The Automation Advantage: Efficiency Improvements in Offshore Drilling

Identification method for safety hazard behavior in offshore drilling operators

Handling drilling and production waste associated with oily contaminated drill cuttings, NORM and produced water is an environmental and economic issue in offshore drilling and production operations. There are a number of waste management options and subsea injection into suitable geological formations can be a preferred one. This is because it can achieve zero discharge operations; eliminating transportation and spill risks. It can also be economically favorable. Although subsea drill cuttings and produced water re-injection operations have been conducted in an environmentally acceptable manner, system design and operational experience are limited. A few worldwide drill cuttings re-injection operations from mobile offshore drilling units are reviewed first in the paper. Lessons learned from these and other system design and operational experience include a detailed subsurface study and careful engineering, wellhead and injection system design and effective communication to handle emergency disconnect, quality control on well integrity and slurry injection procedure. Challenges and best practice guidelines for waste injection operations from subsea wellheads are given to minimize failure and maximize success. Introduction Growing environmental regulations and constraints put pressure on drilling operations to find environmentally friendly and economically sound solutions for handling drilling waste. Drill cuttings re-injection (DCRI) operations into suitable geological formations have been successfully implemented all over the world.1–13 Figure 1 shows a schematic of DCRI process. Briefly, the drill cuttings from shale shaker are milled to small particles (300 microns or less), in the presence of water, usually seawater or other wastewater. The resulting waste slurry is pumped into sub-surface fractures created by injecting the slurry under high pressure into the disposal formation. Depending on drill cuttings generation rate, the waste slurry is injected either continuously or intermittently in batches. A continuous slurry injection scheme is expected to lead to an extended disposal fracture, while periodic re-injections would promote the development of multiple fractures and thus a compact domain of smaller multiple fractures from the wellbore. The batch process consists of intermittent injections of roughly the same volumes of slurry and shutting-in the well after each injection. This allows the disposal fracture to close onto the cuttings and to dissipate any build-up of pressure in the disposal formation. This may be impractical when re-injecting into low leak-off shale as the target disposal horizon when drilling rates and thus the slurry generation rates are relatively high. In practice, therefore, re-injections may shift from essentially continuous mode during drilling of large hole sections to periodic as the cuttings generation rate declines with the well approaching TD. Although drill cuttings re-injection has been applied since early 1980s, these operations have mostly been restricted to fixed platforms; annular re-injection into subsea wells, where drilling operations were in progress, had not been feasible until early 1993. BP, through a Drilling Engineering Association (DEA) JIP, conducted the first field trial DCRI operation in March 1993 into the annulus of a subsea well from a mobile offshore drilling module unit (MODU).14, 15

The Iranian offshore drilling rig blowout occurrence on well SPDAA, which happened during the last run of a lengthy batch drilling operation on one of the South Pars stages, is cognitively analyzed in this paper. After 64 previous successful runs, the blowout happened, exposing a serious situation awareness (SA) breakdown on the part of the rig personnel. This study systematically assesses the crew's cognitive performance using the Driller's Situation Awareness (DSA) model created by Roberts, Flin, and Cleland (2015). It looks at how the crew interprets cues, understands well situations, and fails to foresee risk escalation. Inadequate danger anticipation, erroneous mental models, expectancy bias, and a lack of proactive intervention are among the cognitive deficiencies shown by the investigation, which are similar to those seen in the Deepwater Horizon accident. Similar trends of impaired situation awareness during crucial activities are seen in both events. The wider application of the DSA model as a training and diagnostic tool in offshore drilling operations is highlighted by this study. Stronger communication systems, better situational monitoring techniques, and improved crew training protocols are among the main recommendations, especially during the last stages of drilling operations when operational complacency and cognitive weariness may increase risk exposure. Due to its non-catastrophic ending, the Iranian offshore disaster garnered less attention than the widely studied Deepwater Horizon tragedy. As a result, interested firms and contractors did not conduct a thorough root cause analysis. The author revisited this event nine years later as the host and producer of a podcast about operational issues in oil and gas wells, and developed this study in conjunction with an episode of the podcast that looked at the occurrence. By using systematic cognitive analysis, this study fills the investigative gap and shows how thorough event investigation can provide important safety insights even in the face of imminent repercussions. These results help to enhance human dependability and safety culture in high-risk drilling settings.

