weatherford. “We’ve reduced the number of engineer-
ing projects being worked on significantly, took out all
of the ‘nice to have, we’re going to reinvent the toaster’
type things and talked to our customers about what is
actually needed and what their priorities are.”
When it came to RSS, three things that clients were
looking for were the ability to transmit torque to the
drillbit from these larger, more powerful rigs and new
mud motor designs (for motorized RSS applications),
ways to prevent stuck/lost tools downhole, and bet-
ter efficiency and utilization. On paper, Weatherford
started formulating a robust design that was both slick
and modular. Up until that point, the contractor had
never had its own push-the-bit system. The company
invited customers in-house and within 11 months had
an 8.5-in. prototype tool in the market. That first field
test (i.e., drilling a real well) occurred in April 2017 at
a test location in Oklahoma. The first commercial run
with Magnus would happen a year later.
“We designed a tool that is very slick,” Roux said.
“We have not lost a tool to date in hole. Not a single
Magnus tool has been lost, and so with a large fleet
of the 6.75-inch-sized tools deployed in the U.S. and
globally, we feel like we’ve achieved that key require-
ment. To talk about what’s new and the technology,
the control system resolves for the spatial orientation
of the tool at a rate that is pretty much industry-lead-
ing and therefore drills a very smooth well and a wide
variety of downhole conditions.
“We actually put our imaging tools behind these tools
to show our customers with wire diagrams how the wells
are being drilled. Why can I say ours is smoother? We’re
the only company with the three pads of the rotary steer-
able tool completely independently actuated combined
with the continuous rotation of the system. Any other
February 2020 | E&P | HartEnergy.com
 COVER STORY:
DRILLING INNOVATIONS

push-the-bit system as it rotates and drills those

Weatherford’s Magnus RSS features a fully independent pad control for
on-target execution and true-inclination hold. (Source: Weatherford)
pads are going to fire all the time. With ours, the
way the mud is directed to the pad is what we
call true independent control, and we designed
it like that for three reasons—to be able to have
the smoother wellbore, to be able to switch on
or off the pads from surface during the drilling
process (i.e., when drilling out the shoe) and
also our tool is modular. If that tool comes out
of the hole and one of those pads needed to be
replaced, I don’t necessarily have to send it to a
repair center. I can courier a control module to
the well site, snap it back into the collar, function
test it and be back drilling again. This is truly
differentiating. It helps our turnaround speed. It
helps with the way we plan and drill wells.”
Weatherford has embraced the fact that RSS
has become commoditized. “There is no point
in fighting it. The oil field is becoming com-
moditized. Customers look at their economics.
They want to throw cash off. They need tech-
nology that is going to enable them to produce
at the most efficient rate. They don’t want to
pay $40,000 per day for a rotary steerable tool
anymore, which in some cases on land is two-
thirds of the day rate of the rig. It is just not
going to happen,” Roux continued.
“Everybody is piling into the RSS tool sup-
ply market. The rig contractors, independent
service contractors and private-equity back
individuals all have an RSS tool now that they
can rent out or bundle with say the rig contract
or other discreet services (with varying degrees
of success). I’m not even going to fight that.
Weatherford will have fit-for-purpose technology
whether you’re a rig contractor, an operator or
an independent provider. You take the technol-
ogy to your customer, which most of the time
is our customer, and deliver the well. Magnus
is out now with the 6.75-inch fleet that drills in
83⁄8-inch to 8¾-inch sections. We are commer-
cially drilling with our 9.5-inch tool in the U.S.,
Mexico and Middle East (drilling 12.25-inch sec-
tions). We’ve just released our 11-inch tool that
drills all the way up to 17.5-inch and, ultimately,
will be drilling hole sizes beyond 17.5 inches
as well. The 4.75-inch version of Magnus [was
scheduled to] hit the market toward the end of
the fourth quarter [of 2019],” Roux said.
Since the launch of Magnus, the technology
has been deployed in a wide range of land

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 COVER STORY:
DRILLING INNOVATIONS
and offshore applications globally, including long
24,000-plus-ft laterals in the Permian Basin, various U.S.
and Canadian land plays, Latin America, Europe and
the Middle East.
Rise of the robot rigs
The future is always in motion, flush with both the best
kinds of optimism and the worst kinds of uncertainty.
When it comes to the land drilling fleet, one that is
emerging quickly onto the scene is the integration and
implementation of increasing automation. Tasks once
performed by human hands are now being conducted
by machines. This is happening for two main reasons:
the technology to achieve successful automation is here
and the drives toward increased safety and more predict-
able, lower cost wells. The assimilation of automation
has been a deliberate and thoughtful task throughout
H&P has been bolstering its technology portfolio recently,
including the August 2019 acquisition of DrillScan, a provider
of drilling engineering software, well engineering services and
training for the oil and gas industry. (Source: H&P)
40
the drilling industry. Companies have been taking
measured, yet meaningful steps introducing different
facets of automation on the journey toward the first fully
robotic rig.
“I don’t think it is a binary thing where we can just
jump to fully automated rigs,” said Shawn DeVerse, vice
president of commercial strategy at H&P. “We have the
technology today to automate a lot of actions and deci-
sions being handled by humans. To leverage that at a
greater scale, it requires a cultural shift in the industry.
It requires people to change their art or their practice.
It is more of a change management thing or a cultural
thing versus executive commitment or money.”
Machine learning, the Internet of Things and all of
these 21st-century buzzwords are contributing to the
notion that one day in the not-too-distant future the
industry will have the option to contract a fully auto-
mated drilling rig to work on its programs. Not unlike
the changes going on inside the automotive business
with the new intelligence packages (e.g., lane assist,
adaptive cruise control, auto-braking, etc.), the drilling
industry is approaching the equivalent of the driver-
less car. But when does what some consider a novelty
become a fully realized tool of the trade?
“The time frame by which we measure success is a
key aspect,” DeVerse said. “Some technology yields an
immediate benefit you can see and measure instantly.
That time of technology is quickly adopted because the
value proposition is clearly demonstrated in the results.
At the same time, those types of technologies are rarely
game-changing and are usually incremental improve-
ments to the process. When we talk about technologies
that are disruptive or transformative, those are the ones
that are often difficult to measure success. A lot of the
benefits tend to be somewhat intangible because we
don’t have data to measure those metrics, or sometimes
there are many different variables involved making it
hard to extract the one you are trying to evaluate and
compare that to success. Other times, we don’t even
know what the true value is going to be until actually
adopting the technology. When we moved from flip
phones to smartphones, we didn’t recognize or see that
it would completely change the way people conduct
their lives. You are just not aware of that benefit. It is
hard to predict.”
DeVerse continued, “From an autonomous drilling
standpoint, there are some very direct, measurable
benefits such as lower costs with de-manning and per-
formance efficiencies by having more consistencies with
your slide execution or a lower tool failure rate. Again,
those are the smaller benefits. To truly see the transfor-
February 2020 | E&P | HartEnergy.com
 COVER STORY:
DRILLING INNOVATIONS
H&P’s Flex5 rigs are designed to address extended-reach horizontal wells for multiwell
pad development of unconventional resources. (Source: H&P)
mation, you have to be in it for the long term and really
ride through this on a conceptual basis before really big
impacts occur.
“The challenge right now is there is so much scru-
tiny on the oil and gas industry to prove immediate
results and return on investments,” he said. “It is hard
on the customers to invest in these things where the
benefit isn’t clear or it is very long term. It creates this
challenge—how do we, as a solutions company, invest
and create these solutions that require real investment,
real resource and real attention while at the same time
demonstrate the value to our customers in a way that
they can ride this journey with us and commit to the
long term. That is a very difficult thing to achieve.”
Industry appetite is a major roadblock on the path
to robotic rigs. Both contractors and clients must be
committed to the changes ahead, which will likely come
with a fair share of early struggles. Working through the
maturation process will take time and money. Operators
and service companies must work together and be inter-
dependent on one another for progress to occur.
“If you look at where we’re going next, which is leading
into our autonomous drilling platform, you start to take
these automated components and integrate them in a
42
way that they become synergistic,” DeVerse
said. “Then you start to optimize the whole
workflow. You start incorporating all of the
different decision-making components—
well planning on the fly, geosteering, drill-
ing optimization—with all of these things
together and you start to create a truly opti-
mized state.”
The early evolution toward full auto-
mation focused on the hardware itself.
Today, the industry is focused on the
intelligence, the decision-making that
drives the actual control of the drilling rig
and trying to integrate that entire drilling
workflow into one cohesive process. When
you look at it in terms of steps, you have
data input that comes from your well plan,
and then you have real-time data telling
information about wellbore geometry and
rock characteristics. There are multiple
sources of input. Historically, the decision-
making process has been fragmented into
numerous specialty disciplines (i.e., direc-
tional drillers, mud engineers, drilling
engineers and company men) with every-
one using different sets of data to drive
the decision-making process.
“Whenever you try to optimize this in a linear fashion,
you don’t always get the best outcome,” DeVerse said.
“When you optimize one step in the process, it usually
comes at the expense of another step down the line or
something that’s happening in parallel. The way we’re
approaching this problem is to take all of these sources
of information and evaluate them holistically. Whenever
we leverage computer intelligence, we can actually
handle all of these different streams of information.
The way we are tackling the decision-making process is
we try to simulate what impact each decision point or
action has on the economics of the wellbore.”
Higher predictability and efficiency will drive profit
and return on investment for operators. This has been
a key driver to the levels of automation achieved by the
industry to date.
“When you start evaluating the drilling process, the
rig starts to become a key that can unlock greater eco-
nomic potential in the wellbore,” DeVerse said. “There
are definitely some technologies we are working on that
will take this to the next level [and] that will definitely
be game-changing from our belief. Our anticipation is
when we come out with those, it will drive adoption
much faster than what we see today.”
February 2020 | E&P | HartEnergy.com
 COVER STORY:
DRILLING INNOVATIONS
Innovation grows exponentially for
downhole drilling tools
The latest in rotary steerable systems, drillbits, expandable liners, LWD and unconventional
logging tools is cutting costs and providing valuable downhole data to operators.
Scott Weeden, Contributing Editor
M anufacturers of LWD tools are expanding the lim-
its of innovation in meeting demands from oper-
ators for more detailed formation data that will allow
them to respond to changes in the drilling path and
make corrections while drilling.
Other innovations include expandable liners that
effectively extend already installed liners without the
loss of a casing point. Drillbits also are being improved
with hydraulic technology that increases durability and
provides freedom in bit design.
Rotary steerable systems (RSS) also are being
designed for smaller diameters to meet operator
demand. The manufacturers are expanding the tech-
nology while at the same time lowering costs to benefit
the operators.
“The Schlumberger IriSphere look-ahead-while-drill-
ing service was developed as the answer to our custom-
ers’ need to reduce drilling risks and improve drilling
efficiency through the detection of formation features
ahead of the bit. Customers look for technology that
enables them to look ahead of the bit so they can
manage drilling risks proactively instead of reactively.
Drillers can identify locations of hazards like the bot-
tom of a salt layer or the top of a depleted or overpres-
sured zone to avoid stuck pipe, mud losses and kicks by
having look-ahead capability,” said Vera Krissetiawati
Wibowo, resistivity product champion for Drilling and
Measurements at Schlumberger.
Since early 2018, National Oilwell Varco (NOV) has
significantly changed its point-the-bit RSS into its push-
the-bit VectorEDGE RSS. “Looking into 2020, our engi-
neers have started preliminary work on VectorEDGE
500, a smaller version of the current tool. The 500
will be useful for 57⁄8-inch to 63⁄8-inch holes,” said Kirby
Wedewer, product line director for RSS for NOV.
Enventure Global Technology is developing its latest
innovation in expandable liners—SameDrift technol-
ogy, according to Eric Connor, chief R&D engineer
for Enventure. “This is what we call monodiameter or
44
monobore. When you need another casing point and
don’t want to lose any diameter, the monodiameter
means we can achieve the same drift as the casing string
above in an openhole clad or tie back to previous casing
string. The biggest benefit is being able to have an addi-
tional casing point without losing inside diameter [ID].”
Hydraulic improvements in Ulterra’s SplitBlade bit
have delivered on the promise of improved cuttings evac-
uation with durability and cooling improvements for the
cutter, according to Christopher Casad, innovation man-
ager for Ulterra. “We saw the durability improvement
because of the new degree of engineering freedom we
now have with SplitBlade bit designs. We can put cutters
in new places and orientations that we couldn’t before
because of actual physical limitation,” he said.
Imagine being able to “see” up to 225 ft from the bot-
tomhole assembly (BHA) in any direction while drilling.
That is what Halliburton Sperry Drilling’s EarthStar
LWD ultradeep resistivity service provides. “You can pro-
duce multiple results at the same time from the tool to
both steer the well and map the other zones around the
wellbore simultaneously,” said Nigel Clegg, Halliburton
product champion. “We’re able to identify hazards and
changes in geology as quickly as possible.”
From its HALO RSS to its Unconventional
Logging Tool (ULT) to its BitSub, Scientific Drilling
International (SDI) is doing its best to provide disrup-
tive technology to the downhole drilling industry, said
Doug McGregor, senior vice president for the drilling
and measurements product lines at SDI. “The latest
technology that is really going to make some noise in
the market is the ULT. We’ve been working on this for
about two and a half years. We’re going to field-test
mode with our first copy in [September 2019].” As with
all these technologies, SDI is pushing the boundaries
to provide operators the data and tools needed to drill
and produce, especially shale wells.
Look-ahead detection of hazards
The technology behind the IriSphere look-ahead-
while-drilling service is based on electromagnetic (EM)
directional resistivity. The look-ahead detection depends
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 COVER STORY:
DRILLING INNOVATIONS
Look
Behind
Receiver Sub
Receiver Sub
Look
Around
Receiver Sub
Resistivity Tool
Transmitter Sub
Look
Ahead
Target Formation
The IriSphere look-ahead capability is delivered while drilling in
real time by using multifrequency transmitter and multireceiver
directional subs. EM signals are sent from the transmitter into the
formation and retrieved by the receivers to enable the enhanced
look-ahead sensitivity and resistivity profiles.
(Source: Schlumberger)
on the conductivity contrast on where the BHA is and
the formation ahead of it and other parameters. Other
drilling targets can be identified as long as there is con-
ductivity contrast, Schlumberger’s Wibowo said.
The IriSphere service utilizes different measurements
from the deep EM resistivity. “We have symmetrized
directional measurements with full directionality for
boundary, antisymmetrized direction measurements
with high sensitivity toward formation dip and deep
resistivity measurements that are sensitive to resistivity,”
she continued.
The IriSphere service uses EM propagation-based
deep directional resistivity measurements that detect
formation boundaries ahead of the bit. The system uses
a deep directional transmitter combined with either two
or three receivers and is applicable for hole sizes from
55⁄8 in. to 16 in. Prejob modeling is crucial to under-
standing reservoir issues and sensitivities to determine
how far the customer can look ahead of the bit.
46
“It is key to properly space the transmitter and
receivers when planning the BHA to obtain the desired
sensitivity. The further we space the transmitter and
receivers, the further the signal propagates,” Wibowo
said. “[Prejob modeling] will determine which specific
frequencies on the measurements will be transmitted
in real time, and as such, specific configuration files
will be created for a specific job environment. In the
optimal environments where the highest speed of mud
pulse telemetry transmission is allowed and with the
inversion running in seconds, the tracking system will
be able to show boundaries detection without delay.”
The data transmission is done through standard mud
pulse telemetry or through wired drillpipe. “When
using mud pulse telemetry, the data transmission will
depend on the telemetry rate (bit per seconds) and the
complexity of the BHA,” Wibowo said.
The service “enables detection of formation bound-
aries and resistivity profile ahead of the bit. By under-
standing what is in front of the bit without having
to penetrate it, the IriSphere service can assist the
geostopping decision to make sure that we stop in the
right place, before penetrating the undesired zone or
stopping in the right reservoir target that eventually will
lead into optimal production,” she continued.
In one success story, the service detected drilling haz-
ards in front of the bit. “We have one operator offshore
China where we integrated the IriSphere service with a
standard pore pressure prediction workflow, enabling
the customer to avoid a high-pressure formation zone.
The result was that this not only improved the rate of
penetration but overall drilling efficiency of the well,”
Wibowo said.
Variable steering aggressivity, inclination
hold and higher rpm for RSS
According to NOV’s Wedewer, the VectorEDGE is spe-
cifically designed for cost-effective, performance drilling
largely focused on horizontal sections in unconventional
plays in North America.
“Eighteen months ago we started changing the
RSS to a push-the-bit system. The main components
for toolface control remain the same; however, the
VectorEDGE is a very different tool,” he said. The
improvements include variable steering aggressivity.
“We can vary the steering from 0% to 100%. That was
something that we weren’t able to do in such fine incre-
ments,” he continued.
Another improvement was to increase the dogleg
capability, which is now at 5 degrees per 100 ft, which
meets the needs of the unconventional lateral market.
February 2020 | E&P | HartEnergy.com

