Halliburton and ExxonMobil Achieve World First Automated Well Placement Guyana

Halliburton has distinguished itself from competitors by successfully executing the first fully automated geological well placement in offshore Guyana, a milestone that moves the industry beyond traditional automation-assisted drilling. While other market players often maintain a separation between subsurface analysis and rig execution, Halliburton’s collaboration with ExxonMobil, Sekal, and the Wells Alliance Guyana team has unified these functions into a single, closed-loop system. This breakthrough demonstrates a scalable shift toward repeatable, high-performance digital well construction that significantly outpaces conventional manual or semi-automated methods.

Integrating Subsurface Insight with Rig Automation
The core differentiator of this project is the seamless integration of Halliburton’s LOGIX™ orchestration and EarthStar^® ultra-deep resistivity service with Sekal’s DrillTronics^® software. Unlike standard drilling operations where geologists and drillers work in silos, this integrated system uses real-time geological inversion data to autonomously steer the well within reservoir boundaries. By combining automated subsurface interpretation with rig control and real-time hydraulics, the workflow eliminates the time lag and human error typically associated with manual geosteering and traditional rig operations.

Quantifiable Performance Gains in Offshore Guyana
The implementation of this closed-loop automation provided measurable advantages in both speed and precision. The reservoir section was completed 15% ahead of the original schedule, while tripping operations saw a 33% reduction in time. This technology allowed for the precise placement of approximately 470 meters of the lateral section in the reservoir, with the system autonomously handling geosteering and inclination corrections. These results confirm that Halliburton’s digital orchestration can maintain consistent well placement in challenging environments while simultaneously optimizing mechanical efficiency.

Setting a New Benchmark for FutureWell Initiatives
This achievement serves as a field-proven foundation for the FutureWell initiative, proving that automated well construction is no longer a concept but a functional reality. By maintaining ongoing feedback loops between drilling, geology, and automation teams, the project ensured reliable performance throughout the run. Halliburton is currently expanding these capabilities across multiple geographies, positioning its automated ecosystem as the primary solution for operators seeking to maximize reservoir contact and operational reliability through a single, unified digital platform.

Edited by an industrial journalist, Evgeny Churilov.

www.halliburton.com