During offshore drilling and completion operations of production adjustment wells, logging while drilling (LWD) is often adopted to improve the timeliness of drilling. In order to provide more reliable decision-making basis under limited data conditions, a study on data mining is needed. By collecting and analyzing 55 sets of data on wells in PL Block of Bohai Oilfield, the main controlling environment factors of gamma geophysical response were identified. And based on adjacent well interpolation prediction, a mathematical model of predicted gamma/measured gamma difference versus caliper curve was built. This model was applied to E59 well, providing a decision-making basis for its subsequent casing running operation. It is found that: (1) with the rise of potassium ion concentration and mud specific gravity, the gamma logging while drilling (GLWD) geophysical response increases gradually; potassium ions have the most significant influence on gamma, and the influence becomes greater with the increase of the caliper; (2) the caliper prediction model built based on the scatter fitting function of difference gamma and measured caliper has some engineering applicability in PL Block; (3) the in-depth mining of GLWD geophysical response data is of directive significance to field drilling and completion operations, yet various sources of data need to be utilized for comprehensive analysis. The successful application of this method provides an idea for accurately guiding the drilling and completion operations, a way for raising the utilization rate of logging data, and an important technical support for increasing reserve and production and promoting engineer-geology integration in Bohai Sea.

_ The dynamic realm of offshore drilling and completion continually sees the development of innovative technologies aimed at enhancing safety, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness. This edition highlights three papers showcasing transformative potential within the industry. The first paper explores the use of along-string measurements and high-speed telemetry to mitigate geohazards and improve risk management in drilling operations. This innovative approach has significantly improved operational efficiency and well placement in offshore environments. By leveraging real-time data and advanced telemetry systems, operators can make informed decisions that enhance safety and optimize drilling operations. Several case studies showcase the successful implementation and potential of this technology to revolutionize the industry. The second paper introduces a pioneering digital shaker surveillance system using computer-vision technology on a deepwater rig. In an experimental trial, a computer-vision system monitored and measured drilled cuttings in real time. The system used an optical sensor and image-analysis software to quantify and qualify cuttings during drilling operations. Data collected revealed a strong correlation between cuttings load and drilling-parameter perturbations, improving assessments of hole cleaning and wellbore stability. The system aims to boost drilling efficiency, optimize penetration rates, and prevent packoff events by autonomously characterizing drilled cuttings. The third paper discusses the evolution of riserless mechanical subsea intervention in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico through a 22-well, multiyear campaign. Advancements in deepwater subsea well-intervention technology have enabled operators to perform more-sophisticated mechanical interventions (with wireline and slickline) without the need for a riser, significantly reducing costs and operational complexity. Case studies demonstrate the benefits, challenges, and prospects of riserless well intervention. Summarized Papers in This October 2025 Issue SPE 219627 - Telemetry Approach Enables Optimal Well Placement Despite Geohazards by Stephen Pink, NOV, et al. OTC 35585 - Digital Shaker Surveillance Uses Computer Vision on a Deepwater Rig by Calvin Holt, DrillDocs, et al. SPE 224044 - Riserless Wireline Subsea Intervention in Deepwater Offers Expanded Potential by Strethen E. Townsend, BP, et al. Recommended Additional Reading at OnePetro: www.onepetro.org. SPE 220855 - Horizontal Openhole Gravel-Pack Challenges and Lessons Learned From More Than 60 Offshore Wells Performed in Peregrino Field by F.C. Colbert, Baker Hughes, et al. OTC 35995 - Integrated Workflow for Designing a Multizonal Water Injector With Intelligent Well-Completion Functionality by Vijay Rachit, ExxonMobil, et al. SPE 223800 - The Automation Advantage: Efficiency Improvements in Offshore Drilling by B. Millward, Halliburton, et al.

