Automated Directional Drilling

Market Survey Results

Blaine Comeaux and

Jim Oberkircher - IADD
What direction do you believe the industry is moving in, in
terms of automation?
 Automated basic rig processes like making connections, starting /
stopping pumps
 Automated rig processes like automatically controlling toolface
on a mud motor
 Automated directional drilling with conventional motors, with
slide/rotate sequences automatically controlled by surface
system based on feedback from downhole MWD measurements.
 Downhole rotary steerable automatically drilling along a
downloaded programmed well design
 Downhole and rig sy stem completely integrated to drill entire
well without personnel, only with remote monitoring.
What direction do you believe the industry is moving in, in
terms of automation?
 Automated basic rig processes like making connections, starting /
stopping pumps

Strongly Agree 9 7

Agree 3 3

Neutral 1 1 SvcCos
Operators
Disagree 1

Strongly Disagree

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
What direction do you believe the industry is moving in, in
terms of automation?
 Automated rig processes like automatically controlling toolface
on a mud motor

Strongly Agree 8 6

Agree 6 4

Neutral 1 1 SvcCos
Operators
Disagree 1

Strongly Disagree

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
What direction do you believe the industry is moving in, in
terms of automation?
 Automated directional drilling with conventional motors, with
slide/rotate sequences automatically controlled by surface system
based on feedback from downhole MWD measurements.
Strongly Agree 8 4

Agree 6 6

Neutral 1 SvcCos
Operators
Disagree 2

Strongly Disagree

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
What direction do you believe the industry is moving in,
in terms of automation?
 Rotary steerable automatically drilling along a downloaded
programmed well design

Strongly Agree 9 3

Agree 5 4

Neutral 1 2 SvcCos
Operators
Disagree 1 1

Strongly Disagree 1

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
What direction do you believe the industry is moving in, in
terms of automation?
 Downhole and rig sy stem completely integrated to drill entire
well without personnel, only with remote monitoring.

Strongly Agree 5 2

Agree 3 2

Neutral 4 4 SvcCos
Operators
Disagree 4 3

Strongly Disagree

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
Survey Question 2

 What do you predict will be the most commonly

utilized automation technology in 5 years?
Survey Question 2

 What do you predict will be the most commonly utilized

automation technology in 5 years?
– More sophisticated, automated rig control systems – making connections, “back to
bottom” routines with zero human contact on pipe
– Automated Vibration Mitigation – top drive modulated based on feedback from
surface-mounted and downhole dynamics sensor
– Widespread reliance on directional drilling advisory systems
– Fewer, better, DD’s, in RTOC’s, not always at rig
– RSS tools programmed to automatically steer for simple portions of well
– Elements of surface + downhole integration
– Automated data quality control, automated data analysis, “answer products” –
“let the computer do the heavy lifting” (AJC)
Most Commonly Utilized Automation Technology In 5 Years?

SERVICE COMPANY & DRILLING CONTRACTOR RESPONSES

 Next Level – automation workflow changes the way people look at the problem

 A u t o m a t i c V ib r a t io n M i t i g a t i o n , a u t o m a t e d t o p d ri v e p l u s d o w n h o l e
measurements for stick-slip avoidance

 Automated Surface controls – rig

 Rotary Steerables, systems like Motive – will take a lot of mistakes out of it,
m i n i m i z e r is k o f l o w e r s k i l l d i r e c t i o n a l d ri l l e r ( m a y b e a r e m o t e g u y ) . D o m o r e
with fewer people.
 Instrumented Mud Motor – more dependable and cheaper than a rotary
s t e e ra b l e . W e a r e t r a in i n g d r i l l e r s w i t h a d v i s o r y s y s t e m s , a n d s l i d i n g a m o t o r
w i l l b e c o m e m o r e e f f ic ie n t . A r o b u s t , r e l i a b l e m o t o r w i t h s u rf a c e c o n t r o l . S l i d e
m a n u a l l y o r s l id e a u t o m a t i c a l l y .
Most Commonly Utilized Automation Technology In 5 Years?

