2020 Automation & Data Technology Showcase

RELATED CONTENT: Investing in Energy’s Digital Future Will Deliver Long-Term Returns

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Editor’s note: The copy herein is contributed from service companies and does not reflect the opinions of Hart Energy. To inquire about inclusion in this technology showcase, contact Ariana Hurtado at ahurtado@hartenergy.com.

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Quadruped robot for offshore inspections

In early February, Aker BP and Cognite announced a strategic initiative to explore how robotics systems can be used to make offshore operations safer, more efficient and more sustainable. Cognite and Aker BP will do several tests using robots and drones on the Aker BP-operated Skarv installation in the Norwegian Sea during 2020. The robotics systems will be tested to gauge their performance in autonomous inspection, high-quality data capture and automatic report generation. Tasks may include aerial and underwater inspections, responding to leaks, performing work that takes humans out of harm’s way and providing onshore operators with telepresence on offshore installations. Among the robots involved in the initiative is Spot, the quadruped robot developed by Boston Dynamics. Cognite and Aker BP have tested Spot’s mobility in simulated oil and gas environments to ensure that it can access locations in these facilities too difficult to access through traditional automation.

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AI technology helps proactively predict production problems

and optimize well performance

Ambyint has released SmartStream production surveillance, which integrates artificial intelligence (AI)-powered anomaly detection with other proprietary techniques to

• Maintain on-plan production stream by identifying problems faster than conventional methods;
• Improve diagnosis and workflows to deliver a workforce multiplier; and
• Scale production optimization capabilities. 

These unique AI capabilities analyze wells daily looking for general production anomalies, such as metering/calibration, frac hits and well instability. The innovative technology enables the impartial evaluation and optimization of all well types, including flowing and artificially lifted, to increase uptime, reduce deferred production and decrease operating costs. Because of its flexibility, SmartStream can be provided in multiple implementation models: as a stand-alone production optimization tool, as part of a deeper artificial lift optimization tool or as an AI-as-a-service that delivers real-time events and alerts into existing workflows.

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Intelligent underwater installation monitoring

In 2019 Ashtead Technology made available its Advanced Monitoring System (AMS+) for its first commercial deployment to support a North Sea operator with the safe and accurate installation of a conductor anchor node suction pile. The compact AMS+ combines intelligent software with modern technology. Equipped with rechargeable batteries and ROV-friendly subsea docking mechanisms, the system collects underwater acoustic and surface data telemetry for readout on dual LED displays and storage via integral datalogging capabilities.

Deployment and recovery simplification functions were added alongside modems suited to the harsh deepwater conditions of the operating site. Capable of real-time communication, these advanced modems allowed rapid operational improvements. Once successfully deployed at the wellhead site, the multifunctional system relayed heading, pitch and roll measurements through the use of solid-state fiber-optic and ring laser gyros. The AMS+ delivered reliable data results topside 10 times faster than conventional methods, minimizing the risk of misalignment during installation.

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Automated drilling services enable more consistent performance

The automation of drilling systems is crucial in today’s complex drilling environment where surface and downhole real-time systems must reliably deliver according to plan. The drive to move personnel from wellsite red zones to productive decision-making remote centers further supports the integration and automation of drilling systems.

Baker Hughes developed its i-Trak drilling automation services to reduce operational risks and well delivery costs by integrating and automating drilling systems. The i-Trak services aggregate real-time surface and downhole data and use hybrid physics-based and data-driven models to reduce nonproductive time and deliver wells more economically.  

In the fourth quarter of 2019, Baker Hughes drilled two sections of an offshore development well in the North Sea using the automated, closed-loop directional drilling service. Continuously comparing actual downhole wellbore positioning data with the planned well path, the i-Trak service automatically sent steering parameters to the downhole steering unit to make sure the well was drilled on the planned path. This operation represents an important step toward automation of the whole drilling process.

