The nature of oil & gas industry is very complex with various equipment running for different processes and many people involved on and off the field. Oil rigs play a very important role in the oil & gas industry. Oil rigs are a kind of apparatus which is used for oil drilling. Some kinds of oil rigs are:
- Drilling rig, used for on-land oil drilling
- Oil platform, for offshore oil drilling
- Oil well, a boring from which oil is extracted
The use of oil rigs involves most important and expensive activities in the oil field development. The rigs are used for drilling wells or for maintenance activities. The numbers of oil rigs are usually less as compared to the number of wells that require service and thus a schedule must be prepared for the wells to be drilled or repaired or those that need maintenance.
Since oil rigs are an expensive resource, it should be allocated with utmost care and planning. The operations team is responsible for setting up proper plans in order to put all the schedules in place.
What is rig scheduling?
With the help of information available, an appropriate rig scheduling is carried out in accordance of which rigs are used for drilling wells, providing maintenance, etc. Back then, the work of rig scheduling was done using spreadsheets which was a tiresome task and came with various shortcomings like delays, mismatched timings, over/under budget, and so on.
However, with advancement in technology there are various software that have been designed which improve the gathering, sharing, and scheduling of all the information available. Such software is capable of eliminating rig scheduling conflicts, double booking of rig or resources, etc.
Benefits of rig scheduling-
- Improved visibility- Visibility is the key to an organization’s success. With the help of Rig scheduling software, the overall visibility of the rig schedule is increased to a great extent. This is because of a central system operating in the organization. Thus, everyone is well versed with the rigs schedule, and thus decisions are taken accordingly.
- User Friendly- In the olden days, when spreadsheets were used to make rig schedules there were chances of committing errors. However, with software doing its work, there is no possibility of errors and even if errors are made they are monitored and can be rectified easily. One of the best features of rig scheduling software is that it is designed to be user-friendly. And anyone accessing it can find the required information with ease.
- Less prone to error-When rig scheduling was done on spreadsheets, there were chances of numerical error or formula error. However, when software does its job there are no chances of errors and hence, one can be rest assured about the rig scheduling to be in place.
- Improved planning of capital assets-Rig is an important asset for any organization. When rig scheduling is done with the help of software, it is more efficient and appropriate. Hence, organizations can accordingly, incur capital expenditures and plan about the asset in accordance with the schedule.
- Notifications- With the help of scheduling software, not only can you schedule rigs but also schedule tasks and activities related with that rig. For instance, alerts can be set for permit expiry and approvals so that the renewals can be done on time in order to avoid unnecessary penalties and obstruction of any kind.
- Reduce unnecessary cost- When rig scheduling is done using software, there are very minute chances of any error. Schedules are set at optimum efficiency, and thus there are no unnecessary expenditures. For instance, if rig scheduling is not done correctly, there are chances that 2 wells may require the services of rig at the same. This leads to incurrence of extra cost. However, with the help of software such clashes are scraped out and extra costs are avoided.
Thus rig scheduling is a great way to plan and keep things functioning smoothly in the organization. With the help of scheduling software is it all the more easily to schedule the rigs, in a way that proves to be time and cost effective at the same time. Organizations that adapt these practices, experience optimum production and avoid all the unnecessary expenditures.
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