Schlumberger has just announced a ‘portable operations center’ for remote control of drilling operations. The Center is a compact unit that fits in the back of a truck. Ping and Power (mains electricity and an internet connection) are all that is needed to get up and running. Once installed the Center gives in-house drilling engineers real time information on the well’s progress in a familiar metaphor of hydraulics, torque and drag and other displays. A digital record of the well is captured which can be played back later for training, to compare well models to actual recordings and to identify precursors to abnormal events.
Mid-size
The portable operations center is not for super majors which will likely have their own in-house dedicated drilling control rooms. But small to mid-size companies may want to deploy one occasionally.
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