Hibernia Well Overcomes Challenges to Further Extend Worldwide Extended Reach Drilling (ERD) Envelope

Abstract

In 2007, Hibernia Management and Development Company Ltd. (HMDC) began drilling operations on B-16 57 (OPA2). The plan involved drilling and completing an oil producer to 32,000-ft measured depth (MD) and to a total vertical depth (TVD) and horizontal departure that would put the well outside the worldwide ERD envelope. The well was temporarily plugged and abandoned at ~20,000 ft in the 12¼-in. hole section as a result of a combination of factors including complex geology and wellbore instability.The planning of the redrill began almost immediately and involved the collaborative efforts of the local drill team, the local geoscience team, industry experts from ExxonMobil, and the other HMDC co-venturers and service providers. The final trajectory was a result of HMDC co-venturer collaboration and balanced risk associated with encountering unstable zones and complex lithology. Successfully drilling this well would require an engineered approach to operations as well as incorporating an ultra thin fluid system in the 8½-in. hole section.The successful execution of the redrill was a result of enhanced cooperation between the operations, engineering, and geoscience teams. The application of proven HMDC and ExxonMobil practices for hole cleaning, rate of penetration (ROP) management, and wellbore stability were critical success factors. The increased focus on downhole mechanics and surface limitations through the ExxonMobil Fast Drill Process and the flat time reduction initiative allowed OPA2 to be completed successfully at a depth of 33,209-ft MD, further extending the worldwide ERD envelope. Application of the drill team's standard bit and bottomhole assembly (BHA) design allowed shock and vibration and mechanical specific energy (MSE) to be minimized, resulting in field record rates of penetration (ROPs). Most notably, the 8½-in. hole section was drilled in one shoe-to-shoe bit run in 5.7 days. The nearest offset, completed in 2003 in the same geologic fault block, required eight bit runs and 57.6 days from drill out to TD.

Near Field Developments with an Upgraded Brown-Field Platform Rig: Sharing the Learning from a Three-Well Extended Reach Drilling (ERD) Program

“…This presents unique set of challenges not seen in new field developments with world class ERD wells ( (Elks et al, 2002;Walker 2008;Armstrong et al, 2011;McDermott et al, 2005;Viktorin et al, 2006;Elsborg et al, 2005;Woodfine et al, 2011;Cocking et al, 1997;Nughaimish et al, 2009). The new redrilled wells were the third wells to be drilled from their respective platform slot.…”

“…These factors included well path relative angle to BMS bedding plane, formation lithology, mud weight, and openhole time (Woodfine et al, 2011). hole interval in the original ALO (A82x and A82w) well.…”

“…The company has global experience in new field developments with world class ERD wells (Elks et al, 2002;Walker 2008;Armstrong et al, 2011; McDermott et al, 2005;Viktorin et al, 2006; Elsborg et al, 2005;Woodfine et al, 2011) and the different approaches for new wells and redrilled wells will be compared.The paper will show how the challenges of ERD operations to 25 kft in a 6-in. The upgrade of the rig in two separate projects allowed the lessons learned from the first extended reach drilling (ERD) upgrade (Cutt 2007) to be applied to the second 10-ksi upgrade.…”

“…The company has global experience in new field developments with world class ERD wells (Elks et al, 2002;Walker 2008;Armstrong et al, 2011; McDermott et al, 2005;Viktorin et al, 2006; Elsborg et al, 2005;Woodfine et al, 2011) and the different approaches for new wells and redrilled wells will be compared. The company has global experience in new field developments with world class ERD wells (Elks et al, 2002;Walker 2008;Armstrong et al, 2011; McDermott et al, 2005;Viktorin et al, 2006; Elsborg et al, 2005;Woodfine et al, 2011) and the different approaches for new wells and redrilled wells will be compared.…”

An Analytical Model for Axial Force Transfer and the Maximum Compression Point of Work Strings in Extend Reach Drilling

“…Naegel et al [5] reported an ERD well with a 20,341.2 ft horizontal departure at 5,577 ft true vertical depth (TVD). ERD continued in the past two decades with new record updated every a few years [6][7][8][9][10][11]. Armstrong and Evans [12] reported planning and execution of an offshore ERD well of a total measured depth (MD) of 37,165 ft with TVD of 6,938 ft, and horizontal displacement (HD) of 33,682 ft. Tskhadaya et al [13] presented a design of ERD for an Arctic well depth of 49,212.6 ft and horizontal borehole depth of 4,921.3 ft. Special technical issues in ERD include rig requirement, borehole stability, cuttings transport, data acquisition, and drill string design.…”