Reducing Well Cost Utilizing Liner-Drilling Operations in South Texas

Billa, Richard J.; Watkins, D.R.; Weissman, M. B.; Clark, Lester; McClain, E.; Sessions, J.; Evans, Keith F.

doi:10.2118/99110-ms

Cited by 4 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 4 publications

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“…Compared to the excising "Drill-In Liner" which is used for well applications with very short drilling intervals without steering and logging capabilities, the SDL system has been designed to drill longer, complex 3D well trajectories with the same directional and logging capabilities as conventional drilling [Ref. 1,2,3]. This paper describes the SDL system development along with results from the full-scale testing phase and the first offshore field piloting in a live well on the NCS.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Successful Development and Field Qualification of a 95/8 in and 7 in Rotary Steerable Drilling Liner System that Enables Simultaneous Directional Drilling and Lining of the Wellbore

et al. 2010

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Many oil and gas operators around the world are faced with drilling operational risks when entering the matured field phase. Narrow drilling margins, hole collapse and lost circulation are among the challenges that must be dealt with safely and economically.This paper describes a successful approach to overcoming these challenges developed through close cooperation between the operator and the oilfield services company. By providing an overview of the concept, technology and operating principles of the 9 ⅝ in and 7 in advanced steerable drilling liner system, the paper highlights the development and the testing process leading to the successful execution of the world's first steerable drilling liner application in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea.The paper also discuss description of the testing and qualification of the two liner drilling sizes (9 ⅝ in and 7 in) at the service company's experimental test rig.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Successful Development and Field Qualification of a 95/8 in and 7 in Rotary Steerable Drilling Liner System that Enables Simultaneous Directional Drilling and Lining of the Wellbore

et al. 2010

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Enabling Technologies for Drill-In Sand Screen Liners

Coronado

Pickle

O'malley

2007

SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition

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Following successful field applications of solid-liner drill-in systems, efforts now focus on drill-in sand screen liners. This paper will discuss enabling technologies to meet the unique challenges of drill-in sand screen liners. Rotating the screen liner to drive the bit may damage screens, so a drilling motor at the bottom of the liner must be utilized. Also, conveying fluid to drive the motor and remove debris is required. Using a conventional inner circulating string inside the screen liner may be prohibitive due to the addition of sufficient weight which may significantly limit horizontal and highly deviated well angles and length. The screen liners therefore must be able to contain pressure when drilling to allow circulation through the bit, and subsequent wellbore inflow during production. Additionally, the screen's filtration media must also be protected from possible plugging with solids during drilling. This paper addresses a new technology that temporarily blocks flow through the screens during drilling/reaming to provide a pressure-tight circulation path through the liner to the motor, eliminating the need for an inner circulation string. Once drilling is completed and the liner is in place, the screen joints are simultaneously opened using hydraulic pressure applied within the liner, and the well is ready to be put on production. Temporarily closing off the screen joints also has application for simultaneously setting hydraulically set open-hole packers remotely without an inner circulating string. The paper also discusses a time- and temperature-sensitive protective film applied to the screens during fabrication to prevent fluid egress into the filtration media until the film dissolves. Sufficient time for dissolution is designed into the film to allow the liner to be drilled into place while protecting the screen's filtration media from possible plugging during drilling/reaming. Qualification testing of these technologies are discussed, along with additional applications for this technology where utilizing a temporarily closed screen system has advantages. Introduction Drilling solid liners in place, either as a reaming application where a pre-drilled hole is present, or drilling the borehole without a pre-drill, has been successfully utilized in recent years. Drill-in solid liners have proven valuable in difficult drilling conditions, such as drilling in formations with weak matrix strengths, loss circulation zones and tight pore pressure/fracture gradient windows1. The predominant problem when running screen liners, however, is borehole collapse in sensitive shale sections during the time between drilling the hole and running the screens. Failure to run the screen liner to TD may have serious consequences, especially when zone isolation packers are spaced out in the liner to correspond to geologic features in the wellbore. When this problem is encountered, the screen liner can be rotated and reciprocated in an attempt to pass through the collapse section, however, risks of mechanical damage and plugging of the screen filtration media results. Normal screen running procedures caution against rotation of the liner in the openhole for this very reason. To address this problem, a simplified screen drill-in system is envisioned which can open collapsed sections of the borehole as required when running into a pre-drilled hole. Unlike liner-casing drill-in systems, which utilize rotary drilling technique, the screen drill-in system will be based on using a mud motor and bit assembly in the liner assembly. Limitations in the ability to rotate the screen, coupled with reduced torsional capability of the screen basepipe due to inflow holes, render a rotary drill-in method with screen liners impractical. Current technologies developed for general sand control and liner drilling can be utilized in developing a screen drill-in system2. Since torque will not be applied through the drill pipe and screen liner, except for the generated reactive torque from the mud motor, most of the system components are already available, such as liner hangers, running tools and liner-top packers. There are, however, deficiencies in the current screen system which are not compatible with a screen drill-in application. The obvious problem when drilling with screens is that they are not designed, by definition, to contain pressure. Screens are filtration elements. Thus, the screen design must be altered to contain pressure during drilling to supply a flow path for fluid to power the motor, or an inner string must be utilized during run-in to isolate the screens.

