Halliburton and Sekal have jointly deployed what they claim is the world’s first automated on-bottom drilling system for an Equinor-operated well offshore Norway.
The campaign involved integrating Halliburton’s LOGIX automation with Sekal’s Drilltronics rig automation control system.
The well featured a closed-loop control solution, said to manage autonomous directional drilling by means of automated wellbore hydraulics and dynamic surface drilling rig equipment control.
According to Halliburton, the partnership can now optimize drilling parameters in real time and ensure precise well placement through the single push of a button (via integrated automated rig controls).
The technology is said to optimize well placement and drilling within safe limits by applying real-time models of subsurface, wellbore fluid and pressure systems.
It does this by combining the models with smart directional drilling tools and the rig automation control system. Overall, the technology includes LOGIX orchestration, auto steer, vibration mitigation, hole cleaning optimization with Sekal DrillTronics dynamic safeguards and automation functions.