Groundwater governance and a snapshot of associated issues in selected coastal communities in Ghana

Digital oil and gas field is an overly complex integrated information system, and with the continuous expansion of business scale and needs, oil companies will constantly raise more new and higher requirements for digital transformation. In the previous system construction, we adopted multi-phase, multi-vendor, multi-technology and multi-method, resulting in the problem of data silos and fragmentation. The result of the data management problems is that decisions are often made using incomplete information. Even when the desired data is accessible, requirements for gathering and formatting it may limit the amount of analysis performed before a timely decision must be made. Therefore, through the use of advanced computer technologies such as big data, cloud computing and IOT (internet of things), it has become our current goal to build an integrated data integration platform and provide unified data services to improve the company's bottom line. As part of the digital oilfield, offshore drilling operations is one of the potential areas where data processing and advanced analytics technology can be used to increase revenue, lower costs, and reduce risks. Building a data mining and analytics engine that uses multiple drilling data is a difficult challenge. The workflow of data processing and the timeliness of the analysis are major considerations for developing a data service solution. Most of the current analytical engines require more than one tool to have a complete system. Therefore, adopting an integrated system that combines all required tools will significantly help an organization to address the above challenges in a timely manner. This paper serves to provide a technical overview of the offshore drilling data service system currently developed and deployed. The data service system consists of four subsystems. They are the static data management system including structured data (job report) and unstructured data (design documentation and research report), the real-time data management system, the third-party software data management system integrating major industry software databases, and the cloud-based data visual application system providing dynamic analysis results to achieve timely optimization of the operations. Through a unified logical data model, it can realize the quick access to the third-party software data and application support; These subsystems are fully integrated and interact with each other to function as microservices, providing a one-stop solution for real-time drilling optimization and monitoring. This data service system has become a powerful decision support tool for the drilling operations team. The learned lessons and gained experiences from the system services presented here provide valuable guidance for future demands E&P and the industrial revolution.

The general focus in environmental evaluation of offshore drilling is the discharge of cuttings and chemicals to local marine environment, in some cases including emissions to air from offshore turbines and engines. However, significant impacts occur as a result of processes upstream and downstream from drilling operations, in the manufacture of chemicals and materials, in supply and transport operations, and in treatment of drilling wastes. Life-cycle assessment (LCA) is the structuring, aggregation and evaluation of environmental impacts in a cradle-to-grave scope. We present an LCA model developed through a series of case studies for offshore drilling operations. Model components include a fleet of drilling rigs and supply vessels, a library of drilling fluids and chemical products, various cuttings treatment technologies, top-hole abatement techniques and well operations. The LCA model is used to evaluate technologies in historical, current and future best practice for offshore drilling. One measure under evaluation for the future is the development of smaller, fit-for-purpose vessels (Cat B), which are shown to potentially reduce emissions from the drilling vessel itself by 50 %. Slim-hole drilling is another technology with several potential benefits, including time savings, reductions in steel and concrete in installing and cementing casings, less drilling fluid required, and less cuttings waste logistics and treatment. In all, these provide 30-50 % reduction when compared with conventional well designs, in greenhouse gas emissions and other air emissions, and in harmful releases from manufacture of materials and chemicals and treatment of wastes. Relevant for operations outside European waters, the LCA shows that production and waste treatment of drilling fluid may pose a significant source for impacts unless fluids are managed properly by reuse of drilling fluid and recycling of oil from cuttings waste. These measures provide a reduction of 30 % of the total environmental footprint, illustrating the benefits from current best practice.

A summary and review is presented of certain components of a Physical Environmental Monitoring Program conducted by Mobil Oil Canada, Limited. This program is in support of Mobil's East Coast drilling operations. The various meteorological and oceanographic program components are described with specific reference to the use of the data collected by this monitoring program.to collect, record and transmit data on meteorological and oceanographic conditions; andto assist and advise operational personnel on the various meteorological and oceanographic conditions that affect the performance of rig operations. Introduction Physical environmental monitoring is associated with all East Coast offshore exploration drilling operations. Although this paper addresses, in summary form, some components of Mobil on Canada's Environmental Monitoring Program, the program as presented here is in line with those of other offshore operations and fairly representative. The objectives of such a program are four fold:to monitor, in real time, meteorological and oceanographic parameters that influence on-going offshore operations;to record data that can be used to more accurately model and forecast future meteorological and oceanographic parameters that may influence these operations;to archive data for future potential design considerations; andto obtain and retain government approvals to explore and develop. These objectives, in part, are satisfied by Environmental Monitoring Program components, namely:Offshore Ice/Weather Observer ProgramAutomatic Environmental Weather Station ProgramWave Measurement ProgramCurrent Measurement Program Ice/Weather Observer Program The first program component, the Ice/Weather Observer Program, is the cornerstone for a large portion of this environmental monitoring work. Two trained ice/weather observers are stationed on each Mobil contracted drilling rig on a 24-hour basis. Their basic duties are:to collect, record and transmit data on meteorological and oceanographic conditions; andto assist and advise operational personnel on the various meteorological and oceanographic conditions that affect the performance of rig operations. Depending on the drilling area the rig is in. they may also act as the rig's radio operators. This case applies only to Mobil's drilling operation near Sable Island. Some of the duties of the ice/weather observers are carried out in accordance with practices set down by the Atmospheric Environment Services (AES) of the Canadian Government. However, other duties are specific to an offshore drilling operation and are carefully supervised and monitored by Mobil. The most important function of the ice/weather observer is to make meteorological and oceanographic observations. The observations are called MANMAR measurements; MANMAR stands for " Manual of Marine Weather Observing". Observations are generally made every three hours. They are recorded in a report titled " Selected Ships Meteorological Log", which is supplied by AES. An individual observation entails anywhere from 23 to 44 pieces of information. Figure 1 shows the various parameters measured, observed and recorded on this regular schedule. This includes information on winds, waves, and other weather parameters such as low cloud ceiling, visibility, temperature, barometric pressure, ice and icebergs-just about any weather parameter you can