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Integrated control and flow measurement for secure, remote operations

The Bedrock OSA Remote +Flow industrial control system integrates Flow-Cal algorithms and PLC/PAC/RTU functionality into a powerful, secure control module that fits in the palm of the hand. With this single automation platform and free IEC 61131-3 engineering software, users can configure oil and gas measurement and custody transfer applications requiring 10 to 20 input/output (I/O); program the I/O and control strategies in the field; and connect via standard protocols such as HART, ethernet IP and Modbus, alongside OPC UA and message queuing telemetry transport. Free built-in cybersecurity provides maximum protection and easy operation. Up to 64 GB secure flash memory, 512 MB program memory and multicore ARM Cortextm processors enable the most advanced modern applications. Sealed all-metal construction and -40 C to +80 C (176 F) operating range make the OSA Remote +Flow suitable for even the most challenging environments.

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AI insights for field optimization

BHC3 Production Optimization is an artificial intelligence (AI)-based application that allows well operators to view real-time production data, better project future production and help optimize operations for improved oil and gas production and injection rates. The application is the latest addition to the portfolio of AI applications from Baker Hughes and C3.ai. 

BHC3 Production Optimization enables more precise and timely decision-making to optimize the right level of production to meet business goals and energy demand. The application continuously uses machine learning algorithms to quickly aggregate historical and real-time data across production operations and creates a comprehensive view of production from individual and multiple wells to the pipeline, distribution and point-of-sale. BHC3 Production Optimization then applies machine learning to the data for anomaly detection, injection well influence quantification, production forecasting and prescriptive actions that improve production performance. 

Additionally, the application generates predictions and prescribed actions that are accurate and easier to interpret. For example, engineers can now pinpoint exactly which injection wells to tune for higher production output.

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Replacing paper tickets with digital information and workflows

As the oil patch rapidly adopts automation for drilling and production processes, many oilfield service companies still complete paper tickets to document field activities, causing significant inefficiencies and delaying or losing billable revenues in the process.

Cleargistix was created to digitally capture information for service tickets, safety activities, inspections and any other previously hand-written field information and to manage that information through a workflow for review, approval and reporting. Cleargistix also can export captured data into multiple systems. While speeding back-office procedures, Cleargistix is engineered and field-tested to be as easy as possible for field personnel to learn and use. It can be adapted to any oilfield service company’s operations, staff, workflows and reporting functions. Instead of taking weeks to document, collect, approve, key in and further process paper tickets, Cleargistix creates data in real time, speeding the process of reporting and billing.

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Real-time drilling and completion apps deliver 

high-performing wells faster and cheaper

With daily rig costs soaring, operators must accelerate drilling and completion (D&C) times to reduce capex and put more production online faster. Equipment solutions provide incremental performance gains, underscoring the need to leverage data-driven insights to take drilling and completions to the next level of efficiency. Corva enables D&C teams to bring both real-time and historical datasets together on one integrated platform and surface actionable insights to users through a suite of nearly 100 mobile and web applications. Used on more than 200 North American rigs, Corva’s apps target specific engineering challenges to generate measurable results and value, cutting days from drilling projects and enabling more stages to be completed in a day. Corva’s proven data analytics provide end-to-end optimization from the top section of a well to drillout, resulting in increased ROP, reduced slide percentage and faster plug-and-perf operations. Corva also helps D&C teams identify and prevent costly hazards, such as twist-offs, kicks, screenouts and frac hits.

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Smart contracts on blockchain network for automated

billing, invoicing and contract term executions

Modern contracts among vendors, suppliers, customers and companies are laborious, disjointed and involve hefty manual processes that produce significant transaction frictions—including late invoices and payments, disputes and reconciliations. But smart contracts solve these pain points. Data Gumbo’s smart contracts exist on its blockchain network, capture performance metrics from the field, ensure contract obligations are fulfilled, then automate transactions based on pre-agreed terms. By providing a single immutable record of truth, Data Gumbo synchronizes data across counterparties for complete transparency that frees up working capital, reduces contract leakage, enables real-time cash and financial management, and delivers materials provenance. Company, commodity and data-gathering systems agnostic, Data Gumbo stores all data directly on its network with access to full auditable records.

