pages 66-67_Layout 1 4/9/2021 9:42 AM Page 2 By Colter Cookson Selecting the right drilling and completion fluid for a well can have a huge impact on drilling costs and long-term productivity, so fluids providers do everything they can to identify the best fluid for a particular application. To simplify that process, they are building robust, easily maintained databases of past work, and developing tools that can translate those records into advice for future jobs. Much as Netflix or YouTube draw on personal histories to predict exactly what a specific subscriber will enjoy, fluids providers report they are leveraging these tools to help fluid engineers pinpoint appropriate formulations for a specific well. " Digital is infiltrating every area of the oil field, not just drilling and completion fluids, " observes William " Billy " Dye, vice president of drilling and completion fluids at Newpark Fluids Systems. " With global databases, we will be in a position to put information from thousands of wells at the engineers' fingertips and significantly augment their experience and company legacy data. " APRIL 2021 67