BP deploys drilling automation package on Alaska's North Slope to decrease connection times,improve safety and efficiency

摘要

Drilling automation is arguably the oil and gas industry's most talked-about subject,with a multitude of papers and articles written to discuss the topic and committees formed to explore its relevance and potential.Much has been said of the value of linking surface rig equipment with downhole sensors and real-time predictive models to enable optimized drilling,and that value will be taken a step further as more and more aspects of well construction are automated.The path to this point has not been without struggle,as financial,operational,and cultural issues have challenged drilling automation's ability to deliver the results necessary to justify the investment.Companies across the board,from operators and drilling contractors to service and manufacturing companies,have worked to develop some form of drilling automation,but uptake has remained slow over the past several years due to budget cuts,substantiated by the industry's risk aversion to such a sweeping,non-traditionally linear,integrative technology change.As the industry has slowly emerged from the downturn,however,the business of drilling a well has begun to shift.