Archive | 2007
Lessons of Katrina, Rita, Ivan bear fruit in GOM for offshore industry facing wrath of Dean
Posted on 28 October 2009 in 2007, September/October
Operators and contractors had an unsought, but inevitable opportunity to put the lessons of hurricanes Ivan (2004) Katrina and Rita (2005) to the test at summer’s end, faced with the menace of Hurricane Dean. Rebounding off of 2006’s welcome hurricane doldrums, Dean swept mightily into the Gulf of Mexico in late August. Dean’s arrow-straight trajectory [...]
Engine manufacturers work on supply chains, reliability as drilling contractor demands rise
Posted on 28 October 2009 in 2007, September/October
When lead times for critical equipment like engines reach into the 24-months range, as is currently typical, frustrations can surface. Engine manufacturers Wärtsilä and Cummins know their customers want to see change. “Engine demand is clearly outstripping supply. Everyone is trying to get more suppliers on line, as well as increase internal capacity,” said Erik [...]
Purpose-built land rigs produce step change in drilling time, cost, and opportunities
Posted on 28 October 2009 in 2007, September/October
By E.S. Kolstad, New Tech Engineering; L.D. Steinke, L.S. Brady, Williams Production RMT Company; S.P. Marchand, Helmerich & Payne International Drilling Company Rising natural gas prices and Wall Street demands have come together to create a new culture of aggressiveness in natural gas development for one operator in the Piceance Basin. Meeting and exceeding growing [...]
Smith Bits’ IDEAS platform provides dynamic model to optimally design, test drill bits
Posted on 28 October 2009 in 2007, September/October
By Prabhakaran Centala, Smith Bits In response to a drilling industry that continues to push drill bit manufacturers for bits that are application-specific, high performing and durable, Smith Technologies developed its IDEAS (Integrated Dynamic Engineering Analysis System) bit design platform. Originally developed to optimally design roller cone bits, the advanced engineering modeling system has been [...]
Varel bit design enhances hydraulic flow to improve ROP in Barnett Shale lateral drilling
Posted on 28 October 2009 in 2007, September/October
By Jerry Greenberg, contributing editor Chesapeake Energy operated four rigs in the Barnett Shale field when it entered the region in 2002. Today, the company has 36 rigs in the play, which are among its more than 150 operated rigs nationwide—more than double the next closest operator. During the spring of 2007, Chesapeake became the [...]
100% core recovery over 3 runs in horizontal well marks a first on Petrobras’ Bonitas field
Posted on 28 October 2009 in 2007, September/October
By Mark Thomas, Gary Clemens, Halliburton’s Security DBS For the oil company, the two most important parameters in formation evaluation are the amount of hydrocarbon in place and the amount that’s economically recoverable. Coring provides the only means of access to the relevant parameters of porosity and permeability without requiring interpretation, as well logs would. [...]
Advances in steel tooth technology improve drill bit performance in GOM applications
Posted on 28 October 2009 in 2007, September/October
By Bobby Grimes, Robert Buske and William Thompson, Hughes Christensen Despite significant PDC encroachment into traditional roller-cone applications, steel tooth (ST) bits still drill approximately half of the total footage in the US Gulf of Mexico. Selection of PDC or ST bits is largely driven by the drilling fluid that is used. PDCs are generally [...]
Solids Control: Shale shaker makers push advances in power, efficiency, automation
Posted on 28 October 2009 in 2007, September/October
By Jerry Greenberg, contributing editor Efficient solids control equipment translates into, among other things, higher rates of penetration (ROP), reduced stuck pipe incidents and good wellbore stability. These translate into better drilling performance by the drilling contractor and savings for the operator. Upon first glance, shale shakers and other solids control equipment appear to look [...]
Improved top drive systems boost reliability, push capacity limits
Posted on 28 October 2009 in 2007, September/October
By Jerry Greenberg, contributing editor About 20 years ago, drilling contractors were struggling to decide whether to use a relatively new, to the drilling industry at least, piece of equipment that could drill wells 20% to 40% faster. In the mid-1980s, top drive drilling systems were estimated to cost between $500,000 and $750,000, a veritable [...]
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