Predicting the Unpredictable: Reducing Risk Through Smarter Detection Tools

At the recent SPE Conference in the UAE, Dana Energy was represented by one of our esteemed colleagues, Vahid Daneshkhah, who presented a technical paper titled “LSTM-Based Real-Time Drill String Stuck Prediction.” The work he shared reflects a focused initiative led by him and his team. We were proud to support this effort and see it showcased on an international stage.

Stuck pipe events are a known challenge in drilling operations, often leading to project delays and significant financial risk. The software module introduced in the presentation offers an AI-powered approach to predicting and helping prevent such events in real time. This tool was shaped by years of hands-on project experience and close analysis of historical drilling data and trends to provide valuable intelligence for drilling supervisors.

In his presentation, Vahid Daneshkhah walked the audience through the motivation behind the project. He explained the limitations of current detection methods in the industry and the need for a more proactive, field-informed solution with more accurate results. He also shared the process of collecting and preprocessing data from 100 wells, addressing data imbalance, and training an LSTM-based model. The AI model was benchmarked and tested through real-world case studies, showing promising results.

This tool is more than a technical product; it is a practical response to a problem many professionals in the field know all too well. By analyzing trends from mud logging through to daily reports, the system provides timely intelligence that continuously supports operation supervisors and improves situational awareness, especially in high-pressure environments.

While the conference focused on the current capabilities of the tool, Vahid Daneshkhah has shared that further enhancements and expansion are already under consideration and being explored. His approach highlights how individual expertise, supported by a collaborative environment, can lead to meaningful progress.

At Dana Energy, we believe in enabling talent and sharing knowledge. Vahid Daneshkhah’s presentation is a clear example of how personal initiative, backed by experience and data, can contribute to safer and more efficient operations for the wider industry.