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TOP 5

DrillingDrillingDrilling

Top achievements in drilling technology important part of enhancing production pore pressure and fracture gradient issues

Top 5 drilling achievements and improving well delivery economics. resulting in tight drilling windows.

Halliburton

Better understanding of pore

For example, multi-zone stimulation Hess uses enabling technologies such as 1.

pressure and fracture gradient underbalanced, managed pressure, and and sand control are required to deliver The drilling industry has seen two major

Improvements in drill pipe technol- air drilling with low rheology drilling the value at one of Hess Corp.’s Gulf of in? ection points in the last ? ve years 2.

ogy for wells over 30,000ft (md).

muds and cements to improve wellbore Mexico offshore projects. The cost and – proliferation of horizontal drilling 3. Improved downhole drilling tools pressure control in more than half of complexity of remedial stimulation of linked to the growth of unconventional our current projects. Another example these subsea wells requires the stimula- drilling and accessing complex reser- 4. Drilling ? uids of improved drilling methods is on- tion is done right the ? rst time. Value is voirs in deeper water environments. 5. Cementing technologies command expandable reamers for hole maximized when all zones can be deliv- Both of these challenges have guided

List provided by Dr. Neal Adams, adjunct enlargement to help reduce equivalent ered with a single trip multi-zone system. the key technology developments and faculty and research associate in petroleum circulating density during drilling and After evaluating several commercial applications. engineering at the University of Houston.

casing installation. The latest generations systems for the ultra-deep completion, a The ? rst major in? ection point was of rotary steerable tools improve our abil- new design for the casing size is under- the advent of horizontal drilling required ity to more precisely place wellbores to way and will be tested on land prior to to economically exploit the unconven-

OE spoke with experts maximize production with better reliabil- offshore use. tional resources and the consequent ity and reservoir evaluation telemetry. In the onshore world of the Bakken development of drilling systems that from Halliburton, Hess and

Equipment reliability is a cornerstone in North Dakota, it was evident early in were ef? cient, able to deliver high dog

Weatherford to answer the of drilling and completion performance. development that Hess needed multi- leg wellbores and highly reliable to

Hess’ quality assurance program partners zone completions to be successful. Plug avoid multiple trips into the wellbore. question: “What have been the with contractors to align objectives and and perforation could deliver the number An additional feature has been systems top achievements in drilling expectations to create a clear plan for of zones, but not the ef? ciencies needed that can drill the entire well trajectory technology in the last ? ve years?” controlled equipment deployment in the to satisfy well economics. We worked in one run i.e. avoid downhole drilling ? eld. Continuous improvement methodol- with vendors to design, test and deliver assemblies that are speci? c to a hole ogy ensures the overall service delivery sliding sleeves to increase the number section. This major development can be

Hess Corp.

processes are actively assessed for oppor- of completed zones to 18 to 40, instead summarized as the High Dog Leg Rotary tunities based on industry performance of the 8 to 10 previously available. Hess Today’s search for energy often involves Steerable Drilling systems provided data. This approach ensures reliability can takes learning like this and applies it accessing multiple reservoirs with a by various major service companies. be planned into the business while manag- globally. For example, technology devel- single wellbore to economically produce The need for ef? ciency has also led to ing the reactive aspects inherent in well oped for the Bakken is used to complete hydrocarbons. Complex drilling and a resurgence of drilling mud motors operations.

offshore wells in Denmark to further completion challenges must be man- (positive displacement motors), includ-

Operators face the challenge of engi- maximize well value. aged to deliver a completed well with a ing customized high performance basin neering and integrating these capabilities Drilling methods continue to evolve reliable life expectancy. Developing new speci? c mud motors.

into a well design for operations teams to create wellbore for environments with enabling technologies continues to be an A related development has been the to deliver. A robust well delivery process need for drill bits that are matched or organizes the technical work and lever- aligned with these new drilling systems ages past learning to ? nd the best engi- and a number of new drill bits have neering solutions to maximize the value emerged especially for the high dog leg of the well. ef? ciency drilling.

The next major development has

Matthew Isbell been the drive to acquire information in serves as a drilling drilling time and not post drilling. This optimization advisor has led to the increase in measurements at Hess, specializing while drilling/ logging while drilling in drill bits and which in turn has supported well bore drilling optimization. integrity and well bore stability during

He holds 26 drill bit drilling operations. The most notable patents and has achievement has been the sonic and high published 23 technical papers. Isbell has resolution imaging LWD systems.

held a number of drilling technology Another major development in the roles in R&D, ? eld engineering, market- drilling world has been the move to com-

The Tubular Bells development in the Gulf of Mexico. Photo from Hess Corp.

ing and managerial roles. plex geologies and Deepwater prospects

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