Suer,Canal Universitlt

Facultyof Petroletm & Mining Eng.

PetroleumEngineeringD ept.

HonrzoNTALOnWprr
DTIuNG TBcmxoLoGY

Dr. Mohamed ShehataFarahat

(2000)
 Suen Canal University
Faculty of Petroleum & Mining Eng.
Petroleurn Engineering Dept.

HOruZONTTAL On WpLL
DTLLII{G TpcHNoLoGY

Dr. Mohamed ShehataFarahat

(2000)
 CoNrsNrs

SELECTIoNANDREAsoNs FoRDRILLING
HORIZONTAL WELLST AND DRATNHOLES

Page #
l.l Seleclion of horizontal wells and drainholes I

1.2 Reasonsfor Drilling Horizontal Well and Drainholes 3

1.3 Main Aoolications of Hoizontal llells and Drainholes 3

1,3.1 Thin Formatious
1.3.2. Verticsl Natumlly Fractured Fornrations 5
1,3.3Lotv PermeabilityFormations 5
1.3.4Heterogeneous Reservobor Formstions o
1.3.5Applicttion in Resemoitsrriflt Botton Water or o
with o GasCap
1,3.6 Advantages of Horizontal lVells in Offshore 8
Applications
1.3.7HeavyOil Applications 9
1.3.8SandProduction 9

Typns oF HoRTzoNTALWELLS AND

DrproRnnt Dnrr,r,rNcTncnNrquns
Usno
2.1 Utru-shott Turnins Radius ll
2.1.1 SystemProcessesa,td Equipmentfor Multiplc t2
Radisk

2.2Short Tarnins Radius 22

2.3 Medium-TurningRadias 27
t-

Prye#
2.i.1 Dil!fins rttt Mulinn-Rutlius Dtilling 2A
2.3.2 Metliunt-Rsdius Dri!!iug MoJorsan{ SlsteuLs- 30
2.3,3 HigbMedium and Lott-SoeedDrilling 34
2.3.4 Medium-Radius-Horizotrtttl lltell Sections 34
2.3,4.I VerticalSection 35
2.3.4.2CurvedSectiau 36
2.3.4,2HorizoutslSection 39

2.4 Lottg-RadiusHorizontgl lyell 4l

2.4,1VerticalSection 43
2.4.2 Cumed(Turning) Section 43
2.4.3H orizoutalSection

WnLl,s
or lloRrzoNTAL
Pt,nNNtNc
43
I
1
AND DRAINHOI,ES G NOUNTRY I

j. Geontetrvof Horizontsl WelI or Drainhole

3.1 lf ell Diameter
46
46
i
3'2VplLltpllle 47
3.2.1Fktt wells 47
3.2.2 I) ntlulatiug wells 47
3.2,j Llpt'ardinclineduells 48
3.2.4Dou,nwardittclinedwells 48
3.2.5Multilet el t'ells 48
3.2.6Multi brtuch 48
3.2.7 Grsvit! drsinage wells 48
3.2.8Complexwell shryes 48

3.3 D esistlEqip ntal-lysll f&i949!! 48

 t
Page #

Dmrlrxcl PRosr-svsAssocnrso wttH

HoRtzoNteL
WBU- DzuLLINGaNo THBTRREMEDY

4.1 DeliNery Weisht to the Bit 54

4.2ReducingTorqueandDrsg Forces 57

a3 Epls_ekutus ale ftliag;4e 58

4.4 Protectian of lyater SensiliveShales s9

4.5 Direclional Control 60

4,5.I Classifrcationof hotto,n- 6l
4.5.2Measurfugit'.slrune ls 6l
4,5,2,1Steeringtool 62
4.5,2,2 M essurcntent-whiletuillittg (Mll/D) 62
4.5.2.3Geosteering,Equipnrcnt and Irrstrume tfltiort 68

DRILLSTRING DESIGN 72 II
HonrzoNrat, WELLConrplnrroN I
TncnNreuns
6.1 Comoletion Technolosict :fu-U!X4:[!!!41-LglL!s 89
Ij
H orizontal Radial Borelrcle
i
6.2 Conpletion Oltion for Short-Rtttlius, Mediam-Radius,
ond l-ong-Radiusof Horizotrtslly'elkDraiflholg;-
94
I
I
6.2,1Openhole cotn elion 95

|ll
 Poge #
6.2.2 Tail completionand slottedliner completiott 95

AppucarIoNoF COILEDTueINc TN
HoRIZoNTALDRILLING
AND MULTI-LATERAT,CASB STUOII]SAND
HlsroRms
7.1Coiled Tubins Drilli,tg t00

7.2 M&LUels I Ci?,ts]J:t

lldtet t02
7,2.1Case1 103
7.2.2Case2 t05
7.2.3Case3 t07
7.2,4Csse4 109

7.3Multilatersl CaseHistot! Case1 lll

RunnnpNcns l
I l-l
lt

lv
 Cn. I llotizort\t lre s Dtiuhry |

Cu,rprnnI

SELECTIONAND REASONSFOR
DRILLING TIORIZONTALWELLS.
AND DRAINHOLES

1.1 Selectiono-fhorizofial u,ellsarul drainltoles:

llorizontal wells are ofgrcat intelestto thc petrolcutnindttstrytodaybecattsc

they proviclcan attractivcnrcansfor improving both plodtrctionratc and
'l'hese
rccovery efficiency. are due to that horizontalwellsprovide a latger
area of contactwitll tlrclcscrvoifthando vcttical;wclls ancl,irl addition,thcy
provide a means for the latetal tlansPodationof fltlid. Thus,the horizorrtal
wells can be drilledasnew u,ellsor ho zontalsidctracks, drilledto revitalrze
ttrc pcrformanceof exiting verticalwclls thatarecallcddrainholesl llc past
fcw years havcseengreatimprovement in drilling technology.Dcvelopments
suclr as tlre use of bent,downholedrillingrnotors,top driveligs, andMWD
(measurcment whilc dLilling)or advanccdN4WDcallcdgcoslecring tcchnique,
togcther with stccrable drill systcms have grcatly rcduced costs. Recent
horizontalwclls havc costno morapcr lnctctofrvcll tltillcd lhltnconlpatablc
conventional wells. Thus, great advanceshave also bcen in nlcthodslor
drainholesftom crislingvel1icalwcl1s.
drilJingshort-radius

The construction and placing ofhorizontal wells hasbecomerautine Usually

it is no longer speculativeas to whether horizontal rvellscan be drilled- Tn
most casesno|, the choicc is not whethcr one can dlill horizontally, but
whethclon should.

l),-.M.S. Farrhat
 CIl- I IIo urtutl lrt s D'lllinA

Grcat advancosin the technologyof drilling and locatinghorizontalwells

continue to be made. Today much attentionis being paid to thc problemsof
re-entering existing vertical wells using smaller diameter,mcdium-radiusand
short-radius equipment. These improvements will allow a much larger
proportion of existing conventional wells to have their live extendedby re-
completionwith long,hofizontaldrianholcs. 1 hc provisionof M WD toolsthat
will opemte in smaller diameterholes is a particularly active area.Thorc arc
developmcnt, too, in logging tools. Tools arc now availablethat can be
opcrated while drilling to providc irlfornratiotrabout lhc rcscrvoirbeing
encountored.Locating the logging sensorscloser to the drill bit to allow a
nore timely evaluation of the bit positionand o f the rock bcingpenctrated
is
anotherareaof active dcvclopment.

Thus, drilling a horizortal well to exploit a reservoirusually involvesseveral

importantquestions.Thcsequestions areas lollows:

1. Whcrcshouldthewell be located?
2. lr whatdirectionshouldthc wellbc drillcd?
3. Whcrcshouldthckick-offpoint(KOI')to horizontllbc?
4. IIow longshouldthehorizontalsection be?
5, ls it neccssary
to stirnulatc
thcwcll?

The answerof these questionsrequiregatheringinformationaboutthe

reservoitandtheconditions existingin thcarca.I[o[izontalwellshouldnotbe
drilled in all cases,catefulstudyof tcchnicnlfeasibilityand economical
potcntialof holizontaldrilling is neededbeforcits application.For these
lcasors,accuratcresewoirard adjustrvclldatashouldbc collected.

Therefore, the horizontal wells are corsideredfeasibleprimarily in the

followingareas:

l. Thin permeable formation.

2. Verticalnaturally-fractured
formation.
3. Low permeabilityfomation.
4. Formation with sandproduction.
5. Fomationwith waterconing.
6.FoImationwith gasconing.

D,: Nl.S.Frrahrt
 AL I ottzo,tk lllrtts Drtltl t! 3

7.Offshoreapplications.
8 .t l c a v yo i l a p p l i c a t i o n s .
9.Fonnationaccessblowouts.

1.2 Reasonsfor Drillitts Horizontal Well and Drsinlrcles

'l hclc arc scvcmltcnsorrs
lo tllill a lrolizorrlul
wcll nrllrcrtlriura vctlicalwcll.
'l'hcscrcasonsare:

l. Increasingoil productivity.
2. Connecting velticalnaturallyfractures.
3. Producing fromlow-permeability reser.roits.
4. Stayingawayfi-omoil-gasandoil-watercontacts.
5. Injectingstream(thcrrraloil rccovery).
6. Controllingsandproduction.
thinhydrocarbons
7. I'r'oducing reservoirs.
8. lncreasinginjcclivity.
9. l'roducinggasliorncoalscanlsandprovingbcttcrswccpcfficicncy.
l0.lncreasingtheretumon theinvestment (ROl).

Sornctimes,the cost of a drilling a horizontalwell is more thanthatofa

v c r t i c a lw c l l a n d c o m p l e t i o rcro s t sa r c u s u a l l yh i g h c r ' l.l o w c v c r , n t o l c o i l
'[hus,
would be ultiuratclyrccoveredby thc horizontalwcll. horizontalwcll is
justifiedin view ol'quickerreturnon well investment.

1,3 Mgitr A licntionsof Hori ntal ,Y'ellsa,td Drainltoles

Horizontal wells and drainholecan be mainly applied for the following

circumstanceor pay zollcs(reservoir-s)
chalactcristics,
namcly:
l. Thin permeablefornrations.
2. Verlicalnaturallyfracturedlonnations.
3. Low pelmeabilityl'ornrations.
4. Formzrtionwith sandproductionandconingproblems.
 Iha izintal llitlk Dj iIIi

1.3.1Thin Formstions

When consideriirg thjn fonnationfor homogeneous fcrnration,it shoulclavoid

dtilling a horizontalwell into this fonrationthickcrthan200 ft. however,tlris
maximum pay zone thjcloress does not hold tnrc for formatiolls with
helerogeteous fonnation or fotmaljon with verlical naturally fractures, as
shownin Figure1.1andFig. 1.2.

Thlrr produclilg zonos

W a l e rc o n l n gp r o b l e m s c a s c o n l n g . p r o b l e m' s

O t h e ra p p l l c a ( i o nfsl e
: a v yc r u d e c, o n l s c a m s ,
f o r m a l i o an c c e s sb, l o w o u t s .

Fig. 1.1 A4oinapplicotiottsofhorizottttl trll,r.

INTERSECTIONOF VERTICALFRACTUR€S
BY I.JORIZONTAL
WELL

Fig. 1.2.

, / . M . S .F r rx h r i
 C .I llorizofttdl lYc4s Dtiqi!ry 5

'lhus,
the productivityindex (PI) for a lroriT-ontal rveilreflectsthe increases
'l'ypically,
arca ofcontact ofthc well with the reservoir. the Pl for a horizontal
well maybe increased by a factorof4 comparedto a verticalwell pcnctrating
the same reseloir, although enhancementby a factor of l0 or more may be
aclrievable
in certaincircunrstance,
asshownin Figure1.2.

1.3.2. Vet'tic Natt,trallv Fr'flct.rred Forut ions

A horizontal well provide a means of communicatingwith natural vertical

fractures,e. g., a high fractured limestone.lfthe well is orientedto intcrcst
thcscfracturesthe productivityindexcanbe substantially increascd cvcnrvhcn
thc lrac(ure density is low. Unfottrnatcly,this can also accclcratcthc
movementofgas or waterto reachthe wellbore.

l. 3. 3 Low Pernrcabilitv Fornntio tts

One qucstion is often asked by the opcratol tlrat is how low should thc
pcrnrcabilily be in a horrrogcnousfornrationbcforc consi<icring clrillinga
lroriz-ontal
wcll?. Gigcr detcrnrincdtheanrountofoil thatcouldbc lno(luccd
undcr the sameconditionsfor lrorizontaln'ell and velticalwell usingtlresame
lromogcncousreservoirfor valiousrcscrvoirpcrmcabilitics. Thc tesultsofhis
study are prcsentedln Figuic 1.3. This figulc showsthrt thc honrogcncous
fomration witlr rssetvoi| pcrnrcabiliticsgrcatcr than 10 md should not be
considclcdfol a horizorltalwcll conrplction.For I00 nrd thc sanrcoil volume
rvould be producedafter about 200 days from either typesofwells. Even
during the first 200 days,thcrcis littlc cliffcrcnccin thc anrountproduccdfrotn
a horizontalwell versusa veflical well becauseformation is not homogeneous.
However, thc productivity,obtainedby drilling a holizontal well partially
dependson the magnitudeof thc verticalpelmeabilityandthe lengthofthe
drainhole. Where the ratio ofvertical permeabilityto holizontal permeability
is high a horizontal well may prcduce more cost effcctively than a vertical
well.

Dr. M.S. Ih' rlat

 CII. I lln,ito d lITtts Dti i"p

PEBMEN
BILITYEFFECT

75
lronizoNl t wErt
vlntl:At. wn.t

Irig. I -.1Penrcdbili0 effcc|.

Heterose Rese ir or Fo,'ntsti

A l r . l i z o r r l , I r v c l l r r r r r y1 r . . v i r l cr r r r r r r r r l x, r ' r r r r ' r r r r ( r r 1r1' rer sc r rr r . s c r r ' i r .

hclcrogencityexisls in thc horizonlalplanc. A horizonlallvcllborc irr lhc
lescrvoir provides potential for far more informationabout the reservoirthalr
would nornrallybc availnblc.As loggingandconrplcliontcchrrirlucs bccorno
more sophisticated,this aspect of horizontalwells is likely to be usecl
advantage.

Frotn a prodrrctionviewpoint,a horizontalwell in an irregularrcservoirnray

providea mcansofaccessingisolatedproductivezoncswhich nrightother.wisc
be missed.Furthermore,in beterogeneous reservoirs,the influenceof the
hctclogcneousalongthc wcllbolc is r.ctlucccl lry thc cornpositc0or,vgcon]clry,
so thrt productionrltcs arc gclrcrlllycnhlnccdin lhcsccit.crrnrs{anccs.

L3.5 Applicationin Reselyl|I tl'ith BottQnlyqlqor with n Gns Cor2

In nrany cascs,l h c t n o s li n t p o r l l n l i r c l o lri n r i t i n gl h c p l o c l r r c t i o n

f o i l f i o n rn
rosclvoil is thc tcndcncy lbl rvtrtcllionr atr urrclcrlyilgacluitlr., or-gasliorl

1]r.M.S.l,:rr,'hxt
 Ctl- I lloti. ti l lYdts Dti ing 7

gas cilp, to bc dlawn vcr(iciilly to thc prod(rction

wcll. llor.izontalwcllscan
have substantialadvantagesin such lcsctvoirs. The conventional rvay of
reducing thc effect of coning is to completethe vertical well over a linritcd
vcrlicnl distaDceto tnaxinlizcthc standoff frontlhc watcror gascap,as thc
cascmay bc.

Becauseof its extendedcontact with the reservoir,a lrorizontalwcll usually

has lcss pressuredrawdown for a givcn productionratcihandocsa vcrticill
wcll. This reduceddrawdownlessens the tendencyfot thc coningofwater or
gas with the producedoil. Thus, for example,horizontalwells may be
operatedat ths santclates as aonventionalwells but rvith less-sometimesmuch
less-coning,i.e., witlr bctterwater-oilratiosor gas-oilratiosor both,in some
case,productiol without coniDgnray be economicusing horizontalwclls,
whcrc it would be plohibitively slow with conventionalwells. In situations
where the jlitial rate for production without fiee gas coning would be
impractical \a,ith vcrtical wells, it may be possible with horizontalwells to
aclrieveeconomicproductionby gravitydrainagcwilh onJya smallratcofgas
injcctionto maintaingascapplessure.

Even if oporation below thc critical rate for coning is impracticalbccauscof

economics, thero can still be a large advantagefor horizontal welis. This
situationis conlmonwhenviscous,conveutioual
heavyoils ale producedlronr
abovc a watcr layer. When the high oil viscosityand thelow diffcr.encc in
tlcnsity between the oil and waler makcsconing, or more concctly fingcrrng,
occLucven at vcty low productiolrratcs.[n thcsecascs,thc volumeofoi] thnl
is produccd is approximatcly proportional to thc volurne swept by thc watef
finger. As is shown in Figure 1.4, horizontalrvellshavcan advantage ovcr
vcrlical wells herebecausethe figure(reallya crestshapedliked the roofofa
house along the length ol-thehorizontalwell) hasa much lar.ger volumeand
this lalgercrcstdisplaces
a nruchlargervolurueofoil.

Dr. M.S. I:rrahrt

 LI1. I Ilotito rl ll'clls Dtilti g

@
A CohparLon_or.a$dcr .rre Leto* , v.r cat Udt ent, - (, e.t
treror, s.ciion ora fizontat iveu

7,'\

VEBTICAL
WELLWITII HORIZONTAL
WELLWI'rH
RISINGCONE RISING
CREST

Fis. 1.4.

1.3.6 Atlttantageso.fHorizontnl rySAtjlt O:fit!!!!!,4tU,lk!l!!!j

Many horizontal welis have beendrilled from offshoreplatforms.Such wells

oflct savingsin Plalfolrl rursls il nrkiilionlo llt('it{l!illlit[,r.ti ftrlrrrlorrslrrtr,,
Fot example,one operatorstatcsthat thecostofhis North Seaplatforrnsis
a p p r o x i m a t c l$y 6 m i l l i o n p e r . r v c l ls l o t . [ J s i n gh o r i z o n l a lr v c l l sl,h c s a n r c
nunrbcrof well slots on a platfonrrcanproclucc
sincccachhorizonlalwcll is
note productivethan each convcntionalwcll. I\rr.thcrntorc,sinceollbhore
wells are nolmally highly dcviatcd in any cascthccxlla costlbr horizontal
dlilling canbe relativelysrralJ.

/)r'.l\{.S.Farrh^t
 a:lL t Ilotitotthtt tl'! rDti it|')

Commcrcialofl'shorehorizontalrvell projectsin various aleaincludingthe

ArI iillic, llrc North Scnil||(l(lrc.lirvnScasurc tlosclihc(lill lllc lilclr(lrrc.

