Casing Drilling improves mature field production, eliminates fluid losses, directionally drills well

Posted on 30 October 2009 in 2008, Innovating While Drilling, July/August

By Eric Moellendick, TESCO Corp CASING DRILLING has been used in numerous difficult wells and to drill through troublesome well sections that would not have been possible with conventional drilling techniques. The process eliminates tripping of the drill string and requires only a Range II rig with a single mast. In addition, by reducing or [...]

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Seismic-while-drilling: Where is it heading?

Posted on 30 October 2009 in 2008, Innovating While Drilling, July/August

The concept of seismic-while-drilling (SWD) promises so much, yet still the industry has realized so little of that promise. Drilling Contractor spoke with Robert Radtke, president of Technology International, about where SWD is at, and where it might be headed. Technology International has been working on a joint project with the US Department of Energy [...]

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Telemetry strings, hardware reliability and trasmission capabilities: update and outlook

Posted on 30 October 2009 in 2008, Innovating While Drilling, July/August

By Maximo Hernandez, IntelliServ During recent industry conferences and workshops, reliability figures for the use of telemetry drill strings have been disclosed for the latest wells drilled around the world. These statements of technical performance have had the objective of confirming that the installations of the telemetry network hardware within double shouldered drill strings do [...]

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Automated drilling and real-time drilling process monitoring optimize RSS underreamer technology

Posted on 30 October 2009 in 2008, July/August, The Efficient Rig

By Junichi Sugiura, Steve Jones, PathFinder Energy Services The advancement in deeper drilling programs and directional wells with multiple casing strings have urged the use of an expandable reamer in which casing pass-through ceases to be a restriction. Significant cost savings on enlarging the hole can be obtained by drilling with a rotary steerable system [...]

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Operator finds cost-effective rotary steerable applications in Oman’s low-cost environment

Posted on 30 October 2009 in 2008, Innovating While Drilling, July/August, Onshore Advances

By M Riyami, Petroleum Development Oman; J Edwards, E Vache, O Ojeiduma, S Johnston, Wael Darwish, Schlumberger Hydrocarbon basins in the Sultanate of Oman are located in the desert, where rig rates are low. Although this is not a typical environment for sophisticated drilling systems such as rotary steerable systems (RSS), use of this technology [...]

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Case study: HPHT infill well drilled successfully in highly depleted reservoir on UKCS field

Posted on 30 October 2009 in 2008, Innovating While Drilling, July/August, The Offshore Frontier

By L. Fambon, G. Joffroy, TOTAL E&P UK Drilling infill wells on HPHT fields after a significant depletion has occurred represents a difficult challenge. It requires drilling from a cap rock remaining at or close to virgin pressure into a reservoir in which pore and fracture pressures have largely decreased due to production. No mud-weight [...]

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Seadrill confident in growth, believes modern fleet will pay off, says CEO Thorkildsen

Posted on 30 October 2009 in 2008, Global and Regional Markets, July/August, The Offshore Frontier

By Jeremy Cresswell, contributing editor In Q2 2008, Seadrill landed one of the most spectacular contracts ever awarded in offshore drilling. The client is Petrobras, the revenue potential is $4.1 billion across 18 rig years, and the rigs to be used comprise a trio of sixth-generation semisubmersibles currently in build. Moreover, strategically, Brazil is set [...]

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Exploration on the Atlantic Frontier has been hit-and-miss, but hope lingers for breakthrough

Posted on 30 October 2009 in 2008, Global and Regional Markets, July/August, The Offshore Frontier

By Jeremy Cresswell, contributing editor As IADC members know all too well, patience is a prerequisite for success in the petroleum industry; it’s a basic fact. But some energy provinces take a lot more figuring out than others before the door to the prize is unlocked. A prime example is surely the Europe Union portion [...]

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Win-win cooperation between regulators, IADC leads to more efficient moving of MODUs

Posted on 30 October 2009 in 2008, IADC: Global Leadership, Global Challenges, July/August, The Offshore Frontier

By Magne Ognedal, Petroleum Safety Authority Norway Safety regulators in North Sea countries have pursued a fruitful collaboration for several decades through the North Sea Offshore Authorities Forum (NSOAF). Its members hold an annual working meeting where activities are summed up and new tasks are initiated and discussed. Most of the forum’s work is carried [...]

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It’s high times, high demand in the North Sea

Posted on 30 October 2009 in 2008, Global and Regional Markets, July/August, The Offshore Frontier

It’s a fact that the North Sea is a mature oil province where exploration finds are often smaller compared with those offshore Africa or in the Middle East. But when oil is selling for $130 per bbl and bringing natural gas prices along with it to historic highs, being “mature” doesn’t seem to matter much [...]

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Archive | July/August