Reduced land slots availability for drilling of new wells, operator's focus to increase production, aim to reduce effective cost per barrel and to minimize the environmental footprint, worldwide drilling contractors/operators are looking for various solutions available to address these concerns. Drilling multilateral wells is one of the solutions to these concerns. This paper presents the process and steps followed in planning and decision making for drilling a multilateral well in one of the North field in Kuwait, which includes Identification of filed and understanding formation, Categories of multilateral wells and selection of level and types of multilateral well, Pre requisition of data for level 1 multilateral well, Selection of well slot and reviewing additional tools/service requirement, Selection of well trajectories for multilateral well, Selection of open hole junction point, Selection of section TDs, Review of directional BHA & its suitability for open hole side track, Well control scenarios, Well stimulation plans, Review of Coil tubing (CTU) operation for stimulation and tools requirement, Contingencies plan for reservoir section, Cost saving, higher production, environmental footprint, well completion days.

Well workover and completion operations presents multiple challenges due to the fact that operator have to plan ahead to select feasible completion equipment and tools in order to ensure that all the objectives are met from a well authority standpoint for expected production, future well interventions and expenditures during well lifecycle. An ESP Y-Tool completion design is presented that uses a tail pipe to connect onto straddle packers creating a continuous path and permanent access for interventions below. The novelty of this design is the ability to utilize straddle packers instead of spotting and squeezing cement for zonal isolation and still have access to conduct well interventions on zones below these straddle packers rig-less, optimizing workover rig utilization. The ESP Y-Tool tail pipe has been modified to include a perforated pup joint with a centralized latch assembly, which connects to the straddle packer and eliminate the need of removing this assembly for future well interventions.

Interbedded formations with vastly different compressive strengths and blind drilling are two distinct challenges the operator must solve constructing a 16″ hole section in Northern Kuwait. These issues can lead to cutting structure damage to roller cone bits resulting in low performance and downhole tool failure. In addition the operator strives to achieve fast ROP by applying high weight-on-bit (WOB) through the hard Dammam to Mutriba carbonate sections which can also cause damage to the tungsten carbide insert (TCI) bit's cutting structure. To manage the challenges, the operator's drilling team working in conjunction with the bit supplier launched a performance improvement initiative. The carbonate application was analyzed using finite element analysis (FEA) based dynamic simulation program to fully understand how to stabilize the bit in different downhole conditions and improve hydraulic efficiency. Based on the computer analysis and field run data, a new stable bit was designed. The new bit includes a specialized cutting structure configuration, improved hydraulics and optimized insert carbide grades to mitigate impact damage. A patented double sealed bearing was also utilized to improve durability and seal reliability The new roller cone bit design was run with an optimized drilling plan setting a record rate of penetration (ROP) in its first test run. The new bit design has enabled the operator to drill a challenging carbonate section of 4775 ft from Shoe to total depth (TD) with a record penetration rates (ROP) of 65.8 ft/hr achieving 7.7 % increase in ROP over the best performance in the same field. The authors will discuss the application challenges, analysis and resulting performance improvement.

Interbedded formations with vastly different compressive strengths and blind drilling are two distinct challenges the operator must solve constructing a 16" hole section in Northern Kuwait. These issues can lead to cutting structure damage to roller cone bits resulting in low performance and downhole tool failure. In addition the operator strives to achieve fast ROP by applying high weight-on-bit (WOB) through the hard Dammam to Mutriba carbonate sections which can also cause damage to the tungsten carbide insert (TCI) bit's cutting structure.To manage the challenges, the operator's drilling team working in conjunction with the bit supplier launched a performance improvement initiative. The carbonate application was analyzed using finite element analysis (FEA) based dynamic simulation program to fully understand how to stabilize the bit in different downhole conditions and improve hydraulic efficiency. Based on the computer analysis and field run data, a new stable bit was designed.The new bit includes a specialized cutting structure configuration, improved hydraulics and optimized insert carbide grades to mitigate impact damage. A patented double sealed bearing was also utilized to improve durability and seal reliabilityThe new roller cone bit design was run with an optimized drilling plan setting a record rate of penetration (ROP) in its first test run. The new bit design has enabled the operator to drill a challenging carbonate section of 4775 ft from Shoe to total depth (TD) with a record penetration rates (ROP) of 65.8 ft/hr achieving 7.7 % increase in ROP over the best performance in the same field. The authors will discuss the application challenges, analysis and resulting performance improvement.

Nowadays the global market demand for Heavy Oil is increasing and Kuwait Oil Company has a plan to increase the production of heavy oil, which is part of a long-term plan set out by parent group Kuwait Petroleum Corp. Drilling heavy oil wells needs a lot of efforts and expertise to be economically developed and produced. Gauged holes are the key for the production techniques used in this field, where cement channeling and perforation effectiveness are the main concern. To achieve this, a specific drilling fluid design was necessary. Laboratory tests and extensive research were initiated to customize the drilling fluid parameters and wellbore hydraulics necessary to achieve the objectives. The drilling fluid design goal was to provide enhanced inhibition for the clay and to provide good lubricity with a low friction coefficient to ensure smooth drilling and tripping operations in a gauged hole profile. This paper is describing the fluid behavior and hydraulics were designed in high profile to remain completely in laminar flow while drilling to minimize washout occurrence and maximize hole cleaning at low circulation rates (140 – 150 GPM) without the use of regular sweeps. The customized drilling parameters and practices, in addition to the knowledge gained from the laboratory testing phase, were transferred to the field. This resulted in field proven successes with more than 200 perfectly gauge holes being drilled. Case history from one well in Kuwait field is included in the paper.