1,3.7 IIeu_y Oil Annlicttions

Probablythc most prospective arcafor usinghorizontalwells lies in thefield

of heavy oil recovery,particularlythcmralrecoveryusingstrcarn.For
exanrplc,tlre bitunrendepositsis Canada,which arc intpossiblc to rccover
economicallyby corlvcntional methods,have a volttnreof oil in placc
approximately equalto that of all the known couvcntional crudcoil tn thc
world. One approaclr uscdto rccovclthcscrcsourccs is operrpit nrining.
l l o r v c v c r 't,h i si s l i r r r i l c rklr l h c s n r i r llli a c l i o rot f l l l c A t l r i r l ) r s cr -i tc s c t v ot ihr a ti s
close to the surfaccand thc approaclrinvolves handling vastqurntiiicsof
natclial. In situ lhclmal lccovctyis trolc gcnclallytp;tlicablc,cltcrtpcra<llcss
crvirorrntcntally.
danragirrg

lhcrnral rccovcrynortnallylequircscloscwcll spacings.Iypical pr.ojccts lravc

a spacirrgol'2.5 to 5 acfcspcr woll and.in mary cascs,thcscarc Ialtcl in filled
l o i r r r p l o vlcc c o v c r y .S l t c i t t nl l t x p t o j c c l si r r( a l i l i r r t r iw
a i { hs p i t c i t r gass l o w
as 5/8 acfc arc bcing opcratcd.In such oifcunrsta|]ccs, a sirtglchofizorlttl
wclls. This may bccomeotrcofthc mostinrportantapplicalions ofhorizontal
opelationsof ficld pilot in Cold [,akc.thc l,loydrninstct'
wclls. I he succcssful
arca and in Athabascausing horizontalrvclls an<l strcants-assistctl gtavity
drainagc (SAGD) are discusscdin thc litcralurc.A t)lllicularly irlrportarrt
featule of tlrc uscofhorizontalwclls fol strcanrrccovcryis tlratit is possible
to operateand obtainhigh rccovcrieswith littlc strcanlproduction,i. c., with
littlc sllcarnsbypassingtry crcstillg.with horizon{ulrvclls,it is possiblcto
prodrce econornictrllybclow thc criticalratc for strcanrby pass;with vcltical
wilhoutthc bypassofs{rcanrcxccpton
wclls, s(r'carrIloo<lingis itrrpractical
very losospaclngs.

1.J.8 Sanl Production

At higlrer drawdown-pressure,sand production is a commonproblem,

and firc grainedsand.Sand
the productionfrom uncorrsolidated
espccialJy

D/. iV.S.Frrahat
 CI. I llo,izont.tl llcls Drillirrs l0

crodes and plugs the equipmcnt and rcstrictiog thc flow rates.Scrccnsand
gravel placing limit sand entry into thc rvcllborc and in somc casesrcduces
productions rates, less pressuredrawdowneliminatesthe necd for screenand
gravcl placingand allorvshiglrcrproductionratcsfrorlrdrainholcor horizontal
wcll.

ti.
.,t

D/ Nl.S.Fxr.hxl
 CII. II Dti i'tg Tcchttiques ll

c[AP'ftrR lt

TypES OF HoRIZoNTAL WELLs Ar'ln DlnrnnsNr

PsUssu
TpcuntQu
DRrr,r,rNG

The choice of drilling me0thoddependsupon drilling cost,well spacingand

the mcchanicalconditionofa verlicalwellboreis existing Also, the rcsctvoir
consideratiols are also important in sclectingthe drilling method.During thc
last decade, the incrcmental cost ofdrilling horizontalwells and drainholes,
over a vcrlical well cost,has come down considerably.But today oil industry
grains tnore experienccandrtsesnewcrdrilling lechnologics, in tum the cost
of drilling horizontalwclls nraybe furthcrreduced.Accorclingly, thc practical
holizontal drilling methods can be classified into four broad categoriesas
shownin Figure2.1,dependinguponthc turningradiusrcquircdto turn fionr a
vertical to a horizontal direction.Also, theuseofa top-clrivcdt.illingsysfenr
(TDS) is essentialto the successfulimplementationofa horizontaldrilling
program fol: deeper wells; larger wellborcs; ouler-rorv wells (olfshore
platforrns);Gumbo or bentonitichole sectiouswhcn drilledwith waterbase
mud; whcre simultaneoushigh torque and tensionis requiledto be applicd
drillstring.A discussionofvariousdlilling methodsaregivenbelow for caclr
typesofhorizontalwell anddrainhole.

2.1 Ultra-shortTurning Ra irls

Ultra-shor1turn-radius horizontal lroles, sometinres called drainhole.Inthis

mothod,it utilized waterjefto drill 100-200ft long drainholcswith a tulrrirrg
radius of 1 to 2 ft. these arc drilled in ptcviously cascdoften mrrlliplc
horizontal laterals are drilled lrom the samewcllbore, as shown in Iiigure 2.2.
It is repofiedthat, sidetmcking may be donewith a whipslockdeviatingtool
with a curwedguide.Also, a long slenderstceltubcfits insidethe drillpipeinto
the top of the whipstockguide,asshownin Figurc2.2.Tbe upperendofthe
tube has a pressurc seal to containpressuleand divert drilling flrrid through
the tube. Thejet nozzlefits on the iower erd ofthc tubc.'l'hus,dtilling rateis
controlledwith a letainingcableconncctedto tlretop ofthe tubc as shownin

D,: M.S. Fnrahat

 CH.ll D lli E T..huiques t2

Figure 2.2. The hole is prepared first by plugging the lowcr requiredand
removing a scction of casingby nrilling the sectionis undcr-reamed to
increasethe holediamctet,i.e.theproccssinvolt,esurdcr-reaming thc vertical
wcllbore and then driliing severairadialsfionr the under-rearned zone.
Howevcr,tlte length of the s€ctionand diameteroftlieunder lcamedhole
bascclupon thc specificationof deviatingtool.A spccialpackeris placedin
thc casingwith a curved guide bclow thc milled section. Ihe whipstock
tlcvittirg tool is conncctcdto thc cl.illpipcrntl usscrlblyturrirrlullrc lrolo
positionedat the kicl(-off point. 'l'he whipstockis orientedand setontne
packer.Then, tlre slendertubc is loweredwith the rctainingcablc..l.hernud
purnp is stattccland circulatiotrbcgins downs thc drillpipctlrroughslcnclcr
tube and ort thejet nozzlcs.Ilydtaulicnrudpressure againsttheptcssurescal
on lhc tol) oflhc tubcforccsit downward.Iltc tlll)ct)asscs
througljthc cur.vcd
'l
guidcs ol lhc r,vhipstock.hcscturn thc tul)cthrough 90 anglclirrrrrvcltrcal
to horizolttal.A strcam ofhigll prcssurcrrrucllionr thcjcl rrozzlcsctorlcsthe
lor.nralion
anddrills thc lrolchorizontallywhcnthc horizonlalsccliorris <lrillccl
by this rnanner,thc tLrbcis pullcdblck into thc pipc with tlrc rctainingcablc.
A l s o , l h c a d d i t i o n ahlo l i z o n t ahl o l cr n r r yb c r l r i l l c i l i . o r ut h cs r r n rrcv c l l b o rrcr y
turning thc whipstockin anothcrrlircctiorr (irsshorvrrin Irigurcs2.-jantl2.4)
n(l lcpcillillg ( h c p r o c c c l u f c l.l r r r s , l r i g . 2 . _ l l r t r l l ; i g . 2 . 4 s l x ) w l l w o
anangcmentsof multiple r.adialsin nrul(iplc laycrs. 't.hc chr.riceofradial
lcnglh, nunrbcrof radials,and radial array is a function of thc r.cscrvoir
pfopottios.lhcsc pl.oporticsarc: rcscr.voiIllriokrrcss,
vcrLiclrl
arrdlroriz0rrlul
permcabilities,oil plopertics,wcll spacing,outcr-bountlary lcscr.voir prcssure,
gravily dlnilugc, tl)crntillnon-lllcfntillproccsscs, arrrlltr.csclccol.irrrpcrnrclblo
l ) r r l i n g s w i l l l i n l l t c r c s c l v o i r .l.l o r v c v c t ,l l r c c l r o i c co l . r x l i l t l l e l g l l r n l x l
al-rangcncnt gcnerallyis uniqueto eachrescryoir.

2.1.1Slstent Prccesses!t4!! E41liltmenUat lvutliple Rsdj!ils

Thc basicrrltrn-short
radiusradialsystern(( tRRS)uscsan crcclablcwhinstock
lowered downhole by 4.5 in. workilg into an urrrlcrLcarrcd cavity or
hydraulicaflysiottedopeningof 22 in. dianclcr.Thc whipstock(Fig. 2.2) is
designcdfor use in a 7-in. casing.1'he dr.illsh.ingnraybcprovitlcdfirma
coiledtubingrig or it may be fabricatcdon sitc fron 30 to 40 fr rubing.ioirts.

Dr-.M.S. Farahltt
 CIL II Dti i,l4 lcchltiqrcs IJ

.fi' li"A A T-

{i "t')'*
A
./ii,.'
1l
ri o""r'
l
\'r-
,1+ 100 - 300 ll -:- |

r.soo_ 3.ooort + |

rr ---
2,OOOS,OOO :'I

Fig.2.1.

Molion Controuer

O.ill String

WorkingString

HighPr€ssur€,
R€movabl€S€al

Fig. 2.2 URRS.

=-:- - und€rream€dzon€

Drill Skiilq

Fadial Bor€ Hole

D/. M.S.Fnrahat
 Cll, Dt lhtUll'dt,tltlurN t4
R.dlal Compl.tlongyit.n
PERSPECTIVE

16!Ftrr=ll11'11
lr''"'"'''1,,,'
l!Orl
rr".rL,rl
1[: s-a l: l
ill, ""'''' llll
ll-llt-- .--,r lll
-rt 1|=lll
Fig.2.1 URRS. |-'
Sectlon A

|.utto
PaY

Fig, 2.4.Multiple-rodiolcotnpletion.

,l),rM.S.Frrnh:ra
A lry<lrnulicdrill hcadis wcldcdto thc noscof thc first.iointofltlrcdrillstring
30 to 40 ftjoints
on sitc,sttbsccltront
(radialtubc).If thc drillstringis labricatccl
of drillstring areweldedby automaticcomputer-controlled weldingon the fig
floor to form the drillstring.A hydraulicmotion controllerthat regulatesrate
is weldedto its tail.
of pcnctration

As thc drillstringis fablicatcd,it is lowcrcdinsidcthc vcrtical4.5 in. rvofking

The nosc(drill head)of the drillstringentersa high-pressure removable scalat
'l-lre
tho top of the whipstock. scal providcsthc bottom closurcof thc
workstring.Ilence, the 1.25in. drillstlingis fully continucdwithin the4.5 in.
workstringat the outsetof drillstringas shownin Figure2.2.

A wireline as attachedto the tail of thc drillstringruns to thc surfacewithin the

workstring and passesthroughthc top closureof the workstting.'llrus'a long
sealedchanrbercontainingthe 1.25in. drillstringand its connccting cablcis
workstring.
crcatcdby thc 4.5 in. vcr-tical

Watci drilling fluid at 8000 to 10000 psi is pumpedinto the long vertical
workstring at the surfacewith a conventionalfi'acturepunrp.The drilling fluid
is then pumped down the wotkstling rvhcre it entcrs tlrc dlillstring. The
internalwaterpressureof the dtilling systetrrpropelsthe dlillstr-ingtlrrotrghthc
Irigh-prcssurebottom scal and through the bendinganclconfiningslidcsand
rollers of the whipstock.Travcrsingthe 12-in radius and 90
The drillstringis
horizontally.
whipstock,the drill hcad entcrsthe fornration
not rotated.

and the whipstock-combhreto propel and to control the motion of the

drillstling into, through, and out of the whipstock, r'csultingin threeload
c o n d i t i o nosf t h cd r i l l s t r i n s .

The first URRS conrponentrelatedto propulsionand control is the drillstring

(radial tube), which is propellcd out of the verticalworkstringby the fluid
pressurewithin the workstring.

/)/. l\1.S. li:rIalrflt

 CIL II Drillirtg T,
I o w r a t e d et e r r n i n e s
tal D r i l lS t r i n gs p e e d
C o n t r oO l r iifc e
M o t i o nC o n t r o l l e r
D i r e c t i o r to f M o t i o r r

II D r i l lS t r i n g
I V e r t i c aTl u b i r t g
String
I

;l I T r a p p e dW a t e r

Seals

ril
t F l o w t o C o n i c a lJ e t
I'ig. 2.: Penelral iorr corrIt'ol v,lti Ie dri IIi ng.

DrillStrins [:"_..1t;-d

H i g l rP r o s s u f €S o a l
W h i p s t o c k w , l r ,t r i l , ! ' r ' , r' . n r , r!
nnl sh4.:sla br,,{r d,id .onrr'.
l l , c D , , l l S l ,t r , q

- . - D r i l lS l r i n q l i o ' l ' , ' , t l I

l t r i n g l 1 ' el,r ' r r r

DrilS

b::li,;tl nrirsr,rqsrr",r";, r r , 'l ' ' l r w llrr , r'r\lr lx,,,l

Er,- tl Gr,P5,jc5
o,,rsr,r,,r .r{rc.,j ll,f e l ' J s l kh , 1 , 1

'ir,,r;.;r,',::r.:
lsr.irii ctl Drrt , r , l \ . 1 , , wl i , . .1,'ili, r i'l

Fig. 2.6 Stres,ses

on drillstring.

/)r'. I\l.S. ltur:thnt

The second component is the motioncontroller(Figure2.5) on the tail of the
In csscncc,
dlillstring,rvhich acts as a hydraulicrestraint. it is a pistonwitlr
external seals that slide within a special snroothborehole portion of the
'fhc
vcrtical wolkstring. wettcrpushcson thc top of tholnotion
high-plcsstrrc
controller, and water is trappcd bctrveen it and the high-prcssure sealat the
bottonr of the workstring. Water can escapeonly througha centralorificc
rc{r:ritr,
witlrin thc corrlrollcr(Fig. 2.5). tlrcrcsttltsis a hy<h-atrlic or trt'akcon
thc forwardrnotionof the 1.25in. drillstring.

The third URRS componentof the propulsion atrd control system is the
whipstock,which bendsthe drillstringfrom verticalto horizontal.

Figure 2.6 slrows the loadson the drillstringthat resultsfi'ornpropulsionand

rcslraint fbrces. In its passagcinto, through, and out of thc wlripstock,thc
is subjected
drillstr:ing andbendingloads.
to axial,internal-pressure

From Figurc2.6,sectionA of thc dlillstting(abovcthc higlrprcssurescal),thc

drillstring stressesare below the clastic linrit. In section B, rvhcre tltc
drillstling is bclow thc high-prcssurc scal and within thc whipstock,thc
drillstring stressesexceed tlre elastic limit and thc drillstring dclbrnrs
plastically.

Becauscthe drillstring is internally pressurized

and is constrainedby rollers
and slideswithin tlrc whipstock, it docsrrotbucklcu,hilcit is beingbcnt.In
sectionC, the 1.25in. drillstringexiststhewhipstockhorizontally. Thcseit is
undcr only axialand irrtcnral-pressurcloads.Again,thc strcssesarcbclowthc
c l a s l i cl i n r i t .

The pressureon the water drilling fluid in the systemnot only propelsthe
drillstring,but alsodrillsthe horizontalborcholein the formation.'fodrill tlre
fonnation,the water drillingfluid is acccleratedthroughtheconical-jet drill-
head nozz,le,creatinga conicalshell of waterparticlestravellingat 800 to 900
fVsec.

Dr".M.S. Farahat
 CII. II Drillirtg'I.echniqtcs t8

ltig. 2.'ltt showszlsclrcnlatic of tlrocorricaljct.At tlrr:top ol tlrc liigrrrc2.'/t is

a standardcrrllirnated jet nozzle.The additionof fixed vaneswithin the nozzle
causesa conical shell of high-velocity water particlesto fonl a conical.iet
'l'hc
(I;ig. 2.7b). sizc of tltchoriz.orrtal
bolcholcis cstablishctl by lhc lwist of
thc vattcs,'uvlrich irrlttrncotrtrols,
llrciutglcoIrlivclgcnccof tlrt:corrcof wir{cr'
patticlcs.Fig.2.7candFig. 2.7dshowvancsl'or1wodiffclcntconicalanglcs.

n)LE CII A D w^r kEn CONTtOUnAItON

tr) COl.llCAl- JET NO77Lf tN SECTTON

n ) v ^ l { L :r r a [ t , t a o ' c o u t c ^ l . . , r r N o z z t F

d ) v A N E U S E D t N 1 0 " C O N T C A JL E r N O Z Z L E

Fig. 2.7 Cotticuljet nozzle.

Fig. 2.8a slrows water jets resultirrgfronr variorrsdeglees01'vanctu,istin l-

microsccolldllash photoglaphsoI a colliltratod jct and two clillcl.cnt
corrical
iets. The conicalangleis not affectedby drilling-flrridpressure. Theseconical
jets functionat both ambientand clcvatcd back-pressurcs. At highcrback-
pressules, cavitationdoesnot appearto be an importantcuttingrtrechanisrn.

Fig. 2.2 sltows thc basic rvhipstockcolt[igulitliorr,

a rlorrblycrrlvotlirrvcllctl
qLrcstionnrark.Insidcthc IJRRSwhipstocl< is a scricsof rollcr.s
anrlslidcslhrrt
causesa progressive dcflcctionanclbcndingofthc 1.25in. drillingas it nrovcs
thtoughthe w,hipstock.

/)r'. Nl.S, lrl r-rrhuI

 CII. Drilling Trchniqucs l9

The whipstock is held in place by downholeanchorjrws engagingthc rvcll

casing. The anchoringjaw aresetby rotatingthe4.25 in. vcrticalworkstting'
To erect the whipstock, the workstringis raisedabout I ft by the blocks,the
resulting verlical motion erects the whipstock,he workstringand whipstock
arc lrelclercct by a set of hydraulic cylindersat thc wcllhcadthatmaintain
tonsion.
cotrstant

Aftcr eachradialplaccnrcnt,the stcpsor","u"r."d. Thc rvhipstockcan thcn bc

cle-erccted,rotated, and re-erecteddownholewithout losing its calibration.A
gyroscopeis usedto set the whipstockazimuth]for eachradial.Thus,nrultiple
radialscan be placedat differcntazimuthsdownholewithout havingto trip the
whipskrckbackto thc sttt'laccbctwccncachsttcccssivc rarlial.

After each radial borehole is drilled, a 3D positionalsurveycan be applied

(Fig. 2.8b). The 1.25in. drillstringcanbe surveyedto determineits trajectory
with special flexible radius-of-curvature(ROC) surveytools designedto pass
through 12 in (or smaller)bendradiusof the drillstring.The ROC survcytool
was developedto provideboth plan (azimuth)and profile (up/downtrajcctory)
data.'It is pumped down the workstring and enters and passesthroughthe
drillstring as a wireline tool. The tool (Fig. 2.8b) resernblesan animal
backboneand has long slidewires placedat eachquadrantthat rnovewithin
veftebraeattachedto a flexible, torque-resistant,wire-cablebackbone.The
slicle wires actuatevery prccise sensorsthat measut'e nt of eaclr
thc nrovetlre
slide wire separately,translating directly into the curvaturcof the ROC tool.
And, in turn,of thc drillstring.Within theROC tool arc an inclinometcr
rnd a
roll sensor.All these data are transmittedto the surlace by wireline"l'he
curvature is convertedinto convctrtionalazintuth and inclinationby rrpholc
software,providinga 3D printoutof both the azimuthand the bore inclination'

However,the drilling methodusedfor ultar-shortradiusposesthe following:

l. turningradiusof I to 2 ft.
2. lengthofdrainhole of 100to 200 ft.
3. the first drilling system requiresa 48 in. dianreter under-reamedzone
while the improvedsecondsystemrequires24 in. diarneterzone.
4. the under-reamedzone length varies lrom 6 to l0 ftdependingon the
systcmutilized.

