Schlumberger’s Ian Falconer, marketing and technology manager, introduced technologies, such as the slim-hole PowerDrive Archer rotary steerable system and the Stinger conical diamond technology, at the 2013 SPE/IADC Drilling Conference, 5-7 March in Amsterdam. Starting with the drill bit, the new technologies are a part of the company’s integrated drilling system approach.

Tony Pink, vice president of drilling automation applications for National Oilwell Varco (NOV), speaks with Drilling Contractor associate editor Katherine Scott at the 2013 SPE/IADC Drilling Conference in Amsterdam on 6 March. Mr Pink discussed the company’s NOVA initiative, which NOV considers the next generation in drilling controls and automation. Integrated within operating systems, NOVA drives well execution plans from a single source, executing automatic control and connection to drill and to respond to the well. The open-platform concept allows for greater customization. NOVA was launched at OTC last year.

Click here to read more about NOVA and other drilling automation technologies.

Drilling Contractor associate editor Katherine Scott speaks with David Brunnert, vice president of Drilling Tools and Intervention Services for Weatherford, at the 2013 SPE/IADC Drilling Conference & Exhibition in Amsterdam on 6 March. Mr Brunnert explained the importance of early collaboration and how the approach can be applied in both business segments of Weatherford that he oversees. From well construction to intervention, Mr Brunnert believes that there are many opportunities for more collaboration among operators, drilling contractors and service companies.

Click here to watch another exclusive video and read more about industry’s need for more collaboration earlier in the well construction process to address complex challenges.

Jeff Diestler, business development manager – Gulf of Mexico for Pulse Structural Monitoring, an Acteon company, speaks with Drilling Contractor associate editor Katherine Scott at the 2013 SPE/IADC Drilling Conference in Amsterdam on 5 March. Mr Diestler discussed the company’s DrillASSURE drilling riser monitoring system. Developed in conjunction with 2H Offshore, the system’s three primary modules – DrillJOINT, DrillWINDOW and DrillADVISE – are designed to help operators and contractors optimize use of their drill joint inventory, identify optimum operating windows, and conduct safe campaigns by constantly analyzing conditions in real time.

The Tornar Deep Water BOP Cleaner uses proprietary magnets to clean the BOP and riser and is an advanced version of Archer’s shallow-water model, the Tornar BOP Cleaner.

Archer, a global provider of drilling and well services, launched its Tornar Deep Water BOP Cleaner this week at the 2013 SPE/IADC Drilling Conference in Amsterdam. The tool, designed for 18 ¾-in. subsea BOPs, removes wellbore debris from the BOP and marine riser cavities in challenging depths using a vortex suction effect. Tornar flow ports are combined with proprietary magnets to extract debris while maintaining full well control and protecting the BOP. “Using traditional jet tools cannot clean the cavities because fluid always takes the path of least resistance, so it wants to go up the riser… The Tornar tool creates a suction in a cavity, so we are pulling out stuff rather than pushing in,” Timo Jokela, business development manager ­– oiltools for Archer, said.

Magnets used in the tool were made to fit subsea BOPs and has only a plus pull at the front. “By that we enhance the magnetic force and field by 30%,” Mr Jokela said.

The Tornar Deep Water BOP Cleaner is an advanced version of Archer’s shallow-water model, which was released in summer 2012 and has been used mainly in the North Sea. The company hopes to bring the deepwater version to the US, Australian, Brazilian and African markets next month. “We are already in the process of negotiating a master service agreement with a major rig operator,” Rolf Egil Håland, Archer president and managing director, oiltools, said.

Operators’ desire to reduce downtime was a major driver for the development of the tool, as subsea BOPs continue to account for a significant percentage of nonproductive time in drilling operations. In fact, one major operator in Brazil recently attributed 70% of their downtime to BOP-related issues, according to Archer. “When you run pipe, you create swarf or small steel particles. If you mill anything, you create bigger steel chunks and pieces, and because the BOP is magnetic and the riser is magnetic, they will obviously attract magnetic particles,” Mr Jokela said. “If you do the regular BOP tests and close the BOP with this magnetic steel particles in there, you will damage the BOP seals, hence the BOP test will fail and you have to pull everything out and redress your BOP.” By safely and efficiently addressing the accumulation of drilling debris and solids, operators will minimize factors that can hinder the smooth functioning of the BOP.