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Exception-based management using machine learning

for predictive maintenance

Flutura's Cerebra artificial intelligence (AI) platform with self-learning capability leverages on oil and gas domain knowledge and technology expertise. Cerebra is deployed across the oil and gas value chain (specifically drilling, pressure pumping, early production and production), providing actionable insights to take real-time decisions. Optimization of pressure pumping performance helps mitigate nonproductive time. While capturing granular level signatures help in predicting equipment failures in advance, seamless integration of Cerebra helped in scaling these solutions to a fleet of 700 high-pressure fracturing pumps.

AI helps well operators in exception-based management where unsupervised machine learning data models identify critical patterns within a well that needs immediate action. The algorithm scores every well and ranks the most critical well first. With this intelligence, an optimal route to attend the critical wells is provided to the field engineer reducing the production deferment by an estimated 15%.

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Pumper app integrates with most oilfield monitoring and control systems  

GreaseBook, an oil and gas software production app, integrates with nearly every SCADA, oilfield monitoring system and hardware component installed in the oil patch, both new and old. Unlike most legacy field data collection and production software solutions, which overcomplicate simple tasks for the pumpers and field crews, GreaseBook offers a simple, intuitive and cost-effective mobile-first approach to the operator. GreaseBook provides the operator with production information that is accessible as well as visual and actionable. Features include flicking through production charts and graphs; zooming into specific datasets; and no more isolated SCADA, pen and paper gauge sheets, missing run tickets, “phoning it in" or delays. 

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Solid-state gyro technology

Gyrodata recently introduced SPEAR solid-state gyroscopic technology to its wellbore surveying solutions portfolio. Solid-state gyro technology, which is smaller and more rugged than previous designs, includes a sensor package that measures the earth’s rotational rate, precisely and accurately determining inclination and true north. 

SPEAR solid-state technology is used in Gyrodata’s latest drop gyro surveying system and gyro-while-drilling (GWD) system. The GWD system can withstand harsher levels of shock and vibration while helping reduce the ellipse of uncertainty in real time. Drop gyros eliminate the need for independent wireline gyro runs, making wellbore surveying simpler, more cost-effective and more accurate.

Solid-state gyros produce a final survey and quality control based on measured data only, making them ideal for applications with drilling automation. SPEAR technology measures the orientation of the bottomhole assembly while eliminating the need for time-consuming external corrections and real-time monitoring of the earth’s magnetic field, which are typical when running MWD tools and high accuracy is required.

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Visualization platform harnesses data to optimize well performance

As customers are adding more sensors to their wells to understand what is required to optimize completion design and well performance, the challenge remains being able to remotely access and filter data in an efficient manner using a secure common architecture such as any computer and mobile devices.

Halliburton’s Clariti visualization platform allows the operator the ability to log onto the Clariti dashboard via a PC, iOS or Android device and instantly access critical real-time or historical data from the well sensors from anywhere on the globe at any time. The Clariti dashboard provides easy-to-navigate screens that display and visualize real-time and historical feedback directly from the well. 

The Clariti platform is easily integrated into new and existing instrumented wells that are equipped with the company's DataSphere permanent monitoring suite for pressure and temperature data. It is also compatible with the iFlow system, which offers real-time flow characteristics and modeling when integrated with Halliburton’s intelligent well interval control valves.

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Enabling drones to fly beyond visual line of sight unlocks full potential

The ability to fly a drone beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) is the critical missing piece that takes commercial drone operations from theoretical to functional. The new Iris Automation Casia system is a turnkey solution that detects, tracks and classifies other aircraft and makes intelligent decisions about the threat they may pose to the drone. It then triggers automated maneuvers to avoid collisions and alerts the pilot on the ground in command of the mission. The collision avoidance system helps drones see the world how pilots do, and it is suitable for any industry that plans to use drones, including commercial, industrial and long-range inspections.  

