A Review of Digital Transformation Initiatives for Real-Time Formation Evaluation

Abstract

Summary We present a thorough overview of the state-of-the-art developments of artificial intelligence and automation, including robotics, in the area of formation evaluation, well logging and reservoir monitoring. The 4IR is and will be a key component in the development of new technologies in these domains and more broadly in upstream oil operations. While there are substantial challenges that need to be overcome in the near future, there is also tremendous potential with the availability of an increased number of interconnected sensing devices for real-time monitoring and interventions [ 25 ]. The 4IR trend is clear and unrestrainable also in Formation Evaluation: automation of measurements, interpretation, interventions and decision making, with minimal human intervention; as well as extensive use of artificial intelligence to support data analytics and interpretation in a framework of indirect measurements, complex characterization, data scarcity and ill-posed problems.