/)r. M,S. Faraltat

 UI. DrilllngI'r:chuiqres

varies1.5to 2.5in. tltttstwoor trtol'c

diamcter
5. thedrainholc dtuilrltolcs
at'o
drillccl.
usirrgcillrcrslollcrllirrcrsns
6, fol sarrdcontrol,thc thlirrholcsntc crorrrplclctl
gravelpacking.
7. after completingthe drainhole,the pipe is several,then ifdesired, a slotted
zonc,the dircctiotralsttrvcy
lincr is lincr is inscrtcdin thc uutlcr-rcarncd
toolscatt[rcuscd.
8. hasbccn succcssful
tlrisnrcthocl irr llrc rrnbonsolidatcd
sarrrls,
rtttrlrcccttlly
it hasbcenusedto drill hard rock suchas grarrite.
9. a largeunder-reamed zone may posedifficultiesin reservoirswith strong
bottonrwatcrdrive.
At drillingmcthodposcstlrc lbllowing:
lastthc short-radius
l. l'he processinvolvescuttinga | 5 b 2{) fl lorrgwindowin tlrccasingof an
existingverticalwell and kicking-off the dlainholethroughtbe window.
2. A whipstockandcurveddrillingerrtryguideassistflexibleshellpipes(30
60 ft) or wiggly drillcollarsin makinga 20 to 40 lt turringraclius.Also,
dilcctionalsurvcymay lrc usodto locatcdr'ainlrolc path.
'f'lrc ,ll/2 (r
3. ltotizontitlpor(ion wi{lr t kt is rrotrrrrrlly
-ll4 in tlirtrrc:lt:r,
completcdeithelopenholeor by insertinga slottedlincr in thc holc.In thc
case of unconsolidatedsand reservoirs,a wire mesh seven is wrapped
aroundthe liner for sandcontrol.lt is possibleto drill severaldlainholesat
diflcrcntclcvationstlrrougha singlcvcrticalwr:ll.
'l'he
4. shortturningradiusdrillingntcthodhasbccnvcry succcssful ilr nrarry
field applications.But the limitationol this method,is that it doesnot offer
0 sclcctivccotlll)lctionoption.lrr otlrcl wotls, it is rrotpossilrlc{o isolrrlc
ccrtainprotlucingzorrcssclcctivoly.'l his coulclcauscdifficulticsin lhc
cilscs whclc frirclrucs intcrsccting lhc drainlrolc flrc in dircct
conrnrunicatiorrwith eithcrtop gasor bo{toltrwatcr.
5, Moreover,milling a widow in thc casingcan be very expensiveand time
consuming. If possible,a prefcncdoplionis to drill a drainholcthrougha
new verticalwell with arropenhole section.
6, A 90 ft turning radius drainholc is a succcssfultechnology.This
technologyemploys a downhole nrud motors and articulatcddrillstring.
Also, it hasbeensucccssful ccrncntccl tho casingirr a curvcdscotionol'90
ft turningradiushole and harrging,the lolntationevaluationtools can be
'l
u s c d . h i s t l r i l l i n gt o c l r r r o l o gc yo u l t ll r r o b l b l yb c u s c r tl o r h i l l 2 ( )t o 2 ( ) 0l l
t r r t r r i nrga r l i u w
s c l l sb y r n o r l c l i r rt lgr c< l l i l l s t r . i ar rrgl i c u l l r l i o n .

Dr. M.S, Falalrat

 CH. II Drilling I'echniques

Fig. 2.8a. Waterjets.

S e p aar l o r
c) 3O" Conlcal Jel nozrle at o.4 MP8

Slide Wke
L----

Tool Cross-Section
P ri n t e r
Computer
Convgrlor

Fig.2.8bROC tool.
To FOCTool
lExcitation
f-----'/
I SouryeJ
E l e c t r i c aS
l chematic
1)r. M.S. Farnhat
 Cn ll L,ri i't( 7ilhriqur\ 22

2.2Short TurnineRadius

Short-lullrltoIizorrtalp (ctns Ituvca tu|1tmdiusol aboutJ0_00ll, lbr.drilliIg

fiom cascdholcs. Thc proccssbcgins by sicletrucking, builtlirrgangrc,urru
dtilling thc curvedsectionwith a specialanglcbuildingrsscnrLrly. l.lrrrs,lol a
re-entrydrilling systemto be tcchnicallysucccssftrl, it mustbccapablcof
drilling a consistortraclitrsof ourvaturcarrclol dr.illirrg
cut.vcirr thc rlcsitccl
dircction,Thcsclcqrrircnrcnt nlisc lrorrrllrc lcc<ls;

,To position the endofthe curvewithin a prccisedcpthintcrvalso thatrnc

latcralcanhavcrselhc fay zoncasdcsircrl.
, lo plircc lltc Lrtcnllin a dir.cctiorr
rlictatodby wcll spacirrg,
dcsilcrJswccp
patterns,or other geologicalconsiderations.
,To establish a smoothcurveto facilitatcdr.illingthc latcralan<lcorrrplcting
the well.

Sevc[al types of shott-radiuscurve-drilling systcnrs arc comrlcrcinlly

'l
availablc. lic mostconrrnonlypcsuscsa nrurlmotorto rotatca dfill bit thatls
titlcd bit drills a curvcd patlr, anrl thc rotationaloricntationof tlrc ruotor
housingin thc boreholcdctermincs thc dircctionofthc curve.Eithcr.astccling
tool or a measurementwhile drilling (MWD) tool is required to kecp the
motor housing oriented during drilling. The systcm nray be uscclwith
cotrvcntiorral
or workovcr rigs ol witlt coilod-tubingurrits.l.lrisis tlrcrrrost
popular method of drilling a curved borehole,but jt is often too cxpensiveto
be economicalfor re-entcrsin mature ficlds.

Constraincd-rolatysystcfis afc sccon(lcllcgoty oI coltrrrr:r.cially irviriltrlrlc

'lhcy
tools. havc a flcxiblc cfi.ivcshrrli irrsidcnn nr.licrrl:rtc(l
n{)l folNtilg
housing.Since originatedby Zublirr in 1052,this approirch hnshccngrea y
rclincd. A resilicntcurveguidcactsas a sprilg thatapplicsa sidc li)rccto rc
bit ond forccthc bit to dr.illa curwcdpr{h.'l hc curvcguitlcinilially is or.icrrtcd
in the desireddirectionand then rclies on wcllboie fr.ictionlo nnrntarn
orientation as it advancesalong the curve. Becauseof the considerable
l'rardwarc
requiredandthe associated
opcralillgprocedu[cs,
uscoIconstraincd-
rotating systclns has dcclined in llvor of llrc nrorc rcliirblc rnuclntotor.
systcrlrs.

,r ll.S. I,':tr^hnt
 CII. II Dritti"g luhniqucs 23

Rotating-guidcd systems are a third category of short-radiuscuwe-drilling

'l'hcy
tools. Fig. 2.9 slrowsthc downlroleconrponcntsof onc such systcm.
includethe curve asscmbly,flexible drili collars,and oricntationequipment.
Thc lclativclyshortcurvcrsscmblyincorpotatcs a flcxiblc.jointlhat is pushcd
to onc sidc of thc holc lo tilt {hc bit.'lhc oricntationcqttipnrcntconrprisca
standard muleshoc sub for gyro orienting or a nonmagnctic collar and
rnulcslrocstrbfor magnclicolicnting-I his basictool corccpthasbcen arotrnd
for decades,but problemsrvith angle builds and directionalcontrol have
limitcd its conrmercialsucccss.Ilolvcvcr, thc apPcalof drilling horizontal
w c l l sc l r c l p l yw i t h s u c hc q u i p r n c rl tc r r r a i r r s .

Fig. 2.10 highiights the evolution of rotary-guidedcuwe drilling tools before

1988.Early describeda tool in 1934that useda flcxiblejoint to allow the bit
to be tiltedto sidetracka well. In 1944,Miller patenteda similarcurve-dtilling
assembly(Fig. 2.10a)in which thc bit tilt directioncouldbc oricntcclto dcflcct
the borehole in a particular dircction. lt was assumed that, aftcf initial
orieniation,the assemblywould continueto drill in a consistentdirection.ln
1952, Sandersused a curve-drillingasscmbly(Fig. z.l0b) whose near-bit
reamercausedthe bit to the inclined. This systemalso incorpolateda flexible
joirrt to allow su{Iicicnt tilt to drill short-radiuscurvcs. The curvc direction
was detcrmincdby the orientationof a whipstock, again it was assunredthat
would continucto drill in a consistent
thc asscnrbly dircction.

In 1964, (Fig. 2.10c), Frisby proposed an assembly that used an eccentric

stabilizing sleeveto control the bit tilt to orient the tilt in a parlicular direction
and to function as a stabilizer to minimize bit wobbling and oscillation. The
eccentricsleevecould be positioncdeithcr above or below thc flexiblejoint. It
was attashedrotationally to the ddllstrimgwith a pin that was releasedby fluid
pressurewhen drilling mud was cilculated through the tool. This sleeve rs
similar to one proposedby Gilcs in 1955for long-radiusdlilling, cxccptthat
Gilcs slcevewas oricntcdthc drillstringcounter-clockwisc
to cngagea lock to
position the sleevein the desireddirection.

Development was renewed in the 1980's. Holber (Fig.2.10d) and Schuh

workcd on drilling an unpredictablc
radiusofcurvatutccauscdby instabilityat
the drill bit, cspcciallywhenthe bit drilledan oversizehole or became

Dr: lU.S.Farahat
 Dri II irt1; 7'c<:
h n i qt es

Nonmagnetic
Drlll Collar

Orlenlatlon
Kcy

F l e xi b l e
D r i l lc o l l a r s

\-
',
:,r\,,rt.rnlIolt"
\--

Fig. 2. a ! olary)- ittott niliiiri ctilvi u.s.yint

.fitrcesare,shown.

1)r. l\'LS. Irara hat

 CII. II Drillitg Tcchniqucs 25

unstableas it crossedbedding panes.Burton addressed tlreproblemofpoor

oriclltatiorlcontrol by introducing
a tron-rotating sleevc(Fig.2.10c)
eccentric
with splingJoadedblades to glip the wellboreand to lnaintainorientationas
the drilling assemblyis wellbore and to maintainorientationas the drilling
assemblyis advanced.Burton advocatedperiodicrepositioningof the sleeve
so thata Dlanetcurvccouldbc drillcd.

1987
e

Fig. 2.10 Historical evolution of tlrc rotaryt-guidedslrcrt-radius atrve-drillin.g

tool.

Fig. 2.11 showsthat the flexible a short-radiuscurve.Thus, to tilt sulficiently

to drill a short-radiusallows the bit it hasbeenuseda non-rotatingflexible
tubular steel shellmadeofshoft lengthsofpipe. The lengthsconnecttogether
with articulatedconnectiorrsfor flexibility. This flexible shell carries the
vertical thrust to the bit and acts as a sprirrgto facilitatedbuilding angle.A
flexible liner insidethe shell containspressurefor circulatingdrilling fluid. An
internal drive shaft supportedby bearing packs, carries torque from the
drillstring to the bit. The horizontalsectionis drilled with a similar technique
but longer flexible shell without spting action and stabilizer to control
direction as shown in Fig. 2.11.Thehole is preparedfirst by milling a section
of casing and under-reamed.The whipstock is run ot'ientedto the con'ect
directionand set,the anglebuilding assemblyis run into the hole. Sidetracking
as it guidesoffthe faceof the
begins by rotating the angle-buildingasserr.rbly

1}. l\'1.S,Falahnt
 ('ll. 1l l\lllttH I'nhu\ttrs
Ltl

w h i P s l o c kS' i d c t r i l c k i r ragn crl l l i l l i n gc o r r l i r r tirrorl h c c u r v c tllr o l os c c t i . .

i r ta r r
i'creasiug upwardanglein thedi'cctionof thewhipstockracc
untirit is bcing
hodzontal. Then the angle building asserrbly is pulled out
of the hole.The
stabilizeddrilling assembryis run, and the str-aight horizontalsectionis dri ed.
Also, there is anotherversionof thc systcml.otatesthe bit with
an articulatccl
nrotor, which improve lrole guida'ce.'fhe welr is compretetr as an openrrore
or a specialflexibletypeslottedlincr is r.un.

Fig. 2'I | ,4 scltetnntic.f o 'shorr-t'aditr,s

rrriling racrtttiqrrcrr,sittry
finirtra
drillin g ioirtt.

/)r'. M.S. Fara hat

 CIL DTiIi'tgTcchniqnes

2.3 Mc tl i rtnt- Tur n i ng-Bg1!!4;

Although the long-radius approach to drilling horizontal wclls is highly

developedand very successfirl,thc radiusrcquircdrestrictsthe applications
possible.Medium-radiusdrilling extendsthc tecbniquesso thatbuild sections
with a radius down to about 300 ft (90nr) can bedrillecl.I lolcs drillcdtry
m€dium-radiustechniqucslrave scveral advantagcs
conrparcdto long-radius
wells and almost no disadvantages.
llrey can be drillcd with conventional
drilling rigs, althoughthey requiresome special,but now wcll-developed,
equrpnrent.

Mcrliunr-radiustcchniqucsusc rroir-irrlicrrlalcdttill slrings nnd hcntt lnrrrl

nrotors.'lhcscarc thrccprincipalr-ccluircnrcnts:
The bottom-holeassenrbly mustbe ableto drill alonga trajectorywith the
rcquircdradius. )
Thc drillstring must be sufficientlyflexible to follow the drill without
mechanicalfailurc.
Tools used in thc hole must be able to be moved aroundlhe curved partsof
the hole.

It is importantto note thatthe third requirement

listedabovelimits the tools
that cau bc used ir the horizontalpartofthe holeevcnthroughthc curvature
'fhese
thcrc is ncgligiblc. requirctrrctrts
placc linritationson whal can bc
achicvcd by mediurn-radius drilling.Thc rcquircmentfor drillstringflexibility
mcans drillstringsmust be snrallerin dianreterfor highcrcurvatures. Atthc
lirnit, it is necessary,e.g., articulatedstrings,coiled tubing type strings
strcsscdbeyond thc clastic linrit, andstringsnr.dc o f cxotic highcr-strength
thc nralcrialssuchastitanium,carbonfiber or steel-reinforced lroscs.Chargcs
of this sort movethe tcchniquebcyondthc boundaryofnornralmcdiunr-radius
drilling.

The trend to using smaller diameterdrillpipe goesalong with the drilling of

smaller diameterlroles.Anotherdrivingforcemoving(heteclrnology towards
strlall dianreters
is the inccntivc1odlill horizontaldrnihsstartingwith cxisting
veltical wells.To do this,mctliunt-radius equiptnent thdtcarlbc inscftcddown
thc cxistingverticalwell casingis nccdcd.

Dr. M.S. Ferahat

 CH.II DtilingTechniqnls 2a
Driiling motorsfof boththe angle-buildandangle-holdsectionsofa medium_
radius horizontalwcli must bc shorl cnorrghto fass il.oundlhc cut.vilut.c.
Doublo-tilttltolors arc oolllllon,particular'ly
Ibr unglc-hold.l.hctilt in angrc_
build motors is relatively Iargeand thc motorsare not rotatable(steerable).

Medium-radius hole can be drilled fronr the side ofan existing casedvertical
well or from a newly drilled open bole. Ifan existingverticalwell istobe
used, a rvindow is milled in thc cxisting casing at ihc dcsirctlIcvcl anda
whipstock locked to the casingin the designedorientationbelow the window.
'lhis
lvhipstockdirccts thc nrcdiunr-r'adius
ltr(l nrolor rlrill in thc rlcsircd
azimuthdirection.

2.3.1Drillnhrcfor Mediun-R litts Driltins

'Ilrc
first mcdiurn-radius
dtilling systcnrrvasdcscribcdby Dcch,llcarn,Sclrulr
flnd lcnhart in 1986. It allorvcdholcs l6 in. in diarrrctq.lo b c r l r i l l c rtl o
horizontaldistanceof 1000ft with a build ratcofabout20 30nr( r 0 0 i 0 .

'l'hc
systcrnused a narrow,diarnetcr,
spccialcomprcssivesorviccdrillpipc
(CSDP)carryinglarger-diameter
wearknots.

I.'igurc2.12a showsthctwo conrmoncst sizcol'compre ssivcsewiccdr.illpipc.

'lhc pipc
is ficqucnllynxrrlcfirrrrrtr(xt-lltfllcli0,llsl(lrrilic
slccllirl rrscrrrru
magneticsurveyinstruments andin holesrvherethebuild ratcaregreaterthan
l 5 i t Om ( 1 0 0f t . ) .

In holcsrvilha lowcrbuildratcthan| 5230nr,hcavy-wall tlrillPipo

(c.g.I lovi-
watc) is uscd. 'fhis pipchasa rvalltlrickncss whichrlakcsit itt)orrt twoalldil
half timesas lreavyas standarddrillpipc(c. g. 62.5 Kg/rnfor.4.5in.pipc
comparedto 25.3Kg/nrfor standard pipc).ln adtlition, I lcvi-rvllcpiqrchus,in
each30 ft length,a centmlupsetsection uhichbehavcs sirnilarlyto thewcaf
knotsir CSDP.Thc wearknots(Fig.2.l2b)kccpthcdrillpipcawayfrourthc
wall of the hole in thc curvedsectiol.This rcduccsboth rotatingand
longitudinalfriction,resulting
in lessstrikirrg.It is alsothroughthewearknots
hclpkecpthccuttingsin suspcnsion in thcdrillingfluid.

1fr II.S. Faribat

 CII. II Dtillittg Tcch iqxes

C O M P B E S S I VSEE B V I C ED R I L L P I P E ( C S D P )

2-7tA 3.1t8 2
3.112 213116 10120t3a

Fig. 2.12a

Compressive Strength
Drillpipe

5"
Wear-Knots

2-7 IB" s-1t2"

Fig- 2.12b Contpressivestrength drillpipe 5 in -wectr-lutots.

/lr. ll.S. I.arahat

 CII. II Dti ing lethuiqn.s 30

2.3.2 lf nlinnrllntli us Ilrilli rtg ll I ot o,'s .t nrl,l_t'st,'r,,s

Medium-radirrs,
angle-buildmotol'stypically havetwo bcndsin theirlength.
Motors of lhcse types are showr in Fig. 2.13. Arotlrer nrotorsritablefor
building anglein rnediun-radius holesis shownin Irig.2.14.In this asscnrbly,
a motorwith a bendis jointedto the dlillstringvia a bendsub.'t he totaltiltof
the motor is equalto the sum ofthc two individualtilt angles.'l'ablc2.I shows
thc holc chanrctctisticthat can bc oblailcrl Lrsingnrcdiunr-r'rrrlirrs drilling
systcms.for fivc differentmotorsizcs.llrc two largcstmotor.sizcllc linrilcrl
kr dlilfing holc wi(h au arrglc-builci
fatcof lcssll]l|i|,14730nr(I00 ll) rr|<lrncv
rcquirc rciatively large vcrtical holes. With thc lower degrecofcurwaturc,
Ilevi-rvatedrillpipe can be uscdanclthereis completeflexibilityin thc useof
MWD.

