Archive | November/December
Turbine technology innovations may enhance operator ability to tap reservoirs below 15,000 ft
Posted on 29 October 2009 in 2007, November/December
By Jay Klassen and David Conroy, Smith Neyrfor As the demand for hydrocarbons in the United States continues to increase, reservoirs at depths of 15,000 ft or less are becoming increasingly depleted. Historically, 93% of all US production comes from formations above 15,000 ft, and current drilling trends document a negligible effort to discover or [...]
Circulation sub development brings prospect of totally clean completions closer to reality
Posted on 29 October 2009 in 2007, November/December
By Mike Churchill, Churchill Drilling Tools A significant step forward has been taken in achieving the total wellbore cleanliness that is a key factor in maximizing completion productivity. Obtaining that cleanliness is facilitated by the ability to circulate each section at will and with adequate flow to remove all contamination and debris. The evolution of [...]
Intelligent completions technology has come a long way since ’97, but road ahead is long
Posted on 29 October 2009 in 2007, November/December
By Derek Mathieson, WellDynamics Earlier this year, WellDynamics celebrated the ten-year anniversary of the installation of the world’s first intelligent completion system. The result of a joint industry project, SmartWell technology in 1997 could have been just another start-up technology – innovative, untested and possibly infeasible from a commercial perspective. A decade later, however, the [...]
Fluid customization, equipment optimization enable UB drilling of high-H2S horizontal wells
Posted on 29 October 2009 in 2007, November/December
By John H Hallman, Iain Cook, Weatherford International; Muhammad A Muqeem, Clark M Jarrett, Hamoud A. Shammari, Saudi Aramco Underbalanced drilling (UBD) has long been accepted as a viable well construction technique offering many benefits. UBD can avoid or minimize drilling issues such as lost circulation and stuck pipe. It increases rate of penetration (ROP) [...]
Modified automated pressure-control technology offers smaller footprint for land MPD operations
Posted on 29 October 2009 in 2007, November/December
By Don Reitsma, Paul Fredericks, At Balance; Roger Suter, M-I SWACO The value of automated managed pressure drilling (MPD) technology in offshore operations can be measured by the impact it has had on economic drillability. It has demonstrated the ability to solve real world pressure problems that have blocked redevelopment of deepwater depleted fields and [...]
Well control specialists face new generation of challenges in HPHT, deepwater, personnel gap
Posted on 29 October 2009 in 2007, November/December
By Daniel F Eby, Cudd Well Control The drilling sector of the oil industry has made, and continues to make, great strides in advancing and applying new technology. Downhole tools for formation evaluation, extended-reach and horizontal drilling and temperature-tolerant fluids are used on a daily basis when 15 years ago they were only a recognized [...]
Driller’s Method vs Wait and Weight Method: One offers distinct well control advantages
Posted on 29 October 2009 in 2007, November/December
By Rana S Roy, Conroy James Nini, Paul Sonnemann, Berton Thomas Gillis, Chevron The two widely used constant bottomhole circulating methods are the Driller’s Method and the Wait and Weight (W&W) Method. Well control experts are often strongly opinionated on selecting the better method to circulate an influx out of the wellbore. The purpose of [...]
Japan Drilling ready for major expansion with new jackup, semi upgrade, Qatar joint venture
Posted on 29 October 2009 in 2007, November/December
For an indigenous Asian drilling contractor far away from the traditional activity centers of offshore drilling, being “international” has been more than a growth strategy for Japan Drilling Company (JDC). It has been a necessity. Ever since its very first drilling project in Indonesia in 1969, JDC has worked to establish an international presence, from [...]
China ready to take the world stage
Posted on 29 October 2009 in 2007, November/December
By Linda Hsieh, associate editor To meet soaring energy demands at home, China is working harder than ever to reach out to the global drilling community for new technologies, new equipment, new reserves. Here’s a glimpse into CNPC’s projects, ambitions, challenges and more. In the center of Daqing, a city of more than two million [...]
Part 2: Who gets what in offshore drilling? Exploration industry forecast to decline as field development, appraisal drilling dominate
Posted on 29 October 2009 in 2007, November/December
By Michael R Smith, Energyfiles This is the second of two articles discussing spending in the offshore drilling sector. The first, examining drilling spend by discipline, appeared in the July/August 2007 issue of Drilling Contractor. This part looks at spending by geographic area. Offshore drilling represents a substantial part of CAPEX in all operating regions. [...]
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