Cairn Energy India Private Limited (CEIL) started development in Mangala field with aggressive target of drilling 60-70 wells/year (7days/well). Therefore, the focus was to reach high drilling efficiency which will ultimately reduce the well cost. Some of the challenges faced were placing wells in greatly faulted zones, high uncertainty in shallow TVD reservoir, requirement of tangent for installation of ESP, smooth hole to avoid problem running screen and collision risk due to closely spaced wells. RSS was generally used only in complex, high-cost offshore projects where the savings realized were significant. The industry has been slower to adopt the use of RSS for onshore directional drilling applications however CEIL took a step ahead by deploying RSS for Mangala field development. RSS was utilized in directional wells to optimize drilling performance and deliver smoother hole profile. Advanced LWD services such as bed boundary detection tool along with RSS have brought value in successful landing and placement of horizontal wells in the best reservoir strata. Application of near-bit gamma ray and other LWD measurements to identify the top of reservoir as early as possible has helped to avoid the requirement of drilling pilot holes. This paper discusses such application in detail and presents its benefits.The result was a noticeable improvement in well delivery time, reduced drilling cost, and improved hole quality. This paper compares the drilling performances with PDM vs RSS in the same field and presents the lessons learnt in the process of field development. RSS delivered less tortuous hole which result in a problem-free liner or screen run. Hole cleaning was improved which allowed to drill at faster ROP without taking risk of well complication. Time versus Depth analysis clearly indicated that RSS was both technically and economically, a sound approach for drilling the wells in Mangala field. This paper showcases a case study where RSS application proven to be cost-effective solution even in low-margin onshore field development. Mangala Field OverviewThe Mangala Field is located in the northern Barmer Basin of Rajasthan state, India. The basin is a Tertiary rift, predominantly consisting of Palaeocene-Eocene sediments. The Mangala Field was discovered in January 2004 with Mangala-1 then appraised by drilling of 6 more wells, including acquisition of a 3D seismic survey, and major data gathering efforts involving core, fluids, and well testing 1 .The main reservoir unit in the Mangala Field is the Fatehgarh Group, consisting of interbedded sands and shales. The group has been sub-divided into the Lower Fatehgarh Formation dominated by well-connected sheetflood and braided channel sands, and the Upper Fatehgarh Formation dominated by sinuous, meandering, fluvial channel sands. Five reservoir units are recognized in the Mangala Field, named FM1-FM5 from the top downwards. FM1 and FM2 comprise the Upper Fatehgarh Formation and FM3, FM4 and FM5 form the Lower Fatehgarh Formation. The overlying Barmer Hill Form...
During exploration activities in the Thar Desert of Rajasthan, India, Cairn India Ltd. discovered numerous oil fields in the Barmer Basin. The oil reservoirs are relatively shallow and benign in terms of pressure, temperature and corrosivity, but they posed significant flow assurance challenges due to relatively high crude viscosity, wax content and pour point. As a result, surface facilities are reliant on heat for flow assurance. Total reliability of power and fuel supply for the facilities was essential to ensure export product quality and for flow assurance for the waxy oil. The paper presents Cairn’s approach of utilizing state-of-the-art technology that integrates all relevant data scenarios for the drilling and production systems for this lean gas condensate reservoir. This development will provide the necessary power and heating fuel supply and the primary gas supply for the main oil processing terminals and for power generation stations along a 600km heated export pipeline.through the end-of-life for the major oilfields discovered in Western Rajasthan, India. Raageshwari Deep wells target tight, predominantly volcanic reservoirs with cost-effective monobore designs that include multiple fracture stimulations in various pay zones to maximize well productivity. The slimhole well design, dynamic completion design, and careful bit design and selection successfully enabled the drilling of these wells with 26% cost savings on the total budget for drilling ten wells ($ 2M per well). A program highlight was the drilling of volcanic tuff formations in a single run. The paper will describe detail aspects of monobore well planning and well design implementation including fracture stimulations. It will also demonstrate how this significantly improved the well delivery that contributed to effective development plans for these major oilfields.
During the exploration and appraisal phase in the RJ-ON-90/1 block, operated by Cairn Energy India in the Thar Desert of Rajasthan, India, the company discovered numerous oil fields in the Barmer Basin spread over a huge area. The emphasis was to develop these fields with significant savings in both land and infrastructure costs while minimizing environmental impacts. A compact rig design coupled with a multi-well pad concept was the chosen solution.The paper presents use of an innovative onshore pad drilling system which was implemented via a custom built Rapid Rig technology that allows fast, efficient drilling operations on multi-slot pads to enhance the success of the extensive drilling campaign for these oilfields.The rigs are highly mobile, skid mounted, electrically driven 1,000HP "Super singles". They were custom built in Houston for Cairn to deploy in Rajasthan for the drilling of more than 350 development wells. The Rapid Rig's small footprint and self deploying design allows for ease of transport and faster onsite rig-up. These rigs are the first of their kind with wheels attached to the base structure. Unlike conventional rigs, these purpose-built rigs move easily and quickly (4hrs) between pad slots without rigging down, which in turn cuts well construction time and delivers greater efficiency at reduced costs. The fully automated rig floor coupled with an innovative pipe handling system reduces crew size and accident exposure (zero pipe handling LTI's) while providing a more comfortable and efficient work environment, leading to a substantial reduction in well construction time (1,200-1,500m wells are drilled in 7 to 9 days). The paper will explain detailed aspects of the custom made Rapid Rig design and its implementation including the pad drilling concept. It will also demonstrate how this significantly improved the well delivery, contributing to substantial cost and well construction savings without compromising HSE standards.
There are several challenges when establishing a multi-rig operation in a new drilling or workover project. People from different companies and diverse backgrounds will have to work together and integrate with each other in a new working environment. These challenges are compounded when the drilling contractor is new to the country, rigs are newly built and ‘linguistic differences’ impacting efficient communication that exist between the staff of the drilling contractor and the project team. This paper reviews the start-up and the learning curve for a project of four rigs to drill horizontal and vertical wells under LumpSum TurnKey (LSTK) contract. It presents the measures implemented to create a cohesive team and to accelerate learning. Also, it focuses on rig management, safety assurance and performance driving and monitoring. The main challenges are highlighted, and the step by step solutions taken are described. The results discussed are showing the progressive improvement from a quality and safety standpoint. Drilling data from over 100 wells is analyzed to illustrate how workflows and innovative technologies contributed to progressively improve well delivery and surpass the established benchmarks. Finally, the paper discusses the merits of integration between the client, service companies and the drilling contractor, presenting a clear case where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
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