As operators continue to push
for higher and higher ROP, rpm
has become a main lever. “We
recognized the need to enable our
customers to continue to push their
performance. We are now stating in
our spec sheet that VectorEDGE is
good past 250 rpm. We are proba-
bly going to take that a little farther
to 300 rpm,” he said.
One of the issues that stopped
the company from increasing
the rpm was face stick/slip. “The
toolface control loses its effi-
ciency dramatically with stick/
slip. Obviously, at higher rpm, the VectorEDGE is NOV’s low-cost RSS designed to improve drilling performance. (Source: NOV)
challenge becomes even bigger.
We managed to mitigate those issues with stick/slip
in the higher rpms. That’s especially important in the
Northeast where there are expectations for higher string
rpm, whether it comes from a drilling motor or the top
drive,” Wedewer continued.
NOV also designed an automatic inclination hold
mode, which prior to 2019 didn’t exist. “That is a
closed-loop function. Let’s say you’re drilling a horizon-
tal well at 89.5 degrees. You program 89.5 degrees into
the laptop and send a downlink. The tool recognizes
and confirms the downlink, and it then automatically
holds 89.5 degrees with no intervention from the sur-
face. It is constantly reading the inclination at the bit
and making corrections as required. No human inter-
vention from the surface is required,” he explained.
Another improvement in 2019 was real-time feedback.
Prior to 2019 the company did not have the capability
to verify downlinks, which affects the majority of RSS
tools on the market. “Now the moment the tool receives
a downlink from the surface, it will uplink confirmation
that the message was received loud and clear. Other
data uplinked include diagnostics so you know how
everything is functioning,” Wedewer said.
In 2019 NOV worked on shorter downlinks for the
tool at its test rig in Navasota, Texas, in an effort to elim-
inate any unnecessary downtime from the drilling oper-
ation. “Right now it takes 7 minutes to downlink, and we
aim to get that down under 5 minutes. Those tests are
going well,” he said. “We are also working on an auto-
matic azimuth hold in addition to the inclination hold.”
In 2020 NOV’s engineers started preliminary
work on VectorEDGE 500 for smaller hole sizes.
“Currently The EDGE 650 has one of the largest hole-
size ranges on the market for a 6½-inch tool. We are
HartEnergy.com | E&P | February 2020
COVER STORY:
DRILLING INNOVATIONS
one of the only suppliers that can drill 77⁄8-inch holes
with an RSS. We are looking to promote this tool capa-
bility,” Wedewer said.
“Some operators drill slimhole laterals and would
benefit from access to low-cost RSS technology in the
57⁄8-inch to 63⁄8-inch hole sizes, so we have commenced
the development of the VectorEDGE 500, which will be
the next step-down in size,” he said.
Isolate trouble zones without losing ID
By taking its expandable liner technology to the
next level, Enventure Global Technology is using its
SameDrift technology to allow an operator to isolate a
low- or high-pressure zone and maintain the same bore
diameter after the zone is isolated, Connor said.
“We are finding this is hitting a sweet spot. There has
been demand in the industry for this technology—the
value of adding a casing point without changing the ID
is a no-brainer and opens up more opportunities in well
construction and production,” he said.
The company is doing 6½-in. drift and 12¼-in. drift
development and a little farther than that would be
8½-in. drift. “There are applications in those sizes and
others, and we’re seeing a lot of customer interest to
isolate trouble zones and enable enhanced oil recovery
in long step-out target reservoirs,” Connor continued.
The maximum run length is targeted for the 3,000-ft
to 5,000-ft range. “Most of the applications will be closer
to 1,000-foot segments,” he added. It can be used for
horizontal wells and is good for any inclination.
“We have expandable tubulars we install that reduce
the diameter slightly from the prior base casing. That has
been our standard technology for years. What this does
differently is that it expands beyond the drift of what the
47
 COVER STORY:
DRILLING INNOVATIONS
With its SameDrift tubular technology, Enventure can provide
another casing point without losing any diameter. This can be
put in clad or tied-back liner and can achieve the same drift
that was there before. (Source: Enventure Global)
tubulars were passed through, allowing the operator to
continue to use the same BHA in that section. You don’t
have to step down to another size,” Connor explained.
The liners are run with the expansion tool or cone,
which acts as the running tool to get the liner in the
hole and then acts as the expansion tool to make the
liner bigger. “You pull all that expansion equipment
out, and you leave the expanded liner behind,” he said.
The main difference between its standard technology
and the SameDrift is what the company calls its expan-
sion ratio, which is the amount of expansion relative to
its ID. “That expansion ratio needs to be big enough
that you go from passing through a certain drift to
expanding it to that same drift,” he said.
Connor emphasized that the biggest benefit is being
able to have an additional casing point and end up with
48
the same size liner. “Every time you set a casing string
or liner you reduce the diameter. If you have too many
of those casing points, you either have to start the well
really big or you have to live with really small comple-
tions for your production,” he said. “When you can add
a liner without losing any diameter, that’s a huge bene-
fit in terms of cost of drilling the well and also dealing
with uncertainty in the drilling. A lot of times when you
encounter trouble that you didn’t expect or it is at a dif-
ferent location than you expected, you end up burning
a casing point.”
The SameDrift technology also can be used to install
openhole clads, where the tubular expands against the
wellbore but doesn’t tie back to the previous base cas-
ing. In fact, multiple clads can be installed in the same
hole section, due to the ability of the unexpanded clad
to pass through previously expanded SameDrift clads.
Another benefit of SameDrift is improved cementing.
“When you use standard drilling liners or choose not to
isolate a loss zone at all, and eventually you install sur-
face casing that has to be pressure containing and last
a long time, the cementing of that subsequent casing is
compromised. The cement job is not very good because
you have either a very restricted annulus or you are
trying to cement when you’re suffering losses,” Connor
said. “When you don’t get the good cement job you
wanted, that can affect the performance of the well, and
it can hinder production years down the road.”
By using SameDrift “when you cement the subsequent
casing, you’re going to have much lower equivalent
circulation density. You have a much better passageway,
and the cement goes where you want it and is not lost
to the formation,” he said.
New bit hydraulics provide flexibility
In developing its new SplitBlade bit, Ulterra started by
looking at bit damage. There is various bit damage you
can get whether to the cutters, blades or hydraulic sys-
tem. In looking at which one is the most problematic,
the company reduced it to the cutters heating up, which
leads to a lot of cutter damage, Ulterra’s Casad said.
“We focused on how we could improve cutter cooling
on the bit. Focusing on the hydraulics and in turn the
cuttings evacuation, and introducing the SplitBlade
technology, allowed us to meet our goals and improve
cuttings evacuation by creating a dual-channel effect.
It is a double-barrel solution for hydraulics where basi-
cally on one blade of the bit you are able to get two
different channels of evacuation in the center of the
bit and from the shoulder of the bit to the outside,” he
continued. “By creating that double channel effect, we
February 2020 | E&P | HartEnergy.com

found evacuation overall to be improved for the entire
bit and left the cone sharper and in better condition to
give you higher rate of penetration and better steerabil-
ity. It also left the shoulder in better condition to do all
the heavy lifting.”
Ulterra is past the first full year of having the prod-
uct in the field and has already drilled more than 25
MMft with the SplitBlade. “There are over 200 different
designs in our system right now. Operators are using it
in all different applications, including vertical, interme-
diate, curves, laterals, combined curves and laterals, and
even full monobore vertical, curve and lateral wells in
basins across the world,” Casad said.
The company noticed some additional benefits from
the technology. “There was a technique we had in cre-
ating that double-barrel effect on the primary blade by
taking the middle of the bit and rotating the blade for-
ward. That gave us better mechanical advantage in how
the bit transmits torque into the formation. You have a
much smoother transition of the torque, which means
you can have more reliability, it is more predictable and
it will react better to your input,” he said.
In PDC bit design, the cutters sit side by side but can
only get so close because, like an iceberg, the cutters
are a little bigger under the surface due to how the cut-
ter substrates are mechanically locked into the bit.
“That limits the placement of the actual cutting dia-
mond. It is because of what we’re doing with the blade
geometry that has allowed us to do something I call
Ulterra’s SplitBlade PDC drillbit with advanced hydraulics and
layout is designed for maximum performance. (Source: Ulterra)
HartEnergy.com | E&P | February 2020
COVER STORY:
DRILLING INNOVATIONS
cutter overlap. We’re able to take two adjacent cutters
that would normally be at their spacing limit and over-
lap them to the point where they can even maintain the
same physical area during drilling,” he explained.
That design provides durability on the nose of the bit.
“If you’re drilling through interbedded formations or
transitional formations where you are going back and
forth between hard spots like stringers, the nose of the
bit is going to be the first part of the bit that penetrates
those formations. If the nose of the bit is stronger,
you’re able to mitigate and protect against that varying
condition,” Casad continued.
The technology provides channels mainly on the
primary blade. If there is a six-bladed bit, there can
be three instances of SplitBlade around it. “Ulterra
and its drillbits are very responsive to each individual
customer need and each application. Just because you
can put it on three primary blades doesn’t mean you
have to. You can get three blades to center and have
three SplitBlades in that bit. In certain situations it
might be better to drop to two blades and only have two
SplitBlades,” he said.
Geosteering, geomapping and geostopping
The EarthStar LWD is an EM tool that measures the EM
field around the BHA while drilling. Part of the tool trans-
mits and another part receives. Previously, tools could see
20 ft from the wellbore, while this tool has successfully
worked up to 225 ft, according to Halliburton’s Clegg.
Different wells have different priorities. “The idea is
to discuss with the customer where exactly they want
the well. Maybe it should be placed really close to the
top of the reservoir to allow them to produce the attic
oil, etc. For those circumstances, we do what is called
geosteering,” he explained.
“What we do is use the inversion results to identify
changes in the geology that were not accounted for in
the well plan before the well started and then react to
them as we go. If the top of the reservoir suddenly starts
to dip down steeply, we would alter the well path down
early to make sure that we didn’t exit the reservoir.
That is where the advantage of increased depth investi-
gation helps,” Clegg said.
Geomapping is the same sort of process in which
you’re placing the well in a particular path in the res-
ervoir while at the same time assessing the formation
farther away. “Say there is a second sandstone and also
potentially a reservoir. If you can see that with your
ultradeep resistivity tool before you drill that second
well, you can actually plan that well path in a much
more sophisticated way,” he said. “Knowing exactly
49
 COVER STORY:
DRILLING INNOVATIONS
Halliburton’s EarthStar service delivers 3-D inversion, which is a true representation of
the reservoir for accurate well placement. (Source: Halliburton)
where it is, you can plan your well path to intersect it to
get the optimal production out of it.”
The EarthStar service extends the sensitive range up
to 10 times farther from the wellbore than previously
possible. It can illuminate and map reservoir and fluid
boundaries up to 225 ft from the wellbore. “You have
to be a little careful when using these depths since they
are dependent to a degree on the resistivity in the for-
mation. If you are in a good, thick reservoir with good
resistivity then you can see a high depth of investiga-
tion,” Clegg said.
EarthStar is an omnidirectional tool that has both
transmitters and receivers. The transmitters are stag-
gered while the receivers are oriented. As the tool
rotates, it records data and ascribes those to a distant
point an angle away from the wellbore.
“What you end up with are data all the way around
the wellbore stored for each measurement point. That
allows you to create azimuth images all around the well-
bore and also record the field resistivity,” he said. “You
need an omnidirectional source to be able to create a
3-D inversion of the geology as you’re drilling.”
Getting data processed quickly is key to the successful
use of the data. “It has to be a matter of minutes from
measuring data to recording data to receiving data to
processing data at the surface because every minute the
well is drilling farther. There is a significant change in
location so you need to be able to respond immediately.
Effectively it is a real-time process,” Clegg explained.
“In terms of the success of the field, what we do on the
surface is collect data from EarthStar and all other tools
in the BHA. We then produce a model to show exactly
where the well is placed, what the well is doing at that
50
point and exactly what we think the
structure is likely to do for the rest of
the well,” he continued. “With our geo-
steering geologists and the customer’s
operation geologists, we can decide what
the best option is. There is a lot involved
in making sure the well is successful.”
Geostopping is the other application,
which can detect target zones early and
land the production string in a single
drilling run. “Normally when you are
geostopping, you are just drilling down
to the landing section. At the same time
you are stopping the well, you can start
to map the reservoir,” he said.
The application allows an operator to
drill to casing points immediately above
critical reservoir boundaries to avoid
risks such as overpressured zones.
Logging tool for unconventional reservoirs
“There is always risk in drilling and completing any well.
Operators just can’t afford to lose production in this
market of $50-per-barrel oil, so why frac a zone that is
not going to produce?” SDI’s McGregor asked.
Geophysicists, petrophysicists and completion engi-
neers are starved for information. When something
goes wrong with geosteering or fracturing, which can
cost an operator a lot of oil, there is often not enough
information to know what went wrong.
Enter the ULT, a tool that was “purposely designed
and built for the unconventional market,” he said.
“This tool provides data that allow operators to opti-
mize well placement and engineer completions for
maximum production.”
It has five sensors built into the tool. It has an azi-
muthal gamma ray and, as part of that, a spectral
gamma ray so users can get real-time potassium, ura-
nium and thorium measurements. The ULT also has
azimuthal sonic, high-resolution ultrasonic borehole
imager/caliper, triaxial vibration and near-bit inclina-
tion sensors.
“This is a great geosteering tool for the geology and
petrophysics departments. It aids in looking for ura-
nium content to help analyze where to get your total
organic content,” McGregor said. “What differentiates
it from other tools out there is that we’ve developed a
shorter, integrated tool for today’s shale market.”
SDI released its HALO RSS in September 2018. The
tool includes an automatic azimuth and inclination
hold feature that can lock in the direction and the incli-
February 2020 | E&P | HartEnergy.com
 COVER STORY:
DRILLING INNOVATIONS