SERVICE COMPANY & DRILLING CONTRACTOR RESPONSES

 If we ke e p g oi n g i n t h e d i re cti o n of l ong e r a nd l on ge r l ate rals, the n th e

au tomat e d rot a ry st e e ra b l e sh oul d cont i nu e t o g e t m ore and mor e
tr ac ti on
 Downh ol e a ut onomou s syste ms i n t e gra t e d w i th ri g con tr ols
 RS S tool s b e i n g p rogr a mme d to dr i l l l a te ra l s
 Wi r ed pi p e more comm on l y use d ; Ri g m ore pr oce ss- d ri v e n/ no i nv i si b le
lost ti m e ; Accur a cy of ope ra t i ons w il l t i gh te n; Ex tr e m e , l ow cost
di r ecti ona l dr i l l i n g; C ha n ge of p e r sonne l m i x – Pi t C re w
 Rem ote D ri l l i ng from a n RTO C
 Ge ometr i c Co rre cti o ns u si ng M ot ors a n d RS S – To ol d e ci d es tool face and
dr i lli n g p a ra me t e rs
Most Commonly Utilized Automation Technology In 5 Years?

SERVICE COMPANY & DRILLING CONTRACTOR RESPONSES

 D r i l l i n g p a r a me t e r s a u t o ma t i c a l l y c h os e n b a s e d o n r e a l t i me d ow n h ol e
r es p o n s e
 R e m ot e O p e r a t i on s / r e m o v i n g DD f r om r i g ; S o p h i s t i ca t e d s u r f a ce s ys t e m
t h a t a u t o m a t i c a l l y d r i l l s l a t e r a l , t h en l a t e r v e r t i ca l s e c t i o n s , a n d f i n a l l y
curve
 A u t o m a t ed Di r e c t i o na l D r i l l i n g w i t h m o t o r s a n d R S S ; R e mo t e o p e r a t i o ns b u t
n o t e n t i r el y w i t h o ut r i g s i t e p e r s on n e l ; A u t om a t e d w e l l s a f e gu a r d i n g , ea r l y
e v en t d e t e c t i o n a n d mi t i g a t i on ( e .g . , s t u ck p i p e, h o l e c l e a n i ng , e t c . )
 S ys t e m s t h a t a r e r i g s y s t e m a g n os t i c a nd d e s i g n e d t o ge n e r i ca l l y “ p l u g a n d
p l a y ” i n t o a ny A C r i g P L C s y s t e m a n d d r i v e t h e r i g s y s t em s c on n e ct e d t o i t .
T h e s y s t em s wi l l t a k e d a t a f r o m t h e r i g ’s D A S f o r t h e i n p u t t o t he i r
c on t r o l a l g o r i t h m s .
Most Commonly Utilized Automation Technology In 5 Years?

OPERATOR RESPONSES

 No handling of pipe (by humans), surface-centric directional

solutions (instead of downhole controls)
 Automatic bit guidance system – improve tool face efficiency
 Artificial Reasoning – is this correct (Y/N)
 Elements of surface and downhole controls together
 Automated RSS
 All data automatically captured and analyzed, automated
connections, directional advisor systems
 Surface sy stem automation – do the easy stuff first
Survey Question 3

 What projects are you aware of currently in

development in the area of directional drilling
automation?
What projects are you aware of currently in development in
the area of directional drilling automation?

Product Number of Mentions

SvcCos Operators Total
H&P Motive 7 5 12
Nabors 4 3 7
Trinidad 4 2 6
SLB abbl 3 1 4
HAL 3 1 4
Baker 2 0 2
NOVOS 1 1 2
Hawkeye/xN 2 0 2
Shell 1 0 1
Other 1-1-1-1 0 1-1-1-1
Projects Currently In Development

 Motive/H&P
 Nabors
 S he l l S C A D A d r i l l / N A M
 R i g M i n d e r Cr i t e r i o n
 Hawkeye 3D
 IA Driller
 Corva
 Sperry
 Schlumberger + Pason + Omron + Precision Drilling
 Precision minus SLB + NOV NOVOS / Ampion system
Survey Question 4

 Who, if anyone, do you believe to be the leaders in

automated directional drilling?
Who, if anyone, do you believe to be the leaders in
automated directional drilling?

