Offshore staff
HOUSTON – Smith Bits, a Schlumberger company, has introduced the StrataBlade concave diamond element bit.
The company said it improves the rate of penetration (ROP) in a wide range of rock types, while withstanding impact damage often associated with drilling interbedded formations.
It incorporates new geometry Strata concave diamond elements across the bit face, which is said to increase cutting efficiency and results in higher instantaneous ROP with the same operating parameters. In deep lateral wells where weight transfer to the bit is a challenge, the new bit drills with higher ROP when compared with traditional PDC bits with flat cutters, the company claimed.
Improved cutting efficiency also means a better torque response at the bit for conformance to directional plans.
In addition, the company has launched the TruLink definitive dynamic survey-while-drilling service. The new service is said to help operators enhance end-to-end well construction operations and reduce overall costs by performing definitive dynamic surveys-while-drilling on bottom that are used to identify and mitigate potential drilling risks.
“TruLink service advances well construction operations and improves overall drilling performance through its unique, industry-first ability to perform measurement-while-drilling surveys on bottom without stopping drilling operations,” said Jesus Lamas, president, Well Construction, Schlumberger. “In addition, the new service delivers borehole data in real time, through every point of the well, which enables operators to react to potential drilling risks before encountered, thus improving overall drilling efficiency.”
The new service eliminates the need to stop drilling when taking a survey to map wellbore paths. This survey capability provides real-time trajectory control, which improves the accuracy of wellbore placement, reduces dogleg severity, and creates smoother curves and laterals in the most complex well profiles, the company said.
It incorporates new telemetry innovations that refine survey accuracy using continuous six-axis directional and inclination sensors in combination with gamma ray. According to the company, conventional definitive survey technology takes nine to 12 minutes per stand, whereas this new service reduces all survey-related rig time to zero.
The service has more than 70 deployments in the Middle East, North Sea, and South America.
In the Middle East, it enabled the operator to land an 8½-in curve section with directional control and near-pinpoint accuracy, comparable to static measurement-while-drilling.
In another example, definitive dynamic surveys run in the vertical, curve, and lateral sections saved an operator an average of 41 pumping hours while acquiring 1,041 surveys.
10/28/2020