than the drilling

of the well, while
the cost of run-
ning these tools
will be less than
that of one frac
stage. Utilizing the
SDI HALO RSS
in conjunction
with the ULT can
address the needs
of everyone on the
operator’s asset
team,” he said.
“We have heard
anecdotes from
the customers that
claim some peo-
ple are weaving
back and forth
on the line by
plus or minus 60
When SDI’s HALO high-build-rate RSS is combined feet. If your wells
with its ULT, an operator can drill a straight azimuth are wandering all
line and follow the stratigraphy for production. over the place, the
(Source: Scientific Drilling International) potential error
in the cone of
uncertainty can be
nation per the well plan or geosteering requirements. It quite large as you get out 10,000 feet to 15,000 feet hor-
also features directional sensors closer to the bit. izontally. Going plus or minus 60 feet and then plus or
“Our first directional sensor is within 6 feet of the bit. minus 100 feet or 200 feet leads to a cone of uncertainty
We’ve drilled a lot of wells, and we are consistently plus at TD [total depth] where you can suffer frac hits and
or minus 5 feet from the planned well path,” McGregor communicate between your wellbores.”
said. “The HALO comes assembled as one 31-foot tool By having an RSS with built-in 3-D directional nav-
that contains steering unit, generator, MWD, azimuthal igation, users can achieve better spacing and avoid
gamma ray sensors and annular pressure sensors. communicating with wells that have already been frac-
Operators can downlink to the tool to change direction tured. “The HALO/ULT combination is the perfect
or inclination while drilling, and the tool is capable of asset to continue to improve and optimize, getting the
building up to a 15-degree dogleg curve.” best frac and most production out of your well because
He continued, “When combined with the ULT, you now have quality information about the formation
which gives you spectral gamma ray, sonic, rock that is inexpensive and obtained with minimal risk,”
strength, images and fractures, you can drill a straight McGregor said.
azimuth line and follow the stratigraphy for produc- To enhance the positioning of lateral wells drilled
tion. You’re looking for fractures and orientation to with mud motors, SDI also has released the BitSub, a
complete the well. You can geosteer based on the 29-in.-long inclination, vibration and azimuthal gamma
rock properties.” ray sensor placed directly above a bit that uses EM
The company is ramping up to build on this technol- short-hop telemetry to communicate across standard
ogy. “This will change the way people do completions. mud motors. “The BitSub gives us immediate, at-bit
Most operators frac geometrically without regard for information on wellbore trajectory and stratigraphic
variations in rock properties that can leave large parts of position and can be utilized in a 4¾-inch or 6½-inch
stages unstimulated. Today’s frac operations cost more BHA,” he said.

HartEnergy.com | E&P | February 2020 51

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HartEnergy.com | E&P | February 2020 53

 COVER STORY:
DRILLING INNOVATIONS
Multilaterals provide an
unconventional approach to
shale reservoirs
A pilot project in a major shale play represents one of the first attempts to measure how
multilateral wells could deliver cost efficiencies in unconventional fields.
Mauricio Sevilla, Eric Shafer, Greg Gill, Ian Kress and
Nestor Sanchez, ConocoPhillips; and David Wilcox and
Stefano Cappiello, Halliburton
W ith multilateral technology, operators can con-
struct multiple horizontal wellbores that branch
out from a single main wellbore, allowing them to confi-
dently reenter existing wells to add laterals that increase
reserves while also minimizing investment. While multi-
lateral technology is commonly used in conventional off-
shore environments, this article will discuss a pilot well
project in a major U.S. shale play that represented one
of the first attempts to measure how multilateral wells
could deliver the same drilling and well cost efficiencies
in complex and challenging unconventional fields.
Multilateral wells have not yet been widely adopted for
unconventionals, but they have actually been used in the
oil and gas industry for decades, with the first recorded
multilateral well dating back to 1953. Unconventional
wells need to be quickly and economically brought to
production, with short project cycle times and relatively
quick returns on investment. The pilot project’s aim was
to determine if multilateral technology could be cost-
effective in an unconventional environment. For each
phase of the project, multilateral technology efficiencies
and shortcomings were recorded and compared to cur-
rent U.S. shale play metrics.
Multilateral design methodology
Drilling the multilateral pilot well required modi-
fications to the operator’s typical design method-
ology. Traditional wells in the basin employed the
plug-and-perforation (PNP) method for stimulation—
running frac plugs and wireline guns to depth to isolate
and perforate the casing for each stage (a possibly huge
task, as wells can have up to 60 stages in a single lateral).
This completion practice required full casing drift
access to each lateral to allow the passage of wireline
tools and 10,000-psi pressure ratings to stimulate the
54
well. The lateral trajectories were landed in the same
reservoir horizon to mimic common well spacing used
in the basin. To best compare production, the pilot well
was designed to flow each lateral independently and
then to commingle their output at peak production.
A monobore design was used for well construction.
The surface casing was run deep enough to protect the
local aquifers. This was followed by an openhole section
that was drilled from the surface to the planned total
depth (TD). Once the open hole was drilled, 5½-in.
casing was installed from the surface to TD and then
cemented in place.
The multilateral well required altering the design
to accommodate building the downhole junction—a
fork in the wellbore trajectory that allowed two laterals
(Lateral A and Lateral B) to be branched apart from
the main bore. An intermediate string was necessary to
accommodate this junction. This changed the wellbore
from a monobore design to a three-string casing design
consisting of surface, intermediate and production
casing. A window was milled in the intermediate casing
for the second horizontal leg. A frac string was run into
each lateral during stimulation to protect the junction
from fracture pressures.
Junction selection
Unconventional multilaterals would typically be tech-
nology advancement of multilaterals (TAML) Level 2,
Level 3 or Level 4 junctions. Employing temporary iso-
lation (using the frac string for stimulation) emulated a
Level 5 multilateral completion system to allow selective
fracturing of each lateral. In a Level 2 multilateral well,
the main wellbore is cased and cemented, while the
lateral is an open hole or drop-off liner without connec-
tion to the junction. Level 3 junctions begin as Level 2
junctions with the main bore cased and cemented. The
lateral liner is mechanically anchored to the main bore,
but the junction is not hydraulically sealed. Level 4 junc-
tions provide mechanical and limited hydraulic integrity
February 2020 | E&P | HartEnergy.com
 COVER STORY:
DRILLING INNOVATIONS
by cementing the lateral liner, which is ideal for applica-
tions where liquid and/or solids production can be iso-
lated using cement. Once the lateral liner is cemented,
the lateral remnant inside the main bore is removed via
a washover assembly.
In the pilot well, there were concerns about leaving
an openhole section outside the window as per a Level
2 well scenario, where the formation could have col-
lapsed and thus prevented the frac string from landing
inside the polished bore receptacle (PBR). This con-
cern and key advantages of TAML Level 4 junctions led
to the pilot project being designed as a stacked TAML
Level 4 dual-lateral well.
For this well, the two laterals were to be drilled
to the targeted depth, with each lateral being inde-
pendently stimulated and flow tested. A dual-lateral
TAML Level 4 junction was created to enable hydrau-
lic fracture stimulation of each lateral. The TAML
Level 4 (fully cemented) junction was mechanically
and hydraulically isolated during the stimulation of
both laterals. The production of both laterals would
ultimately be commingled to determine the full poten-
tial of this multilateral well.
Installation
Latch coupling anchored the multilateral equipment,
offering consistent depth and orientation control with
a full inside diameter (ID) through the main bore. Pre-
cise window geometry was also critical when deploying
and recovering tools through the opening since poorly
defined geometry would risk damaging seals when they
were dragged through the window. The pilot well was
designed to deliver consistent and repeatable “connect”
and “disconnect” capabilities from any lateral liner.
Three latch couplings were installed in the 95⁄8-in.
casing string to provide a fixed platform to anchor the
multilateral tools downhole. The latch coupling main-
tained casing pressure integrity, along with full casing
ID. The lower latch coupling created the desired casing
window, while the other two latch couplings provided
the operator with a backup unit and the opportunity to
upgrade the dual-lateral well to a trilateral well. Once
the 95⁄8-in. casing was cemented in place, the latch-clean-
ing bottomhole assembly (BHA) was run in hole with
a 6¾-in. MWD assembly. Each latch coupling was sur-
veyed, recording depths and orientations.
The operation included a washover of the transition
joint and subsequent retrieval of the whipstock. The
transition joint, which was attached to the liner below,
conveyed the string using drillpipe. The upper lateral
was completed using the same type and size of liner and
56
PBR as in the lower laterals, allowing the same type of
frac string, plugs and guns to be used.
Completion design
The completion strategy was to keep as many variables
the same as in standard basin operating procedures, and
this goal was achieved because of the full-ID nature of
the Level 4 junction. The completion was designed to
enable each lateral to flow independently for a specified
time period and then to use sliding side doors in the
tubing string for each lateral to ultimately commingle
the laterals’ output at peak production levels.
A dual-pass window mill system was used to ensure
success on the pilot well. Immediate evolution of the
application to a single-pass window milling system was
possible, and the first window pass was completed using
a track-guided milling tool that eliminated the roll-off
associated with conventionally milled windows. The
assembly was aligned on the surface to mill the window
downhole at 15-degree right from the well’s high side.
A roll-off-free window was successfully milled, and the
assembly was recovered to surface. A dedicated cleanup
trip was not necessary because the minimal amount of
metal swarf recovered on the surface from downhole
magnets and ditch magnets indicated sufficient cleanup.
The drilling whipstock was run on a shearable mill-
ing assembly. A 6¾-in. MWD assembly was installed
above the mills and activated before running the BHA
through the upper and middle latch couplings. Once
latched into the primary latch coupling, the MWD
assembly confirmed the final landing orientation, and
the bolt was sheared by slacking off 81,000 lb. The full
8½-in. gauge window was milled, including a short rat
hole for the drilling assembly. After milling the rathole
outside of the window, a trip out of the hole was neces-
sary to pick up the steerable directional-drilling BHA.
Using this BHA and MWD assembly was key to gain
separation from the main cased wellbore. A 200-ft-long,
8½-in. openhole section was drilled before pulling out
to pick up and run a rotary steerable system to drill
Lateral B to TD. A formation integrity test was per-
formed at the window area with results similar to the
95⁄8-in. shoe, providing confidence that these drilling
operations would not encounter losses.
Both laterals were placed in the same formation
and direction with 10,000-ft lateral sections and 100-
acre spacing between the laterals. For the Lateral B
liner installation, the lower liner assembly consisted
of a 5½-in. shoe track with two toe sleeves to provide
hydraulic access to the formation during the stimula-
tion operation. The upper liner assembly comprised a
February 2020 | E&P | HartEnergy.com
 COVER STORY:
DRILLING INNOVATIONS
FIGURE 1. The stimulation of Lateral A is shown in this schematic.
(Source: ConocoPhillips and Halliburton)
transition joint, a PBR to accommodate the seal stinger
on the frac string and 5½-in. casing. The liner assembly
was run on drillpipe attached to the transition joint
by means of a dedicated running tool. After running
the liner assembly through the window and placing
the transition joint across the whipstock for washover
operations, the cementing operation was performed.
Dedicated trips to clean out the cement inside both the
main-bore casing and lateral liner also were performed.
This is standard operation in Level 4 applications
because the cement is pumped back into the main bore
to ensure that the junction is cemented.
A washover assembly was run to cut off the portion
of the transition joint protruding into the main bore
and to recover the whipstock. The Level 4 junction was
completed, and then the 5½-in. fracture string, with a
seal assembly attached, was run and landed in the PBR.
Pressure tests down the annulus and tubing were per-
formed to verify seal integrity. In the completion phase,
Lateral A and Lateral B were stimulated independently.
Once these two laterals were both producing, their pro-
duction was commingled and the well was ready for the
stimulation phase.
Hydraulic fracturing
For this multilateral well, hydraulic fracturing was a new
step. A fracture string with a seal assembly was stung into
the PBRs in each lateral to stimulate each lateral during
the intervention. This isolated the window area from
fracture pressure and prevented leak-off of fracturing
fluids. Low pressure was maintained on the fracture
58
FIGURE 2. The stimulation of Lateral B is shown in this schematic.
(Source: ConocoPhillips and Halliburton)
string annulus during fracturing operations to deter-
mine if there were any leak-off issues at the window junc-
tion. The seal assembly consisted of three seals across a
20-ft PBR. The order of the stimulation (Lateral A and
then Lateral B) was specifically considered to evaluate
the number of trips necessary to access the junction.
Lateral A was completed following standard basin
operating procedures. The rig was released from the
well with the fracture string installed in the PBR of
Lateral A. Standard PNP operations stimulated the well,
and the pressure was maintained on the backside of
the fracture string to monitor junction integrity. The
cemented junction was able to maintain pressure isola-
tion during the entire stimulation treatment (Figure 1).
Following the fracture treatment, coiled tubing (CT)
milled out the fracturing plugs and cleaned the well-
bore. A production packer with a temporary pressure
barrier was installed to help maintain well control for
future workover operations.
Each lateral was selectively accessed with a dedicated
fracture string to isolate the junctions during the stim-
ulation phase to maintain pressure integrity during
stimulation. Depending on the type of junction created
(uncemented or cemented), different techniques can
be adopted. Further factors to consider when selecting
a reentry technique include the type of completion,
hole size, the vertical-to-lateral build rate and the need
to isolate the junction hydraulically. Level 2 junctions
offer a wider opening because the lateral liner is not
attached to the window but is rather dropped in the
lateral branch.
February 2020 | E&P | HartEnergy.com

