The industry spotlight has been on the digitalization of the drilling process for some years now, but what value does it really provide?
With the influx of new technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, automation and autonomous operations, costly and ambitious projects often make the mistake of trying to digitalize all their processes at once. One of the most common failures is underestimating the manual support needed to achieve a fully digitalized process.
Since 2011, Sekal has worked with customers worldwide who have between them used our drilling software on more than 450 wells. In our experience, fully digitalizing a drilling operation process requires both a detailed understanding of the process and the capability to provide verified, quality data as the input. This is an extensive task that requires substantial technical resources and expertise to complete.
However, with Sekal’s support, over 20 operators and rig contractors have overcome these challenges on their digital journey, and have gained three specific and tangible benefits on drilling operational efficiency through our software, DrillScene, DrillExpect, and DrillTronics.
The first benefit is the reduction of technical side-tracks. According to the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate, the average ratio of technical side-tracks in the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS) was 32% from 2013 to 2016. With DrillScene real-time monitoring and drilling problem alert software, this number was reduced to 12.7% in over 173 offshore wells in the NCS from 2012 to 2020.
Secondly, our customers have benefitted from significant increase in operational efficiency through the elimination of both non-productive time (NPT) and invisible lost time (ILT) events. For example, Sekal’s software is used to optimize the ROP, tripping in and out, and casing running speed without compromising operational safety.
Finally, the software positively impacts the customer’s carbon footprint by reducing CO₂ emissions. Norwegian consulting company, Rystad Energy, has estimated that Sekal can save up to 17% of total drilling CO₂ emissions. Rystad also estimates that, as a minimum, the full global adoption of Sekal’s DrillScene has a reduction potential of around 2.2 million tons of CO₂ emissions annually.
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