About this Forum

Access to Reserves is a critical driving issue for our business. Whether your challenge is economic or technical this forum is designed to develop the future conversation around the role of automation in the transition from our industries fragmented process towards an integrated, well oiled, manufacturing system. It is undeniable that other industries have capitalized on implementation of new process and technologies as well as business alignment which have changed their capacity, capability and economic viability from surviving to thriving new business models. Drilling has been consistently developed in pockets without addressing the looming crisis of technically hard to access reserves as well as economic barriers which demand our industry to find a new way forward.

This Forum’s focus is on alignment, integration and what levels of automation in the well construction business are required to deliver the safety and economies necessary for a future, with higher returns on capital investment. We will explore ideas on what our future may look like when we accept the use of automation, integrated solutions and a holistic drilling system as tools to overcome our greatest challenges and meet our future needs. What role do our experts play in this new world and how do we transition culturally much like a modern pilot’s role has changed. Is the industry moving in the right direction, investing enough in automation systems to deliver safer, lower cost and more efficient drilling?

What type of rigs and level of automation do we require?

Today we have remote directional drillers and cases of manless rig floors as well as some demonstrated fully autonomous drilling, causing many of us to want to understand how our future will progress from here and what opportunities will provide. Where is the most value to be gained? What are the barriers to bringing further automation to rigs and the drilling process? What can we learn from other industries that have automated their businesses? Where does the industry need to be in 2025?

Drilling Systems Automation Technical Section

This Foum was developed following a series of events, papers and discussion groups within the SPE DSATS (Drilling Systems Automation Technical Section.) Attendance will include shared materials from the highly successful SPE Applied Technology Workshop in Galveston, Texas on April the 13th and 14th, which provided a strong industry wide background as to the current state of drilling automation.

SPE Forums: Innovative Thought and Accelerated Results

SPE Forums offer an exclusive opportunity to discuss complex industry challenges with top technologists, innovators, and managers. The forums’ limited size and intensive format maximise your opportunity to contribute. The objective is to stimulate thought, accelerate innovation, and inspire the development of new technology. To create a cohesive group in which discussion is free flowing, only committee-selected applicants are invited to attend. Participants are encouraged to come prepared to contribute their experience and knowledge, not to be spectators or students. If you have a role to play in meeting the challenges of tomorrow head-on, apply today. Participants will be selected based on their ability to contribute to the discussion and to represent their stakeholder group.

How Participation Benefits You—and Your Organisation

  • Learn in days what would usually takes months, even years, of research to learn.
  • Effectively focus on a topic that directly relates to your work.
  • Gain insight and perspective through conversations with peers who share your same interests.
  • Meet with other experts from international companies, research institutes, and universities in an off-the-record format.
  • Form professional relationships that will continue after the forum has ended.

 

Who should attend?

The Forum is a limited attendance meeting for up to 75 people, designed for professionals in the oil and gas industry interested in the types of rig required to reduce the existing footprint and expand the technologies required to make them competitive. The Forum is aimed at people whose principal job falls into any of the following categories:

  • Rig/Equipment Manufacturers & Designers
  • Controls and Software Leaders
  • Product Development Managers
  • Drilling Engineers
  • Drilling Contractors
  • Service Companies
  • Technology Leaders
  • Asset Managers
  • Automation Skeptics
  • Well & Petroleum Engineers
  • Research & Development Professionals