Using Advanced Drilling Technology to Enable Well Factory Concept in the Marcellus Shale

Abstract

In the Marcellus Shale, Northeast USA operators are moving from a phase of exploration and appraisal of gas wells to the development phase using "factory" drilling techniques: bringing down overall cost per well, increasing the number of wells that can be drilled using the resources available and maximizing the production from the wells that are brought online. This paper describes how one operator teamed up with a drilling service provider to adopt new technology that led to a substantial reduction in the operational time required to drill complex 3D profile Marcellus area wells.Most horizontal wells in the Marcellus are currently being drilled with conventional motors and basic measurement while drilling (MWD) systems that are reaching the technical limit of their capabilities. Additionally, the area pad drilling requirement of the Marcellus further challenges the ability of conventional tools to drill the required complex 3D profiles. Traditional rotary steerable systems have not been able to offer operational enhancement in the curve section of the well because they lack the ability to deliver the build rates required to land the wells and then drill the lateral. The authors will use detailed case histories to show how a new rotary steerable system, which has been developed specifically to address the challenges seen in unconventional reservoirs, was utilized to provide a true step change in drilling performance and deliver the benefits expected from rotary steerable systems. The design of bit and bottomhole assembly (BHA) is crucial to ensure that the objectives are met (directional control, ROP, run duration, and hole quality). It will be shown that the new drilling technique will enable the development of reservoir blocks in the Marcellus shale from single pads using complex well profiles, including real-time reservoir navigation, while minimizing the time to drill the wells.

Pore Pressure Disturbance Induced by Multistage Hydraulic Fracturing in Shale Gas: Modelling and Field Application

“…The spacing of two nearby paralleled horizontal wells is relatively large at the early development stage of the Fuling shale gas field, mainly 600-1300 meters [27,28]. By contrast, the well spacing within the same drilling unit for shale gas production in America is usually 200-300 m [29]. For such a kind of large well spacing in Fuling, infilling well drilling is a promising way to accelerate recovery.…”

Calculation and Analysis of Drag of Spoon-Shaped Well Strings

“…Spoon-shaped wells can extract the dead gas zone below the drilling platform, increasing reservoir mobilization and increasing production. In the design of the drilling platform, emphasis needs to be placed on anti-collision problem and the spoon-shaped well is indeed a 3D well [8,9].…”