H&P / Motive 7 6

Nabors 4 3

Trinidad 1

SLB 2 SvcCos
Operator
Baker 2

Pason 1

OXY 1
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
Leaders In Automated Directional Drilling
SERVICE COMPANY & DRILLING CONTRACTOR RESPONSES

 H&P / M o t i ve

– “Motive got out in front of everyone. I don’t see anyone else actively challenging
them.”
 B a ke r H ug he s

 Schl um b e r ge r

 N OV I nt e lli Se r v – “ p e op l e a r e b u yi n g s t r i ng s [of w i r ed p i p e ] fr om N OV

 N a b o rs

 P a s on D i r ec t i on a l D r i ll er ’s T oo lk i t – “ op e ns d oo r f or ma n-l e s s
o p er a t i ons ”
Survey Question 5

 What direction do you believe the industry

should be moving in, in terms of automation,
in the next 3-5 years?
Survey Question 5

 W h a t d ir e c t i o n d o y o u b e l i e ve t h e in d u s tr y sh o u l d b e m ovi n g i n , i n
t e r m s o f a u t om a t i on , i n t h e ne x t 3 - 5 y e a rs ?
 Fully Automated Directional Drilling - Closed-loop wellbore construction packages,
including the measurements required to make decisions and the system to act with
onsite or remote supervision.
 Reducing the number of decisions that humans are allowed to make, to remove
variability and improve consistency – Lean philosophy
 High rate data measurements taken downhole. Drilling mechanics solution
products.
 Open Source software – drilling models and rig controls
 Downhole intelligence and automated manipulation of BHA
 Rig Sensors – more sensors, better sensors, better data QC
What direction do you believe the industry should be
moving in, in terms of automation, in the next 3-5 years?
SERVICE COMPANY & DRILLING CONTRACTOR RESPONSES

 Fu l l y A u t o m at ed D ir e ct io n al Dr il l i ng
 W e sho ul d st art l o o k ing at th e sur fa ce, an d auto mate par ts o f th e
de cisio n t h at ar e m ade at the su rf ace so the y can start re duc ing
h e adc o u nt . Le an p r o ce sse s – ne ed to l o o k at h o w we m ak e co n n ectio ns,
e v e ry pro ce ss. Can t ak e away so m e o f th e v ari abil ity in th e pro ce ss by
r e du cin g t he n u mb e r o f decisio ns that indiv idu al s are al l o we d to mak e .
 Cl o se d- l o o p w el l b o r e co nstr uc tio n pack age s, in cl udin g the
m e asur e me nt s re q uir ed to mak e deci sio n s an d the system to act with
o n site o r re m o t e su pe r v isio n . High r ate data m easu r em e nts tak en
do wn ho l e . D ril l in g me ch anics so l utio n pro du cts.
 O pe rato rs wil l r e al iz e ho w v al u abl e th e data is an d w il l dem an d to o w n
it and do n’ t wan t t o b e he l d ho stage by j ust a co upl e o f big in teg rate d
dr il l ing e n tit ie s.
Direction Industry Should Be Moving In
SERVICE COMPANY & DRILLING CONTRACTOR RESPONSES

 I thin k t he d ir e ctio n we are m o v in g in is th e r igh t dir ectio n. I th ink th e

dir ec tio n o f r ep l ac in g th e hu m an el em e nt is go in g to be difficu l t to
ach ie v e . T he r e’ s ju st a l o t o f th in gs yo u ca n’ t g e t a c o mpu te r to do .
L ik e co m m un icat io n . Al l o f th e data an d r ec o m me n datio ns that th es e
au to m at ed s yst em s c an kic k o u t stil l n ee d a hu m an to e xe cu te o n th ese .
M o th er Nat u re is ju st t o o u npr edictabl e .
 T he r e are a l o t o f an swe rs to th is. I do thin k do w nh o l e decis io n m akin g
in th e to o l s is wh e re w e sho ul d be go in g. Y o u n e ed th e faste r re actio n
tim e that can o n l y b e d o n e do wn h o l e . I do n ’ t th in k wir ed pipe w il l be
w idel y ad o pt e d . M ayb e in the No rth S e a, but no t ev e r ywh e re an d I do u bt
it wil l e v e r b e in No r t h Am er ica Lan d. [ Co mpa ny X] is go in g to sho o t f o r
do wn ho l e in t el l ig en ce . D o wn h o l e B HA activ atio n – to co n tr o l v ibr atio n –
m aybe l ike a do wn h o l e adju stabl e stabil iz e r that is co nn e cted to the
sy ste m an d au t o ma tica l l y m ak es adju stm en ts to dam pe n v ibratio n.
Direction Industry Should Be Moving In
SERVICE COMPANY & DRILLING CONTRACTOR RESPONSES