Deep Reinforcement Learning Based Controller for Active Heave Compensation

Heave compensation is a vital part of various marine and offshore operations. It is used in various applications, including the transfer of cargo between two vessels in the open ocean, installation of topsides of an offshore structure, offshore drilling and for surveillance, reconnaissance and monitoring. These applications typically involve a load suspended from a hydraulically powered winch that is connected to a vessel that is undergoing dynamic motion in the ocean environment. The goal in these applications is to design a winch controller to keep the load at a regulated height by rejecting the net heave motion of the winch arising from ship motions at sea. In this study, we analyze and compare the performance of various control algorithms in stabilizing a suspended load while the vessel is subjected to changing sea conditions. The KCS container ship is chosen as the vessel undergoing dynamic motion in the ocean. The negative of the net heave motion at the winch is provided as a reference signal to track. Various control strategies like Proportional-Derivative (PD) Control, Model Predictive Control (MPC), Linear Quadratic Integral Control (LQI), and Sliding Mode Control (SMC) are implemented and tuned for effective heave compensation. The performance of the controllers is compared with respect to heave compensation, disturbance rejection and noise attenuation.

Summary The discharge of drill cuttings to the seabed can significantly reduce offshore drilling cost. However, the formation of cuttings piles on the seabed near the rigsite can present problems for drilling and production operations. When the problem is likely to occur in the areas of low-current velocity, the cuttings are not discharged to seabed, but ground and injected to formation or transported onshore for disposal, which increases drilling cost. It is highly desired to have an accurate method to predict the location and configuration of the cuttings piles in the design stage of well drilling. This paper presents a solution to the problem. Starting from Newton's second law of motion, a mathematical model has been developed in this study to predict the location, configuration, and characteristics of cuttings piles. Factors considered include water depth, current velocity, cuttings properties (e.g., size distribution, density, and sphericity), and water properties (such as density and viscosity). This mathematical model has been computerized. It provides well planners a useful tool for predicting the characteristics of cuttings piles during drilling. Application of the tool can reduce the cost of drilling through better handling of drill cuttings such as discharging to water vs. injecting into the formation.

Effective barrier management is by most considered the fundamental principle for prevention and mitigation of major accidents in offshore drilling and production operations. The Rig Industry in Norway has long traditions when it comes to managing safety and assets, but previously no common practise amongst all the Rig Owners for how to meet the Norwegian regulatory requirements, was previously established. Barrier management taps into safety and asset management practices by providing a more structured, integrated and systematic approach to managing major accident risk. To understand how the Rig Owner's can best prevent major accidents; focal persons from all the rig companies operating in Norway were involved in this project. During these workshops, all involved parties discussed and expressed their issues of concern, challenges and needs of the industry. Company specific information was openly shared, with the intention that it would be possible to learn from previous situations – to bring the business forward. By defining applicable terminology and explaining the rationale of barrier management, a framework was established as well as an understanding of how this could be implemented. First, definitions of relevant terminology were established, before the rationale of barrier management was explained. A framework was then developed, describing good pracitises for implemention of barrier management solutions in operations and how barrier performance can be maintained, including description of methods, tools and activities for systematic implementation. The resulting barrier management framework can be used to support communication, consensus, decision making and action across technical disciplines and organizational boundaries. It has also given rig owners in Norway a common understanding and approach on how to meet the Petroleum Safety Authority expectations, and how to implement and manage barriers in daily operation to prevent major accidents.

