Location: Cantarell Field, Offshore Mexico
HALLIBURTON’S SOLUTION – Halliburton applied an integrated engineering workflow through a multidisciplinary team, using processes and roadmaps focused on anticipating drilling problems and advising on how to avoid them. The team reviewed offset well information and conducted risk analysis with all members including ADT® drillling optimization specialists, ADESM (Application Design Evaluation) service specialists, M/LWD personnel, directional drillers, log-analysis specialists, geologists and PEMEX professionals. Drilling engineering efforts included an engineered wellbore trajectory, optimized bits and bottomhole assemby (BHA), and drilling ‘roadmaps’ with warnings and flowcharts with decision makers. The team optimized BHA designs to avoid damaging vibration phenomena, as well as programming LWD tools to reduce survey time, and rotary steerable systems to reduce the risk of differential sticking.
In each section, performance exceeded expectations. The 18 ¼- inch section, drilled with a tricone bit and 9 5/8-inch SperryDrill® motor, maintained verticality to 710 m (2,329 feet) measured depth (MD) and average rate of penetration (ROP) of 49.8 m/hr (163 ft/hr) to finish 21.77 hours ahead of the drilling program. The 14 ½-inch section was then drilled with an FMF3763Z Geo-Pilot® bit matched to the Geo-Pilot 9600 series rotary steerable system, increasing inclination to 18.44° at an average ROP of 27 m/hr (88 ft/hr) to finish 17.21 hours ahead of schedule.
In the Upper and Lower Paleocene, where there is great potential for borehole problems (gas cap, hole instability created by reactive shale and a narrow operating window) the client had in the past isolated the zone with a liner to avoid losing the well. The hole instability and potential for total losses meant that problems were also encountered in running the liner. An innovative approach was developed to drill the hole section using two hole sizes; at the start the problem section was drilled with a 10 5/8-inch FMH3843ZR bit, averaging 9.6 m/hr (31 ft/hr) while maintaining directional control through difficult interbedded formations. Once the problem zone had been crossed, drilling continued with an 8 ½-inch M433 bit which averaged 6.7 m/hr (22 ft/hr) in hard rock formations. The section was successfully drilled 67.7 hours ahead of the drilling program. Finally, the 6 ½-inch production hole was drilled with an FMH3843ZR bit at an ROP of 9.2 m/hr (30 ft/hr) to finish 25.66 hours ahead of the drilling program.
Case History
ECONOMIC VALUE CREATED – Halliburton’s Sperry Drilling and Drill Bits and Services product lines seamlessly combined the right people, processes and technologies to not only optimize drilling performance, but in doing so, delivered this well 19 days ahead of the operator’s planned drilling program, resulting in savings in rig cost alone of US $2,850,000. In addition, because the 10 5/8-inch hole section was drilled in a total loss circulation zone, there were major savings from lower mud losses and a reduced need for additional services.
“I am very pleased with the results,” said Angel Milan, engineering manager for the PEMEX Ku Maloob Zaap operating unit. “Because we came together as one team, we were able to reach a new milestone.” This optimized drilling performance established ‘best practices’ for the application, and resulted in PEMEX extending contracts with Halliburton, including drilling additional wells assigned to this rig, which is considered one of their highest performing rigs.