Iris Automation conducted the first Part 107 FAA-approved BVLOS drone flights without a requirement for visual observers or ground-based radar. Iris Automation also offers customers with Casia onboard regulatory support for Part 107 waiver writing and regulatory approval processes to secure the necessary permissions for their unique UAS BVLOS operations. 

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Digital transformation consulting for analytics and AI data volumes

Big Data analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) involve complex and large datasets that require much more than a conventional database system. Many oil and gas companies are moving data to the cloud in an attempt to reduce storage costs of these enormous data volumes. To help navigate these and other digitalization challenges, Katalyst Data Management offers subsurface consulting services.  With 60 petabytes of subsurface data under management, the company has developed a tested road map for companies to follow when it comes to their digital transformation journey. Katalyst Data Management's  team of consultants can prepare a path forward and provide recommendations on cloud services and compliance issues as well as the many other challenges that E&P companies will encounter to prepare their subsurface data for AI and machine learning.  

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Automation platform’s real-time insights boost the margin per barrel

Barclays estimates that digital technologies will increase the margin per barrel by $3 within the next five years. Yet most E&P teams still rely on messy point solutions or simplistic data collection software to fuel their automation. The Lavoro platform helps operators right-size their digital transformation with a single solution proven to lower their cost per barrel with no programming required. With Lavoro, operators can integrate all their assets into a single platform, transform those data into actionable insights and access them in real time from the field to the enterprise. Lavoro’s easy configuration makes spaghetti code a thing of the past, while its cause-and-effect logic loops optimize remote, or even autonomous, operations. With Lavoro, operators are going from lag time to real time, and they are using those insights to achieve the digital oil field of tomorrow, today.

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Predictive analytics enable rapid modeling of

hundreds of scenarios using machine learning

To optimize capital allocation decisions, it is essential for upstream operators to have the ability to accurately predict well performance across a wide range of potential development scenarios. With the release of the Novi Prediction Engine, energy professionals gain the tools to model hundreds of drilling, completion and recovery scenarios in minutes, enabling their team to make the most informed investment decisions while cutting time and costs. With Prediction Engine, users can rapidly evaluate A&D opportunities, test different asset development planning scenarios, improve EUR forecast accuracy, and add efficiency and scale to capital allocation optimization workflows. Using machine learning, Prediction Engine lets users automatically analyze and find the best combination of spacing, stacking, stimulation and project timing. Novi’s Prediction Engine simplifies planning workflows with reusable templates for well inventory, pad layout and completion design. Predictions and economic results are instantly available in the cloud for further analysis in third-party business intelligence tools.

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Well interference data exchange automates sharing of

completion schedules to help producers avoid frac hits

The increasing abundance of tightly spaced and closely stacked horizontal wells in U.S. shale plays is making frac hit prevention a top priority for the industry. Interwell pressure communication causes unexpected, often negative, interference on nearby offset drilling or production operations during hydraulic fracturing activity. Over the course of the last year, PDS Energy Information has partnered with operators in the Permian, Eagle Ford and Bakken to develop a no-cost frac hit prevention system. The PDS-operated Frac Interference Exchange (FracX) is deployed on the company’s commercial Well Data Exchange network, widely used to share structured and unstructured drilling, completion and production data among oil and gas companies. FracX provides participating operators a secure and standardized method for exchanging completion schedules so that potentially impacted acreage can be rapidly identified and, if required, action taken to shut in wells. PDS recently enhanced FracX with new automation capabilities that enable producers to seamlessly synchronize their GIS systems with up-to-date completion details using FTP or API transfer.

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Autonomous drones optimize construction

and operation at extraction fields

The API’s Guide to Developing an Unmanned Aircraft Systems Program states, "These systems have the potential to significantly reduce safety risks to personnel, cut operational costs and increase efficiencies across a variety of tasks."

