Key Technologies and Development Considerations of CNOOC’s Offshore Intelligent Drilling Navigation System

Intelligent drilling utilizes digital twins, artificial intelligence, and intelligent drilling equipment and technologies to enable autonomous decision-making and closed-loop control throughout the drilling process, improving quality, increasing efficiency, reducing costs, and ensuring safety. Intelligent drilling equipment is the key to achieving intelligent drilling. Chinese and foreign oil companies have made certain progress in the key equipment for intelligent drilling and the construction of intelligent drilling platforms. China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), through technological research and development, has initially established an offshore intelligent drilling navigation system (IDNS) based on real-time data. It has basically achieved five functions: three-dimensional visualization of the formation and wellbore, intelligent characterization of rock drillability, intelligent early warning of drill pipe sticking risks, intelligent prediction of rate of penetration (ROP), and real-time optimization of drilling parameters. This system has achieved excellent speed-up effects in deep drilling operations at a certain well in the Bohai Sea. The analysis indicates that the offshore IDNS still faces three technical challenges: the acquisition of massive real data from the wellbore, the high-speed transmission of data, and the closed-loop control of well operations. To address these challenges, it is necessary to conduct research and development on key tools such as near-bit parameter measurement devices, intelligent drill pipes, and intelligent drilling rigs, so as to achieve intelligent decision-making and dynamic control of drilling based on the digital twin of the wellbore, improve the efficiency and quality of offshore deepwater drilling, and promote the intelligent development of marine oil and gas drilling.