Feel the pain, share the gain

“The worst-case scenario is that it’ll no longer be profitable to drill because we can’t do anything about the progress. That’s dangerous.”
Torjer Halle

In his view, a change of generations now taking place on the platforms is another source of inefficiency. New recruits go straight onto the two-weeks-on, four-weeks-off work pattern.

“That provides little opportunity for training, and the learning curve becomes fairly flat,” he notes. “People must constantly stop to read procedures in order to do the job safely. This takes time.”

CHANGE OF MINDSET
One consequence of the drilling slowdown is that the potential of new technology goes unutilised. Even with much better equipment, which suffers fewer breakdowns, the benefit disappears because the time taken to correct faults has increased substantially.
  
Schlumberger’s calculations show that it takes twice as long today to repair a fault which occurs 4 000 metres down as it did 10 years ago.
  
“The reasons include semi-automated rigs,” Halle explains. “We must still have people in rig zones where they’re not meant to be. That makes shutdowns unavoidable.”
  
He believes that full automation of rigs could be a solution. With nobody in hazardous areas, there would be less need to halt drilling and greater scope to think progress.
  
First and foremost, however, a fundamental change in mentality is required. “The mindset was quite different 10-15 years ago. Attention was concentrated on progress, the night shift tried to beat the day team for metres drilled.”
  
Halle thinks it is essential to restore such attitudes, without being willing to speculate on the reasons why today’s players think differently.
 

FASTER ADOPTION OF NEW SOLUTIONS
Petoro’s survey indicates that the drilling sector has become much slower to adopt new solutions on the NCS. As the head of the Norwegian arm of one of the largest technology providers in the industry, Halle can confirm these conclusions.
  
Schlumberger is finding that it takes longer and longer for technological innovations to be approved and adopted – in Halle’s experience, by as much as five years.
  
“Is it possible that competent technology departments in the big oil companies don’t feel under the same pressure of time as the operational units,” he asks.
  
“Operators lose money by utilising old solutions, and the contractor finds itself lagging five years behind its competitors.”

ADVANCED AND STANDARD TECHNOLOGIES
In his view, ever more advanced technology will be required in the exploration and development phases and for reservoir monitoring during the production stage to achieve optimum drainage. Seismic surveys combined with model-based software will play a bigger and bigger role here.
  
Where the actual well design from the seabed to the top of the reservoir is concerned, Halle wants to see greater use of standardised solutions.
  
“Attention here should be concentrated on progress and integrity,” he says. “It’s possible that this part of the well has received too much notice from the engineers, and that greater standardisation can be used.”
  
But the many and very stringent tendering requirements from leading-edge technology teams in the big oil companies make such standard solutions difficult.
  
“Such detailed and strict demands make it hard for the service sector to pursue good standardisation,” says Halle. “That clearly contributes to pushing up costs.”