Iful rlilling shallow, nrccliunr-r'adius lrolizonllrlwcll, lyl)ictl llrlcc IlllS

tlcsctiptionsarc spccificd lorlhisrvcll rsshowr in fig.2.l5 (con<lrrctor.Jrolc
B l i A ) , I i g . 2 . 1 6 ( s u t f a c c J r o lBc l l A ) a n d F i g . 2 . l 7( h o l i z o n t a l - l r ol l lcl A ) .
Also, liig. 2.18 shows that the invefteddrillslringdcsignfor holizontalholc
scctiou.
Table 2.1 Typical nrediunt-radiusdrillitg paranrctcrs

Motor Slze oD 0r.) 8 6314 4 3t4 3 3t4 3 3/r]

Mi,titttwlDianeler al
Vdlic^lWe (inches)
OPenllole 121t4 a 1t2 0 4 3l,l 4314
Casing t3 3/B I 5/8 7 5 1t2 5lt?

Molorrlnn
-forqt|o
85-190 100-260 t00 300 120 X4() t20 340
It ll) 4500 2800 I t00 u90 B00
NM 6103 3798 t000 l 2 A/ 121)/

"/30nr 8-14 8-14 19-30 20 35 20

nadius,lt 715 410 715410 300-2B0 286 286

Steerir9
crfnb lily"/30in 2.5 2.4

Uso[rWD Yes Yos Y05

Drllll'lt!' li 4 li' i, //lt ti tt llt" t' /ltl

HWDP HWOP CSDF /lIWDP CSDP or SDiial FrwDt, csr)r,

D/: M.S.l.rrrhxf
 CII. II Drilling TcchtiquL's 3l

EA,STMAN
CHRISTENSEN
HORIZONTAL
MOTOHS

Fig. 2.1-t.

DYNA-DRILL
D O U B L EB E N D M E D I U M R A D I U SM O T O R

.,.,ii'tm:i,1{;#tr3,y3;ry1;,;1;,i;

Itig. 2.14.

1)r. N{.S.fiarahat
 C . Dti ittg'Icch iqkcs 32

5" Non-Msgn€llc
DrlllPlpe
(He8vyWelght)

6.75"MWDDlrocllonal
S€nsor

I
5" Non-Msgn6tlc
DrlllPlpe Itig. 2. | 5 ('rttlrr tot. ltolt,
(HeavyWelght)
nll/l.
11.75"
Stsbllhor
(Non-Mognollc)
49'
8" Bcnl Houslno
- Motor
(SlnoloBend)
12.125"
Stablllzor

I 12.25"Blt
c Drl ptpe
5" Non-Maono
(HsqvyW6lght)

I B'
0.76"MWU
Dhoctlonsl
Sonsor
GemmaRay/Reststtvlty
S€nsors

onuo,o.
fn"'xil-$3p;iy"
Fig.2.l6 Stu{at'ehole BII4.
11.75"Stsblll:sr
(No|FMagnotlc)
70'

II 8" B.nt Hourhrc

(SlngleBond)
12.'125"
- Motor

Stsbtttz.r

I 12.2!"Btl

Dr. I\,1.S.Fllrrhrf
 CII. Driuilg'Icchniqu.s

Drlll Plpe
5" Non-Magnellc
(Heavy Welght)

6.75"MWD

E
+6'
S€nsor
Olrecllonal
GammaRaySensor

r I
FsslstlvltySonsor

7.75"Stablllzer
(Non-Magnetlc)

I
37'
6.75"Ooubl6B6nl
HouslngMotor

8.375"Stnbilizer

lrig. 2.17 Hot izo tal hole BIll

Fig. 2.18 Invertetl drillstring desi.gn

for horizontal lole section.

D/r Nl.S.Frrahat
 CII. II Dri hry'lttl'|iquts 34

2.3.3 Hieh Medium a d Lov Saeed Drillins

l'he medium-radiustechniquecan be used with both high-speed,medium-and

low speedlnolors: ]'hc types of motor uscddcpcndsupon tlrc contlitions.lloth
rolling cone and fixed cutter (usually polycrystallinediamond compact(PDC)
bits can be used. Rolling-conebits are nearly always used with low and
medium-speedmotors, i.e. for rotary speedslessthan about 200 rpm. PDC bits
can be usedwith either low-speedor high-speedmotors.Both categoriesofbit
hlvc advantagcsan<l thcrc is corrsidclablcovcllap irr lhoil rrpplicrrtiorr.
Rolling-conebits, operatingat low speed,have advantages in hard rocks and
thcy rcsp(nl(l sorli)wl) t b(jttefto cllbds lo c(nrtlol{llc dircctiorrol {lrolrtrlc.()
lltc othct llttttl, bccrusctltcy lrtvc tttovirtgplrllslrtrrlbcrrirrlls,lhcy rrc lrr)r(
l cr v c a ra n dh a v ct o b c r c p l a c r 'rrrl r o r 'fci c q U L - r r lIlIyD ( ' I ) i t sc l n h c
s l r s c c l ) l i l )l o
tusodat highcrspecdsand will frequcltly dlill longcrscctionsol holc without
rcplrccnrent.Diamondand thennallystablediarnondbits are usuallyrun on
mcdiutn-andhigh-speed motors.Fig. 2. l9 shorvsthe additionof hartl lacing
and tungstencarbideinsertsfor protectivcthc lcgs of rolling-conebits. Also,
|lig. 2.20 showsa PDC bit that involvesthc pl'otcctiotr of thc top ol-thc bit
tlra{can trc rrscrlrvilh (op-ciivc rigs urrtlrvith
rlcvcl with nattral clianrorrds,
backreanring
for rcmovingcuttingrvhilcdtilling thc horizontalscclionof well.
Fig. 2.21 shorvsother designchargesfor lrorizontaldriliing bits at inlprovcd
stecrability.

2.3.4 Mediutr- Rldius-Horizo ntq! Il/ell Sections

Medium-radiushorizontalhole is comntonlydrilledin openlrolc as shownin

Fig. 2.22,but sidetrackingin cascdholesis modemtclycommonwith lorver
turn radiuspattcrnofabout 300 11.Motor asscrrrblics
arc nrustconrmonlyuscd
as mentionedbefore. Tangents are used sornetimes;it is common to use a
measurementwhile drilling (MWD).

,r. IU.S.Frrrh:ri
 CII. II Drilling Tcchtiqucs 35

N A T U R A L D I A M O N D SO N T O P O F B E V E L
F O R P R O T E C T I O ND U R I N GB A C K H E A M I N G

Fig. 2.19 Fig. 2.20.

2.3.4.I Vertical Sectiorr

It is the {irst sectiondrilled from surfaceuntil the kick-offpoint (KOP) for a

horizontal well or newerwell (Fig. 2.15) or sectionfrom surfaceuntil milling
windon' for recomoletedmatureor old well for drainhole.

SIIOHTEFIFLAT'IER PDC BITS FOR IMPFIOVED

STEEBABILITYIN I-IORIZONTALI.IOLES

T [ € P O C b l o r t l E r i g h tl e a r u , e s
a shotl\ucil.;lnnk, lhl(dki pro
l i l c ! i r d s l u l , r r o , l 0 a ( ( r ol o | ( l l h .
Theso leahrcs atu d{rsn.blo ld

Iton lones 1990

Fig.2.2I.

Dr'. M.S. Farah:rt

 ctl.II lrtiuitru t.thniqn.s 36

D
-lt

vdtla!lhd. il,lll..l ,nJ .".d ro .r.tico o, t,,r,,rdirroc.jt,)u Dot,,r

V.r'lcrl d.rthnrrnotro!ro,nnrlonc.D,it^j,,o. i,,,t u.i torrt,,,,itl
v . r r l c . l h o l o p l u s o o d . b J c tl o k l c k o t t p . i j r r
C u r ! . d h o l o . u c r l o n d , l t t o dr t v o ! 0 h 9 0 - l r n r r . l i . .
l l o r h o n r . l I ' o l o 6 6 c r l o nd r i l l o d
curv.il ddd ho.ilont.t hotoE.crton, .asod ,nd cuUFv(uu

Ititrg.2.22
A4ttliuutIunt hori;ottIrtIu'tlL

2.3.4.2CurvedSectiatt

'llrc
crrlvcrlscclionofhorizontalholcslrrmst hlouglra 90' curvc lrcrn vc rcnl
lo horizontalwilh an avclageturn lacliusol- 3(X)-tt(X) li. Ihis cun bc ckrnc
thfoughthe following:
C t r)i dotvfor |ertictl well: At kick offpoint, thc scclionnrill (lrig.2.23)is
t t t t tr t r r l l t cc n s i t r igs,t t r i l l c rrlt g i r r gI i r r r r l t j l o . \ 2 1 1l s i n ! ,l l i V i s g r ' lr r r r r r vl i t l r
lhrccstcps.

'lhlce
diffcrentlrolton-holeassclllblicsafc uscd to sidc thc wcfll alicr sct
whipslockas shown in Frg. 2.24 shows typical conllgurationol notor
dcviationscctionl'orkick-off,brildirrglnrl horizontalnlo(orirsscniblics-uscd
for drainholein Egyptian-westemdeseit.

/lr'.ll.S. I:rurh:rl
 CIl. II Dri i,tg Tcchniqrcs 31

Hydrulic Jar

61/4

Bit Sub
61/2

5 3/8 T,
oa
4 3/B I Boot Basket

5 1t2
r I
a 1/4
S e c t i o nM i l l

1/8
I
H t_
1/2
I
5 1t2
Taper l,4ill
a 1t4

Fig. 2.23 tuIilIirtg assenfuly.

Dr'.M,S. Farahat
 CH. II Dtilti g Techniqnes 38

J J

A A

Limber Bent-Housing Pad and Bent Benl Sud -

B e n t- Ho u s i n g Sub and
Benl-Housing
= M o l o r , B = B e a r i n ga s s e m b l y , C : O u i p u t s h a f t a n c l
i l , D = B e n t h o u s i n g, E : P a d , a n d F : B e n t s u b

Fig. 2-24Motor deviati) sectian.

/f/. NI.S,F:rrahnt
 CIt- II Dri hlg Tc.hrirlt.s 39

Anglc-buiklingcontinuouswilh thc sidclrackmotor asscmbly.Dtilling insidc

cascd holcs (usually 7 in. diattrctctor Iilrgcr casirtg)is donc with strtall
diameter,slim-hole tools. A section of casing is removedby nilling, a
sidctrllckingplug is sot and drcsscdoff. Somc opcratorsprcfcr to sidclrack o t
olcascd hole with lowcr build ratc, itrcrcasing thc build latc allcl dlilling.r
part of curved section. Drilling and angle building operations continue,
rneasuringdrift angle and dircction pcriodically. Inclined or first build arc
dcplh.l'hctt, a dircctional
(curvc),straight(tangcnt)is clrillctlto lhc rcqLtit.ctl
motor assemblyis run, and anglc-buildingcontittucsin a slnoothcurvc unlil
the hole becomeshorizontal. The curved scction of the hole may be cased
before drilling the horizontal section, or both holc may be cased togetller.
Running of the casing dcpendsupon the turn radius,lengtlr of horizontal
section,formation conditions,torquc and drag.

2.3.4.2 HorizontoI S ectiott

Hotizontal section of medium-radiushas angle of about 90o. The horizontal

section is drilled using low angle build stecrablenrotor assctnblyas shown itt
Fig.2.25.A commonsteerable assemblyhasa bendlrousingwith a low angle
bend of 0.25'- 0.5", possibly with a very tlrin deflcction pad to prevcnt motor
housing (as shown in Ftg. 2.26) wear reaming nonnally is unnccessary
becausethe assembliesare rcflectively limber. Reaming car be done with a
nonaggressivcrcamingassenlbly, ifrcquircd.Thcn,drilling contirucsuntil thc
torizontal scctionis conrpleted.

Lastly, the featuresof this drilling method used for medium-radiushorizontal

well, are given as follows:
tn this method, the turning radius from a vertical to horizontal direction is
about 300 to 800 ft.

'l
Two systemsare availableto drill thesedrainholes. hesesystemsusedtn
general are: downhole mud motors and flexible drillpipe. One system
utilize build-motors for angle building al a rate of about 2dl100 ft. thc
horizontalpotlion is ddlled by using anglehole-motorswhich drill at a rate
of about30'/100 ft. Suchsystemhasbccn usedsucccssfulto drill 1000to
1500ft long wells in fracturcd formalions.

/)r. N{.S.F:rrxhnt
 (:IL II l)tilling I-u.hniques 40

Flcqucntlytlrcscwclls al'c rlso conrplcto(l usirrgslotlctllirrcr.s.'llrr: wclls

c i l n l ) c l o g g c t l r r s i t r gc o r n r r r o r o i a l li yr v i r i l i r b lcro: i l o t ll r r l r i r r g
ruorrrrletl
fir'rnnliorr cvnlunlion tools.

S t a b l l l z e db e n t
l l ou sl n g | n o l o r

Survcy tool

SlecraLrlo
P o s l l i v r -r. l i s pl r r c c r rort rt r a c l i l t so f c r r r v a l u r o
r l o w t r l t o l c r r t ol o r

Top slablllrer

n = lln(lhts ot curvnll|lo

Degrco ol l)cn(l

Benl-houslng
slablllzor

Fig. 2.25 T14ticaI steer altIe s),sten.

/)r. M.S. Iarahal

 CH. II Drilling I'echniqrrcs 4l

o
-lN
lrrlrri:ur r-ir;:trl.iEir

ffiffiHm"TF-l
lH. llw i
iiffi'1
tffillffil
lilrlH-r
Fig. 2.26.

Long-turnradiushorizontalwell classifications aredrillednrainlyby deviation

in openho1es.Wells in this classificationarecharactcrized
by largerhole sizes
zurdalc vcry susccptiblcto lrigh dragandtorquclrccausc ol longopcnholc
section. Flolesizerangeup 12.25in cliameter althoughsrrrallctdiarrcterholes
are lltote conln'loll.

Wells with a radius of crirvatureof about 300 m ( I 000 ft) in the deviated
sectiorrsare commonly dr-illed usingthetcclrniques (asshownin Fig.2.27)a
stcerablebcnt nrr.rdnrotor and MWD to locatetheholeas drillingproceeds.
Also, therc are significantadvantages in using top-drivc ralhcrtlrantotary
table drilling rigs, and top-clrive rigs ate commonly used in offshore
applications.Fer.vland rigs havehad top-drivebecauseof tl-recost installation,
howevcr,nervtop-drivedesignccl ar-eavailable.
spccificallyfor landopcrations

Dr. M.S. Farahat

 CII. II Drillitrg I'ecluriques 42

[?or long-radiushorizontalwells drilling, the NavigationDlilling Systenr

(NDS) empty a NorTrak streeablemotor with doubletilted U-joint housing
(DT[J) as shown in Fig.2,2B. The systenrcan drill directionalprofilesand
nrakccoutsccorrectionswithout costlyasscnr[rlychanges.

0ouble-bend
U0t0rconli[uration
Drilex
Inlo$r.rl blado f ' o 5 i l l v or l i r , ) l n o or l r l
slablilzor
willl bonl llousing

Fig. 2.21.

$teeraDle
ntBtqi' iUurati0n
xc0nf

P o s i l i v e( l i s l ) l a c o n ! o n ll o l o r
willt pl(l an(l l)rr|tl lr)l[]in(l

(' ' I:ir:.2.29.

Y ...1 \'l
II fL Jcf'^'-'-"'
J J
Also, thc D l'U lrousinghastwo sliglrtbcnds-[r'stirr onc clilccliorr,
tlrorrin thc
opposite-toslightly tilt the bit's axis fronr thc hole axis. ltcsultingol-['sctanglc
can bc configulcclfi'om 25"Io 78'Loplovitlc doglcg capabilityup to 6'1100ft
rvhiledrilling in the orientedmode.\Mren thc rotary tablcis engagedwhile the
NorTrackmotor continuesto run, bit offset is negatedand the NDS assembly
drills straighta head.To keep the well on course,otientedand rotaly sections
'l
c a n b c t l t c r r r i r l ow
d i t h o u tt r i p p i r r go u { o l ' l l t c l r o l o . l r c t l o t r b l c - t i tl tl c s i g l r
brings the motor axis back into alignmentrvith the boreholeaxis, providing

/)r'.Nl.S.ll:tr':rh:rt
 CE.II Dti i'tg lechniqnes

directional control and consistentwell path curvaturewith low bit offset and
housing,bcaring,anddr-ivcasscmblystrcsses.
nrirrinral

2,4.1 Venical Section

It is drilled ftom surfaceor sea bed until KOP (Kick-off point) using
convenlional tools.

2.4.2Curved(Turnin

The cuwed section of horizontal tum holes through a 90" angle from
horizontal to vertical with an averagetum radius of 1000-3000ft. The first
'fhe
stcp is to deviatedand bcgin drillirrg thc curved scction. same gcneral
proceduresare used for drilling the high-angle directional and mcdium-turn
pattcrns.l{cduced anglcsof brrild and longcr opcn holc scctionsmust be
ollowed. tt is necessaryto establislrcurualute and thcn drillcd witlr one of
severalassemblyoptions,as shown irr Fig.2.29 pattemswith longer turn ladii
arc dtillcclusingditectionaldrilling tcchniqucsin thc carlicrpartofthe cuwcd
'I -l'hen
section. his is mote common where bit walk and angle is about 20o. arr
angle is about 6d. Drilling continuesto higher angleswith rotary assenrblics
in a few cases, such as a hole with vety long tums- Normally, rotary
assembliesare less efficient for building angle and controlling direction at

lo horizontal with motor assemblies,drilling with steerablemotor assemblies

as often as possible.Tangent sectionsslrould be drilled as needed.Tangents
are often placed at an inclination of 60'. Tangentsare omittcd in some holes
that havc longer turn radii becausedrilling longer sectionsplavidcs tin'le for
morc rvcll path adjustments.

2.4.3 Horizontal Section

Horizontalsectionsof long-turnholeshave anglesof about90o depending

uponfonnationconditionsand well pattems.The horizontalsectionis drilled
with either a hold or low-angle-buildsfeeablemotor assembly.Procedures

Dr. trt.S.Farih,rt
 CIl. II lttiUh,E Tt?huiqu.s 44

similar to dr:illing the horizorltalseclionof tlrclncdium-lunrpattcrnalc uscd.

Ro(ary nsscnrtrlicsarc scldonruscd.Draganrltorqucincrcirscrvillrirrr:rcasing
depth. Torque nay approacb the ma;rimurr linliting torquc-strongthofthe
dlillstring in very deep holes. This hasoccuLred evenin a complctclycased
hole. Moto[ assembliesshouldbe usedhere,sincetl]e do not requirerotating
the drillstring.Drag and torquemaybe nrinitlizedwith tlrecorrecttypehigh
q u a l i t ym u ds y s l e ma n do t h c ra c t i o n s .

TI;
iJ
II
CJ-r!Fd
q9e!l-srr
,/ / ,'1n"rl^i'r
// soction
|
\ br
\+4rf
Drllllns ll'o 0illliri! ll'o

Fig. 2-29Long hutt horizontal well.

Ilowever, this drilling method (long-lurningmdius) has a turningradiusof

1000 to 3000 ft in most casesalrd uscs mostly convcntionaltools. A
combinationofdrill bits with bcnl subsancldownholenruclrnotorsalc uscoro
drill 2000to 5000ft long horizontalwells,sometimes reducesto 4000 ft long.
The advantages and disadvantagcs or iinrjtations ofthis drilling methodused
l o r l o r ) gl i d i u s h o r i z o n t awl e l l .c n r rb c s r r r r r r r r r i z rc.df o l l n w s :
1 Thesewells can be cored,loggedand treated.
2. Problems in cetnenting the lrighly deviated wellbores are furtllel
aggravatcdin horizontalwellbotes,especiallyin regaldto displacement
frourthe holeandunifoml comcntplacemcntaroundtlrcwcllbolcs.