Percepto’s artificial intelligence-powered autonomous industrial drone-in-a-box solutions are realizing this potential at sites around the world. High-definition and thermal cameras combined with computer vision (including detailed mapping, 3D modeling and accurate measurement capabilities) automate inspection, security, safety and compliance operations.

Drones accurately observe construction of extraction fields, providing consistent and persistent visual monitoring on well pad construction and pump installation translating to safer, more efficient operations. Once installed, autonomous drones act as a visual eye in the sky, with frequent thermographic inspections allowing operators to implement preventive maintenance strategies, ultimately improving safety and minimizing shutdowns. With one rig up and running, autonomous drones can be leveraged for site surveying and planning, management of the gathering line and any onsite storage units.

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ARM-based edge devices lower costs 

but present new challenges in device management

ARM-based edge computing is making it incredibly affordable to deploy local drivers to read an array of Internet of Things and legacy devices. However, as the demands on these edge devices increase, it is becoming increasingly important to have good systems to manage them. New SCADA platforms are emerging that build in app deployment, driver management, version control and backups all optimized for the high latency environment so common in oilfield applications. One such SCADA platform, OnPing has been deployed at an E&P company to allow control to work across disparate locations with a unified scripting language capable of tying actions across remote locations together. This platform uses an ARM-based edge device called a Lumberjack as the platform to deploy applications that are capable of taking actions using cross field and local data. The cloud platform allows version history and application deployment history for each device to be backed up and redeployed in the event of equipment damage.

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Flow measurement calculation and verification engine

Custody transfers, where agreed quantities of hydrocarbons pass from seller to buyer, are subject to intense scrutiny. Every component of the metering system used to calculate the values transferred must be verified for accuracy, with all aspects of the operation being transparent, traceable and demonstrable.

At the heart of a system is the flow calculation itself. These globally recognized calculations ensure the worldwide trade is carried out in a technically defensible, fair and equitable manner. Flow calculations must be checked regularly to ensure they are being executed according to international standards.

The Proserv Controls measurement team has developed the Valid8 flow measurement calculation and verification engine. Situated within the metering supervisory system, it allows an operator to independently verify all calculations with no operator input required. The tool has recently been integrated into the metering system of a floating production system undergoing an upgrade in the Northern North Sea.

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Streaming blended vendor data to applications and analytics platforms

There has been an explosion in commercial and public data sources, with each individual dataset delivering significant value, typically with a niche focus, such as geographic area, business function or historical coverage. E&P companies increasingly need access to the best data available to drive efficiency and establish a competitive advantage, but no single data source offers the best data for every need.

Competitive Intelligence from EnergyIQ by Quorum Software blends the most comprehensive and up-to-date vendor and public data available into a single source based upon advanced business rules set by the user. These data can be delivered directly to analytics and artificial intelligence platforms, geological and geophysical interpretation applications, map interfaces and business intelligence tools so that all aspects of the business are accessing the same consistent feed of the most trusted data available.

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Drives slow down or stop sucker rod pump when well cannot provide enough oil to pump, needs time to replenish

The PowerFlex 755T Drives from Rockwell Automation have recently experienced an upgrade. A new feature in the PowerFlex 755T Drives with TotalFORCE technology is pump-off, which is designed to slow down or stop a sucker rod pump in conditions where the well cannot provide enough oil to pump and needs time to replenish. This feature can reduce start up wear on mechanical pumping equipment with adjustable speed ramp, improve productivity by reducing speed to maintain operation rather than stopping, and save on maintenance time and costs by reducing rod breaks. The 755T drives are designed to provide harmonic mitigation, regeneration and common bus solutions that help reduce energy costs, add flexibility and increase productivity. These are the first drives to offer TotalFORCE technology, which uses several patented features to help optimize a system. This technology has powerful adaptive control capabilities, which allow the drives to monitor machine characteristics that can change over time and automatically compensate for the changes that occur.

