No abstract

Driving efficiency to ensure cost and risk reduction in well operations is paramount for any operating company; to achieve this, the main objective was to implement a continuous improvement process that measures performance to then improve it, acquiring lessons learned and finally implement new technologies to reduce non-productive time, invisible loss time and push the technical limit to the limit. The first step was to measure the current performance to determine average and best references to compare against. The drilling operations and engineering teams defined KPIs for each well type and respective sections and activities involving all levels of the organization including every individual, ensuring effective communication inclusive of Rig Crew and Service Providers. The initial KPIs were defined, discussed, validated and agreed by both operations and engineering management, all engineers were informed and challenged to measure their performance against KPIs. Once new records were achieved, a workflow to document best practices initiated, once identified, validated and documented, becoming the new standards. Similarly, once average performance was not achieved, a ‘Lessons Learned’ workflow was initiated. Aiming to get the team engaged a communication protocol of the Highlights and Lowlights was put in place, including recognition during operations meeting and emails. The primary results of the deployment of this initiative include the delivery of a 10% additional well count compared to the initial year's plan. An overall improvement of the overall Drilling and Completion Performance was also noted. An important improvement of the overall Rate of Penetration (ROP) was observed, as one of the key performance indicators. It was also notice a considerable reduction of the Flat time. New practices for losses mitigation in hazardous areas were stablished. The lower completion design was enhanced. The upper completion design and utilize Dual Hydraulic Packer in Oil producer well was optimized. Finally, the 1st Maximum Reservoir Contact Well was completed for two of the three Fields in the Team. The added value achieved by the implementation of these innovative practices includes the implementation of the KPI Gauges as a visual instrument to be used on daily operations meeting by the engineers and management, to quickly and effectively understand performance and improvement in multiple dimensions. Additionally, the implementation of a continuous improvement mind-set, focus in introducing changes gradually instead of radically to ensure a soft and solid adoption embraced by all team members. Finally, the improvement of the office-field communications, including a sense of ownership and achievement for each goal to achieve and record to break, to the point that every colleague involved in a specific operation, independently of their organization (Operator, Contractor or Service Company) is equally committed and engaged.

The drilling industry faces several challenges related to downhole vibration; amongst the solutions introduced to alleviate those challenges, a unique Axial Agitation System is often considered. This paper qualitatively analyses the effect of the Axial Agitation System in directional drilling and quantifies how it addresses the above challenges observed in Rotary Steerable System (RSS) Bottom Hole Assembly (BHA) used in the 8.5 in. section in different wells of the ADNOC Offshore mature field. The Axial Agitation System consists of Axial Oscillation Tool which generates a pressure pulse from a valve driven by mud flow converted to axial motion by The Shock Tool. The system complements the rotational movement of the string by introducing gentle and consistent axial oscillating motion. The drill string moves around its rotational axis, oscillating along its axial axis reducing kinetic frictional losses from interaction with the wellbore, especially in directional and long lateral sections. The analysis consisted in comparing drilling dynamics metrics between wells with AAS in the drill string and offset wells without it, in the 8.5in hole section. As a pilot project, the system was introduced into Well A. Based on the successful tests in the pilot well; the system was also utilized in Wells B & C. The metrics include, but are not limited to, drilling activities, surface mechanical indicators, downhole data from the RSS as well as mathematical modelled algorithms. The results of the analysis of wells clearly indicate an enhancement into the drilling dynamics in terms of overall reduction in kinetic friction, improved weight transfer, less hanging and levels of torsional dynamics, shocks and vibration. The collateral benefits also included performance improvement, reduced non-productive time (NPT) and lower mechanical specific energy (MSE) to drill the section. The Axial Agitation System complemented very well with the rotary steerable system as well as other BHA components and delivered consistent performance in all three wells. High amplitude fine-tuned Axial Agitation System paired with RSS BHA creates a combination of a highly efficient directional system. The results are consistently performance with reduction in the shock and vibration levels in the environment. This also benefits in improving tool reliability, directional control while also optimizing the repair and maintenance costs for the downhole tools.

The paper will describe a novel approach of deploying casing through a problematic open hole. It involves a drillable hydraulic motorized casing reamer shoe that can rotate freely without aid of pumping, but once resistance is encountered, pump pressure can then be applied to engage the drive mechanism inside the tool. Thus it will turn into a high-speed reaming shoe that delivers sufficient reaming action. A market research was done to find a quick intermediate solution to tackle difficulty in deploying casing down to section TD. A turbine based motorized reamer shoe was then selected to encounter the challenge with some risk mitigation in place. The first deployment was run in the well where it was identified as a challenging well context and had experienced casing being held up in the first run. Despite the fact that a wiper trip has smoothened the hole condition, the parameters that were captured during the running, the finger printing, the cementing job, and the drilling out of the shoe had ticked some boxes to evaluate the suitability of the technology implementation in the field. Moreover, the lessons learned from the first run itself has also led to further testing and modification of the tool design/setup itself. The detailed analysis and operation feedback from casing running job and subsequent operation will be beneficial to provide other operators in assessing the minimum requirement and suitability of this technology utilization to overcome the drilling challenge.

The trial of a turbine powered Motorized Reaming Shoe (MRS) was conducted on two fields offshore Abu Dhabi involving the running of 9-5/8″ casing to planned depths in long intermediate sections. The trials involved running casing in the longest12-1/4″ sections to date on each field. This paper will elaborate on detailed parameters, Motorized Reaming Shoe features and operating practices recorded while reaming through multiple restrictions with a cumulative length of more than 200 ft, across various formations, successfully running casing to the planned depth. It will also elaborate on casing cementing and shoe-track drilling operations where MRS were deployed. Referring to the average NPT duration of similar incidents, this initiative has saved 6 to 7 days of operation (eliminating requirement to pull the casing, perform a wiper trip, and re-run back the casing). This is estimated at an average of approximately 1M$ cost savings per NPT event. The failure to run casing to section TD with the MRS in one of the trial jobs is also analyzed including detailed operational learnings and design changes that could positively impact running long casing strings in complex wells. This paper details the technical features and potential benefits of Turbine Powered Reaming Systems, how the trials were conducted and their impact on de-risking casing deployments, with specific reference to application in long intermediate casing sections offshore Abu Dhabi.