Horizontal & Extended Reach Wells
Horizontal & Extended Reach Wells
Horizontal & Extended Reach Wells
Content
Horizontal Well Applications Increased Formation Exposure
One of the main reasons for considering a horizontal well is the increased formation exposure it can provide (Figure 1). Tight formations (those with low permeability) or heavy oil reservoirs may not be economically feasible to produce with a vertical well due to the low production rates normally associated with these reservoirs. A horizontal well can improve the economics considerably by exposing more wellbore to the formation. An excellent candidate for a horizontal well is the thin bed formation (Figure 2)
Figure 1. Increased Formation Exposure of Horizontal Well.
Only compressive loading for bit weight is discussed here. Conventional Low Angle Drill String Design
Sinusoidal Buckling
In conventional low angle drill string design, all the tubulars used for weight application are located at the bottom of the drill string. The number of drill collars and/or Hevi-Wate required for a desired bit weight is determined by first calculating the air weight of the BHA. At no time is the drill pipe allowed to be used for compression, the neutral point must always be in the drill collars or Hevi-Wate (Figure 5). This is due to the fact that the drill pipe will buckle sinusoidally under very low compressive loads in a vertical hole as calculated by the formula below. This formula was developed by Arthur Lubinski in 1950. The compressive load at which sinusoidal buckling occurs is called the critical buckling load.
Fc = 1.94.3 EIp 2
where: Fc = critical buckling load (lbs) E = modulus of elasticity (30 x 106 for steel) I = moment of Inertia (in4) p = buoyed weight per inch of the tubular (Ibs) For 4-1/2" Grade E, Premium Class drill pipe with a nominal weight of 16.60 Ibs/ft used in a vertical well with 10lb/gal mud, the critical sinusoidal buckling load in a vertical hole is 1098 pounds. Sinusoidal buckling means the drill pipe will wrap itself around the inside of the well, taking the shape of a coil spring. Sinusoidal buckling of the drill pipe during rotary drilling can very quickly lead to fatigue failure, so it must always be located below the top of the collars or Hevi-Wate for this type of drill string.
where: E = Modulus of Elasticity (30x 106 for steel) I = Moment of Inertia p = Buoyed weight per inch of the tubular = hole inclination
r = (actual hole diameter - minimum tubular diameter)/2 where the minimum tubular diameter may be:
Drill collar OD; Drill pipe tube OD; Hevi-Wate centre upset OD.
For 4-1/2" Grade E, Premium Class drill pipe with a nominal weight of 16.60 Ibs/ft used in an 8-1/2" hole with a 90 inclination and 10 Ib/gal mud, the critical sinusoidal buckling load in a vertical hole is 18,737 pounds.
Helical Buckling
It is important to note that the sinusoidal buckling described above is the limit while rotary drilling due to fatigue failure caused high levels of cyclic stress. If drill string rotation is not present, exceeding the sinusoidal buckling load will generally not create drill string problems. As is often the case when sliding in a horizontal well, very large compressive loads are applied just to get the string to start sliding. In some cases, even using the entire weight of the drill string, sliding/oriented drilling was very difficult, or even impossible. In 1989, a second order of buckling was defined called Helical Buckling. Helical buckling is the square root of 2 times greater than sinusoidal buckling. What helical buckling does is to cause the drill string to get into a lock up condition in the horizontal section of the well, and thus not allow sliding to occur.
Cleaning the wellbore of drilled cuttings; Suspending drilled cuttings when circulation stops; Powering downhole motors and provide transmission medium for MWD tools.
These considerations are required for vertical, directional, and horizontal wells with different emphasis depending on the type of well drilled. Vertical and low angle directional wells with inclination angles less than 45 degrees usually use the same design factors while wells drilled at angles over 45 degrees require different considerations, especially with regard to hole cleaning and drilled cuttings transport. Suspension of solids becomes critical and much more difficult in highly inclined well bores when circulation is stopped. The cuttings will tend to fall relative to the fluid environment and can build up on the low side of the well bore. This can lead to stuck pipe and sometimes formation fracturing, in severe cases. This effect can be reduced by maximising the suspension properties of the drilling fluid. Fluid loss must also be controlled to reduce the build-up of wall cake which could lead to problems with differential sticking.
As is the case with horizontal wells the ability to survey and steer the well accurately is of prime importance. Presently drilling practices for these wells are ahead of effective completion technologies that allow for reliable low cost maintenance, which restricts their utility. Casing wear may also be a problem that needs to be addressed and compensated for.
Table 1.
Flowrates GPM 1100-1400 950-1400 500 Pill sizes for hole cleaning BBLS 50+ 30-50 20 Hole size (inches) 17-1/2 12-1/4 1.3 1.4 1.8 2.0 8-1/2 1.3 1.4 1.6 1.7 1.5 1.7 2.5 3.0
Hole size inches 17-1/2 12-1/4 8-1/2 Inclination 0-10 10-30 30-60 60+
Figure 8.
