Field redevelopment reflects the unique foci of the integrated project team built between Ecopetrol and Oxy to redevelop the LCI oilfield. La Cira Infantas (LCI) is the oldest Colombian field, production started almost at the beginning of the twentieth century and since late 2005 is under a redevelopment phase, increasing production by more than 5 times in less than 5 years. Redevelopment involves over 1500 wells being drilled or worked over in order to increase recovery factor by about 8% from the C sands. Hundreds of wells are scattered throughout this brownfield which is divided in two principal areas, Cira and Infantas. This field is crossed by faults characterized by depleted and shallow gas bearing formations, challenging drilling with loss of circulation and well control issues, somehow unpredicted given the faulty nature of the area and the impact on the producing sands of previous EOR and drilling campaigns (early to mid twentieth century) (Fig. 1).

La Cira Infantas (LCI) is the oldest Colombian field in production since the beginning of the twentieth century. Hundreds of wells are scattered throughout the field which is divided in two principal areas, La Cira and Infantas. This field is crossed by faults and is characterized by depleted and shallow gas bearing formations, challenging drilling activity with both loss circulation and well control issues. Casing while drilling (CWD) has moved from being a new technology to one that is now recognized as a practical method of solving particular drilling problems, optimizing conventional drilling processes and consequently reducing drilling costs. This paper describes the process from the engineering and operational point of view of deploying CWD technology coupled with rotary steerable (RSS) and logging while drilling (LWD) tools, transmitting in real-time with electromagnetic (EM) telemetry in this mature field to improve drilling performance while taking advantage of the automated drilling rig already equipped to deal with casing and currently under contract in this field drilling wells conventionally. Five injector wells were drilled. The wells ranged in depth from 3,400 to 4,600 ft MD. The project was completed successfully with all wells reaching the geological targets, setting the production casing at the desired depths and acquiring the data required by the Reservoir Team. Lessons learned were applied from well to well which allowed the reduction of execution time from 7.06 drilling days on the first well to 3.54 drilling days on the last one, reducing the total well cost 28.1% from the first well to the last.