Calgary-based Ammolite RT is using DeviceLink, Industrial internet of things technology from ISS Connectivity, to connect Wits* based field devices to its 24/7 drilling operations support center which allows Ammolite to centrally monitor the drilling process in real-time. Ammolite CTO Dave Smith said, ‘The first generation of our service allows us to collect, view and report on data received from any Wits device onsite, enabling senior drilling technicians to provide real-time drilling guidance remotely.’ Ammolite’s ‘expertise as a service’ covers auxiliary operational support for fully-manned drilling operations and active management and supervision of reduced personnel operations.
Oil IT Journal asked ISS MD Adam Strynadka why the integration centered on Wits rather than the more modern Witsml protocol from Energistics. He replied that a similar question arises when arbitrating between OPC Classic and OPC/UA. ‘Wits and OPC classic are both 1980s binary technologies as opposed to more modern Witsml and OPC/UA. But 99% of real world active projects today use Wits. In Alberta, Wits has been widely adopted and the existing standard probably has another 30 years of useful life. Indeed the same can be said for Classic OPC as operators now have the option of upgrading the older standard by using IT-derived messaging protocol such as IBM’s Mqtt. Having said that, ISS plans to support Witsml as it achieves adoption.’
* Wellsite information transfer standard.
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