 Integrating downhole tools with rig controls

 More automation, faster
 Need to do more lookbacks to see what has worked and why ;
Drilling Contractors have to deliver automation because no DC will
ever turn their rig over to a service company
 Remote Ops with Pit Crew
 Rig Sensor quality improvement and standardization; Data
Governance; Open Architecture/Data Standardization
 Tools to do geometric corrections – self calibration, status checks;
Don’t do downhole collision avoidance
Direction Industry Should Be Moving In

OPERATOR RESPONSES
 Integration of downhole and surface parameters
 Top drive-controlled systems governed by downhole MWD platforms
 More automation/reduction of personnel
 Fully autonomous drilling rig. There is a lot to this including the
logistical and support functions. The automation process could go
quite far.
 System that incorporates closed-loop with minimal intervention
from surface
 Open source – go the way of the software industry.
Survey Question 6

 Are there any technology gaps that exist that will

continue to prevent automated directional drilling
from being successful in the next 3-5 years?
Survey Question 6

 Are there any technology gaps that exist that will

continue to prevent automated directional drilling
from being successful in the next 3-5 years?
– No. 1 Answer: Faster Telemetry from downhole

– Higher density Surveying with no additional time required

– Communication – getting actionable information back to the office in a timely

fashion.

– No – all the pieces are there. Just need someone to pull them all together.
Technology Gaps

SERVICE COMPANY & DRILLING CONTRACTOR RESPONSES

 Most of the pieces are there. Still need to pull the pieces together.
It’s just a matter of doing it.

 Data transmission rates from downhole.

 There are great companies that understand and are going in this
direction. We need integration and collaboration. It’s not rocket
science. We may need to throw away some of the traditional job
positions.
Technology Gaps

SERVICE COMPANY & DRILLING CONTRACTOR RESPONSES

 MWD reliability and survey interruptions. Can we figure out how to
take survey s more often with no NPT? This is a technical gap that
will prevent or slow down automation.

 It depends on what the reservoir requirements are. We can get

more efficient doing things the way we do them today. But
reservoir exploitation requirements may change in the future.

 Communication – getting information back from the rig in a concise,

usable format.
Technology Gaps

SERVICE COMPANY & DRILLING CONTRACTOR RESPONSES

 No, just time and adoption.
 No, the pieces are there.
 Programs to automate the surface controls using downhole
information – closing the loop with the MWD information – need
higher speed communications; someone has to take the lead –
partnership? – IADD?
 Rig/Service Company connectivity standardization
 Processing power to calculate downhole position with gyros
Technology Gaps

OPERATOR RESPONSES
 No
 Linking with downhole sy stems economically
 Communication from downhole
 The technology exists, the struggle is to integrate the pieces
together.
 Directional companies understanding what the operators really
want; Some operators may not understand their own needs
 No, just the adaptation gap. We are locked into incremental
improvement and not transformational improvement.
Survey Question 7

 What is the most advanced rotary steerable system you

know of in terms of automatic steering, and what makes it
different?

SLB Orbit 6 4
BHI AutoTrak 5 2

HAL iCruise 3

DoubleBarrel 1 SvcCos
Operator
SLB Archer 1

TerraVici 1

Kinetic 1
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20

New systems were just entering the market but lacked data / run history.
Most Advanced Rotary Steerable System

SERVICE COMPANY & DRILLING CONTRACTOR RESPONSES

 “ i C r ui s e ha s d o wn h ole p ro c es s i ng , m ul t i p le s ur v ey -q ua li t y s e n s o rs , h a s
g yr os b u i lt i n . C on t i n uo u s a zi m ut h . W e a re s li g h t ly m or e a d va n ce d th a n
t he B a k e r t oo l . I t h i nk ha vi ng a zi m u th b ui lt i n w i l l b e a b i g a d va nt a ge
fo r us . Our t oo l wi l l h a ve s om e o t he r s m a r t s – he a lt h m o ni t o r i ng – t o
d e t er m i n e a n d p r ed i c t r u n l en gt h . I t ’s ve r y m od u la r . Yo u ca n p ut a fl ex
i n be t w e en o r j u s t s c re w t h e m t og e t he r .” (Ha ll i b u rt o n)

