To speed up the deployment of automation solutions at the well-sites, it is mandatory to automatically exchange data in a safe and consistent manner.

The explosion of automation solutions and players, which in itself is very positive, has made clear the lack of interoperability within the drilling ecosystem. The different solutions are seldom interchangeable, be it in terms of functionality or data communication. Industrial initiatives such as the D-WIS organization represent a development front for the drilling community with regard to interoperability standards. Baker Hughes is actively developing and commercializing drilling automation products for the wellsite. Baker Hughes has also been a member of D-WIS since its inception and has contributed to its various workstreams, technical publications and leadership.

  • One reason is fairly obvious, says John Macpherson in Baker Hughes, for drilling automation to succeed at the wellsite, there must be safe data sharing amongst players. That is, there must be data interoperability.

Develop once, deploy everywhere

NORCE has developed a Drilling Data Hub (DDHub) which is a central part of the D-WIS interoperability work. The DDHub uses standardized semantic information to describe the exchange of data which is computer interpretable. The different players build a bridge to the DDHub, and available information can be discovered and shared automatically and without the need for manual configuration. A big advantage is that once this bridge is in place, it can be deployed everywhere and really speed up the deployment of automation solutions.

Now the NORCE team prepare for several demonstrations of the D-WIS concept with the first scheduled for October 2024. It is important for the demonstrations to have many different actors participating, including a commercially automated drilling control system. Successful demonstrations have the potential to be an important step for the drilling community to take the D-WIS infrastructure into use.

  • We have adopted some of the evolving D-WIS concepts in our own internal developments. We see the D-WIS demonstrations in 2024 as a vital step in validating the D-WIS components, and will supply an automation advisor for the demo, says Macpherson.