Baker Hughes has recently expanded its family of AutoTrak Rotary Steerable Systems by adding the new AutoTrak V automated vertical drilling system. According to Baker Hughes, the tool drills a precise, high-quality vertical section without need for an additional MWD, providing an effective solution to address wellbore positioning challenges, as well as reducing torque and drag for the following sections and facilitating trouble-free completions. The AutoTrak eXpress system provides 3D rotary steeable drilling performance in a fit-for-purpose solution for land drilling applications.
For advanced applications, especially in the offshore market, the company also has expanded the capabilities of its AutoTrak G3 and AutoTrak X-treme systems that incorporate integrated advanced MWD/LWD as standard. They allow the flexible addition and placement of formation evaluation and drilling optimization systems from Baker Hughes’ comprehensive suite of LWD measurement services.
Baker Hughes shared a recent success story of this integrated solution approach. An international operator offshore Nigeria used this tool on a field that had further reservoir targets identified, but all drilling slots on that field’s facility had been used.
(top) Baker Hughes has expanded its family of AutoTrak Rotary Steerable Systems with the new AutoTrak V automated vertical drilling system. (bottom) Schlumberger recently introduced its new hybrid PowerDrive Archer rotary steerable system.
According to the company, following evaluation of all available options to access these otherwise stranded reservoirs, the only economically viable solution was to drill from the adjacent field platform, which had drilling slots available. The shallow reservoir targets were approximately 9,000 ft (2,745 m) from the platform and horizontal production holes were required for optimum recovery. This would entail drilling 3D extended reach wells in a very soft formation, which can pose difficulties to conventional directional drilling techniques. Additionally, the reservoirs in this area dip and, to attain optimum performance, the wells needed to be positioned within a narrow 3-ft (0.3-m) window between the dipping beds.
Baker Hughes applied best practices from its local and global experience to determine an optimized drilling and reservoir navigation solution, and to reduce operational risks.
In this type of well, Baker Hughes says, accurate control is critical to keep drilling torque and drag within safe limits, to successfully intersect the targets, and to safely and efficiently deploy completions.
According to the company, the AutoTrak G3 Rotary Steerable system has a track record of reliable and precise steering in these environments. To accurately position the horizontal hole within the thin reservoir section, Baker Hughes used its Reservoir Navigation Services with the AziTrak azimuthal resistivity module for accurate bit-to-bed boundary measurements.
With this system, two challenging extended reach wells were drilled successfully from the adjacent field’s platform, to and through the reservoir. In the tangent sections deviation from required sail angle was less than 0.05º for 90% of the time with a maximum deviation of 0.1º. Each well was completed without problems, Baker Hughes reports, further supporting the excellent hole quality. The operator commented that “these wells are among the most challenging wells drilled to date for us.”
Motor-less hybrid
Schlumberger recently introduced its new hybrid PowerDrive Archer rotary steerable system that the company says enables drillers to kick off from any inclination, build curves as aggressive as 17°/100 ft and land in the reservoir sooner.
According to Schlumberger, PowerDrive Archer delivers high build rate well profiles previously only possible with motors – yet with the rate of penetration and wellbore quality of a fully rotating RSS.
The system can drill complex 3D wells from shoe to shoe and openhole side track at any point, the company says, and builds on the proven technologies of PowerDrive X6 RSS, which increases the operating envelope for more challenging drilling environments. All external parts rotate, which reduces the risk of mechanical or differential sticking and improves wellbore quality for easier well completion.
The RSS maintains verticality to a greater depth, Schlumberger reports, even in high-dipping formations. And in horizontal sections, the company says it can drill through hard, interbedded formations at high angles of incidence.
The integration of Smith into Schlumberger brings additional expertise and resources, such as IDEAS (Integrated Dynamic Engineering Analysis System), to design bits that are superior in terms of steerability and drilling performance, the company says.
Schlumberger performed finite element analysis modeling and bending moment analysis on all components of the PowerDrive Archer BHA to understand the effects of high build rates. In addition, its data optimization and analysis software provides real-time tracking of fatigue for complex fatigue life prediction and management, Schlumberger said.
Offshore Articles Archives
View Oil and Gas Articles on PennEnergy.com
