Petromin marine and offshore Jan-Feb Issue

Floating Production
Era of Automation
“ Despite being one if
the driving industries
of cutting-edge
technology the oil
and gas industry still
seems resistant to rig
automation. The recent
depressed oil prices have
nudged the industry to
embrace the technology.
This article looks at
some of the benefits
and proponents of rig
automation.
”
The oil and gas industry has long been
hailed as an industry of innovation and
technological advancements. Yet, when
it comes to automation on drilling rigs,
the industry has been slow to engage,
some might even say that there is palatable
resistance.
Automated drilling is one of the oil industry’s
most important innovation targets.
This is partly because of the increasing
difficulty of finding new oil and gas reserves.
The sources now being tapped,
such as shale gas and coal-bed methane,
require a very large number of wells.
With oil prices taking massive hits since
the last quarter of 2014 keeping costs
low and maintaining the bottomline is
more critical than ever. Automating the
drilling process would be an obvious way
to keep the costs under control, and also
gets around a problem which many sectors
of engineering are experiencing —
a shortage of skills. Constructing a well
system for unconventional gas requires
directional drilling, and finding people
who can do that is becoming difficult,
as experienced drillers reach retirement
age. Automated drilling, so the argument
goes, would be faster, more efficient, and
safer, as it reduces the number of workers
on site.
During the oil price malaise, the
industry looked to automation as
it sought to cut costs and reduce
overheads.
50
January to February 2018