IoT Drilling Technology

The Internet of Things can turn things around for offshore drilling companies.

15:06 04 October 2017

Jose A. Gutierrez, the director of Transocean’s technology and innovation group, has said that the Internet of Things (IOT) can be used to change the lack of innovation in offshore drilling rig technology. This is important, he says, because the offshore drilling contractor community has been using the same technology for years. He attributes this challenge to the high barrier of entry. A few providers monopolise most of the technology offering and until now, they have little intensive to improve their processes. 

 

For the past three years, his company has been focusing on how to use IOT in order to improve efficiency, increase financial efficiency, and boost operating integrity. However, he warned that it is not a walk in the park.

 

“Saying IoT can solve a business problem is like saying Microsoft Word or Excel can do the same thing – you can do great things with these programs, if you know how to use them, if they’re deployed right, and what you are writing and modeling. But they’re just programs. You might be trying to solve the wrong problem, or optimizing a machine when you should design a new one,” Gutierrez says.

 

“Automating chaos is not a good idea,” he adds.

 

“The oil and gas industry will face a challenge in understanding what IoT can do for them. Whoever deciphers the value of taking decisions based on data to codify knowledge will be the winner.”