 Schl um b e r ge r A r ch e r/ Or b i t “ m o s t p ro ve n” “ m os t r e li a b le ” (m ul t i p le
r es p ond en t s )

 “ B a ke r A u t oT r a k C u r ve i s t h e m os t a dv a nc e d I k now of. T h ey p l ug i n a
d o gl eg a nd t h e t oo l d oe s i t .”
Most Advanced Rotary Steerable System

OPERATOR RESPONSES

 Kinetic
 Double Barrel
 Schlumberger Orbit

New systems were just entering the market but lacked data / run history.
Survey Question 8

 What is the highest level of automation that you are aware

of, including rig automation, directional advisor systems,
and down-hole automation/automatic guidance/control?
Highest Level Of Automation

SERVICE COMPANY & DRILLING CONTRACTOR RESPONSES

 “ Advisor on the surfa ce, iCruise – automatic downlinki ng is comi ng
soon”
 “ I am not a wa re of a ny closed loop systems. Mostly a dvi sory ty p e ri ght
now. But it ’s comi ng.”
 “ SCA DAdrill (S hell) seems to be f urther along than any one. We ha ven’t
put a ll the p ieces together here i n the U.S. We are sti ll try i ng to f igur e
out how to g et the rig to do thi ngs automatically”
 H&P / Moti ve
 Na bors with rig control system, Rock-I T automati c toolf ace cont rol,
Na viga tor “ reci pe” gi vi ng operating parameter roadmap by dep th, a nd
PILO T tha t ta kes roa dmap and converts to commands to t he ri g sy st em.
Highest Level Of Automation

SERVICE COMPANY & DRILLING CONTRACTOR RESPONSES

 “Closed loop wired pipe integrated with surface controls. NO V are 5
years deep on that. Wired pipe is the most stable part of the
system now, other parts are catching up. 40% improvement in
tripping time with NOVO S.”
 Nabors
 Motor drilling advisory systems based on real time data (Motive,
RigMinder/Shell) –
 NOV
Highest Level Of Automation

OPERATOR RESPONSES

 Rig automating with Motive

 Nabors
 Raptor – Software; Schlumberger software/workflow;
Motive – Directional Control
 Nabors, H&P
Survey Question 9

 What do you believe is the most difficult non-technology-

related hurdle to achieving autonomous directional
drilling?
Survey Question 9

 What do you believe is the most difficult non-technology-

related hurdle to achieving autonomous directional drilling?

– Getting all of the players to play together, or getting someone who is willing to commit the
CAPEX required to take all of the measurements required to automate the control system

– Convincing the best Company Men (or DD’s, or drillers, etc.) to contribute their expertise,
not become blockers. Give them new challenge of making new system successful

– Liabilities: direct rig control by a 3rd party software; Well plan corrections – decision
workflows; Safety-anti-collision control

– Rig connectivity-standardization; Rig safeguarding; Rig and Service KPI alignment (wellbore
quality, drilling performance, dayrate/performance)
Most Difficult Non-technology-related Hurdle

SERVICE COMPANY & DRILLING CONTRACTOR RESPONSES

 Personnel still needed at the rig

 Company Men and Tool Pushers’ resistance

 Convincing the best Company Men to contribute their expertise, not become
blockers. Give them new challenge of making new system successful

 Getting all of the players to play together, or getting someone who is

willing to commit the CAPEX required to take all of the measurements
required to automate the control system

 Removing the humans – I don’t think that is going to be as successful as

people want it to be

 D D ’ s a r e n o t o n b o a r d w i t h t h i s a n d a r e a c t u a l l y h i n d e ri n g t h i s .
Most Difficult Non-technology-related Hurdle

SERVICE COMPANY & DRILLING CONTRACTOR RESPONSES

 E q u i p m e n t a v a i l a b i l i t y , t h e r i g h t p e o p l e , a n d a l l o w i n g t h e p r o vi d e r s t o m a k e
money

 Culture – stranglehold of directional service companies on the mindset of the

industry

 Business Model – drivers are not aligned (day rate makes everyone reluctant to
go too fast). Biggest problem is the metrics and compensation are not aligned
across all players. Service companies want their equipment run in spec, DC and
Operators don’t care. Operators can’t do this alone. They should be aligned
with a partner.

 Culturally, guys on the rig accepting it.