In a Level 4 cemented junction, the window opening
is smaller because the liner is attached and cemented
to the window, reducing the lateral access to the width/
ID of the liner cut during the washover operation. It is
important to plan for a reliable reentry method to guar-
antee lateral access without damaging the seal assembly.
In this case, a workover whipstock was selected as the
primary method to reenter the lateral with the fracture
string. The 95⁄8-in. latch coupling, previously installed
during the well construction phase, served as the anchor-
ing platform, eliminating the need for running a dedi-
cated anchor packer.
The fracture string was pulled from Lateral A to gain
access to Lateral B, allowing a workover rig to install a
workover whipstock and enabling the new fracture string
to be installed in Lateral B (Figure 2). The workover
whipstock was offset on the surface to the same orienta-
tion of the milling equipment and was run on drillpipe,
using its dedicated hydraulic running tool. Following the
workover whipstock installation, the Lateral B fracture
string was run and installed. Because of the tight clear-
ance between the seal assembly and window opening,
multiple attempts with the need for additional weight
were necessary to install the seal assembly into the PBR
properly. Once on depth, a positive pressure test con-
firmed that the seal assembly was properly seated in the
PBR. Lateral B stimulation was performed as planned,
using PNP operations. Pressure was again maintained
on the junction window during fracturing. This con-
firmed that the TAML Level 4 cemented junction could
FIGURE 3. Production comparisons were determined by
performing individual flow tests through tubing at similar TVDs.
(Source: ConocoPhillips and Halliburton)
HartEnergy.com | E&P | February 2020
COVER STORY:
DRILLING INNOVATIONS
maintain junction integrity while stimulating the well.
Following the fracturing operations, the same cleanout
and well securing operations were performed.
The production strategy was to isolate the laterals for
individual flow and then to commingle the laterals to
demonstrate well productivity compared to single-well-
bore wells in the field. Individual flow tests were per-
formed through tubing at similar true vertical depths
(TVDs) to create production comparisons (Figure 3).
After these tests on Lateral B and then Lateral A, the well
was commingled at peak production (Figure 4).
Takeaways
This multilateral technology project proved that, even in
unconventional fields, it is possible to reenter existing
wells to add laterals that will increase reserves while also
minimizing investment. The operator of this pilot well was
able to drill two laterals to TD from the same wellhead,
reduce the number of trips necessary to access each lateral
during the stimulation phase, complete multistage hydrau-
lic fracture stimulation of each lateral while maintaining
hydraulic isolation across the multilateral junction and test
each lateral before commingling production from both
laterals through the same wellhead. The success of this
unconventional pilot well illustrated that on multiwell-
head pads, multilateral technology can drive cost-saving
efficiencies on every step of the process, from zipper frac-
turing operations to CT and workover interventions.
Acknowledgment
This article is an abridged version of the URTeC-150-MS paper.
FIGURE 4. Production from the two laterals was commingled
after testing. (Source: ConocoPhillips and Halliburton)
59
 EXPLORATION:
ROCK PHYSICS
Challenges in the seismic
reservoir characterization of
the Delaware Basin
A statistical approach helps address uncertainty in the estimation of
shale volume, water saturation and porosity from well log data.
Ritesh Kumar Sharm, Satinder Chopra and James Keay,
TGS; and Larry R. Lines, University of Calgary
T here are many uncertainties in the estimation of
parameters, such as the volume of clay, water satu-
ration and porosity for unconventional plays, especially
where multiple zones need to be characterized simulta-
neously. These challenges are discussed with reference
to a dataset from the Delaware Basin where the Bone
Spring, Wolfcamp, Barnett and the Mississippian forma-
tions are the prospective zones.
Usually gamma ray logs are used to determine the
volume of shale (Vsh) by computing gamma ray index
first, which is then transformed into the Vsh via linear
or nonlinear empirical relationships. The gamma ray
index needs at least one or more points on clean sand
and shale within the interval under investigation. In the
absence of such values, which is likely to be the case for
NEUTRON POROSITY AND DENSITY POROSITY
(a)
FIGURE 1. Equivalent cross-plots depict neutron porosity and density porosity for the Bone Spring to Woodford Shale interval from (a) well
log data and (b) seismically derived data. (Source: TGS)
60
Bone Spring and Wolfcamp formations, the computa-
tion could fall apart. Additionally, this methodology
is not preferred for a formation where the high-
energy depositional environment of Bone Spring and
Wolfcamp formations exists. In such a scenario, the dif-
ference between neutron-porosity and density-porosity
serves as an estimation of Vsh. By implementing different
approaches on well log data over a 3-D seismic volume
from the Delaware Basin, there is uncertainty associated
with the determination of the volume of shale depend-
ing on the type of method adopted. The rule of thumb
is to use the minimum value of Vsh estimated using the
above approaches or the one that shows the maximum
correlation with available X-ray diffraction data.
Any well log evaluation for estimation of water satu-
ration in shales will depend on the type of shale and
its volume. Various empirical equations (e.g., Archie’s
equation and Simandoux equation) have been proposed,
(b)
February 2020 | E&P | HartEnergy.com

but it remains unclear which equation should be used to
determine water saturation for unconventional plays.
In a given formation, the porosity of that formation
can be calculated from the bulk density using equation
ø = (ρm – ρb)/(ρm – ρf ) if the matrix density (ρm) and
the fluid (ρf ) are known. Usually a constant value of
matrix density (sandstone, limestone and dolomite) is
used. While such an assumption works well for conven-
tional plays, it does not hold true in the Delaware Basin
where formations of interest (Bone Spring, Wolfcamp
and Barnett) are composed of varying amounts of
quartz, calcite, dolomite, kerogen and clay minerals.
This results in grain densities varying from 2.5 g/cu. m
to 2.7 g/cu. m and pose a major challenge in the esti-
mation of porosity. An uncertainty range of 0.2 g/cu. m
can increase the error bar on porosity by 6%, which
can drastically impact resource estimation. Different
practitioners have demonstrated the overestimation of
porosity using the above equation, which questions the
validity of the equation in any exercise.
HartEnergy.com | E&P | February 2020
EXPLORATION:
ROCK PHYSICS
Besides the large uncertainties in the estimation of res-
ervoir properties mentioned above, the absence of enough
shear curves makes it challenging to execute rock physics
analysis in the complex depositional environment of the
Delaware Basin. A statistical approach was followed, entail-
ing a graphical cross-plot method for determination of the
volume of shale and effective porosity in a formation.
Utilizing a robust statistical approach for
characterization of unconventional plays
The approach starts with cross-plotting of neutron-
porosity (ØN) and density-porosity (ØD) curves covering
a broad zone of interest (Figure 1), where five deep
wells (W1-W5) were used. Three points are marked on
this cross-plot, namely:
• Point F that represents fluid or water point, where
ØD = ØN =100%;
• Point M that represents matrix point, where ØD = ØN
= 0; and
• The shale point SH.
61
 EXPLORATION:
ROCK PHYSICS
RESERVOIR CHARACTERIZATION OF FIVE DEEP WELLS
1,000
1,500
Bone Spring
Time (ms)
2,000
Wolfcamp
2,500
Barnett
3,000
Tight Limestone Clay-rich Shale Organic-rich Shale
FIGURE 2. An arbitrary line is passing through six different wells extracted through the facies volume. The gamma ray curves are
overlaid on the display. The lithostrips obtained for two wells are overlaid on the display. One-to-one correlation is noticed between the
shale in the Barnett and Wolfcamp and more sand and limestone in the Bone Spring interval. Also, more limestone content is noticed
toward the right, which is closer to the Central Basin Platform. (Source: TGS)
The well data entering the cross-plot need to be cor-
rected for the presence of hydrocarbons, and datapoints
representing clean formations will fall along the line MF,
their location indicating the effective porosity. Points
along the line M-SH represent the volume of shale
with zero effective porosity. Being acquainted with this,
the points along the clean formation line have been
interpreted as tight limestone, moderate-quality (calcar-
eous) limestone and high-quality (siliceous) limestone.
Additionally, points along the line M-SH have been
interpreted as coming from shaly-limestone, limy-shale
and clay-rich shale. Similarly, the points along line SH-LS
are interpreted as coming from organic-rich shale. The
back-projection of these facies on the well curves reveals
that the clay-rich shale and organic-rich shale facies seem
to be coming from the Barnett to Mississippian interval.
The shaly-limestone and limy-shale facies are observed
within the Wolfcamp zone. Favorable comparisons were
noticed for all the well-defined facies with the mud-log
interpretation available for a couple of wells, which lent
confidence in the facies defined.
Next, seismic data were considered for predicting
facies volume. For doing so, a multi-attribute regres-
sion approach was followed for obtaining ØN and ØD
from seismic data using Poisson’s ratio, E-rho, P-,
S-impedances and the seismic data attributes as input
data. The availability of sparsely uniform well control
in terms of ØN and ØD log curves over the 3-D seismic
62
Limy Shale Calcareous Mudstone Shaly Limestone Siliceous Mudstone
volume motivated TGS for this approach. An equivalent
cross-plot to Figure 1a (plotted using well log data) from
the predicted ØD and ØN volumes along an arbitrary line
that passes through different wells are shown in Figure
1b. A striking similarity between the two cross-plots
lends confidence in the approach that has been used.
Further, the facies defined above in the ØN- ØD space
were mapped using these predicted ØD and ØN volumes.
A representative section through the facies volume pass-
ing through the different wells is shown in Figure 2. The
carbonate content in Bone Spring increases from the
western to the eastern part of the line, which is as per
the expectation and geological knowledge of the area. A
clay-rich and organic-rich (prospective) shale facies can
be seen on the upper and lower portion of the Barnett,
respectively. The limy-shale and shaly-lime facies are
seen in the interval from Wolfcamp to Barnett.
To gain confidence in the facies analysis described
thus far, the available mud log data for the other wells
on the 3-D seismic volume were sought. Lithostrips
obtained for two of the wells were laid over this section.
The one-to-one correlation is noticed between the shale
in the Barnett, Wolfcamp units and more calcareous
and siliceous mudstone with tight limestone in the
Bone Spring interval. Such a correlation between the
seismic facies and the independent information coming
from the mud log records lends confidence in the anal-
ysis carried out.
February 2020 | E&P | HartEnergy.com
 DRILLING:
DRILLING FLUIDS
Enhancing high-temperature
drilling capabilities
A new stable water-based drilling fluid provides thermal stability to maintain
rheology and fluid loss control in high-temperature wells.
Balakrishnan Panamarathupalayam,
M-I SWACO, a Schlumberger company
A n increase in drilling activity in deep oil and gas
reservoirs has created industry demand for stable
water-based drilling fluids capable of withstanding
high-temperature environments in cases where invert
emulsion fluids were preferred. Conventional biopoly-
mers fail near 300 F over short periods, and standard
synthetic polymers could be stable at high temperatures
but do not provide the low-end rheology to suspend sol-
ids. Drilling fluids that do not maintain stability in high
temperatures require extensive fluid conditioning.
VeraTherm high-temperature, water-based drilling fluid
from M-I SWACO, a Schlumberger company, delivers sta-
bility above 400 F, exhibiting excellent low-end rheology
for hole cleaning and suspension while providing mini-
mal fluid loss at high temperatures. The fluid is compati-
ble with most oilfield completion fluids, from freshwater
to near salt-saturated brines. The ability to prepare the
fluid at the rig site adds flexibility to operations.
The fluid is applicable in high-temperature, water-
based scenarios including drilling, logging, screen run-
ning, deep water, coiled tubing (CT) drilling, and fluid
loss control pill or suspension pill. The water-based
drilling fluid withstands up to 400 F without any treat-
ment or property reduction over time and enables mul-
tiple logging runs without circulation, eliminating con-
ditioning trips and a day of rig time with each avoided
trip in high-temperature applications. It is compatible
with common drilling fluid additives such as shale
inhibitors, corrosion inhibitors and H2S scavengers.
The VeraVis branched synthetic polymer viscosifier and
fluid loss additive, the main component of VeraTherm
fluid, provides dual function, delivering rheological
properties and fluid loss control. By offering excellent
solid suspension properties even at higher temperatures,
it eliminates sag issues. Unlike synthetic polymers that
have been used in different applications within the oil
and gas industry for more than 50 years, the VeraVis
additive contains unique chemical modifications. The
branched nature of the synthetic polymer provides drill-
64
Formate system Conventional HT system VeraTherm system
FIGURE 1. VeraTherm drilling fluid outlasts other high-
temperature, conventional water-based drilling fluid systems.
(Source: Schlumberger)
ing fluid properties similar to conventional biopolymers
such as xanthan, diutan and starch. This feature enables
a significant reduction in formation damage compared
to the linear synthetic polymers available in the market.
Many conventional water-based drilling fluids con-
tain clay, which causes gelation issues at higher tem-
peratures. Because the high-temperature, water-based
drilling fluid is a clay-free system, no gelation issues
occur across the full temperature and density range.
The addition of proper lubricants produces drilling
performance comparable to oil-based mud (OBM) and
synthetic-based mud (SBM) systems.
The high-temperature, water-based drilling fluid pro-
vides excellent drilling fluid parameters performance,
which includes high low-end rheology, low pump pres-
sure, excellent fluid loss control, inherently low coef-
ficient of friction and superior shale inhibition prop-
erties. It remains stable for longer durations at high
temperatures (Figure 1).
Using the fluid in place of SBM reduced the opera-
tor’s overall drilling fluids cost. The use of one system
through intermediate and reservoir sections reduces the
environmental footprint.
Case studies
M-I SWACO has completed several successful field trials
for the high-temperature, water-based drilling fluid in
different global regions and various applications includ-
ing CT drill-in fluid, logging pill, high-temperature
February 2020 | E&P | HartEnergy.com

