Directional Drilling Automation Implemented on the Norwegian Continental Shelf
Authors: Aliyev Sanan , Tengesdal Jan Egil , Ngueguim Marcel Emile 
Published: October 2023

Directional drilling plays a pivotal role in the oil and gas industry, but its efficacy is frequently hampered by imprecise control. This paper introduces an autonomous directional drilling framework that capitalizes on intelligent execution techniques to enhance drilling performance. The proposed framework encompasses Autonomous Drilling Software (ADS), which operates as a fully independent system integrating sophisticated algorithms and real-time data analysis. This software aims to optimize drilling performance, ensuring more precise wellbore positioning, while simultaneously delivering tangible reductions in carbon emissions and substantial improvements in operational and health, safety, and environment (HSE) risk mitigation.

The primary objective of this paper is to provide a comprehensive performance assessment of ADS by comparing the results of similar wellbore sections drilled conventionally under comparable conditions. A baseline will be established for performance by analyzing a range of key drilling metrics, including rate of penetration (ROP), actual drilling trajectory's accuracy, trip for failures (TFF), and a smoothness of hole profiles that helps to minimize the time and effort required for subsequent casing running operations, which can be a major source of downtime and operational inefficiency. The case study will provide a detailed analysis of the performance of ADS in a real-world drilling environment, highlighting the effectiveness of automation technologies in overcoming technical challenges and improving drilling efficiency and safety. According to the data collected over the last three years in fields drilled on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS), the resulting ROP, well placement and borehole quality have been considerably improved by implementation of drilling automation. 23.4% increased ROP is achieved on sections being drilled by autonomous steering versus conventional drilling method. Additionally, the implementation of a drilling automation solution resulted in a notable 42% increase in the average length between downlinks for the curve sections when compared to manually drilled curve sections. The analysis has omitted the tangent section due to the practice of utilizing downhole navigation systems for drilling the tangent sections. In such cases, the rotary steerable system automatically adjusts steering force and toolface without requiring downlink communication. Wells drilled with the drilling automation platform tracked the distance to the planned trajectory with lower standard deviation in comparison with manually drilled wellbores. ADS guided push and point the bit RSS technologies during drilling 25 curves on the particular fields in the Norwegian sea. The curves have been drilled with sample standard deviation 2 meters of the spread of distance to the plan data distribution. Results observed were compared with nearby offset curves drilled on the same field in manual mode, where the standard deviation of distance to plan achieved was 5.3 meters.

The ensuing examination demonstrates a case history of directional drilling automation system deployment on injector well's 8.5-inch hole section, inclusive of wired drill pipe on the NCS. The rotary-steerable system's (RSS) drilling commands were automatically generated, optimized, and transmitted via a drilling automation platform, which leveraged real-time data to ensure accurate well placement. Since one of the objectives of the well was to detect an oil-water contact (OWC), the maximum allowable deviation from the principal plan was 5 meters to hit the Target #1 at the total depth (TD) of the section. The well section in question was a highly complex open hole sidetrack that was drilled from the cement, in close proximity to a nearby offset well, which served as the parent wellbore for a 7-inch liner stump. The liner stump was a source of magnetic interference, which posed a challenge in the drilling process. The drilling automation platform utilized the high-precision downhole measurements to compute and optimize the drilling trajectory in real-time, ensuring that the wellbore remained on track and avoided any potential sources of interference. Despite the complex and challenging nature of the well section, the automated system was able to complete the drilling operation with high accuracy and efficiency, demonstrating the effectiveness of advanced automation technologies in overcoming technical challenges in directional drilling.