The Integration of Drilling Sensor Real-Time Data with Drilling Reporting Data at Saudi Aramco using WITSML

Abstract The Wellsite Information Transfer Standard Markup Language (WITSML) is a global open standard for the exchange of geotechnical data in the upstream oil and gas industry. Saudi Aramco has embarked upon a project to implement the transfer and storage of all wellsite real-time data using the latest released WITSML specification. This project is called the Real-Time Data Transmission and Viewer Service (RTDTVS). Through this project the data from all rigs will be captured and transmitted back to the Drilling Real-Time Data Hub (DRTDH), which runs on an Oracle platform with triple redundancy. Drilling sensor data has not in the past been transmitted back for monitoring purposes; instead, Saudi Aramco has previously left the drilling contractor to manage the drilling process. On exploration wells a mud logging contractor is often used, and real-time data has been available to the different asset teams; but on development wells, a mud logging contractor is not used, making the need to capture the drilling sensor data vital not only for safety monitoring, but also for the optimization of the drilling process to reduce well drilling costs. To make accurate calculations of drilling performance indexes it is necessary to have access to some information that is typically not transmitted as part of a real-time data stream, but is available instead through daily reporting and other mechanisms. This paper discusses how the use of the WITSML Open Standard has enabled drilling sensor data stored in the DRTDH to be integrated with report data available through the Saudi Aramco Drilling Knowledge Database (SADK) to provide more efficient and safer drilling practices.