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Dynamic reservoir characterization in all conditions

Traditional formation testing approaches involve siloed workflows with data integrated only days or weeks after the job, potentially resulting in loss of data value. Schlumberger's Ora intelligent wireline formation testing platform is the industry’s first integration of downhole digital hardware and cloud-native software. Operators can now efficiently evaluate their reservoirs—even in previously inaccessible conditions—and all the information is provided in context, in real time for faster confident decision-making.

Containing new architecture and laboratory-accuracy metrology, the digital hardware automates complex workflows, increases efficiency and reduces risk while delivering the highest-precision fluid analysis and cleanest samples in the industry. These unique abilities enable operators to see further into the reservoir and confirm reserves sooner, while maximizing production and expediting completion strategy and field development planning.

In a deepwater Gulf of Mexico operation for Talos Energy, the Ora platform obtained high-quality downhole fluid data, which was immediately put into reservoir context. The reservoir model was then updated, enabling real-time confirmation of reservoir connectivity for early completions decisions.    

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Utilizing lithium-ion energy storage to develop low-emissions drilling rig

West Mira is a sixth-generation, ultradeepwater semisubmersible unit that will operate in the North Sea's Nova Field approximately 120 km northwest of Bergen, Norway. It will be the world's first modern drilling rig to operate a low-emissions hybrid (diesel-electric) power plant using Siemens’ BlueVault lithium-ion battery technology. Installed in 2019, the integration of energy storage with the power supply and distribution system of a drilling rig represents an important step toward improving the environmental sustainability of the offshore oil and gas industry by reducing emissions and paving the way to harnessing clean but intermittent renewables, such as offshore wind. The power solution is based on field-proven technology, which has been installed in more than 60 marine vessels worldwide, including the world's first all-electric ferry boat in Norway.

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Oilfield chemical management system automates dosing

For years, manually operated chemical treatment was the only option for produced water or for well production. However, it was costly in man-hours and equipment downtime, and the set-and-forget system led either to overspending on chemicals or undertreating, which led to lost production.

SitePro’s Oilfield Chemical Management Automation platform integrates pumps and equipment with the company’s monitoring platform. The system can remotely monitor and report flow rates, fluid volumes and composition to automatically adjust chemical dosage. This reduces chemical costs while maintaining accurate treatment levels as conditions change. 

In the field, the system’s efficiency has been shown to equal $0.025/bbl to $0.03/bbl. For example, a customer spending $0.05/bbl on chemicals could save up to 50% on chemical costs with Oilfield Chemical Management.

Maintaining proper treatment levels also assures that those treatments will continue to perform as prescribed.

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AI-based predictive analytics for offshore platforms

SparkPredict is an artificial intelligence (AI) analytics software with comprehensive alerting and diagnostics that help operations teams diagnose asset failure with greater advance notice and context than traditional condition monitoring methods. In the last year, the latest release of SparkPredict offered a new alerting strategy based on a machine learning-derived asset risk score that reduces false positives and enables triage and decisions in about 10 minutes.

In back-testing, this approach achieves 75% accuracy on average and offers up to 28 days advance notice. This is a prime example of AI that is not just a buzzword or vague concept but has been successfully deployed in the real world. This technology is being used on a number of offshore platforms and has contributed millions of dollars in value per platform.

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Ensuring wells are always running

Report-by-exception allows oil and gas operators to focus resources where and when they are needed most. This improves uptime, performance and revenue. SPOC Automation's Well Optix ensures wells are always running by detecting anomalies before they cause downtime and a drop-in production. Well Optix alerts operators via report-by-exception about equipment status and well-related issues.

Unlike other SCADA systems, which tend to bury information about festering performance problems in mountains of reporting data, Well Optix allows operators to define various thresholds (aka exceptions) for equipment and general well performance. When Well Optix detects such exceptions, alerts are sent to a predetermined list of personnel who can determine next steps. Well Optix and its report-by-exception capabilities are powerful, yet simple to use. The system allows operators to monitor wells remotely, providing actionable production data that can increase equipment uptime and efficiency as well as overall profitability.