D/. M.S. !i,r.rh.rf

 (:8. lI DtillinE li.hriqrcs 45

Rccontadvlrrccs,howovcr,indicatcthc possibilityofccnlcntirrghotizorrttll
wclls andpcrforatingthemsclcctivcly.
A selectivecompletionoption,a majoradvantage oflong radiushorizontal
wells, would facilitate producing only from the oil bearing zonesand
shutting-offhighwalcl or gasproducirtgzones.
A typical tuming of 1000 to 1500 ft roquiresthatthc well perletrates a
rescrvoir 2000to 5000ft a way liom thc spuddingpoint.l'his lrrgc Iatcrrll
spacerequitcmentlimits tho trse of this techniquein many shorcficlds
where the typical vertical well spacing is l0 to 80 acres.However,this
types oftechnique is very useful in offshoredrilling

D,-. Nl.S. F'Ar:rhat

 CIL III Har tt: ofllotiznalal tt'c|lr 46

CunprulrIII

PLANNING OF HORIZONTAL WELLS AND

DRAINIIOLESGnonlrTnv
I

l-Qeagg11y of Horizontal ll/eu or Drainholc

wcll tnrjccloryantlshapcrvithirrlhc rcsclvoirhavca sigrrificarrt

Wcll dianrctcr',
impact on costs and overall rvcll success.c. g. productivityand recovery.
Consequcntlygcometryis a criticalaspcctof horizontalrvcll dcsign.

i.I lTell Diameter

The diameter of horizontal section is the easiestwell geometry element to

\\,hichu'ill allow thc following:
identify.It shouldbc thesnrallestdianrctcr',
l. Use of controllablcancldtilling asscnblicsand hydraulicprogramsto
achicvcplaccrrrcnt
objcclivcsanrlholc stlbility.
2. Sufficientclcatanccto run thc neccssalv cvaluationtools.
3, Sufficient clearanceto install the requircd complction, production, and
wolKoverequlpmenr.
4. Sufficicntdiarnctcrfor ccononricilproducfion.

llowcvcr, tlrc initial hotizontalwcll in a ficld dcvclopmcntshoulclbc dcsigncd

wilh largcr dialnctcrto allow running an cxtra string of casing in caseof
unexpectedhole problems,e. g. influx of rvateror gas. Ilolc diamctercan
possiblybc rcducedoncedrilling/conrplction
placticcsandconcspondingltolc

,D,:IU.S.l':rrrhat
 CIL III I'ttrti'tg ttl Ilorizotttt tvctls 4',7

conditiors have been evaluatedon the first well. Also, the well diameter
sclcclionis tcstrictcdby thc cliamclclof cxis(ingvcrticalwcll 1()bc rc-ctltctcd.
'l
he lcsllicteddiametermay litnit well lcngth,cvaluatiorr.

'l'lrcsc
Completionor produotionopclationoptions. consctptcuccs
utust bc
consideredearly during the wcll trajectoty design.

g!!,ProfiLe
lL lV_
'fhc
nlost increasingwoll goomctly aspectis tlre wcll plofi1e withirr llrc
reservoiras shown in Fig. 3.1 that illustratcshorizontalrvell profilesusedfor'
d i ffcrcrrtappIications.

Fig. 3.1 llasicwellprofilcs.

1.., l, t

3.2.1 Flat wells: are uscd inhornogeneousrcscrvoirs to solvc watcr or gas

coning problems. Thjs is the easiest and least expensive design shape to
accomplish, but it providethc lcastoptionsover thc well life.

j,2.2 []nddotittg 'ells: ^re used in reservoirs containing impertneablc

iDtotwo oI n]olc isolatcdreservoirs.
barlicrsthatscpalatcthc l€scrvoit's

Dr. ['1.S. F:lrnhat

 CH. III Ptautittg ofnotizohtdt utetls 4a

i,2.3 Upword inclined welk: arc tsed in dirty rcservoirswhere gasconing rs a

problcrn.As the gas intcrlaccnrovcsdownwarl and clr(crsthc lal crrciof lhc
'Ihe
horizontalwcll. end ofthe wcll canbe pluggedandproductioncontimred.
'lhis
wcll plofilc hasthc advanlagcthrt it loculcsnll of tlrc fluirl lcvelslrrr rr
I l i v c sl l r ( i( ) l l t i ( ) ol l l r l r r g g i r rl rgr r c ltil r cc r r t i r rl .r o r i z o r r tsr rclc t i o rrrr r r rl lr r r x h r c i r r l l
thc well asa vcrticalrvell.

3.2.4 Dotptut'ard itclined *ells: are used in dirty resewoirs where water
coningis a problcnt.As thc watcr interlacemovesupward,waiel comeslDto
the far end of the well first. The inclinedwell can thereforebc pluggcdback
and corrtinuesto bc producedafter watel breaktlrrough.

3.2.5 ll[ultilct'el wells: are used with sand lcnscsand with rcscn,oirssepnrated
by inrpcnncable 'lhesc
banicrs. v,cllshavea higlrerchallenge/riskin tcrmsof
hajeclorycontrol but providesfor dual brcak thr.oughin the rvcll s life by
i s o l r r l i ror gr ' q r l r r g . gtilrrrcgl o r v c rs t c pr r l l d u n ( : c ( ) r r r r i$c, t e rl l r x l l l ( - t i ( no rr j r r s _

3.2.6 Mt li hrot,(:h:Sllort radii are widcly uscd.Multi branchrncdiumantr

long radii wells arebeginniugto be uscclandshouldfind widcspr.cacl uscin thc
lcxt l-cwycafsduc to thcir inrprovcrlccotronrios
and incr-cascd
t|rlrirragc
arca.

j.2-7 Gmrit.1,
drainocc l,clls: ar.ebcirrgdrillcri in dcplctc(lrcscrvoir.s
willl lro
dlivc nechanisnrotherthangravity.It is likcly thatgravitydrainagewclls can
b e t t s e ri ln l r c a v yo i l s t r c n r nl i o , r , l i n pg r o j c c t s .

3.2.8 Conple.r tell sltopes: conbine molc than one oftire abovc well sfierpes
and are useriin rcsovoirs with con4rlcxgcologythrt varicswidcly ovcr lhc
length of horizontalrvell.

1.3 DesigttllOt'i.zot,tol lt ellI!4ie.'tot!

In accordancewith thehorizontal wcll drilling,ther.c

arcthrcescotionrrarlcly:
L yertical
sec(iol;it is drilledfrom scabed(rnudlirc) unlil kick-offpoint
(KOP).

l)/'. M.S. Iarahrt

 CIL III Planning of llorizontol llclls

Ttutting or curvetl or angle build section: it is drilled from kick-off point

(KOP) to theend-of-curve ([OC).'l'his sectionincluclcs thc first-buildarc,
tlrcstraiglrttangcnt,thc sccontl-llriltl iu'c.
nrc (llOC) to
3. llorizontal section:it is drill(xl lronr thc cnd of sccond-hrrild
thc end ofproposed distartceto be dr:illedhorizontallyin thc pay zone,ill
with tlrctypco['horizorrtalwcll to bc drillcrl.
accordancc

The designof horizontalwell rnentionedhere is a part of Farahat'sresearclr

publishedby Cairo university.6{r'International conference,Feb. |999. l'his
design is baseclon the conccptof tlre sirnpletangentbuild curvc. The three
.
major scctionsthat fomr a horizontalu,ellor drainholcaroshowltin Fig. 3.2.
Thus,from this Figure,the thteesectionmay be designedas l-ollows:

vEnncAL
sEcrioM n

ol
I
A A S I Cg U t L D C U NV €
GEOMETNY

,1 -Ha - V H-|

Fig. 3.2 Design of ltorizontol v,ell trajectotlt using lhe sinrple

tangent build c:utve nrelhod.

Nl.S.|rarah:rt
 CH.III Planni'ry of Hotizottol tlclk 50

l. Thc build-radiusof the first-buildarc:

R : 5 7 3 0/ B , (l)

2. lleightof thefir'st-build
arc:

D' : R(Sinlr-Sin I1), (2)

3. Heightofstraighttangent

D, : L, CosIr, (3)

4. lleight ofthe second-build

arc;

D,: R(Sin!-Sin lr), (4)

5. The iengthofthe first sectionofhorizontalwell: KOP

KOP : TVtLD,-Dr-Dr, (5)

ofthe first-buildarc:
6. The displacement

II, = R(CosIicos I), (6)

'l:hc
7. displaccrncnt
of thcstmightlangcnt:

H, : L2 Sin Ir, (7)

8. The displacementof the second-buildarc:

lIr : R(Cos Ir-Cos It, . (8)

9. The length ofthe first-build arc:

Dr M.S. I'arahat
 CH.III Platui g of lrorizon,tt Welts 51

L r : 1 0 0( l i l r ) / 8 , (e)

10.Thelcngthofthe second-build
arc:

L3 : 100(I,- lr)/B ( l0)

||. Ihc rrcusulcd

dcpthatlhccrxlof lho firct-l)uiltl
afc:

MDr : KOP l- Lr, (l t)

'l
l2. h c r n c l r s rcrrrl d c p l l )a t t l r cc n ( l( ' f s t | 1 r i g ht |t r o g cl :

MDr=MD,+Lr, (t2)

13.Themcasured
depthat theendofthe second-build
arc:

MD3: MD' -FL3, (13)

The lengtbofsecondsection= L, + L2 + L3 or MD3-KOP.

t4. The length ofhorizontal sectionor third section: H (14)

This length is selectedaccordingto the tuming radius of horizontal well to be

ploposcd.

EX. l: During drilling a horizontalwcll in Egyptiandrilling concession,

the
follorving data wcre requircdto designthis well trajcctorl, namely:
Minimum expectedanglcbuild fate:8?100 ft.
Minimum tangentlcngth= 120ft
r anScnrrngte = )u.
Tarrgcnlangle90'al S000ft TVD.
Designwell trajectory.

EalJlti!2!f
'Ihe
l. build-radius
ofthe first-build
arc:

R : 5 7 3 0 t 8= 5 7 3 0 / 8 : ' 1 t 6f t

Dr: iU.S.Ihr:rhnt
 cn.III Phn iry ofrrotizontat ttlerts 53

MD, = 16P 't t, = 8206+ 625- 8831ft.

12.Themeasured
depthat theendofstraighttangent:

MD, : MDJJ Lr : 8951-F500= 9451ft.

I-cngthofsccondscction: Lt J [_,+ Ll
: 625+120+ 500: 1245ft.

14. Length of horizontalsectionor third section= H proposcdlength in

a c c o r d a nw
cei t hR : 7 1 6f t , w h e r eR : 8 0 0 f t I , I : 3 0 0 0 f t . t h u sR
, : 7 1 6f t ,
H will be 2685ft.

1'hus,theproposed
lcngthofholizontalsection:26g511.

The measured
or drilling depthofhorizontalwell

: KOP + Iengthof tumingsectionI lenglh

ofhorizontalsection.
= 8206+ 1245+ 2685- i2136ft.

The displacement oflrorizontalrvellpathor trajectory

: Ilr + II2 + FI3+ Il :265 -t 92 1, 460+2685:
3502ft.

The tnreverticaldcpthofhorizontalwe pathor trajectory: 9000ft.

,r. ^t,S. Fr|.ahrt

 CI{. It Dtilli'ry Probt.ns 54

Csaprer IV
Dnrr,r,rNcPRonr,nnrs
AssocrarnDwlTlr
HonrzoNur,Wrll
DRIT,T-INcAun TIIIiIR REMEDY

l'herearefournrainproblems duringdrillinghorizontal
wells and drainlrolcs,
narncly:
l . D c l i v c r i nwgc i g htto l h cb i t .
2. I{cducing torqueanddragforccs.
3. llolc cleaning.
4, I'rotcction of watcr-scnsitive shalcs-
5, I)ircctionillcontrol.

4.I DeQ'r:e
ry,Wihlt la theBit-

Applyingsufficientbit weightfor optinraldrilling ratethat is oftcn a proorcrn!

cspccially at highcr anglcs ancl whilc dlilling the hofizontitl; scction.
bit rveightfor efficientdlilling is about2000 5000 lbfpcl inch
Corlverrtiorral
'l
ofbit dianrctcr. he availablebit weiglrtflom a givcnasscnrblythcorelicallyis
teduccd by a lactor relatedto the cosine of thc dlilt angle.'llris cosinc
approachcszcro as the holc angle rpp|orclrcsq{t'. Mot.rl asscrnblics drill
efficiencywith lessbit weightthanro(alyassernblics.They cornpensate
for bit
weight with highor rotationalspeedof turbincsand motors.

Bit wcightmaybc increased by rcducingdragandkrrque.Bur oftenthisis not

sufficientIbr an optinraldrilling rate in holcswith highcranglcsand in
horizontalsections.
Bit weightis o{Ienincreased by usingthe split assembly

,/. M,S. Frrrhat

 CI IY Dt illit'8 I'knttuLs :r:t

which diving the botton hole assemblyinto two partsas shorvnin Figure4.1a
a r r d4 . 1 b .

n
ll 3-1,/2'
D
g
or illll C o l l a r s
fi.0'..,,
U
Er D e r i e n l a l c o m p r e s s l v e
\se, v ic e O r i l l t
';:,h [.4WI Pulser rReslricter
[.4WD
s u b1 I sub
tEtllloEl'.lffiD c:: _-l o

I I *.*"^"\ ./
l"No
Ic c o l l a rs - j
l.-.------____-
-Downhore\ \
Molor
-------- \
\

Fig. 4.1a Generalizcd,lt illstring conf gtrnliott

c5.

Fig. 4.1h Achievirtguleighton bit tllrouglt contpresstve

forces usingsplit a,tsentblies.

Dr. M.S. Frrihrt

 (11. ll lrilli4 hr o't 5('

'l'hc
l o w c rp a r t o f t h e a s s e n r b l yi t,r c l L r d i nl hgc b i t , n r o t o rd, i r c c l i o n acl o n h o l
(ools,and the nonmagnetic coilatsare lcll at lhc bottomol thc dr.illslring.Ihc
fcnlaindcrofthc drill collarsarc placcdin lhc vcllical holc or irr an up1rcr
ourved hole that has a low drift. The two sectionsare connectedwith
conlprcssion pipc or in sourccaseshcavylvcightor rcgulartlrillpipcus strown
'fhe
in Fig. 4.2. drillstring is completcdin the conventionnlrnannerrvillr
<hillpipefrom the top of uppor sectior to thc surf'ace.Split bottom hole
assemblics reducedrag and torqueso that nlore weighl can bc applieclto the
h i t f o r d ri l l i r r gf t r s t e r .

I reav}1,leight Comp- Drj[

p,po roorivo cotiar
pipe drill

I"ig. 4.2 ConponentsoJltot<ttnlnle assenbll,.

'fhe
heavicrdrill collarcate more cflcctivcplaccdin thc vcrticalholc scction
as conrparcdto placingthem in the horizontalor.highlydeviatcdholescchon.
'lhcy
cxcrt ntorcdown q,ardfolcc to thc lorvcrdrills0ing and lcss folcc on tltc
sidc of lhc rvcllbore.'l'heforcc is trarsnrittcdby lhe comprcssion
or drillpipc
to the lower half of the assembiyin the high argle or horizontalhole section.
Partofthe dowtq,ardlorceis stili lost dueto sonredragandtorque.

'l'he
cornprcssionpipe or drillpipe connectingthe two assonrblysectiorr
logcthcropcr tcs in contprcssion,
so thal lllc risk of hilurc inclcascs.l)r.illing
rvi{lr a sllccablc assenrblyand rotating thc drillstr.ingslowly, also is

/)/: l,l.S. Fxrnhnl

 CII. lt' Irtilliug hlnn! l :r/

' l l r c j r r r l r t t t r t l x 'ttc r l r r i r clrl rt t t r ' I t l i v t ' r h i l l ( . t ' l i r f t il t r r r r r lti r r lltv

r r ' (r . p l r l ) l ( . .
r r l r o v ci l l i r I c l l c c t i v c . j t l r i t t g t r r r rllr t t t t r p i l t gl h. i s i t t c t c r t s cl hs c w c i g l r li r r l l t c
lowcr asscmbly.One athactiveis positioningthejar butnpcrsub olr top of thc
lower half the assemblyand let tlre compressionpipc pl'ovideswoigh lol the
jarring action. Also, a jar bumper sub should always be placednear the top of
thc upperhalfofthe assembly.

4.2 Reducins Torque and Dras Forces

Drag is a lorcerestrictingthe movdmentof the drill tools indirectionsparallcl

'l Drill s{rirlg
to the wcll path. orqueis thc lorcc rcsistingrotationallrrovonrcnt.
rub and slideagainstthc wall oflhc |olc duringrotationand nippittgaspartof
of this frictional
rcgula[drilling activities.Drag and torqucare nleasurcrncnts
to thc movementofthe drill tools.
Icsistance

Drag is rncasuredin thousruds of pounds over or undcr the free hanging

wcight ot thc drillstring.1'orqueis tncasurcdin loot poutrdsofapplied torqttc.
It is inlportant to have a good weight in<licatotattd torquc-ttrcasttt ittg
cquipnrcnt.llxoess drag and torque causc dircctional drilling pr'obtcrls
espcciallyin turning and horizontalsoctionsof horizontalwell, oftctt vcry
scvcrcin thiswell. lhc dlillslling can lail [tom lctrsiontluc kroxccssdragot'
twist olf clucto exccsstolquc. Ilithcr casclcavcsan obsttttctionin thc holc
requiringfishing,Open holc drag causcskey seatsthat, in turn increascdrag
and torquc.Drag increascsthe risk of stickingin kcy scalsancldiflcr.cntial
prcssurcsticking.Dlag also lcducc availablcbit wcighl scvcrcly al hrghcf
anglcs.

Eliminatingall dragand torqucis not practical,but prcvcrrtive actionslcdrrccs

thcnrto acceplablclcvcls.ll is bcst to dcsignthc wcll pattcrnfor a minitttLtttr
r r r r r b c lo l - c l r a n g cosl i t n g l ca r t ral l o w i r r t g l o l r r l r o p .l i x c c s st l t i t gi r r l r l
c l b t t i l to
torquearc tcducedby placilg casingin tlrehole.Drag incrcascsas thc sincol'
holc anglc incrcases.As lhis anglc apptoachcs90", thc stling wcight is
transfeued from hook load to drag weigh. Reatning reduccsdtag and torquc
causcdby key seatsand rough rvcllbore.Thus, it is itnportant to drill smooth
cr.u.resand straightinclined or ttuning scction.Reducingdrillstringwcight
rcduccsdtag and torque at high quality of tnttd with goocl chcnticalarrtl

,r),..M.S. Frr.hxt
 CE.II' Dtiuinql'toblens 56

physicalpropcrticswhich are essential.

Oil bascnrudshouldbe considctcdfot
more demandingsituationsbecauseof its good lubricating qualities.

