2 minute read
A holistic approach to wellsite operations
A holistic approach to wellsite management
Julio Loreto, VP Drilling Services, Weatherford, spoke to Oil Review Middle East about the company’s new digital wellsite management technology.
IN EARLY MARCH, Weatherford introduced Centro, a holistic approach to effectively managing complex wellsite operations digitally, combining data management, visualisation and real-time engineering technologies.
By seamlessly integrating every element of an operator's well data, team members from any global location can access, share, and store all vital project information at any time. Centro makes consolidated data available in real time, enabling advanced domain viewing and live analytics.
Discussing the rationale behind the creation of Centro, Loreto, who has been involved in the oil and gas industry since 1994, explained,
“Having been involved in drilling oil and gas
for several years, it is clear that we have more than enough data, from many different sources. You have real time information, historical data, seismic, and so on.
“What we lack, however, is the integration, the timely use of that data in our day-to-day operations, to improve operations, to bring the efficiencies that are needed and to increase production. One of the major drivers
for Centro as we positioned the solution, was the adoption of a holistic approach to integrate all that data and provide visualisation capabilities to enable the teams to make smarter and more informed decisions.
“So how do we do that? There are a number of processes that are integrated into Centro. How we manage the data, how we view the data, how we provide solutions, those are the three major pillars around which Centro will enhance our operations. We have great technology in directional drilling, we have great technology in LWD, but we don’t have a user-friendly way to make it visible and more productive to the team. And that’s what Centro will provide, a means to maximise the value of our core technologies through this integration platform.”
The product is responding to a real industry need, he added.
“In the industry today, the efficiencies that are needed, your productivity, the whole economic value of what you do, demand that you know what is really happening, that the decisions you make are the right decisions. This tool can pool the information about all your wells globally, so you can see if a well is performing to the optimum scenario, by drawing on comparisons with previous wells, or if it is performing better or worse, in which case you can find out why. This is the best way to bring data in a timely fashion to allow for that sort of analysis and decision making.”
The product has been tested both in Weatherford’s internal operations, and externally with customers, said Loreto, adding that has won a contract with a major Middle East operator.
“When I switch on my computer, the first thing I do is open Outlook and open Centro; the wells pop up on my screen so you can see them in real time. We know Centro is going to be at the level we aspire to when a customer does the same thing. We need to get to the point when Centro becomes so integral to what we do that it will be natural for people to open it the minute they switch on their computer.” n
