Case History of Drilling a Directional Well in the Arkoma Basin

Abstract

TX 75083-3836 U.S.A., fax 01-972-952-9435. AbstractThis paper discusses the planning and drilling of Big Prize #2-20 well, drilled by BP America in South Panola Field of the Arkoma Basin in Oklahoma. Wells previously drilled in the field have been prone to problems with lost circulation and stuck pipe, high drillstring torque and drag, low ROP, and directional control. The primary causes of these problems are the hard and fractured formations, steeply dipping formation beds, and small geologic targets. To reduce drilling time and cost, major changes were made to standard drilling practices in the area. The major changes were contracting a state-ofthe-art land rig, modifying the drilling fluids program and surface treatment, using steerable motors from surface to total depth (TD), replacing mud-pulse MWD with electromagnetic (EM) MWD for the first time in the field, and employing premium drill bits. The result was substantial reduction of drilling time and cost. The Big Prize #2-20 well was drilled to a TD of 15,850 ft measured depth (MD) in 70 days compared to 96 days for the offset well drilled on the same pad to a similar depth, which represented an improvement of 26 %.