Offshore staff
IntelliServ Inc. of Provo, Utah (a Grant PrideCo./Novatek venture), successfully completed a fifth field trial of the IntelliServ network, a high-speed, real-time drill string telemetry network run in combination with third-party downhole measurement tools.
"With the success of this well, IntelliServ Inc. has proven the viability of reliable high-speed, real-time drill string telemetry," says David R. Hall, president and CEO of IntelliServ Inc.
BP America Inc. (BP) used an IntelliServ network consisting of 5-in. telemetry drill pipe (IntelliPipe) and associated telemetry drill string components, including heavyweight drill pipe, drill collars, roller-reamers, and drilling jars, to drill from surface to 13,000 ft TD. The network successfully provided high-speed, real-time telemetry services throughout the drilling program, with live data sent via satellite to engineers in Provo and Houston.
"The IntelliServ network performed extremely well during the latest field trial, providing a customer data rate of 66,000 bits/sec. It also demonstrated reliability comparable to mud pulse telemetry, with a mean-time between failures of over 800 hours," says Michael Reeves, vice-president of marketing and operations for IntelliServ. "The same telemetry tubulars had been used to drill four previous test wells and the IntelliServ network has now accumulated over 3,000 operating hours in extremely harsh conditions, including very high-shock air drilling."
To date, BP has used IntelliServ tubulars to drill over 50,000 ft of hole, demonstrating handling characteristics and mechanical reliability equal to Grant Prideco premium drilling tubulars. An upgrade enabling customer data rates of 1 million bits/sec has been pilot tested and will be implemented later this year.
05/05/05
