Archive | 2008
Innovative systems enhance ability to achieve selective isolated production in horizontal wells
Posted on 30 October 2009 in 2008, May/June
By Katie Mazerov, contributing editor The harsh reality of the oil and gas industry today lies in complicated horizontal labyrinths of tight twists and angles, in multiple layers of sand and shale. Production in this changing and challenging landscape has taken on a whole different meaning as the industry has had to find new methods [...]
Mesophase technology leads to new fluids for cased hole remediation, optimized displacement
Posted on 30 October 2009 in 2008, May/June
Four or five years ago, Baker Hughes Drilling Fluids (BHDF) was asked by a major operator to develop a fluid that would destroy oil-based mud filter cake depositions for water injection applications. What resulted from their R&D effort was MICRO-WASH, which has been commercially available for about a year. It is based on mesophase technology, [...]
Operators raise downhole fluids expectations as they push boundaries with HPHT, ERD wells
Posted on 30 October 2009 in 2008, May/June
For drilling fluid companies, working on today’s ERD wells is often like “playing on the knife’s edge,” said Nick Braley, director of technology at Baroid. Management of the equivalent circulating density (ECD) is critical on extended-reach drilling (ERD) wells, and that has evolved into a tough balancing act on wells with very narrow windows between [...]
Complex well profiles in ERD, ultra-ERD push for extended capabilities in drill pipe performance
Posted on 30 October 2009 in 2008, May/June
By Lou Elliott, Vincent Bouchad, Jean Boulet, Anthony Monnet, VAM Drilling The advances in drilling technology required to drill ultra-deep and ultra-extended-reach wells is not reserved to rig capability. Drill pipe performance factors, high-torque connections and hole cleaning also can become limitations in extending the well envelope. Meeting the performance requirements imposed by these deepwater, [...]
What really happens to high-strength drill pipe after exposure to sour gas environment?
Posted on 30 October 2009 in 2008, May/June
By Spoerker, H.F., Havlik, W., OMV E&P; Jellison, M.J., GrantPrideco Sour gas and high-strength steel are generally accepted to be incompatible. However, when drilling beyond 20,000 ft, S135 and higher steel grades become necessary to support their own weight, and due to the elevated downhole pressures in the range of 15-20 ksi, even minimal concentrations [...]
Multi-technical MPD concept, comprehensive planning extend HPHT targets on Kvitebjorn
Posted on 30 October 2009 in 2008, May/June
By Svein Syltøy, Svein Erik Eide, Steinar Torvund, Per Cato Berg, StatoilHydro; Tore Larsen, Helge Fjeldberg, KCAD Norway; Knut Steinar Bjørkevoll, SINTEF; John McCaskill, Expro Power Chokes; Ole Iacob Prebensen, M-I Swaco; Eric Low, Think-Well Kvitebjørn is located in the Northern North Sea on the Norwegian Continental Shelf, southeast of the Gullfaks Field (Figure 1). [...]
High-torque top drives enhance drilling in shallow, long-reach horizontal and deep vertical wells
Posted on 30 October 2009 in 2008, May/June
By Ron Pettapiece, Ensign Energy Services, and Barry Beierbach, Tesco Corp When drilling shallow extended-reach horizontal wells such as steam injection wells to produce heavy oil sands in Alberta, Canada, use of a top drive drilling system is not only a requirement, it’s necessary to have the highest torque available. Some of the wells can [...]
Mixed fleet approach to land drilling allows rigs to perform
Posted on 30 October 2009 in 2008, May/June
By Ronald Buell, Atlas Copco Drilling Solutions Setting Up Pipe Handling There’s an old adage in the oil patch: “If a rig’s drill isn’t turning to the right, it isn’t making money.” If you consider what a rig does from the time it’s mobilized to reach a location until it is moved to the next [...]
US land drilling kicks into high gear, prepares for brisk year
Posted on 30 October 2009 in 2008, May/June
Last year appeared to be a “period of pause” for US land drilling contractors as the industry absorbed a significant number of new and refurbished rigs into its fleet, said Ron Hale, Grey Wolf Drilling senior vice president international operations. Although operators didn’t slow down their drilling programs, the additional units that came into the [...]
Casing-while-drilling successfully applied in Canadian Arctic permafrost environment
Posted on 30 October 2009 in 2008, May/June
By H. Vrielink, BP; J.S. Bradford, Chevron; L. Basarab, Tesco Corp; C.C. Ubaru, Hughes Christensen The JV operator was looking for a combination of technologies to optimize drilling in Canada’s Mackenzie Delta region. The area is characterized by a permafrost section, up to 2,000 ft (609 m) thick, dominated by unconsolidated silt with freshwater ice [...]
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