Drilling Demanding 16" Hole Section in Deep Gas Fields, Saudi Arabia: Challenges and Advances

Al-Khamees, Shaker; Klink, Zeinoun; Isbell, Matthew; Chris, Ivers; Scott, Dan Eugene; Nawfal, Nick

doi:10.2118/85284-ms

Cited by 18 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 4 publications

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“…The 16" section in Saudi Arabia's deep gas wells has been identified as particularly challenging 13 . This is due to a complex stratigraphic section, consisting of carbonates with interbedded hard stringers followed by an abrasive sandstone section.…”

Section: Saudi Arabiamentioning

confidence: 99%

A New Method of Producing Laterally Stable PDC Drill Bits

Johnson¹

2006

Proceedings of IADC/SPE Drilling Conference

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Section: Saudi Arabiamentioning

confidence: 99%

A New Method of Producing Laterally Stable PDC Drill Bits

Johnson¹

2006

Proceedings of IADC/SPE Drilling Conference

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Performance Step Change in Kuwait: Drilling Deep-Directional 16inch Hole Build Section Saves Operator 13 Days Rig Time

Al-Saeedi

Mehesh

Al-Enezi

et al. 2006

IADC/SPE Asia Pacific Drilling Technology Conference and Exhibition

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fax 01-972-952-9435. AbstractIn 2005, Kuwait Oil Company Exploration Group (KOC) began drilling KM-05, a deep directional exploration well in their West Kra Al maru (KM) field. The well was projected to TD at 16,285 feet MD. In order to intersect the reservoir fractures at the appropriate angle to enhance production potential, the well profile required drilling a 16" directional hole section. The operator considered this a significant challenge to complete the build section with a 16" PDC as it had never been attempted at a depth below 11,500 ft, but they wanted to explore the possibilities. focuses in optimizing the 16" directional section. Due to this careful planning and collaboration between the operator and service providers, the directional objective in the 16" hole section of one PDC bit run was achieved. By applying new technology the section was drilled 13 days faster than the directional offsets constructed with roller cones with an estimated savings of US$258,364.

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A New Cement Developed for High-Temperature Sidetracks

Al-Yami

Jennings

Nasr‐El‐Din

et al. 2006

SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition

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Directional drilling makes it possible to drill multilateral wells into different parts of a reservoir from a single wellbore. Many directional wells are drilled to reach reservoirs inaccessible from a point directly above because of surface obstacles or geologic obstruction. Wellbore sidetrack drilling operations with hard cement plugs have been used for years. Placing cement plug in the borehole and allowing the cement to develop high compressive strength perform sidetracking technique. The hardened cement plug when drilled deflects the bit away from the current borehole, starting another open hole section. Conventional cement formulations for sidetrack kickoffs usually fail when the ROP (rate of Penetration) for the cement plugs is much more than the ROP in the formation Sidetracking failures, in building up kickoff angles, results in operation delays and cost overrun. High compressive strength cement system with slow ROP should be designed and developed specifically for side tracking operations. A rate of penetration device helped optimizing cement formulations to determine the ROP through cement plugs. This is done by controlled circulation of drilling fluid through the drill bit and rotating the bit at a fixed load and speed. Different chemicals for buildingup compressive strength were evaluated. Special types of cements were designed and evaluated for possible use for sidetrack kick off plugs. Addition of inert particles to cement and their effect on the compressive strength and ROP were investigated. In this paper, a new system was developed and results in a slow ROP for the use in sidetrack drilling. The performance of this system outstand any known existing cement formulations for side track drilling and has great potential to improve sidetrack angle builds up. Introduction A previous study has been done to improve placement methods of cement formulations for sidetracks.1–3 Others focused on studying the effect of hole size, geometry and mud properties on cement plugs.4 It is an easy way out to blame placement methods in case of sidetracks failures. Still with proper placement methods, failure in sidetracks cements can occur.5 Currently, conventional cement formulations are used for kick off plugs in sidetrack drilling. Many hours of rig time are lost to set plugs just to build up the angel in sidetrack drilling. Some times it is extremely difficult to sidetrack in some areas because the cement rate of penetration is much faster than that of the adjacent formation. The compressive strength of regular cement is much lower than the formation leading to this extremrly fast cement ROP compared to formations. To solve this problem, the difference in the rate of penetration between the cement plug and the adjacent formation must be minimized by increasing the compressive strength of the cement. The maximum compressive strength for cement is 5,000 to 9,000 psi. The compressive strength of the formation can reach up to 22,500 psi. The required compressive strength for cement to provide good isolation is 100 psi,6 However, for kick off plugs, a much greater compressive strength is required. Cement compressive strength is the result of the growth of hydrated calcium silicate crystalline structures. As these structures grow, they gain more strength and interlock with each other. Bond strength of these crystals will be weaken as the water to cement ratio increases, thus decreasing the cement compressive strength.7 A previous study suggested that the use of metal particles can reduce the penetration in sidetrack drilling.5 This system was evaluated and compared to other systems including the system developed in the present study. The objectives of this study are to:Find a reference ROP from selected cores,Study the effect of density and different chemicals on the rate of penetration of cement, andDevelop a new cement system and evaluate its performance for sidetrack drilling.

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Drilling Demanding 16" Hole Section in Deep Gas Fields, Saudi Arabia: Challenges and Advances

Cited by 18 publications

References 4 publications

A New Method of Producing Laterally Stable PDC Drill Bits

A New Method of Producing Laterally Stable PDC Drill Bits

Performance Step Change in Kuwait: Drilling Deep-Directional 16inch Hole Build Section Saves Operator 13 Days Rig Time

A New Cement Developed for High-Temperature Sidetracks

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