Further, the Tornar tool can be run without pulling the BOP. “When you go into deepwater and ultra-deepwater, where you have 2,000-meter water depths, cleaning the BOP and riser takes a lot of maintenance time. With this tool, you don’t have to pull the BOP as you would if you were using traditional cleaning equipment,” Trond Skjeie, business development manager ­– oiltools for Archer, said.

The company believes that using a combination of riser brush, string magnet and junk basket to clear the riser of mud and scale and collect debris is what sets the Tornar technology apart from more traditional cleaning tools. In addition, its three-stage flow sleeve diverts flow out through the cleaning ports or through the bottom of the string, thereby enabling full well control during cleaning operations.

Tornar is a trademark of Archer.

Drilling Contractor associate editor Katherine Scott speaks with John de Wardt, president of De Wardt and Company, at the SPE/IADC Drilling Systems Automation symposium on 4 March, jointly held by the SPE Drilling Systems Automation Technical Section (DSATS) and the IADC Advanced Rig Technology (ART) Committee. The symposium preceded the 2013 SPE/IADC Drilling Conference & Exhibition in Amsterdam. Mr de Wardt was a primary organizer of the workshop. He also served as moderator of the sessions, which featured Andrew Stokes and Eric Nettleton from Rio Tinto, an integrated mining company. Mr Stokes and Mr Nettleton talked about the company’s Mine of the Future program, a project that is pushing Rio Tinto’s mining operations to new levels of automation and remote operations.

Werner Burger, Herrenknecht, spoke at the SPE/IADC Drilling Systems Automation symposium on 4 March about a large-diameter shaft boring system that is part of Rio Tinto’s Mine of the Future program.

Dr Roland Tucks, AkerWirth, explained the benefits of his company’s Mobile Tunnel Miner 6, a tunnel boring system for underground tunneling and mining, developed in conjunction with Rio Tinto, at the SPE/IADC Drilling Systems Automation symposium on 4 March.

Also speaking at the workshop were Dr Roland Tücks from AkerWirth and Werner Burger of Herrenknecht, who each discussed specific components used in the Mine of the Future program. Dr Tücks described AkerWirth’s Mobile Tunnel Miner 6, a mechanical excavation method that he said speeds up mining development, is safer than the conventional drill and blast method and has brought about a 60% decrease in drilling and bolting, which translates into cost savings. Mr Burger discussed Herrenknecht’s mechanized shaft boring system that helps vertically access deep ore bodies with a 180° rotating head. The detailed design is finished, he said, and the equipment is currently looking for a testing site.

Click here for more information on AkerWirth’s Mobile Tunnel Miner 6.

Click here for more information on Herrenknecht’s shaft boring system.

Mine of the Future is a trademark of Rio Tinto.

Fred Florence, NOV, outgoing chairman of the SPE Drilling Systems Automation Technical Section (DSATS) discussed the group’s current and upcoming plans, including work on an interoperability pilot project.

Michael Behounek, Apache, was elected the new chairman of DSATS at the SPE/IADC Drilling Systems Automation symposium in Amsterdam.

Thomas Geehan, MI-SWACO, provided an update on activities of the IADC ART Committee, including the Business Solutions for Drilling Automation Workshop that will be held at the IADC World Drilling Conference in Istanbul, Turkey, in June.

Steve Orr, president of Schlumberger’s Drilling Group, talks about the company’s integrated approach to products and technologies with Drilling Contractor associate editor Joanne Liou at the 2013 SPE/IADC Drilling Conference & Exhibition in Amsterdam on 5 March. Schlumberger is investing in integration that allows them to model the interdependency of technologies.

Mr Orr is scheduled to participate in the plenary session, “Delivering Wells in a Critical World,” on 6 March with Lyndol Dew, Diamond Offshore Drilling; Rosli Hamzah, PETRONAS; Scott Sigurdson, BP Global Wells Organization; and Øyvind Tuntland, Petroleum Safety Authority.

Read Mr Orr’s Q&A on Critical Issues in Drilling and Completions from the 2013 January/February issue of DC.

Ken Murphy, CEO of Enviro Clean Products & Services, talks about spill prevention, control and countermeasure (SPCC) plans with Drilling Contractor associate editor Joanne Liou at the 2013 IADC HSE & Training Conference last week in Houston. Understanding the federal regulation, which became effective in 1974 but has become a greater concern in recent years, is important in order to implement a practical plan covering the three key areas of prevention, control and countermeasures.