PETRONAS Leverages on PRTVC to Handle Complex Operations Worldwide

Malaysia’s state-owned Petroliam Nasional Berhad (PETRONAS) is leveraging on technology to give the firm – ranked 68 on Fortune Global 500 in 2015 – an edge in executing complex tasks worldwide more efficiently.

An example of this is the upgraded PETRONAS Real-Time Visualisation Centre (PRTVC), a state-of-the-art platform launched in 2014 to enable the company to use leading edge technology to take on new challenges in the oil and gas industry.

While the centre previously housed visualisation and data facilities, these are now augmented by a 24-hour real-time drilling operations and monitoring center named Wells Real-Time Drilling (Wells RTD) equipped with a secured geo-computing architecture as well as 3D visualisation capability via immersive and stereoscopic screens.

These added capabilities allow the PRTVC to act as a central command centre linking technical staff in Malaysia to various drilling platforms across the globe. The centre can accommodate up to 200 staff who will also be able to access data via tablets through a mobile app.

The PRTVC is expected to help PETRONAS personnel tackle complex tasks more efficiently, thereby saving time and reducing costs for drilling activities.

“The whole idea of this centre is to enable real-time data for well planning, monitoring and execution of drilling,” says PETRONAS Carigali Global Drilling Head, George Ling Kien Sing. He adds that the new add-ons help to speed up the decision-making process needed to ensure the group retains its global competitive edge.

“Having these facilities will enable us to have more effective collaboration among some 200 of our geoscientists, engineers and drillers stationed in more than 20 countries. We are now also able to do complex planning, such as drilling deeper into the sea. There is now no excuse for us not to drill deeper,” says Ling.

The PRTVC is also viewed as complementary to the training programs taught at the Integrated Oil and Gas Training Centre (IOGTC) in the Institut Teknologi Petroleum Petronas (INSTEP) in Batu Rakit, Terengganu, Malaysia.

Trainees will benefit from opportunities to experience complex challenges and real-time decision-making by working with professionals from a multi-disciplinary technical background, says PETRONAS’ Technical Data General Manager Mohd Hamka Ibrahim.

“These facilities will bring us to the next level. The PRTVC can be the platform for PETRONAS to accelerate the technical development of our young Malaysian talent to meet the increasing demand of upstream market with the latest niche technologies in the oil and gas industry,” he notes.

“We want to shorten the training period. Previously, it took around 10 years for a person to become experts. Now we are trying to shorten that to about four to five years from the way we train them,” says Ling.

Mohd Hamka says the PRTVC – located on the 22nd Floor in Tower 2 of the PETRONAS Twin Towers in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur where PETRONAS is headquartered – also provides the firm the ability to monitor the health, safety and environmental impact of its upstream activities better. He adds that the PRTVC can also be used to showcase PETRONAS’ technological prowess as a global oil and gas player.



WHAT DO YOU THINK?


Generated by readers, the comments included herein do not reflect the views and opinions of Rigzone. All comments are subject to editorial review. Off-topic, inappropriate or insulting comments will be removed.

Most Popular Articles