With safety and efficiency in mind, two players set up digital rig offering for operating procedure

Oslo Stock Exchange-listed oil services company Archer has joined forces with Horizon56, an oil and gas operations process optimization and workflow digitalization specialist, to launch a new solution, which will digitalize operating procedures (SOPs) in a bid to bolster rig safety and efficiency.

This adds a new product to Horizon56’s portfolio, known as the digital RigGuide offering, which has been created in collaboration with Archer to enhance operational safety and efficiency through – what is said to be – “a consistent and structured approach” to the creation, editing, and control of digital rig operating procedures, enabling global standard templates applicable for a fleet of rigs while also allowing for rig-specific content.

Furthermore, RigGuide, which is a cloud-based application that can be used as either a standalone solution or connected to the company’s other solutions, features two main modules: a procedure creation module for the creating, editing, reviewing, and approving of the digital rig procedures; and a procedure execution module used to link approved digital SOPs to the corresponding digital plans from the operator, that can be executed digitally using Horizon56’s execution software, RigFlow.

Esben Thorup, Managing Director of Horizon56, remarked: “RigGuide has been developed to further enhance well construction operations and digitally transform key workflows, and link seamlessly within our product suite for rig site execution. It demonstrates a continued commitment from our trusted partnership with Archer, who recognize the deep industry knowledge that we hold in developing innovative digital solutions for oil and gas well construction operations.”

Moreover, RigGuide is said to eliminate the need for paper-based procedures for the drilling contractor, bringing digital checklists into play and providing the opportunity for the drilling contractor’s rig procedures to be linked to the operator’s well plans and instructions. In addition, the rig crew can easily access the full digitalized library of published procedures from RigFlow on the fly during execution, according to Horizon56.

Eirik Windegaard, VP Platform Operations at Archer, commented: “The development of RigGuide has been very well received by our rig crews and shows a further commitment by Archer to deliver new, digital ways of working for safer, more efficient operations to our clients. We are delighted to continue to partner with Horizon56.”

Archer secured several new jobs last year, including a multi-million-dollar decommissioning contract with Repsol Sinopec to execute the plug and abandonment (P&A) work covering 32 wells in the UK sector of the North Sea.