Connecting Wells in Environmentally Sensitive Areas Using Magnetic Ranging-While-Drilling Technology for Enhanced Hydrocarbon Recovery

Abstract

When emergency situations in environmentally sensitive areas occur, drilling a relief well to intercept and kill the blowout well often requires various types of magnetic ranging technologies to navigate into the problematic well. Outside this scenario, we do not commonly hear about magnetic ranging. The main objective of this paper is to raise awareness among operators about magnetic ranging-while-drilling technology as wellbore placement service to make planned wellbore intersections to boost production. Reactivation of mature fields is often an economically viable option when demand for energy pushes oil prices upwards. In order to boost production from an existing mature field, an operator provided a service company with an interesting challenge: utilize proven directional drilling expertise in conjunction with alternative wellbore positioning techniques to drill two high-angle deviated wells from opposing directions and intercept a common vertical producer well for a gravity drainage concept. During the pre-planning phase, one of the major challenges was MWD survey accuracy for the horizontal wells. The 2-sigma major-axis uncertainty of the MWD surveys after applied corrections at the point of planned contact with the vertical producer was over 106 ft while the size of the target to intercept was only 1 ft in the lateral dimension. Implementation of magnetic ranging while drilling technology combined with north-seeking gyroscopic sensor allowed optimal positioning of all three wells relative to each other. Bottom hole assembly equipped with a smart mud motor, MWD, and magnetic bit-sub avoided collisions and steered successfully between other producing wells in the mature field. This challenging project from two opposite surface locations took several weeks of directional drilling and resulted in precise positioning both horizontal drainage sections within close proximity of vertical producer. Hydraulic communication with the vertical producer was successfully established from both horizontal wells after completion of the drilling operations.