VERATHERM FLUID PROPERTIES
6 rpm 3 rpm Plastic viscosity, Yield point, Mud weight, API fluid loss,
dial reading dial reading cps lbm/100 sq ft lbm/gal US mL
FIGURE 2. Wireline logging was successful in the 6-in. interval without the need for
conditioning trips for seven days at 375 F with high-quality data retrieval and
minimal change in the fluid properties. (Source: Schlumberger)
drilling fluid and HP/HT drilling fluid. The case studies
also cover a wide range of temperatures from 290 F to
380 F and densities from 8.8 lbm/gal U.S. (1.05 SG) to
16.5 lbm/gal U.S (1.98 SG).
In Southeast Asia, high-temperature zones, faults and
fractures caused an operator to experience average losses
of 5,000 bbl to 10,000 bbl per well while drilling an 8½-in.
section. The operator sought a cost-effective, high-tem-
perature, water-based fluid system offering drilling fluid
performance similar to synthetic-based systems. The
challenge required stability up to 365 F for five days while
drilling the high-temperature well reservoir sections and
facing heavy losses. Ideal rheological properties would
enable excellent hole cleaning and minimize equivalent
circulating density and losses while drilling.
The high-temperature, water-based drilling fluid
maintained stable rheological properties for five days at
365 F. A 1% lubricant addition reduced the coefficient
of friction of the fluid from 0.21 to 0.143 before aging
and to 0.128 after five days rolling at 365 F. The fluid
had a coefficient of friction that was similar to SBM,
which is 0.125. Compared to immersion field tests of
synthetic-based systems, VeraTherm fluid exhibited
better shale inhibition. Rheological properties of the
system remained constant and maintained fluid stability
throughout drilling operations.
In another case study, an operator in the Middle East
sought a high-temperature, water-based drilling fluid with
high stability to drill high-temperature exploration wells.
Offset data showed a prevalence of barite sag, unsuccessful
logs and severe lost circulation. High-temperature OBM
systems were not considered cost-efficient for this project
HartEnergy.com | E&P | February 2020
DRILLING:
DRILLING FLUIDS
because of the expected lost circulation in
limestone formations.
The well contained 8½-in. and 6¼-in.
potential reservoirs. Challenges included
drilling highly reactive shale in forma-
tions with a bottomhole static tempera-
ture (BHST) for extended wireline
operations lasting seven days at 330 F
BHST and 375 F BHST while maintain-
ing a minimal sag index. Customized
and tested for stability at 330 F and 375
F, the high-temperature, water-based
drilling fluid maintained stable rheolog-
HP/HT fluid ical properties for more than seven days
loss, mL
and obtained an excellent sag index of
<0.52 for both interval formulations. The
system caused no incidents of stuck pipe,
wellbore instability or poor hole cleaning
while drilling. The extensive wireline log-
ging operation at 375 F was successfully completed. The
fluid maintained rheological and fluid loss properties
throughout the seven-day logging operation (Figure 2).
The high-temperature, water-based drilling fluid has
broad environmental acceptance. In addition to the
Southeast Asia and Middle East regions, it can bene-
fit areas that contain excessive produced water with
elevated divalent salts. Most water-based drilling fluids
are not compatible with this type of produced water.
Because the fluid is compatible with produced water
containing divalent salts, it enables operators to use pro-
duced water from the field instead of freshwater, reduc-
ing the demand for additional resources. The fluid also
presents opportunities for applications such as CT drill-
ing, which requires a polymer that does not create high
frictional pressure. The branched synthetic polymer has
satisfied the requirements for CT drilling fluid and has
successfully drilled two high-temperature wells.
Conclusion
Extended wireline operations and high-temperature
wells require fluids capable of providing excellent ther-
mal stability to maintain sufficient rheology and fluid loss
control. Operations using conventional biopolymers
could require numerous products to generate those
properties, but the VeraTherm fluid contains the only
primary VeraVis additive and a few additives requiring
minimal treatment to maintain properties. With a long
shelf life and the ability to succeed in a broad range of
applications and temperatures, the fluid provides an effi-
cient, economical alternative to other high-temperature,
water-based fluids or synthetic-based fluids.
65
 COMPLETIONS:
PERFORATING SYSTEMS
Fine-tuning perforations
in refractures
As production on unconventional wells declines, operators are looking to revitalize assets
through refracturing techniques rather than drill new wells.
Obbie Loving, Cory Day and George Patton,
Owen Oil Tools, a division of Core Laboratories
T echnological innovation and new ideas have been at
the forefront of the oil industry since its inception.
There were more than 4,600 rigs drilling in the U.S. in
1986 supplying oil and gas needs. Today there are less
than 1,000 rigs drilling, and the U.S. is once again the
worldwide leader in production.
Recompletion of wells already drilled has always been
an industry practice. However, with the innovation of
horizontal drilling and associated fracturing techniques,
recompletion practices have new technology challenges
needing solutions.
Bullhead refracturing and mechanical isolation
refracturing are two recompletion techniques cur-
rently being used. The fundamental problem was how
to convey perforating guns in wells that had already
been perforated and how to achieve equivalent hole
size perforations in multiple casing strings. Core
Laboratories/Owen Oil Tools have released the Pulse
Wave Perforating and ReFRAC Perforating Technology
systems to address these challenges.
Bullhead fracs
If the refrac technique uses a bullhead diverter or a
straddle packer method, requiring new perforations
to be added between the existing perforations, the
previously completed wellbore limits the use of most
of the various perforating methods used during the
initial completion. Because of existing perforations,
wireline pumpdown is not an option to add new per-
forations for the refrac as the perforating guns can
only be pumped down to the top set of perforations or
the first set of perforations accepting fluid. Deploying
wireline guns on a tractor is another practice, though
tractors can be problematic when passing through
open perforations.
Tubing-conveyed perforating (TCP) has been used on
many horizontal wells. When deploying guns via TCP
on a workover rig in a new well, a pressure-actuated fir-
ing head is installed on every gun. The firing heads are
66
usually set to activate at different pressures, thus firing
the perforating guns at different times. This method
requires wellbore integrity (no perforations) so the well
can be pressured up (normally down the annulus) to
activate the firing heads. This method is not an option
when adding new perforations as the wellbore cannot
be pressured up because of existing perforations.
TCP guns also can be deployed on coiled tubing
(CT) utilizing a time delay fuse between each gun.
When adding new perforations to an entire wellbore
for refracturing, the number of guns run on one trip
using CT is limited to the height of the lubricator.
This restriction can facilitate multiple runs on CT to
accomplish all the new perforating clusters desired for
the refrac.
The Pulse Wave Perforating system is a TCP method
to add new perforations to the existing wellbore
allowing an unlimited number of perforating guns to
be run in one single trip across multiple zones and
stages. A pressure chamber is attached to the bottom
of each perforating gun and a differential firing head
is attached to the top of each gun. Tubing is installed
between each gun giving the desired distance between
the perforating guns.
The top gun is detonated with a ball-drop firing
head, which isolates pressure in the tubing until deto-
nation. Upon detonation, a pressure pulse is created
in the pressure chamber and is transmitted down the
spacer tubing. When the pressure pulse reaches the
differential firing head on the next gun, this gun is
detonated creating another pressure pulse that is sent
to the next perforating gun in succession. This process
is repeated until all perforating guns in the assembly
are detonated.
To date, numerous wells have used more than 100
Pulse Wave Perforating systems with 100% success.
Advantages include the ability to perforate horizontal
wells with existing perforations and perforate all clusters
in one trip. In addition, guns are spaced exactly when
fired, and the systems are cost-effective by eliminating
time delay fuses and CT runs. Time savings in complet-
ing the well allows quicker time to production.
February 2020 | E&P | HartEnergy.com
 COMPLETIONS:
PERFORATING SYSTEMS

is cemented inside the existing well’s

The ReFRAC perforating system is used in mechanical isolation recompletions.
(Source: Core Laboratories)
Mechanical isolation
Another refracturing technique growing rapidly in the
industry is known as a mechanical isolation recomple-
tion. In mechanical isolation recompletions, a liner
perforated casing, isolating old perfora-
tions and allowing for new plug-and-perf
operations. While this recompletion
technique provides the operator with
several advantages, it creates a new set
of challenges for perforating that can
negatively impact fracturing operations
and production.
The liner reduces the wellbore inside
diameter, which requires a smaller diam-
eter perforating gun to be run than what
is typically used in new completions. The
smaller diameter perforating gun also
means the limitation of using a smaller
shaped charge with less explosive weight.
In addition, there is also the challenge of shooting
through a liner, cement and then the existing well cas-
ing. Typically the liner is eccentric in the existing well
casing and the gun is eccentric in the liner, further

68 February 2020 | E&P | HartEnergy.com


complicating the goal of producing optimal and consis-
tent hole sizes around the circumference of both strings
of tubulars.
Modern-day perforating charges, including charges
designed to deliver consistent hole sizes through a
single string of casing new completions, produce
small and inconsistent hole sizes when shot through
two strings of tubulars in the mechanical isolation
scenario. While it is possible to hydraulically fracture
through the smaller holes, perforation friction is high,
pump rates are low, time per stage is excessive and
results are less than optimal.
Core Laboratories partnered with one of the world’s
largest independent E&P companies to design and
develop a perforating system specifically for mechanical
isolation type recompletions. This new perforating tech-
nology is engineered to deliver optimal and consistent
holes through both strings of tubulars, regardless of
gun position, allowing new zones within existing laterals
to be effectively stimulated.
HartEnergy.com | E&P | February 2020
COMPLETIONS:
PERFORATING SYSTEMS
To date, numerous wells using the new technology
have been successfully recompleted in both the Eagle
Ford and Bakken by multiple operators. The companies
have reported completing up to double the number
of stages per day over other modern-day perforating
systems. The companies also have seen consistent and
reliable fracs from stage to stage and well to well in
addition to encouraging production results.
This technology helps completion teams enhance
return on investment by minimizing risks, reducing time
and costs, and maximizing stimulated reserve volume.
Conclusion
As production on unconventional wells declines, operat-
ing companies are challenged to revitalize these assets
through recompletion or refrac methods rather than drill
a new well. Bullhead diverter and mechanical isolation are
two new techniques being used to answer this challenge,
and the Pulse Wave Perforating and ReFRAC charges are
two recent systems helping to achieve these goals.
69
 PRODUCTION:
FLOW ASSURANCE
Flow assurance in the
digital laboratory
Using high-throughput experimentation develops effective pour point depressant technologies.
Jonathan Wylde, Anton Kaiser and
Lucius Kemp, Clariant
O ver the last several years, there has been an unprec-
edented increase in paraffin-related challenges in
the world of production chemistry. As the production
of easy-to-treat (e.g., light, sweet) crude oil declines, the
industry is transitioning its focus to the more challeng-
ing crudes. What is unique about these newer crudes
coming onstream is that they contain a complex mix of
paraffinic components that in turn create a new suite of
puzzling issues.
With the complexity of oil production in the
ever-growing challenge of shale, and globally diverse
crude oil grades, the fast development of oilfield pro-
duction chemicals that support efficient production is
both a differentiator and essential to meet the expecta-
tions of the oil operators in the industry.
To meet these demanding requirements, Clariant has
introduced to the production chemical industry the use
of high-throughput experimentation (HTE) methods
for scientific experimentation alongside advanced ana-
Using the HTE laboratory, Clariant chemists are able to identify new
formulations and synergistic blends for specific customer crudes.
(Source: Clariant)
70
lytics. Using this approach, Clariant can identify more
precise chemical formulations that go through the appli-
cation development far quicker than traditional manual
laboratory methodologies. Originally developed for use
in the pharmaceutical industry, the HTE method rapidly
improves upon classical experimentation methodology.
The contents of this article focus on the development
of pour point depressant (PPD) technology that is used
to prevent cold-temperature-driven crude oil gelation.
Although there are several other application workflows
already developed for other flow assurance areas such as
hydrates, asphaltenes, corrosion and most recently scale,
this article will focus on how the PPD technology helps
to effectively maintain hydrocarbon flow.
Realizing efficient flow assurance
Where system conditions change through asphaltenes
and paraffinic material in the oil, organic deposition
problems can arise and negatively impact production
efficiency. This can increase viscosity (and ultimately
result in complete gelation of the crude) and affect flow
and ultimate production deliverability.
There is a range of technologies designed to sustain
efficient flow from such effects. One example is thermal
insulation or even heating of flowlines. The drawback
to this is the expense associated with the capital cost to
construct heating stations and operating costs from the
energy used.
Clariant has successfully used HTE to introduce
another mechanism to keep the fluids flowing, which in
turn improves total cost of operations for the customer.
PPD technology
PPDs do not change the temperature at which wax
crystallizes or the amount of wax that builds up. Their
application, in fact, relies on the PPD co-crystallizing
with the targeted paraffin species present in the oil,
thus modifying the wax crystal structures to one more
favorable to allow flow. Furthermore, the wax crystals
are kept isolated by the PPD backbone and, because of
this steric hindrance, the wax crystals are no longer able
to form 3-D structures that are responsible for gelation,
therefore inhibiting flow.
February 2020 | E&P | HartEnergy.com
 PRODUCTION:
FLOW ASSURANCE
HTE is an approach and methodology where automated
instrumentation, specialized software tools and alternative
techniques optimize formulations in a rapid time frame.
(Source: Clariant)
The two areas where PPDs are most encountered are
in upstream operational production where PPD treats
the crude oil, allowing it to flow to the sales point while
preventing wax deposition, and in midstream opera-
tions, where off-specification crude oil is treated before
it arrives at a refinery (so called “opportunity crudes”)
to be further purified.
Selecting the correct PPD
The first development step for a PPD is to measure the
interaction it has with the viscosity of crude oil. The
classic way to measure viscosity in a laboratory is with a
technician operating a viscometer or rheometer. This
method takes 30 to 40 minutes per measurement. In
searching for solutions to speed up the development
process, Clariant’s oilfield chemical experts turned to
HTE. Over the last three years, Clariant has utilized its
HTE laboratories to perform feasibility studies to prove
that this new laboratory approach is useful in formula-
tion development for the oil and gas industry.
At the heart of HTE is a mixture of robotics, data pro-
cessing, control software, liquid handling devices and
sensitivity detectors. Its development comes on the back
of advances in smart automation, miniaturization, paral-
lelization and statistical design. It decreases time to mar-
ket, enabling faster discovery of new technologies, and
delivers greater understanding of existing technology.
In the laboratory for PPD development, a series of
robotic arms enables the movement of crude oil sam-
72
ples to miniaturized and parallel viscometers; it will
work day and night, accelerating the testing process
while also providing datapoints that otherwise would
not be possible.
When HTE is combined with computational
experimental design software it becomes even more
effective. The Design of Experiment software math-
ematically analyzes the space in which fundamental
properties are being measured. Instead of having to
make 100 measurements to cover this space, it math-
ematically deconvolutes the data so that fewer mea-
surements are required as it predicts the white space
it leaves behind.
Although the software is commercially available,
Clariant’s process of taking existing technologies and
combining them in novel solutions is unique for the
development of PPDs. It is now possible to explore mul-
tiple options for potential formulation using HTE by
quickly disseminating formulations from one another.
The result is a high degree of accuracy and speed
enabling customized formulations to be developed for
every single application that requires it.
Taking PPD innovation to the field
With the developing megatrend of heavier and harder-
to-treat crude oil, easy-to-treat oil is a thing of the past.
The HTE approach has been applied to some of the
most challenging oil fields on the planet, ranging from
East Africa to Canada and from Argentina to Malaysia.
In East Africa, for example, the traditional way of treat-
ing crude oil, which can have the consistency of boot
polish, is to heat it. For a 1,000-km pipeline, a heating
station costing up to $2 million can be required every
50 km—a huge capital expense and operating cost. If
an effective PPD chemistry could be provided to allow
the crude to remain more liquid at a lower temperature,
heating stations could be reduced to about one every
200 km. The savings from such an approach are con-
siderable, and applying PPD solutions in East Africa is
production-enabling for this region.
PPD formulation technology
Even with the most demanding crude oils, chemical for-
mulation development through the HTE methodology
can quickly provide solutions that help the customer’s
oil to continue to flow. Clariant has developed a range
of products within the four (generally accepted) exist-
ing classes of PPD molecules, which can be formulated
in unique ways, to enable chemical synergies. Challeng-
ing crudes can be treated while improving production
and lowering the total cost of operations.
February 2020 | E&P | HartEnergy.com
 OFFSHORE:
DEEPWATER INTERVENTION
Smarter, faster well surveillance
lights the way ahead
A new well surveillance system combines distributed fiber sensing with
single-point electronic and optical gauge sensing.
Craig Feherty, Well-SENSE
T oday’s oil and gas operators are using data like never
before. Valuable insights from well surveillance can
inform important decision-making, underpin future
operational plans and significantly improve efficiency.
Data can be gathered to inform activities across the
complete life cycle of the well, such as cement assur-
ance during drilling and well completion, production
optimization, well integrity investigation and remedia-
tion, and planning or verifying plug-and-abandonment
(P&A) operations.
Traditionally, well data have been gathered using
wireline logging, coiled tubing, intelligent completions
or, more recently, fiber-optic sensing. Until now, fiber
optics have usually been embedded within an intelli-
gent completion or integrated within an intervention
conveyance medium, such as carbon rods, to provide
protection for the deployment and retrieval of the fiber
into the well.
All these methods are inherently costly to the opera-
tor, both through deployment, installation and opera-
tional logistics and also lost production during lengthy
Active-FLI sensors are shown in this probe setup, alongside the company’s small data
recorder. (Source: Well-SENSE)
74
intervention downtime. They are also not without risk,
with multiple vendors, personnel and large-scale equip-
ment required on site.
One system, one box, one run
Based in the U.K. and the U.S., Well-SENSE has released
the FiberLine Intervention (FLI) technology to deliver
faster, smarter well intelligence. This is a self-contained,
portable system using a plug-and-play surface launcher
connected to the wellhead. It deploys a small, compact
probe into the well, which lays bare optical fiber down
to total depth. The fiber gathers instant, distributed data
simultaneously from every location. Temperature and
acoustic profiles can be captured, plus any changes over
time, resulting in a rich picture of the entire well.
With the recent addition of a package of single-point
sensors within the probe, the new Active-FLI system now
offers operators the first and only well surveillance sys-
tem that combines distributed fiber sensing with single-
point electronic and optical gauge sensing. Active-FLI
has been developed, tested and deployed commercially
with success, proving the system’s reliability, data accu-
racy and quality in the field. The range of well data
available to operators in just one run of the Active-FLI
system surpasses that available from
any other system.
Deploying only bare fiber and
a small degradable probe, FLI is
single-use and can either be left in
the well to break down over time or
retrieved depending on the opera-
tor’s preference.
As a plug-and-play system, FLI is
ready for rapid implementation. It
takes one to two people about an
hour to rig up, while rigging down
is almost immediate. Compared to
onshore data acquisition in the U.S.,
FLI offers up to 50% to 75% cost sav-
ings, whereas this can reach 90% in
the offshore environment, depend-
ing on the application.
February 2020 | E&P | HartEnergy.com

