Over the last few years, extended-reach drilling (ERD) field development has significantly increased globally, and its benefits are well recognized. ERD techniques are increasingly used to intersect hydrocarbon targets that are difficult to access due to logistic issues. While these wells are challenging to drill, complete, and service, the benefits can be significant. These benefits drive the development of technology and techniques to continuously expand the ERD envelope and increase the complexity of profiles to reach more challenging targets. The directional drilling and evaluation service supplier plays an important role. Each ERD well has a unique set of challenges. Common to all ERD projects is that many aspects of drilling engineering principles are not only pushed to the limit, but become highly interrelated and sensitive to smaller changes than conventional wells. For this reason, a team approach to planning and executing ERD activities should be considered critical. Each team member should bring to the project relevant experience, knowledge, a range of field-proven technology, and a solid global support structure. Drilling successful ERD wells in challenging conditions depends on various factors, which include careful planning and use of the latest technology. Planning involves understanding the geological structure, not only within the reservoir section, but also in the overburden where typically most of the time efficiency gains can be achieved. The last step in planning is designing an efficient bottomhole assembly (BHA) based on previous experiences, lessons learned and inputs from various teams. Good planning is supported by use of new technologies, especially tools that give real-time information, enabling quick and informed decisions to ensure safe and efficient drilling in a challenging environment. This paper discusses the planning and decision-making process to drill ERD wells by using latest real-time technologies in drilling challenging wells. This paper describes the experiences and huge success of drilling the longest 8.5-in. hole section in an ERD well, drilled and cased smoothly through challenging formations.

Poor drilling performance can lead to increased costs when enhanced drilling performance and extended reach are the main goals for oil operators. Service companies, using the latest technology, can achieve these objectives. A rotary steerable system (RSS) with advanced motor technology provides significant performance improvements. In addition to the improved drilling performance, the advanced system enables extended reach drilling to wells that were previously beyond the limits of a project.This paper presents the advances in motorized RSS technology and bottom-hole assembly (BHA) design considerations that provide increased drilling performance, thereby enabling faster well delivery and extended drilling. In addition, the authors examine ongoing initiatives aimed at reducing drilling risk (vibration and torque) and optimizing well placement.The motorized RSS technology has been used in many applications, including open hole side tracking, whipstock drill-off, cement plug side tracking and horizontal section drilling. In most instances, the technology demonstrated the capacity to deliver better penetration rates and directional control that outperformed conventional directional drilling systems. Using a motorized RSS BHA to drill-off the whipstock saved rig time by eliminating one trip in each offshore oil lateral. In addition, the nearly 25.6% improved rate of penetration (ROP) was one

Poor drilling performance can lead to increased costs when enhanced drilling performance and extended reach are the main goals for oil operators. Service companies and operators can use the latest technology and several pre-well planning processes and methods to enhance drilling operations effectively and attain these goals. These processes include developing a thorough understanding and application of the geological structure and conducting a formal planning process that incorporates all aspects of drilling, well design, formation evaluation, bit selection and bottomhole assembly. In this dynamic market where companies are trying to minimize the cost and attain the objective, basic planning and execution using the latest advanced technology are not enough to provide significant performance improvements. Extensive job planning, including sensitivity analysis, is essential. During the execution phase, close monitoring of drilling parameters and continual testing against modeled data help identify hazards early. Enabling quick and informed decisions to ensure safe and efficient drilling in a challenging environment will be one of the main factors to improve performance. Using the right downhole optimization tool with highly experienced engineers enable the interaction with real-time parameters. That's the key factor to overcome extended-reach challenges such as Steering in different environmentsVibrationsTransfer of usable energyHole cleaning and quality indications Supporting downhole optimization with real-time geomechanics will influence the success rate to deliver the expected performance. The involvement of geomechanics in the planning stage and during execution enables faster and safer drilling and resolves many challenges in extend-reach wells such as Wellbore stabilityHole qualityHole cleaningPressure managementTorque and dragMud system and properties This paper highlights the importance of utilizing a downhole optimization tool and real-time geomechanics by describing a case study from the Middle East.