The long-term development of any mature field requires a fresh perspective of long MRC (Maximum reservoir contact) wells and increased well accessibility. To improve well accessibility the deployment of lower completion has been a mandate. Onshore UAE Field demands drilling Slim hole (6″ /6-1/8″ ) laterals and Slim Hole ERD (Extended reach drilling) wells with 4.5″ Uncemented Lower Completion. This paper highlights the innovative wellbore cleanout procedure prior installation of Lower Completions. Conventionally, using Water Based Mud (WBM) with high friction factors in 6″ Horizontal Hole (HH), two trips were required to reduce the friction factor prior running the Lower Completion. The optimized solution allowed wellbore clean-up and displacement of brine in one trip with drilling assembly (BHA). This innovative technique eliminated one dedicated trip for wellbore cleanout and thus saved millions in CAPEX and Business Plan days. The T&D data for 5 wells with dedicated cleanout trip were compared to clean-out with 6″ drilling BHA with viscous-lubricated brine. The 6″ BHA was optimized to fit with innovative dormant drilling scrapper and lubricated viscous brine was displaced in the Open Hole. A thorough hole cleaning procedure was formulated and was applied to all the wells. After analyzing over 5 wells, it was observed that in both runs, the one with 6″ BHA compared to dedicated cleanout-trip, the torque and drag values were similar and the effective reduction in friction factor was similar. This supported the elimination of planned dedicated cleanout trip and saved average 2 days/well and 27MM$ for year 2022. This optimized BHA design with enhanced hole cleaning procedure was a keystone in deploying slim 4-1/2″ lower completion in WBM system. This practice led to successful deployment of First Slim Hole ERD in UAE with 15000ft of 4-1/2″ lower completion with WBM system. This was a one-of-a-kind achievement in UAE.
Extended reach drilling (ERD) can facilitate the development of untapped resources, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, surface congestion, and drilling costs. This ERD project with lower completion was started with an aim to lower well cost indicators including $/ft and $/bbl. Therefore, the challenge was to drill Slimhole ERD (6-1/8″ lateral) wells with water-based mud (WBM). WBM is more cost-effective, environmentally friendly, and less damaging to the reservoir than OBM (oil-based mud). The use of WBM instead of OBM can save $2MM per well. The major challenges in drilling Slimhole (6-1/8″ size) ERD well with lateral le include higher torque and failure to deploy lower completion due to high friction factors. The first pilot well was planned with a liner-less design considering the low friction factors required to drill 15,000′ of 6-1/8″ lateral hole and run the lower completion. The second pilot well was targeting a deeper and tighter reservoir zone with higher downhole temperatures. This involved drilling 12-1/4″ intermediate hole to the landing point with larger 5-1/2″ drill pipe. It enabled a push-pipe technique for drilling the lateral hole with improved weight transfer through the curved profile. The 6-1/8″ lateral hole was drilled with 4″ high-torque drill pipe, tandem high-flow circulating subs, and specially formulated drilling fluid lubricant. A conventional OBM system provides sufficient lubricity to reduce friction factors as low as 0.10. In this application, a low cost WBM system was made feasible by introducing stable high-temperature lubricant and unique hole cleaning practices. Following this successful achievement, the 5-year business plan has been revised to include 63 similar wells with a projected total savings of ~ $250MM. The Slimhole ERD project has demonstrated substantial value with a 35% reduction in CAPEX. The delivery of these two Slimhole ERD wells overturned conventional drilling and completion practices. The implemented project resulted in saving up to 35% of the well cost and saved 20 days per well compared to a conventional ERD well with 8-1/2″ hole and OBM. These two Slimhole ERD (15,000′ lateral) wells were drilled with a challenging Directional Difficulty Index (DDI) of 7.2. The wells were both completed successfully by running the 4-1/2″ lower completion to reach the total depth.
TX 75083-3836, U.S.A., fax 01-972-952-9435.Thus, these bacteria may help in extracting methane from gas hydrates effectively and efficiently.
The growing need of energy and the depletion of the conventional resources i.e. the fossil fuels have led us to think seriously about the non conventional resources like solar, tidal, wind, waste energy, etc. Apart from these resources the science and technology is rather focusing more on gas hydrates. Natural Gas which is an important source of energy is being consumed about 85 trillion cubic feet per year. The current natural gas reserves show that they will last only for 60 years at this rate of consumption. But luckily the reserves of gas hydrates (natural gas) are enough so as to provide 100 percent of the present energy and will serve up to 2000 years, but we aren't able to extract them economically. The idea of 'EXTRACTION OF METHANE FROM GAS HYDRATES USING ANAEROBIC ARCHAE-BACTERIA' may not only help in extracting methane from gas hydrates but also may convert water and carbon di oxide present in gas hydrates into methane. In this idea, I propose the use of anaerobic archaebacteria namely methanogenic archaebacteria, to convert carbon di oxide and water to methane. The above process is exothermic in nature that liberates heat, which can increase the temperature of water above its boiling point and cause gas hydrates to liberate methane. The characteristics of the anaerobic archaebacteria satisfy the conditions of existence of gas hydrates. Thus, these bacteria may help in extracting methane from gas hydrates effectively and efficiently. INTRODUCTION Need of Unconventional Resources The people of the world use natural gas (methane, CH4), one of the fossil fuels, to provide 25% of the everyday energy they use. At present, this amounts to burning about 2.4 trillion cubic meters (85 trillion cubic feet) of natural gas each year. Unfortunately, we have found enough natural gas reserves in the world to last only another 60 years at this rate of consumption. This means that our grandchildren might see the end of natural gas. In turn these fossil fuels cause pollution on combustion, producing dangerous carbon mono oxide causing global warming. The solution to this dangerous problem is the use of unconventional resources, which will take care of our grand children. Solar, Tidal, Wind Waste energy are the forms of unconventional resources, the methods to use them effectively fail in some cases, say as in automobiles, in operation of huge machines in big industries. So this leads to the search of such an unconventional resource that is not only efficient but also available in abundance. This led to the discovery of Gas Hydrates.
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