Being compact and portable, FLI is delivered
to the well site in the back of a truck or via a
small shipping box. This opens up new oppor-
tunities, allowing operators to acquire data
from more challenging, less accessible wellsite
locations, such as unmanned offshore satellite
platforms with little or no deck space.
Real-time data, real-time
decision-making
FLI provides downhole data to underpin future
operational plans and can provide the intelli-
gence needed for real-time decision-making.
A small surface data recorder gathers data
during deployment in real time, and this can
be streamed live via the cloud to Well-SENSE
analysts. This results in much faster well profil-
ing, and decisions can be made by the operator
in real time while FLI is in situ.
In some cases, this has led to an extended
period of data acquisition to see how the data
change in real time and how those data are
impacted by other activities. Operators can
monitor, for example, the reservoir connec-
tivity by using temperature and flow profiling
during gas lift or water injection, even analyz-
ing and comparing the profile of multiple wells
at the same time.
First offshore deployments
Well-SENSE has recently completed its first
round of offshore FLI projects for a range
of international operators. One of these
projects included distributed temperature
sensing (DTS) surveys for flow profiling on
two unmanned gas-lift wells off the coast of
Malaysia. During the project, the technology
delivered additional well insights, including
the optimal temperature of the producing
well, the location of water ingress and the
flow performance of each gas injection valve. This
gave the operator fresh and accurate intelligence to
consider new production optimization options for the
two wells.
In the North Sea, a series of leak detection surveys
was performed on several producing wells, which
included a number reaching P&A status. Capturing
both DTS and distributed acoustic sensing data allowed
the operators to verify well integrity or identify leak
points and paths, including in the B and C annulus,
and confidently plan necessary remediation work.
HartEnergy.com | E&P | February 2020
OFFSHORE:
DEEPWATER INTERVENTION
The FLI probe is connected to the launcher, which is
attached to the wellhead. The probe is then released
downhole, spooling out fiber-optic line, and a surface
recorder captures the data.
(Source: Well-SENSE)
Verified cementing operations
Another important application for FLI is
cement assurance for well completions. FLI’s
bare fiber can be installed within the well after
pumping the slurry into the casing annulus.
It provides a time-elapsed view of exothermic
heating and cooling of the cement behind
the sections of casing. It can quickly identify
any integrity issues such as fissures and gaps
or cement that has not set to optimal strength
and can confirm when the setting is complete,
reducing wait on cement time.
If the dynamic temperature log of the
cement is as expected, and integrity is ensured,
the operator can move ahead with further drill-
ing, casing and cementing to deepen the well.
If not, remedial action can be taken at an early
stage. FLI also can provide the data needed
to document cement integrity and ensure
national regulatory requirements are met.
When using conventional techniques for
this application, the validation process can
be problematic. Wireline instruments have a
single point of data capture so can only record
measurements at the depth of the logging tool
at a single point in time. They must be moved
up and down the wellbore to fully identify
developing or changing features in the cement
during setting. Multiple, more time-consuming
and complex logs must be performed, but such
methods can still miss valuable data from the
changeable heating and cooling phases.
In a recent project with a supermajor in
South Texas, FLI was successfully deployed to
evaluate the cement curing process using DTS moni-
toring in the top section of the well. Given the success
of this project, the operator decided to leave the sys-
tem in place to examine FLI’s long-term monitoring
capability. Continuous distributed temperature data
were then recorded for 35 days, at which point the
operator decided to remove FLI, being satisfied with
its capability. During this period, the deployed fiber
showed no change in sensitivity or optical quality,
even recording temperature fluctuations as a result of
nearby drilling activity.
75
 tech
WATCH
Optimizing every drop from
unconventional shale formations
A new suite of applications safely cuts costs and time while minimizing environmental risk
in unconventional reservoirs.
Suzanne Stewart, Tendeka
T he mission to drill and complete new wells in U.S.
unconventional shale plays has shifted dramati-
cally in recent years from deploying cookie-cutter
and “pump-and-pray” fracturing treatments to a sec-
tor driven by economics, advanced technology and
greater consideration for the environment. Therefore,
increasing recovery factors and improving operational
efficiency are paramount in today’s fluctuating oil and
gas market.
Roughly 70% of wells being drilled in the Eagle Ford
are infill wells, as are 50% of those wells drilled in the
Permian Basin. Infill drilling brings with it a high level
of risk of damage to the parent wells from
frac-driven interactions, where cleanouts may
be needed and reduced production may be
inevitable. The infill, or child well, is more
than likely to underperform compared to the
production of the parent well. As the indus-
try recognizes the inevitability of avoiding
frac-driven interactions, particularly if missed
reserves from previ-
ous field develop-
ment are going to
MajiFrac-HVFR
be produced, the
demand to design
and implement bet-
ter fracturing treat-
Shale Modifier HCR-7000 WL Composite Frac Plug Toe Sleeve
The MajiFrac Plus Solution includes an acid-resistant FracRight fully composite frac plug, a
wireline-friendly modified spearhead acid system, ShaleModifier and a range of HVFRs.
(Source: Tendeka)
78
ments with leaner expenditures will no doubt continue
to grow.
Decreasing fluid costs and volumes, pump down-
times, fracturing treatment time, horsepower require-
ments and plug mill-out times are some of the ways
that operational efficiency can be achieved alongside
stage cost reduction. Advanced chemistries that can
access the nanonetwork around the fracture and
increase the recovery of oil flowback is another way to
drive efficiencies.
Increasing recovery
In April 2019, the U.S. Department of Energy esti-
mated that crude oil production from shale and other
tight formations accounted for about 60% (7.4 MMb-
bl/d) of U.S. output. While unconventional wells pro-
duce about 35% less wastewater per unit of gas than
conventional wells, the number of wells and amount
of oil and gas being produced mean that water use has
increased by as much as 500% in some areas.
During a fracturing treatment, it is not uncommon to
pump tens of millions of gallons of fluid into a single
well. This procedure can result in escalating cost and
risk associated with not only handling the water but
also managing the energy required to pump the fluids
from the surface far into the formation. Furthermore,
production potential is often compromised as inacces-
sible oil remains trapped in the unfractured nanonet-
work surrounding the fracture.
To increase production and tackle the intensive
fracturing water and
pumping requirements
Bail-in-cage of shale formations and
the challenges associated
with using produced
water in fracturing treat-
ments, Tendeka has
developed the MajiFrac
Plus Solution, a combined
suite of environmentally
responsible technologies.
The strategically sourced
February 2020 | E&P | HartEnergy.com

portfolio of high-performance tools and chemical
systems aims to reduce water use and pumping time
during completion operations. The overall result is
less pump time, lower cost, reduced water consump-
tion and enhanced production.
The components of the system can be used individu-
ally or sequentially to optimize fluid distribution across
the interval. This can lead to more contact areas with
the formation resulting in increased production. The
system includes the company’s acid-resistant FracRight
fully composite frac plug, a wireline-friendly modified
spearhead acid system, ShaleModifier and a range of
high-viscosity friction reducers.
System details
Comprising high-performance, composite material,
FracRight plugs can be milled quickly and easily. Rated
to 10,000 psi at 350 F and available in a full range of
sizes, the tool incorporates a pumpdown feature to
minimize fluid bypass, reducing the amount of water
required to place the plug at setting depth and allows
placement of particular fluid spacers behind the plug.
The fast mill-out time also reduces operational sched-
ules with small remaining debris that can be readily
produced back to the surface.
The Enviro-Syn-HCR-7000-WL is applied in a combi-
nation of spotting the spearhead acid with the frac plug
and perforating guns. This modified spearhead acid
system boasts superior ultralong-term corrosion protec-
tion compared to hydrochloric acid or urea-based acids.
It can be prepared in produced water and utilized
and exposed to perforating tools and wireline at high
temperatures over long periods with minimal effect.
It allows operators to pump acid with the perforating
guns and plug, reducing the time per stage and saving
considerable water per stage where applicable.
Harmless to the skin, it minimizes unsafe exposure
levels and effluent rates as well as costly transport and
storage. Not only is a superior breakdown possible
with the system, perforations also are created, result-
ing in more efficient perforation cleaning, helping
to place the fracturing treatment and access energy
more uniformly.
Behind the acid, there is a hydrophobic oil-based
surface modifier that is synthesized with an organo-
metallic binder that adheres to exposed silicon oxide
sites, changing the surface energy of the rock. This
fluid, optimized using nanofluidic reservoir analogs,
has a superior injection displacement efficiency in oil-
wet nanostructures as small as 100 nm and binds to the
walls of the nanonetwork structure, creating a perma-
HartEnergy.com | E&P | February 2020
tech
WATCH
nent pathway free of high-capillary pressures, allowing
oil to be recovered from the nanomatrix.
It is pumped as a pre-pad stage to the main fractur-
ing treatment and can increase oil flow recovery from
shale formations during initial completions and reme-
dial treatments.
The ShaleModifier has the potential for use in huff-
and-puff treatments to help inject more gas faster,
thereby decreasing soaking times and increasing the
overall amount of oil recovered.
The MajiFrac-HVFR-5SA is a high-viscosity friction
reducer (HVFR) designed for tough produced water
conditions. It can carry proppant at higher loadings
in produced water due to its elasticity properties,
which are enhanced in produced water. Designed and
manufactured in-house by the company’s production
enhancement team, this gives improved drag reduction
without the need for a booster at ultralow dosages. The
performance of the MajiFrac-HVFR-5SA at the ultralow
dosages means that operators that are pumping emul-
sion HVFR can expect to see friction reduction stage
cost savings by as much as 58%.
Complete and customized systems
With increased pressure to restrict expenditure, many
operators in the sector have already eradicated many
conventional additives, such as surfactants as flow-
back agents, that were once a staple of the fracturing
fluid system. Nonetheless, the appetite for disruptive
advanced completion technology and production
enhancement solutions with the potential to increase
low recovery factors still exists. This is on the condition
that performance can be demonstrated and acceptable
production results achieved at economical rates.
Likewise, EOR treatments from legacy shale wells are
also on an upward trend to capture and extract addi-
tional reserves from within the complex nanonetwork
matrix of fractured wells.
Ultimately, to maximize return on investment,
reducing the time and cost to complete wells in uncon-
ventional shale plays is critical, particularly given the
increasing trend to pump more proppant per thousand
feet as well as the associated increase in volumes of frac-
turing fluids.
Bringing a credible, combined and economical pack-
age of hydraulic fracturing tools closer to the operator,
which can be tailored to meet specific water quality and
demands, is a leap forward from the fragmented, “fin-
gers crossed” approach in the shale plays of old.
References available.
79
 SPECIAL REPORT:
ADIPEC 2019
Embracing new technologies
crucial to the industry’s progress
Digitalization, sustainability and strategic partnerships were at
the epicenter of discussions at ADIPEC 2019.
Faiza Rizvi, Associate Editor
A s the wave of innovation in the energy industry
continues to intensify, emerging technologies have
become an integral part of oil and gas company opera-
tions. This was one of the key messages at the Abu Dhabi
International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference
(ADIPEC), where companies across the entire hydrocar-
bons value chain discussed technological advancements,
capabilities, investments and horizons that need to be
matured or reached to reap the benefits of digitaliza-
tion. Centered on the theme “Oil and Gas 4.0,” ADIPEC
2019 focused on the need to automate operations to
maximize value and slash costs.
Hosted by the Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. (ADNOC),
the conference agenda linked oil and gas to the Fourth
Industrial Revolution and the emerging technologies
that are transforming productivity and efficiency in an
industry that contributes almost 30% of national GDP
in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), according to its
Ministry of Economy.
ADIPEC attracted more than 155,000 visitors from 167 countries.
(Source: ADIPEC)
80
Digital transformation of the oil and gas industry in
the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) continues to
be fast tracked, as energy companies across the region
have ramped up investment in technologies supporting
efficiency and optimization of costs in E&P, accord-
ing to recent studies. In the past five years, the MENA
region has seen a strong focus on cost reduction as oil
and gas companies have responded to changes in the
energy market, with much of the industry’s R&D budget
focused on technologies to enhance the efficiency of
new and existing projects.
“Our industry is being disrupted at multiple levels
by new technology, new businesses, operating models,
new forms of energy and a new geopolitical order,”
said Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, UAE minister of state and
CEO of ADNOC, speaking at the opening ceremony
of ADIPEC.
“This year of disruption is just beginning and will only
gather pace over time. Yet, the oil and gas company of
today can be a winner of tomorrow if it operates in a
lower level of cost and a higher level of performance,
if its brings digital into the core of its operations, if
it embeds sustainability into its DNA, and if it
rethinks how to leverage its partnerships, enable
its people and recenter its relationships,” he said.
He further discussed ADNOC’s Oil and Gas
4.0 mission, which was defined by the company
in November 2018 under his leadership. “By
doubling down on this mission to modernize,
the industry will remain an essential pillar of the
future diversified energy mix,” Al Jaber said.
He called on industry leaders to modernize and
invest in the industry’s future in response to the
disruptions and fast-evolving energy landscape. Al
Jaber pointed out that as the oil and gas industry
embraces an age of disruption, digitalization is
the next frontier in driving efficiencies, curbing
costs and extracting the highest value from every
molecule of hydrocarbon produced.
“The fact is that by 2040, all the energy cur-
rently consumed in the U.S., India and Japan will
be added to the global energy demand. Even in
February 2020 | E&P | HartEnergy.com