 Liabilities: direct rig control by a 3rd party software

Most Difficult Non-technology-related Hurdle

SERVICE COMPANY & DRILLING CONTRACTOR RESPONSES

 Liabilities: direct rig control by a 3rd party software; Well plan

corrections – decision workflows; Safety-anti-collision control
 Cost of Systems, Fear of Technology
 Fear of losing control or incurring liability
 Cultural unwillingness to let go of expertise at the rigsite. The DD
is the expert and I don’t think customers will be willing to let go of
this. I think DD’s will become employees of the oil companies.
Most Difficult Non-technology-related Hurdle

OPERATOR RESPONSES
 Communication; Drilling Fluids Monitoring; Culture of mistrust of
automation
 Cost
 Has to be cost effective
 Proprietary blockers; Lack of knowledge – you have to go below a 1-
second data acquisition. You need to go to 100 Hz or faster. We are
barely scratching the surface with analy tics.
Survey Question 10

 With automated drilling projects in the past, what do you

believe has been the biggest challenge or failure mode?
What needs to be fixed?
Biggest Challenge Or Failure Mode –
Past Automation Initiatives
SERVICE COMPANY & DRILLING CONTRACTOR RESPONSES
 S e n s o r an d c o m p u t at i o n a l p o w e r an d c o m m u n i c a t i o n n o t e v o l v e d e n o u g h a t
the time

 Downhole tool reliability and cost

 A d d i n g t e c h n o l o g y an d i n c r e a s i n g c o m p l e x i t y l e d t o l o w e r r e l i a b i l i t y . C a n y o u
d o i t a t an ac c e p t a b l e c o s t w i t h e n o u g h a d d e d v a l u e . P a y b a c k l o o k s b e t t e r
with the old way.

 H o w t o p l u g a n d p l a y a l l o f t h e m e as u r e m e n t s a n d d i f f e r e n t p r o v i d e r s ’
equipment. The integration is the challenge right now.

 Mindset of the Industry

 Lack of understanding of drilling dynamics; failure to account for unexpected

circumstances.
Biggest Challenge Or Failure Mode –
Past Automation Initiatives

 Data ownership – if an Operator learns from the advanced analytics of the

data that gives them a competitive advantage over other operators, they
don’t want the rig contractor to have visibility of that insight. Operators may
not be willing to give up the real time decision-making that we already have
the capability to do today. They want to see a certain amount of data so they
can direct their service companies in a way that protects their interests.

 Availability of relevant data – we are starting from scratch so there’s not

much experience to build upon. The Motive system isn’t ready because it still
needs to learn

 Rig connectivity-standardization; Rig safeguarding; Rig and Service KPI

alignment (wellbore quality, drilling performance, dayrate/performance;
liabilities for external/3rd party rig control
Biggest Challenge Or Failure Mode –
Past Automation Initiatives

 Shell, Well Manufacturing – cost compared to conventional

drilling; Today the cost factor has changed not just from outright
dollars spent but the value that can be effected in today ’s price
environment
Biggest Challenge Or Failure Mode –
Past Automation Initiatives
OPERATOR RESPONSES

 Trust, implementation, buy-in

 Conversion from analog to digital rig
 Rely on people-driven culture
 Capital to bring equipment to market. Challenge is bigger that most
people understand
 Free access to all components and all data
 Business Model

 In thinking about an Automated Directional Drilling solution, what business

model do you think will work best?
● Service companies integrating downhole and surface sensors
● Rig Contractors providing all directional drilling services and
automation technology
● Operators partnering with automation equipment manufacturers
● Other
Service Companies 3

Rig Contractors 2 1

Operators + Automation OEM 1

0 1 2 3 4
Business Model – Industry Desire

 What do you believe the industry wants to see in this area

(automated directional drilling)? What would they pay for?

– “They want a system that is more predictable. They want to

automate the expertise. They want a holistic automation solution –
steering, vibration, fluids management. These systems can detect
multiple dysfunctions, and there has to be a reasoning layer that
can comprehend all of the inputs and make good decisions, taking
all of the inputs into account.”
Industry Desire – Most Valuable

 W h ic h o f t h e s e d o y o u b e li e ve wil l b e t h e mos t i mp o rt a n t v a lu e
p r op o si t io n f o r s u ch a p r o d u c t ?