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Oil equipment “eBay” gives free access to industry players

To support a global oil industry heavily impacted by the drop in oil prices and the COVID-19 outbreak, Norwegian SurplusHub has decided to offer industry players the opportunity to market their surplus oil and gas equipment free of charge at its global online equipment portal. 

Selling surplus equipment helps oil industry players free up cash that is otherwise tied up in its balance sheets, while buyers can reduce their capex requirements.

SurplusHub.com is a web-based, automated marketplace that connects buyers and sellers all over the world and enables them to negotiate and come to an agreement for buying and selling surplus oil and gas equipment. Several of the world’s largest oil services companies are already utilizing the portal to divest redundant equipment and materials, thereby improving their liquidity and unlocking tied-up values. 

“Many of our users have described it as an eBay for the oil industry,” said Per Kåre Liland, founder and CEO of SurplusHub.

The initiative of allowing oil industry players to market their surplus equipment free of charge is valid until Aug. 31, 2020. To ensure that all participants on the marketplace are serious and real, each company must go through a standard qualification process, which includes credit approval through Dun & Bradstreet. For SurplusHub, the initiative means the company takes a financial loss on its subscription income to support the oil industry. 

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Instant access to seismic data:

high volume ingest to public cloud

Tape Ark is ingesting the largest collections of exploration and seismic data to the cloud using a technology stack that can migrate data at scale and speed.

Since the 1960s, oil and gas companies have been writing their exploration data to magnetic tapes. Today, instant access to massive multi-petabyte legacy seismic data has become one of the new resource fields. The public cloud provides cost-effective storage and computes services for the application of cutting-edge artificial intelligence and machine learning tools.

In addition to mass cloud seismic data ingest, Tape Ark performs premigration audits to identify duplicate datasets, derive the expected cloud foot print of the data before ingest and identify data that are licensed from third parties. The audit process is a key step toward a major migration project for oil and gas companies to ensure the right choices are made with the data collection.

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Automating water management to reduce

costs, risks and environmental impact

TETRA Technologies’ new BlueLinx automated control system closes the loop on water management to deliver the lowest cost per barrel of water by providing automated remote monitoring and control of produced water transfer, storage, treatment and recycling, blending, distribution and sand management. The BlueLinx system enables operators to bring a newfound degree of efficiency and precision to water management while reducing costs and nonproductive time.

An operator in the Appalachia region (northeast U.S.) uses the BlueLinx system to automate water extraction from a nearby river for fracturing operations. With a real-time data stream from the U.S. Geological Survey website that monitors the river, the system automates the diesel pumps extracting the water. When the river’s level drops below a certain threshold of cubic feet per minute, the pumps automatically stop, thereby limiting extraction volume and enabling the operator to avoid regulatory penalties or fines.

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Digitized monitoring for riser and pipeline protection

Trelleborg’s offshore operation has released its new digitized monitoring technology for pipeline protection ancillaries, providing insight through integrated electronic sensors that can communicate directly via a user-friendly "digital technician" app. This app gives access to pre- and post-dive data as well as on-the-spot installation guides, product information and training support.

By reliably monitoring and quantifying riser and pipeline stress and strain, the technology provides continuous performance modeling capabilities to support product life extension, realizing value and carbon reduction opportunities through design and operational efficiency.

Trelleborg’s new digital technologies are easily accessible, deployable and recoverable, with the option to be both retrofitted on existing equipment or integrated with new risers and flowlines.

For greenfield installations and drilling applications, the technology can be seamlessly embedded into Trelleborg’s pipeline protection products such as VIV strakes, subsea buoyancy, bend stiffeners and thermal insulation, providing a simple, cost-effective option without the need for specialist attachment support.

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Software analyzes live production processes and compares progress  

TrendMiner’s Production Cockpit allows engineers and operators to analyze live production processes in upstream oil and gas operations and compare progress to historical production runs. The software utilizes display diagnostics, quality statuses and predictions for production managers to visualize and streamline information between shifts, thus enabling asset experts to analyze, monitor and predict operational performance through trend analysis of time-series data. Engineers can perform a single search across all assets to compare behavior (e.g., within pumps, heat exchangers and valves).