the most fast-paced transition scenario, oil and gas will
be the source for half of it,” he said.
ADNOC also made a series of strategic announce-
ments during ADIPEC, including a $489 million invest-
ment to upgrade its Bab onshore field located 160 km
southwest of Abu Dhabi. The investment, according to
the company, will sustain long-term crude oil produc-
tion capacity of the field at 485,000 bbl/d and support
ADNOC’s 2030 Smart Growth Strategy to achieve oil
production capacity of 5 MMbbl/d by 2030.
Another major announcement to support the strategy
was made by ADNOC Drilling, a subsidiary of ADNOC,
which is establishing plans of a major rig fleet expansion
program. In the first phase of the program, ADNOC
acquired four UAE-built land rigs with a total value of
more than $100 million in November 2019. Following
the integration of the four rigs, which will join the units
to be added to its current fleet of 95 rigs in the first
quarter of 2020, ADNOC Drilling plans to acquire doz-
ens of additional land, offshore and island rigs by 2025.
Last year ADNOC moved up to sixth place in the
ranking for the largest oil and gas reserves in the world,
after discovering about 7 Bbbl of oil reserves, 58 Tcf of
conventional gas and more than 160 Tcf of unconven-
tional gas.
Oil and Gas 4.0
While defining its goal to digitalize, or “mission Oil and
Gas 4.0” as ADNOC describes it, the company focused
on how technology, which is transforming all the
industries, can generate more value for the oil and gas
industry. Consequently, the company has been investing
millions of dollars into artificial intelligence (AI), the
Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), augmented and
virtual reality kits and advanced analytics.
“The global energy landscape is undergoing rapid
change, and the oil and gas industry is finding new
and innovative ways to maximize the value and prof-
itability of our operations,” said Omar Suwaina Al
Suwaidi, chairman of ADIPEC and director of exec-
utive office directorate at ADNOC, in a statement at
the launch of ADIPEC. “AI, Big Data and blockchain
can enhance operational efficiency and maximize
performance, while applying predictive analytics can
significantly reduce maintenance costs. To continue
to thrive, it is critical that we better harness our data,
utilize Big Data value-adding technology and innova-
tion, capture digital insights and understand how
all aspects of our operations and activities are inter-
connected to unlock greater value in the evolving
energy landscape.”
HartEnergy.com | E&P | February 2020
SPECIAL REPORT:
ADIPEC 2019
In line with its digitalization strategy, ADNOC
announced an agreement with Group 42, a UAE-based
AI, cloud and supercomputing company, to form a joint
venture (JV) to develop and commercialize AI prod-
ucts for the energy sector. Through the partnership,
ADNOC will leverage Group 42’s processing power to
turn “petabytes of archival data” into new systems that
will help ADNOC work more efficiently.
In 2017 ADNOC introduced The Panorama Digital
Command Center, which aggregates real-time infor-
mation from the company’s various business units and
uses smart analytical technique models, AI and Big
Data to generate insights and recommend actions. The
command center is a 50-m video wall that takes up an
entire floor at ADNOC’s headquarters in Abu Dhabi.
In November 2019, ADNOC entered a 10-year contract
with Honeywell to deploy its Forge Asset Monitor and
Predictive Analytics technologies, which are expected to
expand the central monitoring to include 2,500 critical
rotating equipment tools across ADNOC.
Integrated with Panorama Digital Command Center is
the Thamama Subsurface Collaboration Center, where
ADNOC is deploying smart analytics and adopting AI
platforms to solve subsurface challenges. Thamama is
designed to unlock resources, optimize field develop-
ment plans, reduce drilling costs and manage produc-
tion capacity across ADNOC’s onshore and offshore
operations. Equipped with smart data analytics to build
dynamic models of the subsurface, this center helps spe-
cialists develop a more detailed understanding of Abu
Dhabi’s reservoirs. In addition, Thamama can moni-
tor up to 120 live drilling sites simultaneously, which
helps reduce drilling costs, improve rig efficiencies and
benchmark performances against producing wells.
Maximizing value of digitalization
During one of ADIPEC’s Global Business Leaders
sessions, leaders of major oil companies agreed that
innovation is the way forward for the industry. Musab-
beh Al Kaabi, CEO of petroleum and petrochemicals at
Mubadala Investment Co., said just like other industries,
the energy industry will see a significant impact from
technological disruption.
“The energy demand outlook is healthy, but after
2030, it will slow down because of how energy is used in
the transport sector and with changing government pol-
icies due to sustainability issues. Therefore, the role of
technology is critical to the industry’s healthy future,”
Al Kaabi said.
He added that technology also could play a major role
in minimizing the negative effects of climate change.
81
 SPECIAL REPORT:
ADIPEC 2019
The ExR-1 robot is designed for gas detection in hazardous
environments at offshore and onshore oil and gas production
facilities. (Source: ExRobotics)
For instance, innovations such as autonomous process
plant operations can reduce emissions by increasing effi-
ciency, in turn reducing the carbon footprint.
Fellow panelist David Dickinson, president and CEO
of McDermott, said the company studies how technol-
ogy can help extract maximum value from engineering,
procurement and construction projects. “Since projects
are becoming more complex and large-scale, technol-
ogy helps in answering questions like how we can do
things better, quicker and cheaper for our clients while
ensuring that we make the industry attractive to our
future generation,” he said.
Muhammad M. Al-Saggaf, senior vice president
of operations and business services at Aramco, dis-
cussed the company’s R&D and deployment of the
TeraPOWERS technology, which models reservoir phys-
ics from the original generation to final production.
The technology enables Aramco to model the physics of
its reservoirs to prioritize prospects, reduce exploration
risks and costs, and sustainably manage its reservoirs.
Digital technologies
In line with the digital transformation theme, several
companies showcased unmanned vehicles, which are
being largely deployed by oil and gas companies in a
wide range of operations. A recent report by GlobalData
showed that drone makers are collaborating with oil and
gas companies to develop applications that can be cus-
tomized and provide real-time insights. Key applications
include remote monitoring and surveillance, inspection
and predictive maintenance, methane management,
emergency response and material handling.
ADNOC announced a partnership with Total to
deploy drones and unmanned vehicles to collect 3-D
82
seismic data as it expands its search for new oil and gas
resources throughout Abu Dhabi. The pilot project
using Total’s Multi-physics Exploration Technologies
Integrated System claims to be the world’s first auto-
mated seismic acquisition system, which will see thou-
sands of sensors deployed by air using a fleet of drones
and later retrieved by unmanned ground vehicles.
Another attraction at ADIPEC was the ExR-1 robot,
which is designed to operate in hazardous environ-
ments. The robot is developed by ExRobotics, a
Netherlands-based developer of robotics technology
for hazardous environments, which entered into an
agreement with Yokogawa, a provider of industrial
automation, control and measurement technology, to
enable Yokogawa to sell and deploy ExRobotics’ inspec-
tion robot hardware and software platforms worldwide.
Equipment operating in these hazardous environments
must have IECEx1 Zone 1 certification, and ExR-1 is a
commercially available robot that meets the certification
requirements. It can be equipped with a range of sen-
sors and cameras, has 4G LTE wireless network capabili-
ties and can be remotely monitored and operated by an
operator located in a safe control room anywhere in the
world. The robot is certified at a module level, which
allows customized configuration, and has optional mod-
ules for gas detection and autonomous navigation.
Cumulus Digital Systems, a Massachusetts-based
startup, showcased its Smart Torque System, which is
an integrated flange management system that connects
Cumulus’ cloud-hosted data management platform with
bluetooth-connected digital tools. Matthew Kleiman,
CEO of Cumulus, told E&P that oil and gas plants have
many variables to consider such as a large number of
tools and equipment, workforce with varying levels of
expertise and constantly changing working conditions.
“Cumulus Digital Systems solves oil and gas plants’
biggest operational challenge with a technology solu-
tion that provides greater visibility and traceability into
the quality and duration of work completed in operat-
ing facilities,” Kleiman said.
He added that recent studies have found that
unplanned facility downtime costs operators more than
$260,000 per hour and over $140 billion per year, giv-
ing oil and gas plants the highest percentage of down-
time in any industry.
“The biggest reason oil and gas suffers this challenge is
a lack of data transparency and traceability when it comes
to maintenance and repairs. From a business perspective,
this is incredibly costly, but even more importantly, it cre-
ates dangerous and challenging work conditions as well as
living conditions for people near plants,” Kleiman said.
February 2020 | E&P | HartEnergy.com

The Smart Torque System eliminates flange leaks and
the associated unplanned downtime by eliminating the
chance of human error at each of these common fail-
ure points.
Strategic partnerships
Several studies show the potential impact of AI on the
future course and competitiveness of the oil and gas
industry could be dramatic, radically changing the tra-
ditional practices and delivering new sources of value.
According to the World Economic Forum, primary sav-
ings generated from robotic applications and Big Data
analytics could total $500 billion by 2025. By showcas-
ing the potential of AI and the reach of virtual reality,
technology companies are wooing energy companies to
form partnerships.
In September 2019, Baker Hughes and C3.ai
announced the release of BHC3 Reliability, an AI soft-
ware application developed by the BakerHughesC3.ai
JV. The application uses deep learning predictive mod-
HartEnergy.com | E&P | February 2020
SPECIAL REPORT:
ADIPEC 2019
els, natural language processing and machine vision
to continuously aggregate data from plantwide sensor
networks, enterprise systems, maintenance notes, and
piping and instrumentation schematics.
“Just 90 days after the joint venture, we announced
our first application BHC3 Reliability, which was a
big moment for us,” Dan Brennan, vice president
and COO of digital for Baker Hughes, told E&P at
ADIPEC. He has been leading the operations of the
BakerHughesC3.ai JV. “We’re trying to optimize for
speed, which is a big impediment for us as well as our
customers,” he said.
Over the past 20 years, there has been significant
investment in automation technologies. With engineer-
ing and further innovation on the equipment side, crit-
ical machinery is much more reliable. There is a need
to continuously improve the plant reliability to move
beyond the critical equipment. “We’ve used a physics-
based and hybrid approach to increase productivity,”
Brennan explained.
83
 SPECIAL REPORT:
ADIPEC 2019
Microsoft is working toward building alliances with energy
industry players to infuse the energy sector with the power of the
intelligent cloud. (Source: Microsoft)
Microsoft had a strong presence at ADIPEC, show-
casing the latest technologies to the region’s
oil and gas organizations to harness the power of digi-
tal transformation.
“The sector is currently undergoing a paradigm shift
and energy companies are rapidly digitalizing. Microsoft
is empowering the industry to accelerate that process
through solutions that connect field operations to
the back office as never before,” Omar Saleh, head of
energy and manufacturing at Microsoft Middle East and
Africa, told E&P.
“These solutions enable more intelligent processes
by using the data streaming from connected sensors
and the vast amounts of structured and unstructured
data that the industry has amassed over past decades.
The intelligent cloud offers computing power and a
rich menu of advanced tools such as machine learn-
ing, which can analyze these data for predictions and
insights. Our productivity suites complement by stream-
lining those to the workforce in a secure and actionable
manner, therefore empowering a connected and inte-
grated experience to everyone,” Saleh continued.
He explained that Microsoft structured its sustain-
able solutions to tackle the environmental challenges
of the energy industry. For instance, AI for Earth is an
initiative that focuses on solutions for global environ-
mental challenges. Digital assistants and robots provide
guidance and extend governance for safe operations.
Wearables complemented by AI algorithms help track
the condition of workers as well as their location and
adoption of safe behaviors. Greenhouse-gas emissions
84
and hazardous gas leakages also can be identified and
contained in a timely manner toward saving lives and
protecting the environment.
“At Microsoft, we also realized that for companies to
maximize their leverage of digital, we need to equip the
workforce with the necessary skills,” Saleh explained.
He added that readiness on AI and cloud capabilities
is crucial to support planning, deployment and adoption
of digital for executives, information workers, IT pro-
fessionals and field personnel. Therefore, Microsoft has
made dedicated investments in digital skilling programs
including role-based content and curriculums, dedicated
trainers and program managers as well as certifications
that address its customers’ learning needs and help them
instill a digital-ready culture across their organizations.
“As we skill, upskill and reskill the workforce, the oil
and gas industry will reap the benefits of a richer talent
pool of cloud specialists, data scientists, AI experts and
security mavens who can lead their digital transforma-
tion agendas,” Saleh said.
At ADIPEC, Microsoft also announced plans to open
an AI Centre of Excellence for Energy in the UAE “to
empower organizations in the industry in accelerat-
ing digital transformation,” equipping the workforce
with AI skills as well as collaborating on coalitions to
address sustainability and safety challenges, according
to a press release.
Sustainable energy
Several panel discussions at ADIPEC centered on sus-
tainability issues, with company heads agreeing that a
successful transition to a lower carbon economy requires
traditional fuels to be delivered in a way that minimizes
environmental impact. Also, CEOs of major oil compa-
nies stressed the need to make gas a greater part of the
energy mix.
At one of ADIPEC’s ministerial panel sessions,
Mohammed Hamad Al Rumhy, Oman’s oil minister,
said while Oman is not slowing down its oil production,
there is greater emphasis on boosting the country’s gas
production amid the shift in policies toward cleaner
energy. One of its major ongoing projects is the Al
Khazzan Gas project, with partner BP. In February
2019, Shell and Total signed an interim upstream gas
agreement to develop reserves in the Greater Barik
region. Aside from providing feed gas for Shell’s
planned 45,000 bbl/d gas-to-liquids facility at Duqm
port, Total plans to develop an LNG bunkering project
at Sohar port, with a capacity of 1 mtpa.
“We’re very excited for this project, particularly
because of the feedback we received from the market.
February 2020 | E&P | HartEnergy.com