4.3 Hole Cleanins or Cuttinss Removol

A particular
problemthatarisesin drillinghorizontal
wellsis thc difficultyo[
-l
removingrockcuttingsfrornthc horizontal seclionof thc rvcll. hc sourccof
Ihc ploblctuis tlll{ cullirgs tondto scttlc in lhc bollontol thc lrolc rrtttlitllorv
the mud to pass above without tmnsportingthenr. Seltled cutlings are
rrndesirable sincc they increasethe friction in the hole and, if it is latcr
colncntcd,proclrrccpoor ccnrcntbonds-A grclr{ irnprovcnlcrlirr rcrrrovirg
cullingshas bccn achicvcdby using top-drivcdrilling rigs. lr lhcscrills, lhc
dtillstling is rotilted by a largc. gcatcd clcctric ol hyrfiaulic(lrivc nrok)f
(typically400 hp to 1000hp) rvhichslidcsup and dosn thc dlill nrirslon rails
(scc llig.4.3) rathcrtlranby tlrcconvenlionalrot.ry tableao(lKclly. With this
arr?llgcnrcnt, it is possiblcto rotdtcthc drill s{rirrgand kr cilculirtcrrrr,ul its llrc
s l f i l g i s l c r r o v c ( lf i r ) n rl h c l x ) l c . l h i s l c r r r l st o k c o l )l l r c r I i l l c r r l l i r g si r r
susponsionand to proviclca nruch clcancl hole. lhc rcnrovalof crrllirrgs
rcducesl'rictionbctwecnthc drill pipc and thc holc and rcduccsthc lcndcrrcy
l i n s t i c k i r r !l1l o. r v c v c rt'h, c l I n s p o rol l ' c u l l i | l g bs y l h c n r u ( li s r r r o r ct l i l l i c r r li{r r
a hofizontrlholc thanin a vcrlicalonebccausellrecultingstcnd to scl(lcat {hc
botlulr of tlrc holc and thc fluid tcndsto passabovc.I Iigh fluitl vclocilicsarrtl
tnlbulcnceprornotcthe transpoi of lhe cultings,but lhis can bc linri{cdby a
tenclcncy for washoutsin thc wall ol thc holearrclalsoby thc physicrrlcapacity
o f t h c n r u dp u n l pt o p r o v i d cf l o w . ' l o p r o m o t ct u r b u l c r c ci,t i s d c s i l a b l ct o
havc a low fluid viscosity.On thc othcl lrand,to rcstrictthc scllling of thc
'lhcsc
solids whcn thc flow is stoppcd,a high viscosity is ncccssuly.
conflicting requirements can be accomniodated,at least particularly, by
rnakingthc nruda non-Newtoniarr plasticfluid rvith a high latio of yield point
to plastic viscosity. Polymcr nruds are conr only used lor this. AIso,
rnininrizingformationdamageshouldalrvaysbe a majol concernin sclcctirrgu
mud systemandparticularlythe chemicalcomponents within it.

In practice, a wide Varity of drilling mud compositionshas been used for

drilling horizontalholes,dependingupon the situation.Also, thctc can be
good rcason to use oil-based tnuds to control shale swclling. They perlonn

D,.. N{.S.Frr:rlrat
 CIL Il/ I)rilli P I'rohlrnrs 5!)

betterthan inhibitedwater muds in this lespect.Howevet, oil-basednuds are

difficult to disposeof in an environmentallysatisfactoryrlanner and they ate
t r r o r c c x p c n s i v c l l r l r r w l r ( c r - - b a s c rol r r c s . A s i r c o r r r p r o t t t i s c ,w i t l c r r t t t < sl l t l l - r v l t l c r
drilling fluids containingwater-solublepolymefsare ollen chosenfor drilling
horizontalwells. They can have good inhibition and lubricationqualitiesat a
lower cost and without tire problemsof n-ruddisposalfound with oil muds.
Polymer r.nudsalso glve improveddrilling rates if the contentof suspended
solidsis kept low.
P o r t a b l eT o p D r i v eD r i l l i n gS y s t e r n
I'lrol o <:ou rl es.yTitsco l)ri lliu g 7'eclt n ology

Fig. 4.3.

Photogruplt slrorvirtg portable syslem installed beby,

rig's existing block, hoolt autl srvit,cl.Ilylrtulic ser-
vice loop goes lo pump skitl. Torque ruck is lastcued
lo hack of derrick.

4.4 Protectiort of Water Sensitive Sltales

tend to collapsein contactwith freshwater. This can

Shalelayers frequer-rtly
be prevented by usingoil-bascddrilling fluids.Thcscfltriclstrsuallyconsistol'
an invert emulsionof water in dieseloil togetherwith other additives.Fluids
of this type have been used in the North Sca. Watcr-basednTudscan be
inhibitedto reducethe attackon water-sensitiveshalesby the additiouofNaCl
or CaCl2.These additivesreduce the chemicalactivity of the water and its
tendency to penetrateinto the water-sensitiveshale. lnhibited water-based

Dr. M,S. Farahat

 Cn. Iv Dritti',8 t'tohten's 60

[ludi are nol as cffcctive as oil-basednruds for the plotectior of shales,but

thcy arc{eaper andlessdamagingenvironmentally.

llcccntrcgulillionsintcndcd to protcctthc cnvifonlncntrrc nrrking thc usc of

salt-bascdmuds more difficult for land operations. Offshoresallbascdfluids
arc acccptabic,but thcrcarc rcstrictionon thc uscofoil-bascdnrutl.

4.5 D irectional ControI

Ovcrcomingthc forcc of glavity is a fundamental ploblcrnir dilcctionaland

ho|izontaldrilling. The bottom hole assembly(BHA) is a heavy weight
hangingon the bottom ofthe drillstring. Thc BllS must ovcrcomethc lcrrccof
gravity with a strong side forcc for directional drilling. 't his for.ceis applied
rvith stabilization,
firlcrumsand operatingtechniqucs. Morc cornnronbottonr
holc asscnrblics havc onc point ol-lcvcr.agc
ootltactwitll tlrc wall ol thc lrolc,
suchas a bent.BHA's with multiplepointsof wall contactabovcthe bit canbe
controllcd more accurately.Three points of contact definc a constantarc of
cuwature correspondingto the desired build rate of the motor assemblies.
Motors asscmbly can be fixed or adjustable. Fixed assemblieshave two
aligned lulcrum suppolts for building angle accuratclyand at higher ratcs than
adiustable assemblics.Adjustable assemblicsare more flexible for use in
varions situations,especiallythe steerableversions.The term steerablehas a
specialmeaningin the oil industry.

Most motor assenrbliesare steerablein the sensethat turning the drill srrrng
changesthe coursein order to drill ths hole in thc desireddirection.The
steerableBHA consistsof bit, down-hole motor with build in dog-leg
tendency,measuremcnf while drilling surveysystemmay allow to continuc
trackirrgofwellborc path (as shown inFig.2.27).

Positive displacement motors developed power from a rotot-sraror

configuration, as fluid is lolccd into thc opcn cavity ofthc nrotorshclicalthc
motoroutputshaftdrivesthebit directiy,thcrcby'eliminating the needfor dtjll
stri g rotation.The build tendencyofthe motor systcm,referreclto as dog lcg
establish€dby use of bent housingmotor (normally0.5'to 1.5"anglebends
coupled with under gauge stability ). On the motor itself and iust above the

,r. NI.S.Fnrahrt
 CII. It' DriIiIg P,oblcms 6l

nrotor by varying th€ bcnd in thc nrotor housing as wcll as stnbilizcr

pllcclncnls glugcs. l\{o diflcrcnl dlilling rnorlcsarc uscrl willr s{cclatrlc
systenr. lhe first orientedmode (slitling), the motor rvilJ producc angle
changcsrcsultingfrotr motor dog-lcgtcndcncy,makirrgit possiblckr charrgc
thebuild or directionof*'cll course.

l)oglcg lcndcncyol lhc systcrr is dcsigrrcdkr proritlc irrrglccharrgcsgrcatcl

l l l a nw l l : r 1l l r c r l c l i l r l l l ryr c c < l cst lo, l l r u ll l r c r r n i o t i { lo l t l r i l l i r r gc r r rlrr c t I r n c r r r
rolary drilling nodes. lt is possibleto obtain overall build or turr rate needed
fot u'cl1patlrrvithouttripping.

4.5.1 Ckssiftcstiotr of bottom hole ss1eJlblias (BHA's)

Thcscarc subdividedinto rotaryand molorclassificflliols,lll lA canbc hrrlhcr

'l'hc
divitledinto categorics. and posilionin BilA nolmally
kind of equiprnent
classificsthe asscnrblicsthe assemblytype. The various typcs of urotor
dcviationsectionare shown in Fig.2.29.BIIA's are nsntcdbasctlon usagcas
listcdin tlrcfollowinstable.

8il..1's
Natnc (usacc
Linrber , nrotof
Deviation or sidetrack
e build
Rotary.or motor
Anele hold Rotary,ol rnotor
Reamin
fishing

4.5.2 Medsuri g ittstntments

Measrtring instruments record drift, direction, and tool lacc of thc basic
nreasurcmcnts for directionaland horizonlaloperations,to providc accuratc

D/' iU.S.Farahat
 CIL Il' DtiIi"E hoht.Dts 62

conlrol,somc tcclrniqucsarc applicdsuch as llrc stccr.ilgtool or MW!) arc

givcn below. fhe advantageof MWD over steeringtool is that MWD can be
usedin both rotary and orientedmotor phasesdrilling.

4.5.2. I St.\'t'ing turol

An instrument package contains a modified magnetic single shot and other

instrunrents (as shown in Fig. 4.4). A coder convedsthe nrcasureddata to
clcctlical pulse,and a scndcrtransnrits(hcscclatato lhc sur'firccll ough a
shiclticdclcctlic conduit.Surfaceequipmentincludcsa rccordcrto covertthe
clootrio pulscs and digital or TV typc displays.'l'hesc inslr.urrrents
arc
availableimmediatclyat the surfacefor usc to control hole direction.ln
opcfalion,the instlunrcntpackageis lowcrcd and raised rvilh a shielded
c l c c : l l i c aclo l ( h r i t( c a b l c )o n t h c r c c l o f a r v c n c hp o s i l i o n c o dn a truck.'l'hc
p i r t : k i r gs c a t si r rl r r c c c i v i r go r i n s l r u n r c lsl r r bi r l l r cd c v i l l i l g l D o l o il t s s c n r r ) r y
iurd lcrnainsin thc holc duling thilling. l{otary asscmblicscan not bc usc(l
wilh stccringtools.1hc drillstringrvith dircctionalnrotorasscmblyon bottorn
ir lor.vcrcrl
l)af{rvlyinto thc holc. l hc ilslrruncntl)ackagcis lorvclcdinsicicllrc
rhillslringon a cablctluoughasitlccntry sub out into lhc anntrlarsltacc.l hcrr
lhc cablc rrrrl drillslting arc loqcrcd logclhc[ \\,i1hlhc cal)lc oUtsidcand
parallclto thc drillstring.

d!,2. 2 Mea$tr ement-whiIe dri IIi ug (M ll D)

Mcasurcnrcnlrvhilc(MWD) rccordsnlcilsurctncnls at or ncar lhc bit whilc

'lhe
dtilling continues. data are transporte(limmediatelyto tlre surlacc as
pressulcpulscsin mud columncovcrcdby a codcrstoretlin a storageclcrice,
'l'hc
and transmittedto thc surface. instruntcntpackagchas[ratterics
or a snrall
turbincgcncratordriven by circulatirrgnrrrdfor a pou'ersupplyas shownin
Irig.4.5. A conrhlonsystenthas a rnud pulscrthat rcccivcsstorcddata and
convcrtsit into high-fiequcncypressurcpulscs in llrc rnud lop a sctsitivc
llessu[e detectorat tlre surface.Sulfacecquipnrentincludcsa decoderto
conveltthe pressurepulsesto elect cal pulse,digitalor Tv-type dispiaysand
lccordcb as shownil Fie.4.6.

/). lll.S. Farrhnt

 CII. IV D,'illing Prcbleus 63

\
lllt(lltte k, Sltttcc RflJi t

. Nott.tuaE'ftricDt ill Colhi

St,rJeyStc.\i ETool

' lluleshoc Oricnrltrg

Sub
'Dc,tt
Sub

Rotnthry ltit Stl,

lloatlor-rt

puter& Printer
ConT

Powor Non Maonetlc Bont

Cablo DrlllCollar .--

Fi.g. 4.4 Surveysteering tool.

Dr'. M.S. lralahat

 CIL IV Dtilling lhblens 64

DIAGRAM OF TELECO'sMWD TOOL

Mudflow
I

Allernolo,

Hon-Moqnclic
-
(ollor

0ircrlionul
Senror

Fig. 4.5.

'l'hclcforc,
an M WD systenlcotl'lpriscs:

1 . A dowr-rholetool assembly,consistingof a special non-magneticdrill

collar housing the sensors and electronics for measurement and
functions(Fig. 4.5).
transnrission
2 . A surlaccsystcurfol' thc detcctionand clccodingof the IVIWDsignal and
conrputati<rn
anddisplayol'thc M WD clataasshownin l1ig.4.7.

Dr. l\{.S. Fnrahat

 sof ro, l,ln.rr,rt n.rr I"nrrt
lD tr,r, ro",r r. t-,qrr,,rr,,o ll".r I'or.r t I rn!xri,'r ,r.
fi) t o , " ,r , o " r : . " " " , n

A rl naqlri\ n'a ^li'rr,rl

A r l1 4 . ' l r h s . , 6 r . r , / f o i i

---
i
.,
1"",,
j ,'r;;r.r;;11 )ii,';

t t r \ i i t i v i t l- ( ; r r f rl r r n . l ) i r t ( t i o r r r l
t ; r n r r u - l ) i r r (l i ' n r i ' l S , !\ l ( r r l Sl5ltrll

STEEYE
AS9€I'ELY

rgo|.
A-agf-MIltY

Fig. 4.6 Measurentetftwlile drilling (MWD)

I)r'.M.S. Fnraltat
 CIL IY Dti i'19 Problens 66

_- _ _ -
Rlc Fr-oon fisTEra
_ _ _-.- -_- _ -]
l=

DRII-LERs

L.E.D,
DISPLAY

NoN-r^cdErrc
"-- ""*l

x4.lV.D. D^r ^aulsmoF P^cxacE

Fig. 4.7 NervMWI) tool.

/)r'. l\4.S.Irat.aha{
 CIL lY Driuiltg I'toblents

l \ 4 W l )s y s l c r rc l u rl ) r r r v i ( l cu .s i n l lv : r r i o r :rjl i l l i t c t r lc o r r r b i tl ri o
: rr r sl h c l i r l l r w i r r l l
irrl'olrrrltion:
l . S r r v e yi n l o r m a t i o nd:i l e c l i o ni.n c l i n a l i oann dl o o l l a c cr c a d i n g s .
2. Fd-nlation inlormation: gamma ray, r€sistivity, rreutronand density
reading.
3. Mechanical information: downhole weight, toaque, shocks, flow and
temperaturereadings.

Also, thcre are three distinct types of MWD transmissionsysten currcntly

available:
l. llrc positivc pulsc systcnr: in lhis systcnr a plungcr-typc vllvc
nlonrcntarilyobstructsmud flow, giving risc to a trrnsicnt pcak ill
standtripcpressure (Fig. 4.8).
'[hc
2. rcgativcpuJscsystcm:in thc syslcm,a valvc nr(nrcnlirily vclls a
poftirn of thc mud flow to thc borcholcarrnulus,gcrrcrllingl lrlnsicnl
drop in standpipcpressurc(Fig.4.8).
3. The continuouswave system:in this system,a spiming, slottcd rotor and a
slotlcdstatorlepeatedlyobstructmud flow, rathq like a rotaryvalvc or a
sitcr.'Ihis gcncratcsa continuouslow frcqrrcncylluc{ualionin sfandpipc
pre isurein tlreregionol'30 psi cxactlylike a low pitchcdhum.'I he carrier
wa e is modulated, rather like an FM radio transmission, to convcy
infi rmation to surface.

!!9.!! lllD truts mk sio n svstent

The mcdulator generatesa repeatedse[iesof flucluation in staudpipepressure

by pcri.rdicailyobstructingnrud flow as the rotor vanesoccludetlle statiotr
'lhus, 'l'his
slots. the 12 llZ MWD carrier wave is generated. construct
flcrlrrcrr;ywrvc is modulrrtcd,ot cnclosc(|,by pcriorlictlcrcclctaliorr of llrc
'lhis
modulaor rotor whiclr introducephase shifts into the carrier wave.
is vcry closcly corr:pirr':rblc
rnotlrrlaion tcclrrric;uc lo ficrlrrcrrllyto ficqtrcrrcy
mo<lulajon (tiM) radiobroadcasting, as shownin Fig.4.9.

,/: l\t.S. [1lralr,lt

 CII. IY Drilliug l\lthlcu's 68

Pressure
Positive
Pulse
[-{

ilnl Tinre

Negative
Pulse
ilml]+
ilm t-,-_______,_

Continuous
Carrier
Wave

Time
MDASURIIMBNTS
IVIIILIt DIIII-I-ING

Fig. 4.8

4. 5.2. 3 GeosteeringuElLlpt11elllLgrul lrt str unrcntatio tt

'I'he
newestlrlarket developing in MWD is fol geologicalsteerirg, sonletimes
ci\llcdgeosk'ctittgor ravigatiol ofthe well coutsc,accoldingto MWD litho
logy measuremert. A geologicalspecialist,
engineer,or geoscientist
is usually
at the rvellsitefof interpretafion
of the dala bcing neasured.To be effective,
thesenew systemslequireuteasulem€nts
closertlrebit.

/l/. [{.S. lr:rrrhit

 FullyClosed 60
PadiallyOpen Fully0pen

P
P
o-
Valveopensand closes
5 timesper rotation

Al 2.4rotationsper second
a 12 Hz carrierwaveis crcate(l

Titne
lra stuis.tion r)tsten1.

Es!!p44!!!!

'l
h or v l r o l M
c W t ) - l i l l r lou g yn r c l s r r l c r r c o
r rrlgsc u s l c c r i rcrrgl r r i p r r r icsrsr ltr o r v l
if Fig.4.10, whicJrcompr.ise:
l. A downholctoolasscmbly, consisting of a specirlnon-nragnctic cLillcollar'
I t o t r s i t t llll,t c s c t t s o t si r, r t r rl : l c c l n r l i c sl i ) r l t c i * i l t , L l l e l l sl r n t l l r l r r s n r i s s i o r r
l L n o t i o n sa,ss h o w ni l l r i g .4 .I L
2. Surfacesystemfor the detectionand decodingof the MWD signal and
conrpLrtalion
auddisplayof thc M!VD dala,asslrowl il lrig. 4. 10.

l)/r M.S. Farahat

 < II. Il lrtiqing I'hn)tu s 70

I
i; l,
G ;
?-. 6

I i:
lri !
.?

IA5!

t,E
E;
q;

t
'z
5
a
5

c8 o
iii

il
,{'

qt

tt

s t:!
a
hl
(J Fig, 4.10 Geo.rtecringlc(h iqrrc.
o h
ilql
I -
r) c)

,/. NLS. Ihrahat

 CII Il/ Dti i E l"ohlzn's
'71

I Slt uttt (trhtlio,t:

The advancedMWD or Cieostocring system can providc, using varrous

diflcrcntcombinations,
the followinginfornration:
l. Surveyinfornration:direction,inclinationandtool facercadings.
2. IoDnation inl'orftationtgamnta ray, reccptivity, ncuh-onand dcnsity
rcir(ltg.
J. Mcclranicalinfomtaiiorr:dorvnltoleweight, torqrrc,shocks, flow arrd
(cnrpcrature lcadings.
4. I.,ithology irrformation:geologicalmarkersand/or thc top of |cscrvoir,
forrration dip, stratigraphia
control iir thin and dipping lcservoir.s,
high
rcsolutionseismicmappingol'complcx gcologicalslnlclul.cssuchas silll
domcs,localfault structurcs
andcon.rplex
layeledprocluclion
zonc.