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Non-Retrievable Rotating Liner Drilling System Successfully Deployed to Overcome Challenging Highly Stressed Rubble Zone in a GOM Ultra-Deepwater Sub-Salt Application

Kunning¹,

Wu²,

Thomson

et al. 2009

SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition

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Worldwide drilling and exploration activities offshore in deep and ultra-deep waters have increased significantly in the last few years. Many of the most attractive prospects are sub-salt or near-salt environments in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM), Brazil, and West Africa. Operators are always looking for ways to reduce risks and maximize value in these extremely high-cost environments. Highly technical challenges include: drilling through depleted formations, lost circulation zones, weak formations, rubble zones, and tar/bitumen intervals. When encountered, these hazards lead to a significant increase in nonproductive time (NPT) and ultimately to significant financial losses. This paper presents some of the geo-mechanical drilling hazards encountered in an ultra-deepwater well in the GoM Walker Ridge area, the impact of those hazards to the drilling operation, and the outcome of the deployment of a non-retrievable rotating liner drilling system. This drilling system, in conjunction with a specially designed liner drilling PDC bit, enabled operators to drill through and isolate a challenging highly stressed rubble zone found adjacent to a problematic tar/bitumen layer. The result of this successful deployment and the high deepwater drilling operating costs show the tremendous potential to deliver value by providing a simple proven solution that saves drilling time and cost when in a hostile environment. Before running the liner drilling system, nonproductive activities accounted for a total of 26 days. These included attempts to overcome unexpected issues associated with a severe tar attack, and sidetracking the well, which represented millions of dollars in losses to the operator. A successful liner drilling system solution was crucial, and it enabled the operator to finish the well and hit the proposed pay zone. Without the success of this operation, it is likely that an extra string of liner would have been required and that the operator's final objectives wouldn't have been achieved. Casing and liner drilling has demonstrated to have the potential in a wide variety of other offshore areas where similar hazardous environments may be encountered. Introduction It is well known in the industry that, due to seismic acoustic wave velocity uncertainty across thick salt bodies and the high acoustic wave velocity contrast between salt and surrounding formations, the sub-salt environment characteristics and pressure regimes cannot be accurately determine by seismic models (Willson and Fredrich 2005; and Thomson et al. 2008). As a consequence, unexpected events are commonly encountered, which include loss circulation, stuck pipe, highly stressed rocks, and tar zones below the salt body. Loss circulation and tar are among the most feared hazards in the sub-salt drilling scenarios, mainly in exploration and appraisal wells, where limited information about the area being drilled is available.

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Reducing Well Cost Utilizing Liner-Drilling Operations in South Texas

Cited by 4 publications

References 4 publications

Successful Development and Field Qualification of a 95/8 in and 7 in Rotary Steerable Drilling Liner System that Enables Simultaneous Directional Drilling and Lining of the Wellbore

Successful Development and Field Qualification of a 95/8 in and 7 in Rotary Steerable Drilling Liner System that Enables Simultaneous Directional Drilling and Lining of the Wellbore

Enabling Technologies for Drill-In Sand Screen Liners

Non-Retrievable Rotating Liner Drilling System Successfully Deployed to Overcome Challenging Highly Stressed Rubble Zone in a GOM Ultra-Deepwater Sub-Salt Application

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