With the rapid development of computing and mapping software, meteorologists are able to create graphical marine weather forecasts to provide drilling operations a better picture of the weather windows for their operations. By being able to combine satellite, radar, operation locations, wind and wave forecasts onto one map, the operator has a quick overview of the weather's impacts on his/her operations. Global models are now available every 6 hours giving various forecasts of winds and waves out to 15 days. This information can be used to have a preliminary view of what weather one could encounter for support vessels or for weather sensitive operations. Examples of weather in the North Sea, Gulf of Alaska, and Gulf of Mexico will be given to show how technology has changed and how the meteorologists communicate the weather to the oil and gas industry.

Summary U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 11 granted the first offshore drilling National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits to the Mid-Atlantic operators in 1978. The generic or standard mud concept was developed by the Offshore Operators Committee with EPA Region 11 to provide the agency with an understanding of and control over mud components and discharges without requiring the operators to perform redundant bioassay and chemical tests every time mud was discharged. The generic mud concept subsequently has been incorporated into permits issued by EPA Regions I, III, IV, VI, IX, and X. Eight basic mud types were defined that encompassed virtually all water-based muds used on the outer continental shelf (OCS). A bioassay test procedure, adapted from the EPA/U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' procedure for dredged material, was developed, and a test program was conducted on field mud samples representing each of the eight basic types. Operators were allowed to discharge muds of the eight types without conducting additional bioassays. Results of the test program indicate that all eight generic muds demonstrated low toxicity. The eight generic muds contain primarily major components and do not include specially chemicals sometimes required to remedy special drilling problems (e.g., lost-returns material, lubricants, and defoamers). This situation is being handled by using an "approved additive list" that names additives that do not affect mud toxicity significantly. The API is developing a standard bioassay procedure based on the Region II protocol for testing specialty chemicals in standard muds, and service companies already are using parts of this procedure to gain approval for use of their products. Introduction In 1978, EPA Region II granted the first offshore drilling NPDES permits to operators drilling on leases in the Baltimore Canyon. As a permit condition, the operators were required to perform a jointly funded drilling-mud bioassay program. Before initiating the test program, the Offshore Operator Committee Task Force on Environmental Science, with EPA Region II, developed an acceptable drilling-mud bioassay procedure and a spectrum of eight general mud types that included essentially all water-based compositions. Previously, the agency had not recognized differences in water-based mud systems and had classified all muds in only two categories, oil- or water-based. The generic mud concept and the EPA Region II bioassay procedure evolved from this effort. The approach has proved to be practical, and the generic mud concept, supported by the Region II bioassay results, subsequently has been incorporated into permits issued by EPA Regions I, III, IV, VI, IX, and X. Generic Mud Concept The generic muds were identified by reviewing the permit requests and selecting the minimum number of mud permit requests and selecting the minimum number of mud systems that would cover all those named by the prospective permittees. Eight different mud systems were prospective permittees. Eight different mud systems were identified that encompass virtually all water-based muds used on the OCS (Table 1). Instead of naming a set concentration for each component in each mud system, concentration ranges were specified to allow the operators sufficient flexibility to drill safely. In the eight generic mud systems, only major components are specified. Specially additives (e.g., lost circulation materials and lubricity agents) needed for special drilling situations are not named. If an unanticipated need for a specially additive arises, the operator is required to submit data on the additive's chemical composition, usage rates, and toxicity to the EPA before its use. On the basis of this information, the EPA regional administrator approves or disapproves discharge of mud containing the additive on a case-by-case basis. If there is a continuing need for the additive, the operator then can submit bioassay data on mud containing the additive. Discharge would be allowed if the additive does not greatly increase mud toxicity. Once an additive becomes "approved" in this way, future discharge of muds containing the additive is allowed without conducting additional bioassays. Note that any of the generic muds may contain one or more specially additives; however, the presence of an approved specially additive in a generic mud does not change the generic mud type.