Apnlicatiotts:

Thc newMWD or geostcering systenis csscrrtial

fbr pr.ccise
r.vcllpositioniug
u,hichis crucialto tlte success
of drillingadvancetl
horizon{alandextended_
rcachwells.

IU.]Y.I).I)OWNIIOI,E SYS'INM

l;-T
--- aAIrLnY

^?," o
-tI
u | l l tI

< 36

Fig. 4.11I4\I.D dov,nhole sys/en.

/ ) / M . S .I ' x r : r h x l
 CIr- Y Drilst,i g Dcsign 72

CHaprBnV

DnrllsrRnc DnsrcN

Many different traiectoriescan be used to drill a horizontal well to a given

l a r g c t .l w o c d r l r o r n l t c r ' r t l t i v cl rsl c s l r o r v ri rl l I i g . 5 . l . l r o r r rl l r i sl i g r r l et,l r c
broken linc shows the traicctqry that would be followed if there were a
c u r s l u t tllt c l i u so l o u r v t l u r c .l l t c t l r j c c t o t y , l c p i c t cIrrly l l r c s o l i r lI i t r cs l t o c s
l r i l l l r r rc'r r r v : r l r rnr lcl l r cs l r r r lr,' r r r r r c r ' l cl ,ryl r rl r n l l (| | l s c r ' l i o nl o r r r r o l l r c. rr r r v c r l
sectionat the botton'I. This tangelttrajectoryhasbeenusedfiequently,but it is
not as commonnow as it oncc was.The main reasonfor usingit was to givc
.nore flexibility as the reservoir is penetrated.A difficulty with thc constant
radius approachis that, if it is found not to be practicableto achievcthc radius
ofcuwatureassumed, the holc may end up too deep.In somccascs,whenthis
has occutred,the long-radiusBllA choseninitialJyhas bcen rcplaccdby a
rrrediumracliuson to allow morc rapid deviation.With rnodem adjustable
motors, such a change can be achio,ed by motor adjushncnt. It is now
c o n r n r o1nod l i l l r v i l l ra c o r s l a n8l t o l l / 3 0 n r ( l ( X )l ' t )l r r r i klla t oo r l o r r s c 1 5 "
to 20'130m (100ft)rateup to 65"to 75'andthcn finishthe angle-buildsection
at 7'or 8'130m.

I R A J E C T O F YW I I H I I I G H F I | B U I L D n A i L
AND TANGENT SECTION

Paih lor co.rl6nt n \

Fig.5.L

D/. M.S. Fnl.'lh^t

 CII. Y Dti sttitry Desigt'

In drillingverticalwells,fi-ictionbetwecn thedrillpipeandthewall ofllre hole

haslittle effectupontheweighton thebit (WOB) This weightis basicallythe
buoyantweighloflhe drillstringin theholelessthepull on therig block Ttis
adjustedto the desiredlevel by the driller' When drilling inclined, and
particularly hot'izontalholes, friction has a much greater effect ln the
horizontalsection,the drillpipelies on the bottom of the hole and its weight
doesnothing to drive the bit folward; mther, its weight multiplied by the
the weighton
coefficientof ftiction of frictionresultsin a forcethat decreases
the bit. As the hole is clrilled farlher horizontally,the weight on the bit
decrcases. This effectis commonlyreduced by usinglighlweightpipe ir the
horizontalsectionof the hole and heavierpipe or ddllcollarsin the verlical
section.Suclra string is refetredto as inveded.The makeupof an inverted
stringusedto drill an early,verylongholein theNormanwellsfieldis shown
f i e l da ss h o w ni n F i g 4 1 .
i n F i c . 5 . 2a n dS a l a m

I N V E R T F DD R I L LS T R I N G

- i2l mn' HEV|',ATE to SUFFACE

Fi9.5.2.

I'lowevcr,suggestionshave beenmade for using lightweight exotic materinls,

e. g., aluminum, titanium, or carbon-reinforcedplastics, in the horizontal
scctionol'holcs. Irr gcncral,howevcr,thcschavo bcen considotcdtoo costly
and it has not been found necessaryto developdrillpipes of this lype'

/ r . M . S .F n l x h : r l
 a ll. I lrillnriq: Ir,\ign l1

Heavy- Weight Drillpipe

Spiral DrillCollar

CompressiveS trength Drillpipe

MWD
Angle Build Molor,
207100 ft.
Btl

FletrievableWhipstock
I"ig- 5-3Drillslring ltsign /br lrilling tlnti gsc(tiou ol ttulitrn" nulitu
horizontal utell or draithole usittgMlltD tool.

The analysisof the forces on the drillstring as they affoct dmg and torque ate
of great interestto drillels and severalcontpanieslrave devisedcontputer
'lhcsc
;rtogtatrrsloL this analysis. clcpcnclupon a knowlcdgc(ol ollcn an
assunrption) ofthe coefficjentof friction betweenthe pipe and the hoJeand
nlost stem.

Accotdingly,a torqueand drag progtam developedby Maurer Engineering

was uscd in the drillstringdesign.The following assumptions/design
criteria
wereused:
l. A maximumof 15000lb weighton bit (WOB) would be required.

/)/. M.S. trarrhat

 ( tt. t lhilhtrirt: Ir'si(i 75

'lhc
2. nraxinrttnrWOR worrld hc rcqttircd clrrling <lrillinl; in lhc oricrrtcti
rrodc(sliding)al'l D (totaldopth).
3. It wouldbe acceptable aslong
to rotatetlredrillpipeu'hilein compression
as the criticalbucklingload and thc nlaximumbclldillgstresswele not
cxceeded.

'Ihus,
an jnve ed drillstring wottld be design
s p c c i f i c a t i o nAsn. i n v c t t c cdlt i l l s t t i n gc l c s i g n drillpipc
abovethc legulardlillpipe,as shownin Fig. anclFig.
5.6.
Heavy- Weight Drillpipe

Spiral Drill Collar

r Angle hold motor

..\^r
/ DTU, 1"- 4" I 10 0 fr.
. Stablllzed rotary tools Retrlevable
Whipstock

MWD
Bil

Compressive Strength Drillpipe

Fig. 5.4 Drillstring de;ign for drillin g ltorizontal sectionof rcdiutr raditt.t
lnrizutlul tvt'llot rlnitholc u,tingl,lll/1)trxtl.

'l
lrrrs,llrc rcgulardlillpipc as shorvnin lli1. 2..12and Fig. 5.7. lvottldbc rtttt in
c o t n p t c s s i o nF.i g . 5 . 8 s h o w st l r r r t h c c t i l i c a lb r r c k l i r r lgo l t l w o t t k l t r t r ll r c
r .l s o .l r i 1 l . 2 . I B| c I r ' u s c r rl l sr cr l r i l l s t I i r tl1l tlt l lw ( ) t l l ( l
c x c c < : r l t<: irrl | i n 1r ;' ( ) l ' r l i ( ) n
b c u s c r kl r t ! i l l l l r c 8 l / 2 i r r .l r o l c .

D/: M.S.Irxr:thrl
 CIl. Y Dti striry Desigli 76

AnctleBuildBottonr
Flole Assembly
Hcavy - Weiglrt Drillpipc

Drill Collar

Compressive
StrengthDrillpipe

SurveyTool
Angle Build Motor,
1.7 '/ f oot
Bir

RetrievableWhipstock

1 i11.5.5 l) illstr ing lesigrtJU'drilling tut i g se(tion oJucliuttr,tudius

hotizoutul tvell or dmlnhole usitlgsteet'ingst!rve\,lool.

Dr. i\{.S. Irarnhat

 '/7
I ll. , Ittilltrl't'ti Itt llltt

Anqle l"loldBottonr
Hole Assemblv
Heavy-WeightDrillpipe

Spiral Drill Collar

Anglehold motor
oo

c St a bilizedrotary to ors

Bir

Compressive
StrengthDrillpipe
Fig. 5.6 Drillstring tlesigrtfor tlrillirtg hr.u'izorltdl
sec on ol redirutt-r'rtdius
horizonta.lt'ell or drai hole usingsleeing sutret' tool

1he specifiedBHA s ale shownin Fig. 5.9 thtough5. i2. Otrly lwo stabilizcls
attdotrcittrttrcclialcly
rvoultibc trscd;onc on tlrc rlotor-[]clting ltoLtsing alxrvc
the rno{of.Fig. 5.9 and 5.10 shorvsthat BILrys dcsignftrl dlilling holizontal
ol'hotizonlalwcll Lrsing
scclior rlrcdiurr-radius slidingtnodcand r-olatynrode.
A l s o ,r i g . 5 - l l a n d5 . 1 2s l r o w st l r a tI J l l . ( s d c s i g i l c r |d r i l l i n gl u r n i n gs c c l i o n
and horizontalsectionoflorg-tadiusofholizonlalucll.

F[om casehistoryop an opposed-bore dual horizontalu'cil iu tbc ALrslion

fex:rs(t-lSA),it is lbundthst:in thc 121/2andlil/2
Clhaltformatiorol SotLth

Ir: h'LS. Ihl:lhnl

 (:11.Y Dri nri g Dcsisn 78

i r v c r t i c a ll x ) 1 c s , 4 . 5i r c L i l l p i p cl r r d 6 . 2 5 i n r l r i l l c o l l l l sw o u l d b c u s c d i n
conventionllt[ illiug configlrralions.
tfor the6.25 in. hole,lhe lollowingstrategywas
phnllc{1:
I. lolque arxlrllirgwoLrldbe nrininrizcdby running3.5 iD, 15.5lb/ft dlillpipein the
l r o r i z o n l il r lo l 0 i r r l c f v r l s .
2 . ( i r r ( i eS l l 5 r l r i l l p i l r cw o r r k lb u r r s r xilr r l l r e h o f i z o n t i rhlo l e . ' l l r eh i g l r l e n s r l u
slrenglhol this pipe is lot^ted in compression
thfoLrghthe high cloglegsin the
cuwij (lulningsljclioD).
3. ALlequale
3.5 in heavyweighl drillpipcwoulclruDin the verlicalhole to proride
wcighlod L)it(WOll) and to ovcroonrcholc d.agwhilc orieDled.
4. llcrrdingslrcsscsi nrersurelrent
whilc drilliltg collar corDeclionsand in tlte
downholcnrotor would be mininrizcclwith nonntagnetic,
coftlpressive
seNlce
dfillpipc(NMI(Si)l')asshowrlinlrig.2l2inplace
r ooul m a g o e t di cr i l l c o l l a r s .

Articulated
Plpe

Compresslve
Strength
Pipe

Fig. 5.7 lllidtlttel drillpipe dDtlcatnptessi|esr'et\th (ltillpipe 5in-\rutt-ktlats

D . N l . SF
. : r r| h i t
 CII. I' Dtt st'i'ry Desig 79

!-ig. 5.8 Buckling lootl ts. hole anglefot'4.5 i , 20 ft tlrillpve.

StringStabilizer
AnEIeHold Motor

Section

BearingHousingwith
Ceniralizer/ Stabilizer

Bir
Fig. 5-9BLl,'lrlesignJor slidingmodedw'ingdrilling horizonlalseclionoJ
netlhn>rulius tlf horizontalu'ellor drairthole.

Dr. vl.S.Ihrnlrt
 CII. I' Dti rhitls D.,!itn llll

Angle Flotd Tool

Rotary
Speclal
Drlll Strlng

Stabillzer
Sccllon

s Bir

Itig. 5.10 Specialdrill.slringde.signJttrt'otdt.t'nndedL!ritg drilling horizontol

scclion oftitediukt iddius ofhori.o ttl t<:ll or dtuittltolc.

Dr. A'1.S.
Ii':rrnhrt
 C -V Dti s it'g Desis 8I

String Angle Build Motor

St abilizer 20"i 100'
Bent Sub

lu4otorSection

Kick - olf Sub

Upper BearingHousingwith
Centralizer/ Stabilizer
Tilted Drive Shafl
Bir
lrig. 5.1I l) I t.4 desiguJbr drilling ttutting sectie,no1flong+atlius cj horizot LtuI
nell.

I). l\t.S.lrnrrhat
 CIL I/ IrillstrirB D.sigu 82

Strinq Stabilizer AnEle Hold Motor

1-4" / 100'
Motor Section

Double Tilted
U - Joint
Bearing Housing with
Centralizer/ Stabilizer
Bit
Fig. 5.12 lllJA design.[ordrilling ltorizolttal sectionoflong rodius of
hu izrtttttl m,ll.

A j o i n t o t N M C I S D Pt e s e n r b l easl o i n t o f 3 . 5 i r r .h c a v y - w c i g hdtr i l l p i p cI.t i s

nra ul'acturedby milling the OD o1'a 4.'i5 in. tool joints. 'fwo I ft loug
sections,evcnly spaceclol tLrepipe bodv, are lefty unnrillcclto for.rnwear
knotsas slro\,vlt in Flg. 2.12.A fulJjoint oi NMCSIIP is rrrnabovethe MWD
collal anda |0-ftjoinIwith no wearrlragrcticallyisoiatethc M\\rD scnsors.

D/: i\t.S. nrr.rhat

 CH,Y Dti ltti,tg Dtsigtl rJ3

Srrgsrirr &Aryt: pLtstLt(ll!!r!!L cun,el holeltllJllJtirSgttlilJ!

'l'he
a l o n gr r c r i r v c dl r o l ci s b e n tl i k c a b c a t na n c il s s t r c s s c ( l
< l i i l l s l r i npga s : ; i r g
'l
accorclingly. he rrraxirnunrlerlsileslfess in the wall of tlre pipe cau be
estimalodas showrrin Fig. 2.13and is givcnby the followingequation:

o,= Maxirnrrrnstrc:;s: E (Ii,"/R),

whereE is Youug'snrociulus ofclasticity,R* is the radiusofthe drillstr:ing

arrtl
I { i s t h cra r l i u so l e r rvr a t u r co l ' t h ol r o i " .

lf, in adclitionto bcing aroundlhe cttn atureof the hole,the drillstringis also,
rotating,tlre stiesscsat any point on the circumferenceof the string vary l'iorD
tensileto corrplcssiveas il rotates.This tcnds to causemetal litiguc. lrr
addilion, bccuuscllrc pipc is not continuous,but in sectiousjointcd l)y
couplings,the stfcssesare greoterthaDcalculatedfiom the simple eqttatit'n
above.It follows then, that if equation(1) is to be used thcre should bc a
lirctofol sirfoty.Nazzcl(1990)suggests
srrbstanlial fol steclcollars,n stfcssol'
20000psi combiDeri with a factorof safctyof2, shouldbc used.'lhisrcsul{sin
a valueof 10000psi {o be usedin the aboveequation.Ihis valueis usedin thc
follorvirtgcxamplc.

Ex. I:

Cirlcrrlatc llre radirrsol'cuwatureto u,hicha cylindlicalddllcallaIcarrbc bcrtl

willuruLcxccctlirrgir lunsilostlossol 70 Mpa (100{-}0 psi), assrttrtirgYo ug's
nrodLrlus ol'clasticily is 200000Mpa (29'k10''psi) and ttre collar diamctelis
1 2 7r r r n(r5 i r r). .

Sohttion:

= 12.01)0001701*|27121*.001
R = [f)lo,]R,- n- l8l m(s951i).

0 1 =t c n s i l os l r c s sp, s i( M p a ) .

1lr M.S.['arrhrrt
 CII. l, Drillstuing DesiC" 84

Or,
R = [E/ol R,": [29* 106 I l2l = 604 ft
/ 1000]*512*Ll

l hcrcfore, thc values in thc following table werc calculated ir the same
(usingEq. l):
rrraincr'

'l'ablc
5 . 1 :C ' a l c r r l r t tl cl idl l o o l l r r l r I r l a f oLrr 1 .1
Collor dianreler Re drudi s Angle-buikl

Ifiches ft "/to -

50 2.0 71 234 24
15 3.0 107 152 l6
100 3.9 l.l3 469 12
125 4.9 17,) 586 9.6
150 5.9 2t4 703 8.0
I /i 6.9 250 820 6.9
'7.9
200 286 93'7 6.0

Flom this tablc it b€ seenthat evenlarge-dianretcr drillcollalsare sttfficicntly

llcxiblclo bc uscdlor long radirrsdrillirg, c.g.(r'l30nr (l(X) lt). Willt tttcclittttt
radiusd|illing, theseis an increasingrestrictionon the dianrctctoflhc ttlbulars
thatcanbc uscdas cloglegsevelity"/30rrris irtclcasul.A cliatttclcr of 75 nrnris
neededfor a devia{ionof 16"/30m(R = 107nr or'352ft).

For no axial load, an allowablebendingslressof 18000psi ensuresGradeE

pipe rernainsbelow the fatiguccmlurancclimit of 107cyclcs.CratJeS pipe a
maxinrumallowablebendingstressof 21000 psi.

Dr. lI.S. ltarahnt

 CIL V Dti shi'19 )).sign 85

Le pth of s rigid c)'litrder wlticlt cttn ass along e g!!t!9!L!!,ell willry-q-t

distortion
1'lrelimiting lcngth, L, of a rigid cylinder that can passalong a hole sectionof
curvature radius, R, can be calculatedfrom the geometry of the diagram tn
Fis.5.l3.

GLOMF
tRy or nrcrocvrrr,roen
rr,rcunvEoHoir

Fig. 5.13.

UsingPythagorastheoremfor thetrianglemarkedwith the heaqrbrokenline:

R'?:(L/2F+(R-AD),,
Or,
(r./2F: R'?: (R'z2RAD+ (AD)1,

Whichif we neglectthc AD'term becomes,

| 2 sq.root(2RAD).
NotethatR andAD nust be in tlresameunitsasL.

Dx 2:

It is plannedto build an articulatedmotorconsisting of straighlcylindrical

scctions joints.Assumitrg
jointedtogcthcfwith flcxiblcparticulated thomotor
is 95 nrmin diamcter,whatwoultlbc themaximumlcngthof nrolorsectionil-

.)r. M.S. lr.lrahrt

 ( ll. I lrillntit{ lt.\iryt BG

it is desiredto drill holcswith a deviationof20 /30 nr (100 ft) and ifbcnding

ofthe nrotor sectionis to be avoided. Tlre hole diameteris to be l2l mm.

Solutiort:

l. Calcrrlateradius ofcunr'ature
I I R / l 8 0 1 0 / 2 0l h u s .I l - 3 6 r n .
2 . L D = t l z l 9 5 ) /1 0 0 0: 0 . 0 2 (nr r
L = 2 sr1root (2*86*0.026= 4.2 m or 13.9ft.

'I
he allorvablelengthsfor the samehole and tool diamelersand for other build
ralesare calculatedbelow.

