Technology is essential for the well-connected driller.

In Fall 2001, a new drilling data-acquisition system that had been on the drawing board at National Oilwell since 1999 was delivered to Statoil and installed on the Statfjord field offshore Norway. The SdiDA system (Smart Drilling Instrumentation Drilling Advisor) is a multi-user surface logging and drilling data acquisition system designed to serve all parties affiliated with the drilling team.

While some other drilling data acquisition systems "piggyback" on the rig sensors, SdiDA is fully integrated, obtaining its core information from the drilling control system and interfacing directly with the rig's drilling machinery. This gives full access to all the drilling and machinery information for analysis, processing and feeding back as advisory commands to the drilling control system. In addition, it displays and communicates all relevant operational information. Data can be accessed remotely via Internet browser by upgrading to the Hawk WebDriller suite of programs.

While some full-scale data acquisition systems require a dedicated operator to run the system (usually a mud-logger), SdiDA is designed to operate by itself, only needing a part-time system administrator (typically the rig instrumentation technician) for computer maintenance. All members of the drilling team (driller, directional driller, measurement-while-drilling (MWD) engineer and tool-pusher) can access the system on their dedicated workstation, pull out their own information and enter their own data into the database. This ensures that all data will always come from the proper source, according to a predefined responsibility and work plan, as users log in with their own unique IDs.

The system is connected to all surface sensors as well as the rig programmable logic controllers (PLCs), and interfaces with third-party MWD computers via standard industry interfaces. The third-party data are displayed alongside the other drilling data on time-based and depth-based plots. Those with system access can also print out the data in report form. Instead of having several monitors from different companies placed in the same office, one rig-provided SdiDA monitor can display all relevant drilling-information through its multi-page user menu.

The system conforms fully to the stringent Norwegian offshore regulations for safety and redundancy. Prior to installing the first system in Norwegian waters, Statoil conducted a thorough HazOp study, which went through all work procedures, safety and redundancy issues and involved personnel from other service contractors, the drilling contractor, the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate and National Oilwell. The HazOp study concluded that all safety requirements were met by implementing SdiDA offshore.
Statoil claims that by switching to SdiDA, the company saved enough rental and personnel costs to equal that of a low-cost Statfjord well after only 3 years of operation (see Statoil's technical newsletter Well Informed, April 2002). The system has proven to be quite robust when out in the field, as virtually no downtime has been experienced with the three systems deployed so far. The fourth system is currently rolling out and also will be used on a Statoil installation.

"We believe this type of system has great potential and will penetrate this market as a consequence of the drill-floor environment becoming more and more computerized," said Richard Steffensen, senior advisor on the Product Services and Development Team at National Oilwell Inc. "Our industry has always emphasized the vital importance of good communication during drilling operations. We believe that with the SdiDA we have taken drilling data acquisition one step further: we have lifted all members of the drilling team up one communication level, integrating team and machine."
For further information regarding the SdiDA, send e-mail to: psdt@natoil.com.

Onshore electronic maintenance system

The Discoverer Deep Seas has become the first offshore drilling rig to use a Varco Internet-enabled control center on land to monitor, analyze and help maintain drilling equipment. A 4-month pilot of the Varco E-drill system saved the Discoverer Deep Seas several hours of downtime and has led Transocean to install the E-drill service on seven other ultradeepwater drilling rigs: Discoverer Spirit, Discoverer Enterprise, Cajun Express, Deepwater Nautilus, Deepwater Horizon, Deepwater Pathfinder and Deepwater Millennium.

Varco's E-drill Service Center in Houston is manned 24 hours a day, 7 days a week by experts with controlled electronic access to the rig's control system using the Internet. This access allows technicians to monitor proactively more than 5,000 data points on Varco equipment, from dual pipe-racking and iron roughneck systems on the drill floor to mud pump sensors. The goal is to achieve optimum drilling performance while keeping minor difficulties from turning into downtime events. If a problem is identified, an E-drill engineer contacts the rig to analyze, troubleshoot or advise that a maintenance activity should be scheduled.

This immediate response is in contrast to the traditional method of supporting rigs by mobilizing a service engineer from shore to the rig for data gathering and analysis. As of late July, Varco's E-drill Service Center had been monitoring and supporting the Discoverer Deep Seas for 6 months through remote connectivity to the rig's V-ICIS System.

Eddy Redd, rig manager for the Discoverer Deep Seas, calls the E-drill Service Center a proactive tool for managing downtime better. "In the old days, it could take a technician 2 days just to travel to the rig and analyze an electronic-related problem," he said. "Now, the E-drill system can take a snapshot of a technical problem, and a solution can be worked out quickly, much as a sports team uses photographs on the sidelines to strategize a play."

The interaction between the rig maintenance personnel and the service center creates an avenue for shared technical information. "This service supports Transocean's commitment to operational excellence," said Phil Vollands, Transocean's in-house Varco account manager. "I am delighted that Transocean has become the first offshore drilling contractor to embrace this technology."

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