By the end of 2017, drilling contractors will need to have transitioned to engines compliant with the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Tier 4 standards for non-road diesel engines. The EPA’s flexibility provisions had allowed onshore drillers and OEMs in North America to continue using Tier 2 engines, but the flexibility period will end next year.

By Alex Endress, Editorial Coordinator Today’s offshore drilling rigs are highly complex and equipped with numerous digitized and interconnected systems. To monitor the functionality of these systems, rigs have also been equipped with numerous alarms – some that are safety- and mission-critical, and some that aren’t. Deciphering which alarms are critical and reacting accordingly is a matter of proper engineering and training, both of which were discussed at an Ocean Energy Safety Institute (OESI) forum, “Focusing on Alarm Management for Safer Offshore Operations,” held on 24 August in Houston. “Alarm fatigue or alert fatigue occurs when one is exposed to a large number of frequent alarms and consequently becomes desensitized to them,” Bob Blank, Vice President Operational Excellence at Noble ...

Malta-based Mediterranean Maritime Hub (MMH) has launched a concept called “Rig Pit Stop” that aims to allow companies to cut costs without cutting capability. “The ‘Pit Stop’ principle is that a rig can come in and offload, for example, a BOP whole and bring on a new BOP that’s sitting there,” Steve Colville, MMH CEO and former CEO/President of IADC, said. “The old one is refurbished once the rig has left, so the rig does not have to wait while the equipment is refurbished. We think it’s possible to reduce yard costs by at least 15%.”

The best derrickmen in the drilling business can rack a stand of pipe at an approximate rate of about 20 seconds per pipe at the start of a tour, according to RigArm, a Calgary-based drilling equipment manufacturer. However, fatigue then begins to set in and can affect performance.

National Oilwell Varco (NOV) is testing next-generation drilling automation technologies at the company’s Research and Development Technology Center (RDTC) in Navasota, Texas. NOV has placed a 75-ton, 1,500-hp Ideal Prime Rig, equipped with wired drill pipe, at the center to provide...

The new Surface Automation suite from National Oilwell Varco (NOV) was recently tested on a three-well project in Oklahoma. The service allowed the operator to track drilling data from downhole tools in order to find optimal parameters...

Cyber risks are on the rise across the drilling industry. To help companies address these risks and protect critical drilling equipment, ABS recently released the first volume of the Guidance...

In 2013, Marathon Oil and ConocoPhillips decided to retrofit the Maersk Valiant drillship for managed pressure drilling (MPD). Installation of the MPD equipment began in 2014, while the drillship made its way to the US Gulf of Mexico from the shipyard in South Korea.

Diamond Offshore Drilling and GE Oil & Gas are turning tradition upside down with a first-of-its-kind contractual service agreement (CSA) aimed at increasing the economic viability of deepwater drilling.

Drilling rigs and theme park rides share similarities that most people may not be aware of, said Mike Withers, Retired VP of Ride Engineering for Walt Disney Imagineering. Both the theme park and drilling industries need equipment with high uptime, that can last for many years and is safe. Mr Withers gave a presentation on Disney’s use of automation in its theme parks at a symposium jointly held by the SPE Drilling Systems Automation Technical Section and the IADC Advanced Rig Technology Committee on 29 February in Fort Worth, Texas. The workshop focused on human and machine interaction in automation. In this video with DC, Mr Withers explains how automation has been used in Disney Parks and the company’s process for designing its rides.