DrillEdge™ software detected numerous events relating to two twist-offs hours before they occurred, potentially decreasing non-productive time with a savings of US $1 million.

Challenge: A major operator experienced two twist-off events while drilling a US land well, resulting in several days of lost time.

Solution: Verdande Technology conducted a post job analysis with its DrillEdge technology to characterize symptoms leading up to the twist-off events and to build cases that could be used to detect similar patterns in future wells. Verdande Technology's DrillEdge software uses real-time data from drilling operations to index and automatically recall lessons learned, best practices, and situational experience across rigs and assets.

During the post-job analysis of the first twist-off, the DrillEdge system detected numerous events related to maxed out torque, resulting in a case appearing on the radar hours before the twist-off occurred. The DrillEdge technology began detecting events well in advance of the second twist-off. One case approached the 75% similarity threshold hours before the second twist-off occurred, indicating a strong similarity that the situation in the study well was highly similar to a situation that caused a twist-off event in another well.

If DrillEdge technology had been in use at the time these wells were first drilled, the engineers monitoring the software and the rig crew could have potentially been informed in time to take remedial action. This possibly could have saved the operator several days of non-productive time-amounting to over US $1 million in savings.

DrillEdge™ software detected a stuck pipe event six hours before its occurrence, potentially reducing several days of non-productive time and resulting in US $1.5 million in savings.

Challenge: A major operator experienced stuck pipe while drilling, resulting in a several days of lost time.

Solution: Verdande Technology conducted a post job analysis using its DrillEdge technology to characterize symptoms leading up to the stuck pipe event. A specific case was built on the event from the well, and then replayed to verify its response and accuracy. Verdande Technology's DrillEdge software uses real-time data from drilling operations to index and automatically recall lessons learned, best practices, and situational experience across rigs and assets.

When the data was replayed using the specific case, the stuck pipe event was detected almost six hours before its occurrence. The well was then replayed using generic stuck pipe cases (built on North Sea data) from Verdande Technology's foundational library. Three cases from the generic library responded within eight minutes of the specific case, demonstrating that experience on wells with similar problems can be successfully recalled and applied to wells in other regions of the world. If DrillEdge had been employed while the well was being drilled, it is possible that engineers monitoring the software and the rig crew would have been informed in time to take action resulting in a potential savings of several days of non-productive time - amounting to over US $1.5 Million in savings.

DrillEdge™ system's smart alarms provided fast access to information, hence communications were enhanced and training was more effective.

Challenge: On high-AFE wells, lack of experience and information can extract a costly toll in risk and lost-time expenses.

Solution: Smart alarms were built into the Verdande Technology DrillEdge system to alert the drilling team of upcoming events in the well plan, in addition to functioning as a training aid. Verdande Technology's DrillEdge software uses real-time data from drilling operations to index and automatically recall lessons learned, best practices, and situational experience across rigs and assets.

Implementation of the DrillEdge technology was fast and trouble free, with less than a week required to setup and deploy. Smart alarms in the system field trials provided information for both senior engineers new to the region and training support for the new personnel. The smart alarms addressed a variety of situations and responses. For instance, one alarm was configured to alert the driller to check with the mud logger and company man as the 9 5-8 inch casing point was approached. Other alarms were established relative to formation depths and included such prompts as changing the bit in response to lower ROP, or initiating a survey. Tests concluded DrillEdge system provided fast access to information, hence communications were enhanced and training was more effective.

The DrillEdge™ system was successful in a post-well historical analysis, seeing indications of losses three days before the customer experienced total losses.

Challenge: A major operator encountered costly non-productive time due to mud losses and subsequent hole ballooning.

Solution: Verdande Technology's DrillEdge system was employed in a post-well historical analysis to determine if the losses and ballooning events could have been recognized in advance. The DrillEdge system uses case based reasoning along with real-time information to index and automatically recall lessons learned, company best practices and situational experience across rigs and assets.

Using a combination of information including pit volumes, well and drillstring geometry, ROP and lag times, the DrillEdge system was able to recognize changes in volume that were not accounted for by the drilling process. In a historical analysis of a well with known problems related to mud losses and hole ballooning, DrillEdge first saw indications of losses three days before the customer experienced total losses. During this time, a series of loss events was detected, combined with hole ballooning at connections. Had DrillEdge been employed on this well, the risk associated with these problems could have potentially been better assessed, leading to remedial actions based on company best practices that could have reduced costly non-productive time.

Latin America | Stuck Pipe Prediction Tests

Challenge: A major service company wanted to minimize the risk of stuck pipe events for their clients in Latin America and around the world.

Solution: Evaluate DrillEdge case-based reasoning (CBR) technology and its ability to identify stuck pipe precursors and provide remedial actions based on company best practices.

Results: A project was launched to evaluate the potential of DrillEdge technology to recognize the stuck pipe problems. Time and depth-based data from several prior land drilling operations in Latin America were employed in a rigorous testing routine. Overpull events, erratic torque and pack-offs were thought to be key contributors to the stuck pipe scenarios.

Cases were built in DrillEdge and these cases were associated with other data, such as BHA, trajectory, mud properties and the formation. Well drilling data was then streamed while DrillEdge technology monitored it for precursor events.

Tests were highly successful with the DrillEdge technology consistently predicting stuck pipe incidents 6 to 8 hours prior to the event's occurrence. While drilling, this window was deemed sufficient to proactively address a stuck pipe risk. The success of this project set the stage for further testing in live field trials from real-time centers.