A Successful Optimization Case of Drilling and Completion Operations Through Management Tools and Strategies

Abstract

Sometimes, drilling optimization of an oil well does not come from a new technology or a new drilling tool, but instead, it may come from something as simple as "putting the house in order". This was the particular case of Castilla Field in Colombia in 2010–2011, where people had believed that all the drilling solutions were already applied. This paper shows how the drilling and completion (D&C) optimization of Castilla field was performed. The main problems were identified, and a model of 5 management strategies was implemented to reduce the D&C timing. The strategies of the model were applied under the following objectives: constant measuring, evaluation and monitoring of drilling indicators; Support field operations with strong drilling engineering planning criteria; Establish only one communication line through the office drilling engineer in charge of the project; Establish short, medium and long term planning and strategies, and then link them together as function of the Technical Limit "TL", and subsequently as an HSE function. The initial evaluation was focused in four main areas: time savings & time to optimize, management indicators, human resources, and drilling operations characterization. The leader of the field has changed the current roles of the engineer in charge of the well from a logistics role to a genuine drilling engineer role. The short, medium and long term vision was applied throughout the well, well pad and campaign in advance. The slogan "Drilling the limit is not hurried up" was created. The technical limit (TL) goal was reached. The D&C times, and therefore costs, were reduced by up to 32% per year. Savings greater than USD50 million dollar per year were accomplished. The 2010 trial of Castilla field became the model for the rest of fields that are part of the company portfolio. The degree of field optimization responds to the same extent at the level in which the gaps are found. It is believed that, as well as this model was applied successfully to other fields within the company, it also might also be applied to others companies. This paper resumes a model of 5 management strategies needed to purge and cure some bad habits that are against the D&C optimization in a field.