Quality/More Accurate Trajectory 2 1

Repeatability 3 1

Faster ROP 1 SvcCos

Operators
Increase Production 2

Staff Productivity
0 1 2 3 4
Industry Growth

 What do you expect the drilling market to do in the next y ear?

Increase Significantly

Increase Moderately

Stay Flat SvcCos

Operators
Decrease Moderately

Decrease Significantly

0 1 2 3 4 5
Impact On Adoption Rate
 Assuming the industry experiences a significant boom, what
impact do y ou think this will have on the adoption of more
automated directional drilling?

Accelerate it

Maintain at current rate

SvcCos
No Impact - Not Related Operators

Slow it down - no one has time

0 1 2 3 4 5
 Other Comments

 New kids don ’t have s ame preconceiv e d not ions against trying
n ew t hings

 W ho owns th e e quipment ? Need to le av e th at to DC ’s

 D rilling C on tractor s are st ar ting t o buy w ired pipe

 People are lar ge ly t rying to mit igate drilling dys function

 A lon g-s t ring s ens ors and aut omat ion hav e edu cat ed pe ople on
r ig

 S haring of dat a w ill have to impr ov e

 L ots o f compan ies de veloping apps in tern ally

Other Comments

 Drilling Contractors are focused on rig operations (pipe

handling/connections). They are not focused on optimization (choosing
parameters based on drilling response). [Service Company X] can’t do
anything with the data they are measuring – downhole WOB/TOB, rotating
inclination, RPM – they just don’t have the service in place to deliver this. In
5 years, somebody’s going to be doing this (drilling parameters automatically
chosen based on real time downhole response). Or an operator will buy a
service company, a drilling contractor, and an automation company. Either
Schlumberger or Shell, someone like that.
 A lateral could not be drilled based totally on sensors, with no DD, if there
are faults present. In a complex reservoir environment, you will need a DD
plus a capable Geosteerer.
 Automated Geosteering with pattern recognition is going to be available soon.
Most Advanced Reservoir Navigation Technology You
Are Aware Of?

 High resolution electrical imaging tool, combined with at

bit inclination for unconventional reservoirs. Deep
azimuthal resistivity for conventional reservoirs – If it
were available – look ahead sonic
 Motive
 Using AI to generate a property map
 Azimuthal/Directional Deep Resistivity coupled with closed
loop proportional steering and real time multi-dimensional
inversion technology
 Ultradeep Azimuthal Resistivity – 200 ft. investigation
What Trait, Feature or Measurement most helpful if it were
available?

 Do w n h o l e s e i s m i c c o u p l e d w i t h di r e c t i o n a l d e e p s e n s i n g
resistivity
 L o o k a h e a d o f t h e bi t ( g a m m a / r e s i s t i v i t y )
 A zi m u t h a l G a m m a R a y w i t h g o o d c o r r e c t e d s u r v e y s
 G a m m a r a y a n d/ o r u l t r a s o n i c i m a g e , c o n t i n u o u s i n c l i n a t i o n ,
st e e r t o w a r d h a r d e s t r o c k o r K e r o g e n -r i c h , s o n i c fo r h a r dn e s s ,
sp e c t r a l g a m m a f o r h i g h e s t t h o r i u m r e a d i n g s f o r m a x i mu m T O C
 Most advanced now: High resolution electrical imaging tool,
c o m bi n e d w i t h a t bi t i n c l i n a t i o n f o r u n c o n v e n t i o n a l r e se r v o i r s .
De e p a z i m u t h a l r e s i s t i v i t y f o r c o n v e n t i o n a l r e s e r v o i r s – I f i t
were available – look ahead sonic
 Dr i l l i n g P a r a m e t e r s t h a t c a n b e c o n v e r t e d t o D e n s i t y
Other Comments
OPERATOR RESPONSES

 Automation can be used to help reduce the number of additional

Drilling and Support engineers that would be required to man the
additional rigs in a ramp-up scenario.
 We’d probably have to see a consistent drilling time reduction of 4-
5 days/well. Probably about 2-3 day s in lateral, rest in the
intermediate hole(s).
 Would prefer to drill gun barrel holes
Other Comments
OPERATOR RESPONSES

 We are trying to solve a people issue with a technical

solution. We need to figure out how to compensate
our drilling engineers for better trajectories and
overall well quality, not just days to drill. Offer
them a bonus for higher density surveys, flatter
trajectories, lower tortuosity.
Thank You
.