Method and system for measuring non-drilling times and their application to improve drilling unit efficiency

Abstract

A method for measuring non-drilling times during well construction operations includes automatically determining a staring time and a stopping time of at least one non-drilling activity. An elapsed time between the starting time and the stopping time of the activity is recorded. The recorded time is normalized for at least one of a well depth and a water depth.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for measuring non-drilling times during well construction operations, comprising:
 automatically determining a starting time and a stopping time of at least one non-drilling activity using measurements from at least one sensor disposed on a drilling unit;   recording an elapsed time between the starting time and the stopping time of the at least one non-drilling activity; and   normalizing the recorded elapsed time for at least one of water depth and well depth.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the non-drilling activity comprises at least one of mooring, rigging up and drilling structural pipe, running and cementing conductor casing, running surface casing, running and testing blowout preventer equipment, running and cementing a first intermediate casing, running and cementing a second intermediate casing, well logging and plugging and abandoning a well. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the normalizing comprises at least one of exclusion of recorded non-drilling activity time when the non-drilling activity is related to well depth or water depth, and dividing the recorded non-drilling activity time by the respective water depth or well depth when the non-drilling activity is related to the well depth or the water depth. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising comparing the normalized elapsed time of one drilling unit to a normalized elapsed time for the same non-drilling activity determined on at least a second drilling unit. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising comparing the normalized elapsed time for the non-drilling activity performed by one drilling crew on the drilling unit with a normalized elapsed time for the same non-drilling activity performed by at least a second drilling crew on the drilling unit. 
     
     
         6 . A system for monitoring non-drilling operations on a drilling unit, comprising:
 at least one sensor configured to measure a parameter related to a start time and a stop time of at least one non-drilling operation on the drilling unit;   a data acquisition device configured to determine a start time and a stop time of the at least one auxiliary operation from measurements made by the at least one sensor, the data acquisition device including a data recorder for recording elapsed time between the start time and the stop time, the acquisition device configured to determine start and stop times of the at least one non-drilling operation in response to the measurements, the data acquisition device configured to normalize the recorded elapsed time for at least one of water depth and well depth.   
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 6  wherein the non-drilling activity comprises at least one of mooring, rigging up and drilling structural pipe, running and cementing conductor casing, running surface casing, running and testing blowout preventer equipment, running and cementing a first intermediate casing, running and cementing a second intermediate casing, well logging and plugging and abandoning a well. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 6  wherein the normalizing comprises at least one of exclusion of recorded non-drilling activity time when the non-drilling activity is related to well depth or water depth, and dividing the recorded non-drilling activity time by the respective water depth or well depth when the non-drilling activity is related to the well depth or the water depth. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 6  wherein the data acquisition device is further configured to compare the normalized elapsed time of one drilling unit to a normalized elapsed time for the same non-drilling activity determined on at least a second drilling unit, the data acquisition device is further configured to at least one of record and display the comparison. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 6  wherein the data acquisition device is further configured to compare the normalized elapsed time for the non-drilling activity performed by one drilling crew on the drilling unit with a normalized elapsed time for the same non-drilling activity performed by at least a second drilling crew on the drilling unit, the data acquisition device is further configured to at least one of record and display the comparison. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 6  wherein the data acquisition device is configured to determine the start and stop times of the at least one non-drilling operation in response to the measurement only within a predetermined sequence of additional non-drilling operations.