Early warning alarms based on a golden batch fingerprint or best operating zone of an asset can trigger a workflow action such as scheduling a maintenance work order. From improving allocation to troubleshooting potential pressure buildups, increasing well and equipment performance, the software helps oil and gas companies that are continuously striving to optimize overall equipment effectiveness, performance and profitability within a highly volatile and regulated environment.

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Gas detector warns of flammable hydrocarbons leaks

United Electric Controls has augmented its Vanguard WirelessHART gas leak detection system to enable monitoring of propane, butane and other flammable hydrocarbons. The detectors interface with existing networks to provide continuous coverage while reducing the costs of detecting toxic and combustible gases. By eliminating the need to locate and install wiring, wireless technology reduces installation costs by as much as 90% and preserves valuable space, which is especially important in offshore applications.  

Vanguard WirelessHART gas leak detectors perform in a broad ambient operating temperature range of -40 C to 65 C. The detectors feature a five-plus-year battery life, enhanced zero stability and have interchangeable sensors that enable the measurement of different gases without changing the base unit.

The addition of hydrocarbon gas detection is part of the continuous expansion of the Vanguard line. In addition to support for more gases, this expansion includes the introduction of industry-standard device type managers and HART registration, which simplifies installation and maintenance. 

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Unified upstream ERP platform enables producers to move off of legacy systems and consolidate applications in the cloud

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems are the backbone of upstream operations, providing core functions that touch every aspect of an oil and gas business. Producers often rely on dozens of legacy point solutions for accounting, land and production operations that compartmentalize data and workflows inherently related to each other, delaying E&P decision-making and burdening producers with mounting hardware and software costs. 

W Energy Software’s upstream ERP platform is a unified suite of accounting, land and production operations software built on the cloud. It replaces myriad legacy solutions with one integrated system that runs on a common dataset, enabling producers to rapidly process allocations, disburse payments to interest owners, gain visibility into financials and track the accounting movement of hydrocarbons from the wellhead to commodity markets. With W Energy Software, producers, such as WPX Energy, realize significant costs savings while setting their organization up for growth.

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New tool instantly deploys remote monitoring equipment

WellAware Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP) is a digital orchestration tool that allows oil and gas operators to instantly deploy remote monitoring equipment in context and make data from connected equipment securely and immediately available to all approved stakeholders. WellAware ZTP combines solution templating, software-defined networking and an easy-to-use native mobile app to allow field-level workers to assign solution templates to WellAware Edge Devices. This enables context-specific monitoring and control of numerous asset types without the typical hassles of PLC programming, radio network maintenance and structuring of tags in SCADA. Field workers also can collect and assign important metadata such as site names and location, physical properties and related equipment information to define the context environment for each asset. WellAware ZTP ensures that data created from monitored equipment is secure, correct, structured, appropriately identified and immediately available, and it drastically reduces the costs of collecting, managing and analyzing operational data.

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Sustainably closing the skills gap

To entice the next generation of engineers, innovators and leaders, today’s oil and gas companies must be both climate- and cost-conscious to garner the skills necessary to survive the digital and energy transition. Launched by Xergy in February, Proteus is a new cloud-based, integrated work management system that allows businesses to quickly commission the right people for projects on demand. By removing fixed overheads and avoidable costs, and improving utilization rates and project management, the system will greatly increase efficiency while reducing carbon footprint from those commuting and traveling.

Unlike conventional enterprise and resource planning programs, the platform seamlessly connects all major workflows and is accessed through an interface designed to simplify every procedure from project proposals to equipment tracking to final invoicing. By using Proteus, companies can keep pace with the digital revolution, support Industry 4.0 and nurture a more flexible, responsible and sustainable working culture and career.

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Check out the 2019 Automation & Data Technology Showcase here.