Oilfield services and technology company SLB and Equinor have drilled the most-autonomous well section to-date at Peregrino C platform offshore Brazil, marking a significant step forward to fully autonomous drilling operations.
SLB digital technologies for surface automation, autonomous on-bottom drilling, and directional drilling were combined to enable 99% of a 2.6-kilometer section to be drilled in autonomous control mode.
Over a five-well program, a 60% increase in rate of penetration was achieved, resulting in faster well delivery while reducing cost and carbon emissions, Equinor and SLB informed.
“This is an exciting milestone in the journey toward fully autonomous drilling operations. By leveraging AI and integrating advanced digital workflows, customers are realizing improved safety and performance through digital transformation, making drilling more consistent and efficient, and improving the carbon footprint of their operations,” said Jesus Lamas, President of Well Construction, SLB.
Multidisciplinary experts collaborated to design and implement interconnected autonomous workflows, enabling the system to seamlessly drill the section.
On the rig floor, manual pipe handling and equipment sequencing tasks were automated with DrillPilot software.
On-bottom drilling performance was maximized using AI-driven technology in the DrillOps automation solution. Neuro autonomous solutions determined the optimum trajectory and delivered the well plan, adjusting steering sequences and drilling parameters to reach the target as designed by the DrillPlan coherent well construction planning solution.
The DrillOps and DrillPlan solutions are cloud-based applications on the Delfi digital platform. The platform combines apps, AI, physics-based science and free-flowing data to accelerate and improve exploration, development, drilling, production, and new energy operations.
Equinor's Peregrino C platform produced its first oil on October 10, 2022 as part of Peregrino phase 2.
Peregrino phase 2 will extend the life of the Peregrino field to 2040. Phase 2 adds 250–300 million barrels of oil, while at the same time halving expected CO2 emissions per barrel over the field remaining lifetime, according to Equinor.