Rank
TVD (ft)
Operator
Well
Location
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
BP Total BP Lone Star BP Woodsid e Total RWEDEA Phillips Hunt Energy BP BP Norsk Hydro Total BP Maersk RWEDEA Phillips Phillips RWEDEA
M-16Z Ara CN-1 M-11 Bertha Rogers1 M-14 Goodwyn GWA-18 Kaus CS-1 Mittelplate D5 Xijiang 243 Cerf Ranch 1-9 M-05 M-15 30/6 C-26 Kaus CS-2 M-09 Dan MFF19C Mittelplate D4 Xijiang 243 A-17 Xijiang 243 A-18 Mittelplate D3
UK, Wytch Farm Argentina UK, Wytch Farm USA, Oklahoma UK, Wytch Farm Australia Argentina Germany South China Sea USA, Pecos Co. TX UK, Wytch Farm UK, Wytch Farm North Sea Argentina UK, Wytch Farm Denmark Germany China China Germany
10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
29,670 26361 26,138 25,764 25,195 25,108 25,081 24,839 24,823 24,649 24,590
29,670 28593 29,173 30,600 26,880 27,241 29,631 27,450 28,497 28,250 27,178
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What was once considered the envelope of ERD now only indicates the difference between standard and advanced technology. This envelope is being continuously enlarged, as technology boundaries are broken.
Figure 14. Comparison of Extended Reach Wells.
Key Challenges
Key challenges for ERD in any environment are:
Equivalent circulating densities (ECDs); Shallow directional control; Hole cleaning (ER and riser ECDs); Fit-for-purpose practices now change and have a different set of priorities.
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Reduction in the number of platforms, surface locations and subsea completions and total wells required to exploit fully a hydrocarbon reservoir.
Benefits
Allows economic access to reserves; Fewer pipelines and satellite production reduction in costly subsea equipment; Brings production forward; Allows re-assessment of opportunities previously thought uneconomic; Plan new bespoke ERD developments.
Figure 15. Typical Oil Production Increases from Field ERD Development.
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Limitations
Constraints to successful ERD Include:
Excessive torque and drag (Conventional drilling tools are prone to twist-off); Applying weight to the drill bit gives less than optimal WOB transfer; Poor hole cleaning in long, high-angle hole sections; Possible buckling of casing or drill string; Running casing successfully to the bottom of the well; Guiding a wellbore accurately through the pay zone; Topside power packages less than fit for purpose; Prohibitive well costs due to the required trajectory and the resulting drilling rig specifications; Less than optimal directional control, particularly critical on some of the complex reservoirs; Environmental considerations; Wellbore instability.
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Tension may be a primary concern in vertical wells, but in ERD, torsion may be the limiting factor. Running normal-weight drill pipe to apply weight to the bit in ERD can lead to buckling of the drill pipe and rapid failure.
The next step will be to push the drilling technology boundary and overcome the technical challenges in completions and interventions, where wellbore, workovers and maintenance will be critical. The future for GeoSteering technology and rotary steerable tools is bright. Currently, these steerable systems are used primarily on relatively expensive extended-reach wells where they can provide a technical capability beyond the limit of standard motor-driven systems. Here, these systems can be run economically even if their cost is high. Further work will focus on increasing their reliability, upward telemetry systems and operating times while cutting costs. Todays bottlenecks represent the toughest challenges:
ECDs; Ultra deep casing runs; Practices design and implementation.
ECD (Equivalent Circulating Density) remains one of the big challenges in pushing the drilling envelope:
Initiatives have been taken to research low ECD drilling fluids.
Casing Challenges:
Push down with rotation and circulation is the next step; The limit in using top drive weight has almost been reached; The possibility of the combination of pushing and rotational forces increasing the probability of getting casing or liners successfully to TD. These have casing and connection design implications;
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As greater force is used, unanticipated forces are being applied to the casing string that increase the possibility of its failure.
Expandable Tubulars:
The ability to go deeper with fewer diameter decreases, and taking this to the ultimate: - monobore to TD.
Subsurface Models:
The large-scale, 3-D subsurface visualisations and models; Well planning with all contingencies modelled and mapped in advance; Real-time updates of the models with LWD, to aid decision-making.
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ECD reduction methods; Combinations of emerging technologies; Improved real-time modelling; Intelligent completions. Summary Getting ERD Right: Same as conventional drilling only different; Requires attention to detail at all stages; Need to identify and manage key risks; Appropriate use of technology helps; Need to refine models with real data; Need to get it right first time - often difficult to recover from hole problems; Teamwork is crucial.
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