It’s a clean energy project with great expansion oppor-
tunities,” Al Rumhy said.
Meanwhile, BP CEO Bob Dudley, who is set to retire
in March, said there is a lack of realism from environ-
mentalists and lawmakers who want the energy industry
to stop carbon-emitting activity immediately. Speaking
at one of ADIPEC’s Global Business Leaders sessions,
Dudley pointed out that natural gas, which emits
roughly half of the carbon as coal to produce the same
level of energy, needed to be a big part of the energy
transition story. He said fast-developing technology
to monitor gas leakage, such as satellite imagery and
drone inspection, would help to reduce waste further.
Siemens CEO Joe Kaeser also stressed the need for a
realistic approach in the transition of energy.
“The whole world is calling for decarbonization. But
the fact of the matter is that energy is the lifeblood of
modern civilization. And you don’t want to mess around
with lifeblood,” Kaeser said. He added that the energy
industry is playing a critical role in relieving “hundreds of
millions of people” from poverty, which environmentalists
need to remember when accusing the energy industry of
not moving fast enough to address carbon emissions.
In October 2019, Siemens announced an indepen-
dent energy company called Siemens Energy, offering
both conventional and renewable energy, which is to
launch in April this year.
During ADIPEC, ADNOC LNG, a subsidiary of
ADNOC, signed agreements with BP and Total to
book the majority of its LNG production up to the first
quarter of 2022 to “maximize access to new markets
with strong LNG growth potential,” according to a
press release.
Young ADIPEC
The seventh edition of the Young ADIPEC program
invited about 850 UAE high school students to partici-
pate in the annual ADIPEC event, which was aimed at
educating the youth on the career choices available in
the oil and gas industry. Supported by the Abu Dhabi
Department of Education and Knowledge, Young
ADIPEC used interactive activities to engage young stu-
dents and spark their interest in the vast array of career
opportunities available in oil and gas.
Each year Young ADIPEC is hosted by ADNOC and
supported by the Arab Development and several other
oil companies including Bechtel, Exxon Mobil, Shell,
Eni, Weatherford and Wintershall Dea.
The highlight of the annual initiative was the educa-
tional program with interactive activities, which featured
nine zones including robotics, engineering, health and
HartEnergy.com | E&P | February 2020
SPECIAL REPORT:
ADIPEC 2019
safety, technology and innovation, electrical engineer-
ing, and science. For instance, students used engineer-
ing and modeling kits to design and build functioning
models of oil and gas technology, including working
robots and miniature vehicles.
Occidental CEO Vicki Hollub applauded the Young
ADIPEC program pointing out that the oil and gas
industry must adopt the mindset of technology compa-
nies, attracting young scientists and engineers keen to
tackle the world’s most pressing challenges. “As we nav-
igate the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the future of oil
and gas will rest on its workforce,” she said in an article
in The National.
She added that Occidental adopted data analytics,
incorporating machine learning into its drilling pro-
cesses. Partnering with ADNOC in Abu Dhabi’s Shah
Field, Occidental has achieved significant development
of sour gas.
“Honing new production and refining methods will
be crucial to meet the increased demand for cleaner
natural gas in a growing, greener global economy. We
should put exciting technological breakthroughs such
as these at the core of our pitch to the next genera-
tion,” Hollub said.
She added that an approach that puts people first will
help the energy industry tap the potential of technol-
ogy, so the industry can meet current and future chal-
lenges. “Considering our environmental responsibilities,
only with a creative, skilled workforce can we offer
sustainable solutions to climate change and resource
scarcity,” she said.
ADNOC CEO Al Jaber stressed that one of ADNOC’s
most important tasks is attracting and developing the
best talent.
Emphasizing the benefits of learning through doing, the Young
ADIPEC program is designed to attract high school students.
(Source: ADIPEC)
85
 on the
MOVE
PEOPLE
William Berry (left) has
been named CEO of Conti-
nental Resources, replacing
Harold Hamm, who will
assume the role of executive chair-
man. Jack Stark has been appointed
COO. In addition, Tim Taylor has
been elected to the board as a class
II director.
Tullow Oil CEO Paul McDade and
exploration director Angus McCoss
have resigned from their positions.
Dorothy Thompson has been named
executive chair on a temporary
basis, and Mark MacFarlane has
been appointed COO.
Keith L. Schilling has been
appointed CEO, president and
director of Basic Energy Services.
David Dehaemers, CEO of Tallgrass
Energy, has stepped down from his
position and has been succeeded by
Bill Moler. In addition, Matthew P. Valeura Energy Inc. has appointed
Sheehy has been named president of Heather Campbell CFO and Tim
the company. Chapman an independent director.
Flotek has appointed John W.
Gibson, Jr. CEO, president and
chairman of the board. David Nie-
renberg, who has been Flotek’s
chairman of the board since May
2019, will remain independent
director of the company’s board.
John Chisholm, former CEO, has
stepped down from the board and
left the company.
Charles Duginski has been
appointed president, CEO and a
member of the board of Chapar-
ral Energy. He succeeds K. Earl
Reynolds, who has resigned to
pursue other interests. In addition,
Michael Kuharski and Mark McFar-
land have joined the board of
directors, and Matthew Cabell has
stepped down from the board.
86
Providence Resources has appointed
Alan Linn CEO and executive direc-
tor of the board.
Odd Strømsnes has been appointed
CEO of Ocean Installer. Former
Interim CEO Kevin Murphy will con-
tinue as deputy CEO.
Blackbuck
Resources has wel-
comed Barry Port-
man (left) as COO
and Jamie Liang (right) as CFO.
Petter Hjertstedt has been named
acting CFO of Tethys Oil. He will
replace William Holland, who has
stepped down from his position for
personal reasons but will remain
available to the company until July 8.
Flowserve Corp. has
appointed Amy B.
Schwetz senior vice
president and CFO.
Simon Ayat, executive vice presi-
dent and CFO of Schlumberger, has
stepped down from his position but
will continue to serve as senior strate-
gic adviser to the company’s CEO for
two years. Ayat has been succeeded
by Stephane Biguet as the company’s
executive vice president and CFO.
David Khani has been appointed
CFO of EQT Corp.
Neodrill has welcomed
Tor Odegard as business
development manager for
Southeast Asia.
BCCK Holding Co. has
appointed Greg Herman
director of business
development.
February 2020 | E&P | HartEnergy.com
PJ Valves has appointed Kenneth
Kmiec territory leader for the Amer-
icas to support the company’s ongo-
ing growth in the region.
Keith Gee has been named
general counsel of Airswift
to further strengthen its
management team.
Andrew Gould, former chairman
and CEO of Schlumberger, has been
elected to the board of directors of
Occidental Petroleum Corp., effec-
tive March 1.
Exxon Mobil Corp. has elected
Joseph L. Hooley to its board
of directors.
Steven Schlotterbeck has been
named chairman of the board of
directors at Reveal Energy Services.
Michael Jennings has resigned as
chairman of the board of Montage
Resources Corp. to focus his efforts
on his recent appointment as CEO
and president of HollyFrontier
Corp. He is succeeded by Randall
M. Albert, who will also serve on
the company’s audit committee and
compensation committee.
Subsea UK has appointed Dorothy
Burke, Suzy Davies, Michael Jones,
Barry Macleod, Tom Moore and
Jonathan Tame board members.
Existing board members who were
re-elected are Zander Bruce, Bill
Morrice and Tim Sheehan.
COMPANIES
Itaoca Offshore and Peterson Off-
shore Group have announced a
partnership and consulting agree-
ment for the development of the
Itaoca Offshore project, which
will be a private terminal located
in southeast Brazil, designed to
provide logistical support to the
 on the
MOVE

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Revolution II WI Holding Co. LLC, second quarter of 2020.
an affiliate of Mountain Capital
Partners LP, for $201.5 million cash. Coretrax has acquired Churchill Drill-
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of Revolution.
US Ecology Inc. has merged with NRC
Tenaris has closed on a $1.1 billion deal Group Holdings Corp., which includes
to buy Houston-based IPSCO Tubulars. three subsidiaries: NRC, a commercial
oil spill removal organization; Sprint
Shaleem Petroleum Co. has acquired Energy, a provider of waste disposal
the oilfield drilling business of Weather- solutions; and Specialized Response
ford Drilling International Holdings. Solutions, which handles highly haz-
ardous substances and manages volatile
Gravity has acquired On Point Oilfield incidents such as well and pipeline inci-
Holdings LLC, creating the largest dents. The newly combined company
commercial produced water disposal will retain the US Ecology name.
company by injection volumes in the
Midland Basin. Trelleborg Sealing Solutions has
acquired Tritec Seal, which produces
WPX Energy Inc. has agreed to acquire engineered polytetrafluoroethylene
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Aggreko . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
American Association of
Drilling Engineers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
American Petroleum Institute . . . . . 41
Beyond Limits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
CGG Geoscience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
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DUG Bakken and Rockies
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Enventure Global Technology . . . IFC
Freemyer Industrial Pressure LP . IBC
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Tendeka . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
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HartEnergy.com| |E&P
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| February
| February
20202020 87
 last
WORD

Dynamic edge intelligence

Edge computing and the IIoT will define the next wave of digital transformation.

and enabling the ability to act in real time. In the past,

Sujit Kumar, Agora field visits were required to check field equipment
and make adjustments. Performance-boosting edge

F or the last few years, “digital transformation” have

been buzzwords throughout the oil and gas indus-
try. A key component of the digital transformation is
applications can be used to remotely perform correc-
tive actions or enable actions to be performed auton-
omously. As a result, unnecessary trips to the field are
the emergence of cloud computing, which has enabled eliminated, safety exposure and environmental impacts
the industry to harness the combination of Big Data, are reduced, and operational efficiency and productiv-
scientific knowledge and domain expertise to make ity are enhanced.
large-scale petrotechnical applications and workflows There are three main pillars for a high-perform-
accessible to all users. The Industrial Internet of Things ing edge computing ecosystem: openness, security
(IIoT) and edge computing are the next emerging and scalability. Openness refers to multiple facets,
areas of digital transformation for oil and gas field including the ability to acquire data generated by
operations. These innovative technologies are enabling edge devices from any manufacturer and the abil-
the use of machine learning and ity to transmit that data into
artificial intelligence-based appli- either open data ecosystems or
cations at the edge. “The edge” to proprietary data ecosystems.
refers to the edge of the network. IIoT and edge Through openness, oil and gas
In the oil and gas industry, the computing are the operators can utilize edge com-
edge is the field, and edge devices puting and the IIoT to perform
are the sensors, controllers, actu- next emerging areas remote operations from large
ators and other various types of of digital transformation data environments—in conjunc-
surface and downhole equipment tion with autonomous operations
used in field operations.
for oil and gas at the edge—to create a distrib-
The large amounts of data field operations. uted intelligence environment.
generated from field operations— Edge computing in the oil and
upward of 2 TB/day at a single gas industry must be secure, by
well site in some cases—present design and in operation, from
challenges when it comes to data transmission, storage the edge to the cloud to the enterprise. Bringing edge
and analysis, due to low bandwidth and latency. Without devices online, which have traditionally been isolated
any data contextualization in the field, operators are from corporate IT environments, greatly expands the
faced with significant costs to transmit large datasets to threat landscape. As such, hardware, software and data
the enterprise. This challenge is compounded when con- access and transmission must be fully secure.
sidering the remoteness of oil and gas operations, many Scalability, the third pillar, refers to an edge com-
of which rely on satellite communication for connectiv- puting platform’s ability to manage the complexity
ity. Because of this, the industry is not leveraging all the of the oil and gas industry. The platform must first
data generated at the well site, thus leaving opportunity be built upon domain expertise and operational
for significant improvement. experience, both of which are unique to the oil and
Powerful edge computing enables the ability to analyze gas industry.
data in the field, where the data are generated. By analyz- By driving dynamic intelligence to the edge via an
ing the data in the field, only relevant, actionable insights open, secure and scalable edge computing platform,
are sent back to the enterprise, resulting in significant the industry can achieve a significant step forward in
reductions in data transmission and storage costs. operational efficiency, enhance productivity, and
The true value of edge computing, however, is the minimize safety exposure and the overall environ-
ability to create intelligence from high-frequency data mental footprint.

88 February 2020 | E&P | HartEnergy.com

AD