Drilling
Operators aren’t rushing to drill, even as the closure of the Strait of Hormuz drives oil prices up.
The authors reach conclusions that the industry should define a standard testing method to improve swelling performance, including validation of repeatability, to complement existing guidelines.
This paper establishes that the use of a dual-gradient fluid column during the running of large casing in an extreme-reach deepwater well is an effective method to overcome drag and enable the casing to reach total depth.
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The standard for progress in shale development has been the drastic reduction in the number of days needed to drill a well, from more than 20 to less than 5 in some unconventional plays. But some question whether it has become a misleading metric for an industry needing more productive wells. -
The only wells that are straight or follow a smooth curve are in the pictures in well plans. Real wellbores are shaped by the mechanics of directional drilling tools, the skills and attention of drillers, the force of gravity, and the path followed by hydrocarbon-rich seams of rock.
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With the innovation of extended-reach and directional drilling, running casing and liner strings has become increasingly difficult.
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While rotary-steerable systems (RSSs) dominate the offshore directional-drilling markets, the land-based markets are still dominated by conventional directional-drilling tools. This paper presents a new RSS that is being designed and tested specifically for the onshore markets.
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The understanding and proper application of rotary-steerable systems will continue to provide a step change in the way fields are developed. Technology developed and implemented during the boom will receive closer scrutiny and evaluation during the bust.
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Drilling the Severnaya Truba field in Aktobe, Kazakhstan, has been costly and time consuming.
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Vimlesh Bavadiya is leading a team of engineering students at the University of Oklahoma (OU) to repeat its victory in SPE’s Drillbotics competition next year.
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Despite hostile wellbore conditions, an operations team overcame challenges of drilling-fluid design and management to drill the first ultrahigh-pressure/high-temperature (HP/HT), deep-gas well offshore Malay Peninsula.
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While there is talk about automation killing jobs, the reverse appears more likely as rigs have evolved to drill more difficult wells. Drilling automation will require more and better training programs to take full advantage of the technology.
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In an effort to optimize drilling operations and economics, an operator examined the effect of adding hollow glass spheres (HGSs) directly to the drilling fluid instead of performing underbalanced drilling.