Table 5.2:C
able5.2: Calcul
culatedaccountab enslhdate.
"/30rn (100ft) R CalculntcdL
M ft m Irt
25 69 225 3.8 12.4
20 88 282 4.2 13.9
t5 I l8 316 4.9 16.0
l0 172 564 6.0 19.6
5 344 1128 8.5 27.8

Thc fol|'wing lableshowsthc calculatecl

clcflmnce,AL),nleas!rc(lin nrrrrand
inches,rcquircdto accommodate 10. 5 and 2.5 m long lools in holeshaving
c r l v c t r r r ,n r d i i o [ 5 0 , 1 0 0a r r d2 0 0r n .

,,.. M.S. rrrahaf

 ( IL I Itrilht,irg tt, \ign lt7

Table5.3:Cl tween DolL-ano toot d

rcc rcqurrcot)erween i
olamclct-s.

___fglefr"jItl rrdius Boledianretcr'-tool

C)l)
m r:T::
L: 10 nt or 32.8ft
50 t64 250 !,.8
100 32ii 125 4.9
200 6e6 63 2.5
L:5mor16.4ft
50 164 63
100 323 3l 1.2
200 656 _L 16 ll no
L : ) - Sn o r 3 - 2f t
50 t64 16 t,.6
i00 328 8 0.1
200 656 4 t).2

Although calculationsof this types illustratethe dii'ficultyof conductrrrg

a
st!aighl k\)l along a curvcd hole. thcy assuntethc.c is no berr,-liirg
slrcss
exertedby the string abovc arrd bclorv thc tool, i. Fi., i1 is iissrrrnerl the
conncctiorlis madcb1,a lleriblc.joinl.or lhlt (hc lool is conncctcrlto flcriblc
sub. Lr the bcnding rnoment applied to it, at cithor cnd, by thc connecting
tubulars.

l). ilt.lt Ixr ri[nt

 (IL l I lt'.ll (i,rpltaiu! 88

Crr,lpren VI

II onrzoxt'al Wur-r,Compr,nrton
TncHnrqrms

'l
he conrpletionof a horizontalwell or drainltolemustbe choseoiu thc light of
t h c f r r t r r r r ' c v o l u t i o ln' t h c n a t u r co:f t h c l l u i c l sp t x i r r c c da l o n g{ h c l r o r i z o r r t a l
,' oll or drairrlroleandthc sclcctivcproductionncedstllat ivill ensLrre.

I)?.finilitrccottrylelio,r: the choice of the partitioning of {he drainhole and of

tlrccornp,,sition of thc liner nrustbc nradcvcry qrrickly.I'hcdccisionnraybc
y nd {ionl MWI) ot gcostctrittg
l ' ; r s c d , ' r r l a t al i t ' u r t h c g e o l o g i c asl L r r v c a
{cohniqueor rvireliuelogging.,A.nothcloption rnigl]t consistin partilionlng
ilre drainholeindependently of the characteristics
of the reseruoir.IIorr,o,er,
this choicervhichtechnioallyis nol idcal, may lead to very high conrpletion
,rrstsin nraly field cases.

I anltorarl' <trrrtpleliotr: fot' consolidatcd fotnrations wlrere o|en-hoie

productioris possiblc,thc dcfinitivechoiceofihc cornpletion rnaybe dcfr.rrcd
irnd a dccisiontiiketrlaler on accordingto tlrc productiondata.In pla(iicc,
r:clcctivcl)rocfuctionrvill be decidedon only rvlrcnunwanlcclfluirlsbcgin l,r bc
prroduccd. 1hc cltoicc ntay also bc dcfcllcd if it is possiblcto rrrr irr an
'rrrcemcnk:d pcrloratcdlitlcr and lo rcl)l:rccil latcrby a sclcctivcconrplcliorr.

',\/hcrclstltc lcrnpotaryconrPlctiorr solution is prcfcrablc,it is not alrvays

'l'hc
{i asiblc. diffcrcnccbetwcenthc lwo possibiliticsiics in the (lataflvailablc
lirr choosillgthc lype ofconrpletionand in the tillrebetwecnthe acquisilicnof
t l r e sd
c a l ; irr r r Jt l r cr r r r r n i r irng t h eI i n e l

Dr.,\1.S.l'xrrihiil
 CH. YI tt cll Conu't.tior 89

Thus, in any case,the solution to be adoptedwill consistin choosinga typc of

cornpletionthat is suitedboth to the geologicalcharacteristicsencounteredand
to the optirrrumconditionsfor selectiveproductionvia the dtailhole lt is
thcrefore,necessaryto have tecbniqucsfor:
1) Describinga resenoir from a horizontalwell or drainhole
2) Estirnating the production incrcasesthat may be obtaiued as tlre rcsult of
selectiveproduction.

fu -Ultq:! t9!:!4 a4t4tlQ!!r,at!!s!4s!li !!

6.1 Cotnplelipn4lepbtplpsles
Borelrcle

Fig. 2,2 showsthe radial boreholecondition after drillstring placoment.At that

point the system consisting of a horizontal radial borchole continuing a
drillstring with its drillhead in place. To provide sand control or florv
regulation,the radialsmay be completedby altemativeptocesses.

The firct processinvolves only an FSD (flexible sandbarier) and includes:

l. Elcctrochemical cutoffofthe drillheadfrom the drillslling.
2. Pumping down of the FSD through the open-endeddfillstrjng to permit a
barbedspearanchorto cxpandagrinstthe fonrration.
to lcavcthc IISDarrchtncdin placc.
3. Withdmwalofthc dLillstLing

ll he second altemative processinvolves use of thc drillstring as perforation,

ard the FSD with:
l. Electrochemicalcutoffthe drillhead fro the drillstring.
2. A two-step(two-life) gmvel packingprocessto provide 10096fill of the
radial boreholeannulusaroundthe drillstring.
3. Electrocbemical perforation of the drillstring along its entire leogth
dowrrholcaftcr thc first lift ofgravelpacking.
4. Placementof the FSD within
onteringthe drillst.ing through its perforations.

Electroche,tricalc..rojtt the first electrochcmicalprocessis io cul offthe drill

hcad at the rose of thc drillstring after placement.Ihe cutoff tool is simple an
insulatcdrnctaltlisc connccted by an clcctticcablcto an clcctticwcll or powcr

I),-.M.S. rauhflt
 CII..VI llall Cornpletion 90

srlrlroe.A cablc stop is placed on the cablc that rvill stop at the top of the
rlrillstringand accuratelylocatethe cuttingtool at the desiredposition.

'llre
eleclr-ocherrrical
cutoff tool has been useclsucccssfullyin thc field to cut
o ff mole than 500 drillstring.The advantageof electrochemicalcutting over
cxplosivcsis that no slratteredpipe or shar-pedgesare l'ornred.The tool is vcry
costeffccliveand reliabledownhole.

lllectrochcnical perforatiort: perforation by electrochcmicalproccsscsis

irocornplislred downholeafter the 1.25 in dlillstring in place.A flexible lube
(l;ig. 6.1) rs pumpeddown tlre vefticalworkstringand throughthe 1.25 in
,hillstring.The perforationtube continuousan insulatedflexible conductor
rlithin thc tube wall. Small porls lined with elcch'icallyconductivcrnatcrial
;rrc installedirr the tube and connectto the corrductorwithin the nerforation-
lrrbe wall. When bl'ine is punrpeddown the well and entersthe perloration
lrbes,a.jctof electrolyte flow thtougheachpod. An eleclricwelderis usedto
( rcate il litc 1,1"'"r, cnrrcnt) in the perforationtubc conduclor..Ilach gror-t
lrr:colnes 'flic
rrn clcctrocheur ical drilling jet. result is a scriesof oligrted
in the 1.25 in. drillstring.'rhese
lx'r'foratioirs pcrforationtools provicleabout
r0
I sirrrultancorrs pcrforations thatcanbc or.icrrlcd in any dircction.

Radial
Tube
.l

Porlornlor.
C s n t r a l i z oFr i n s
C o o x i aE
l loclrical
B r a i dC o n d u c l o r

Fig 6.I Llectrochenical perforator.

1)r. IVI.S.l'arahat
 CII.l/I lYc Contletio,l 9l

I,',lB (Jtcxibtesaul bttt'ticr): A tlcxiblcslotlcdlincr wasclcvclqrcrlb bc rrsccl

aloneor to backup theperforations.

l r c l . l l L r b c s, r r p c r f i c i a l lsyi n r i l a r ' l oc o r r v c n l i o n l l
I t i s a l r c l i c a l l yl i ) l l l r c ( n
flcxiblc-metalconductfor electricalwirirrg.'l'heFSI3nray bc ptrrrlpcdout ol'
thc cutoff noseof thc | .25 in dlillslringand anclloredinto thc fomrationby IIn
expandi|gset of barbson a spcer.The drillstringcan then be pullcd back 1()
leavethe bare FSB anchoredin place

Alternatively,the FSB nray be punrpeddown the drillstring10 serveas an

Fig. 6 2 shorvsa schcnlaticand two
inncr slottedliner fot thc petforations.
cr.osssectionsof the FSB. Figs 6.3 and 6.4 show schenraticplacerrentsion a
formation. lnitial tests shows a combined effect of good sand exclusion and
effective transpqrt of high viscosity oil througb the helical joints at low
pressurcdrop.

WITI] PENFONATEDRAOIAL 'UE:

S c h e m a t i cR e p r e s e n t a t i o n
I

w nr r n ^ u r l l r u a F : M r v E D
Cross-section

,.-".,,ffi.n***L"*-"9tr"3
O p e n e dJ o i n t C r o s s * s e c t i o n

Fig.6.2. Itig. 6.3.

D/. M.S.F^rnlt,rt
 AL W lI/cI CoDtl'ltlio' 92

Casing
S u c l < e rR o d
Vertical
Slotted Liner

ilirai'|F'|rer
HAV ZONE
ii i i r r n r ! rI
L l t L L I l r ri ti r r l r i l l l l l l l L l l i I l l l l l l l l l i l I r r L r l t l 1 1r , nr r , r r i n r L r r l r r
'."]0"
[i sandBarrier
Pump il (

Fig. 6.4 Completed radial systent with gravtty clrainage.

l+li+u+
llorizontalgravelpacking:graveipackingcanbe accomplished by a twoJift
lilling proccsswjth a watet/gfavelslurry.In the first lift, gravelis puntped
tlownthe ddllstringand out of its cutoffnose.Conventional sutfacegravel
paokingequipnentis used.Aftcr leavingthc opennoseof the dlillstring.the
g,r'avelsluny flows back towardthe wellborethroughthe horizontalboreltole
rnnrlusaroundthedrillstring. Fig. 6.5showsthc proglessive stagcsol'grtvcl
packing.

lo glavclpacl<successfully dulirg thc lllst lill, tlrcmatcfialnlustbc puttrpcd

lt a sufficient rate to ensuretrunsportof the gtavel within tlrc 1.25 in
It is foundthat a suitablepumpingmtc is in excessof 7 ft3/sec.
rlrillstring.
onccthc slurtyrcenters theattnulus of thchorizontal tadialborcholc,whichis
typicallyabout4 in. in diameter.This largerdiameterof the radial borehole
r:lusesthe sluna mixturesto slow and tlre gravelto scttlc,fonninga dune

Dr-.Nl.S.I^r:rhrl
 CIL I'l tl'tU Con'tndiou 93

within the annulusthat trrovesfiotn tlrenoseofthe dlillstringbaclitowardthc

vcrticalwellbotc.As tlreduneparlicularlylills thc radialbotcholcattttttltts,
an
ullage ( a flow spacewith a flat bottom and curvod top) is createdbetweenthe
lolr of lhc radial borcholcanri lhc tlcposilcdgrnvcl tlttnc lhc rrllagcrs llrc
foundalionof the self regulatingcharacteristics of this horizorrlalgfavcl
packing lrtoccss.tf gravcl gradrrallycloscsoff lhc trllagc in a slandoll it
causesthe fluid velocityto increaseand thus ctodeout, caflyillg rllole ol thc
gravel back toward the wellbore.lf the ullagc enlarges,thc vckrcity of the
sluny slowsandmoregmvelsettles,fonninga higherduue.

GravolMov6m6nt GrevelMov€ment
in First Lill in SocondLirt

:1, 6) secrionor Hon?onrJr3D'ehoto e)Gr.vel Floa lhrouglr !li.qe

c) conlinled Mov€menl

d) Conclusionol First Lllt h) 1000/0Fill Cotrrplelion

Fig. 6.5 Progres"sive.s/agcsof grat,el pa<:kittg.

At tcasl,Fig. 6.3 anclFig, (r.4show total cotrrplctionsys(cttrsitrcotpotrttittg

FSB alone or gravel packing and perforation and FSB placenrent in the
cfiillstring for the ullta-short radius ladial systcnl.

D,: lV.S.Farihrt
 CII.l/I I|. Co',' tthn 94

(t,2 Comnletiorr r Short-Radiu s, Mctli un -Ratli

Radius of Horizotttsl Welk Dreinholes

lrig. 6.6 and Fig. 6-7 slrows a schematicdiagramsof vafious com!llction

r)ptionsfor shorfradius,medium-radiusand long-radiusof horizontalwclls
lnd drainholes.Thesecompletionaspectsare describedbelow.

hhro nrD1.r'i h h,,,rnrn sdr(ri roo"l

An oxoninlo"l.lldpo coorpl6liorronrosDnli'rlr
somooll||. oDlloirs.v.ilnl,ln

Fig.6.6 Tailpipe contplelionin open hole ofhorizontal tt'ell.

B a s i c T y p e s o l C o D r t l e t i o nJ o r l l o r i r o h t a t W e s

-\ \r--\-\-
l i r s l n r t c l ll i ' r r i n o t r r t rh r l .

-[-]-lr-
'r) s!dr(llhs h n,,m htri.
.) Cr1.(l,.rnrnilitr(l tr Iorrl((l nirI nhrl, s.i{n{r ini tl( l's

Fig.6.7 Basic f,pes of coutplelionfor horizontol well,s.

.D,rIU.S,liar.hit
 alLIl lt t ll 1 .',ttldldt 95

6.2.1Oaenhole compluiott

Open hole completionis incxpcnsivebut is limitcd to complctionreservorr

rocks.Accotdingly,it is difficult lo stimulatothis opcn holc (|iig. 6.7 up Icft)
arrdto control either injcction or productionalong the well length. A few early
horizon{llwclls hnvcbccnoorrrplctcrl ()l)cnholc but lho l)rcsL:rrl
lrcrrtlis u way
fiom using openholecompletions,exceptin formationssuch as Austin Chalk.

6,2.2 Tail comolelionand sl.ottedlhrcr conryletiotr

Fig. 6.6 shows the tailpipe completion in open hole of horizontal well. This
tailpipccornpletionis intcndcrlto rclrcscntonly sorncof thc optionsavailablc
for well completions. In some reservoit, or parts of the [cscrvoirs, the
horizontalwell may be managedby non-cementedlines.

l herefore,tl'temain purposeof inscrting a slottcd liner in a horizontalwell is

to guide hole collapse.ln addition, a liner provides a convcnicntpath to insert
various tools such as coiled tubing (CT) in a horizontal well. Slotted lincr rs
installed in open hole when the reservoir is unconsolidated or loosely
consolidatedsands(Fig. 6.7- up rigbt). Also, cased,ccmcntc<lanil perforated
liner which is expensiveand is used in long horizontal section(Fig. 6.7 dorvn
lcft). Slottcdliner in opcnholewith blanksectionsand externalcasingpackcrs
(liCP's). This is intermediatefomr ofcompletion technique.

However,thereare five tlpes ofliner have beenused,namely:

l. Perforuted liner: where holes are drilled in the liner befrorelanding the
liner into the openhole ofhorizontal well.
2. Slotted li er: where slots of various with and depth are rnillcd along lhc
liner lengthbeforelandingthe lincr into lhe openholeoI lrorizortalwcll.
3. Prepacked liners.' slotted lirrersprovide limited sand control bv selected
hole size and slot width sizes. However, these liners aro susceptibleto
plugging in unconsolidatcdforrnations,rvire wrapped slotted lin€rs havo
been used effectively to control sand production. Recently, the use of
gravel packing for effective sand control in horizontal wcll has bccn
'lhc
succcssfullyprovcd. of a shrltctl lino is llri!t
rrairr disadvarrtagc

Il,r. M.S. Falihilt

 CE. Yl we Co tl.ti'n 96

effectivewcll stimulationcouldbe dimcult, dueto thc openannularspacc

between the liner and the wcll. Similarlv selective Droduction and
injection proceduresare diffi cult.
.t. Llnu'wilh I,o lal lsolnlion: roocntly,oxlcrrol cnsingl)rokus (li('l"s)
have been installed outside the slotted liner to provide a long horizontal
s€ctiul into severalsmall seclions.This methodprovideslimited zone
isolation, which can be used for stimulation or production control along
thc rvcllpathor length.
Cenreriedand perforated lirtet: liner is possibleto cement and perforate
mcdium and long radii horizontal wells. Cement usod in horizontal weil
completionshould havc significantly less free water contentthan used for
verticirl well cementing.This is due to gmvity in a horizontal well, where
ftec v,ater segregatesnear the top poftion of the well and heavier ccment
'l
settlcsat the bottom. his resultsin a poor cementjob. To avoid this, it is
imporl.antto conduct a frec water test for cementat least 45'. In additior.
the conventionalAPI free water test is conductcdin the vertical position.

Also, Fig. 6.8 and 6.9 show schematicofproduction liners in both well Ilrryar
3HZ and well Salarn-7l{Zirt Egyptianwestemdesert.Fig.6.10showsanothcr
casehistory for rveil completionstatus.

, D / .M . S . I a r a h a t
 CIL YI lr'. (ot'rlctit,' 97

oW.oz0ll tv oI

. o o ' ! ! 0 1 ! L v : t o t . t st : l s - A . 2 , / ! I
{,zl0ll- 8 Z!60ll95C )$tVlS .Z/l I

,s zt60t Iv I
IAIY U:tddY-lJ.z/t

(,1160t-.8z9ot)
cs3 c:lllo-ls.z/t 9

{,ezsot-,02?0t)
9 5 t ) l N v _ t €- z l l 9

(,8ZlOl-.1c9 6)
0s3 o?Ilols.z4 t

, 0 01 c 9 e l v
31livs ufldYoY .z/t s

.09'9896 lV
BXd 9S3'IYNA:tIX!

* ',!; . 00 ' 8 c 4 8 I Y
lrt i;
d ;.t u3lN3W3 C SOH.Z/! I
=d
f .F
:<

;l<

B=
oo

rr -I
zN zts

oo
Fdi

Fig. 6.8 Schenntic ofproduction liner ir well llayar 3HZ.

D,. M.S.l'arahrt
 CH.I'I lrle Con c,iou 98

604'

t 65 4 '

l7 t4'

7430'

f5f4.t2'

76S6'

Fit. 6.9Scllematicofproductiotlli er in well Salam-7Hz.

Dr M.S. Farahaf
 CE VI WeIl Cottltletiotl 99

Barenburg
39 a

p"
i
E! ! F
gl 9!

ii .i:ii ii , , , . ; , .;,.:.:;.,::;::.,i,,r,rr
Lr:.: r-r:t':.:r:
59o|l6nple|c<lF6eoi&dbn

Fig. 6.10Final conrpletionstalus

Dr--M.S. Farahat
 CII. |'II Cl & L\!!! lli:turi.\ llJll

CuAIrEnVII

APPLICATIONoF COII,ED TunTNc Tx

Honlzol{raL DRTLLTNG
ANDMULTI-LATERALCnsB Srunrss nNn
HtsroRrns

7.Uegiled Tuhing-Dri!!!r!g

l(ccently,thcrc has been activity in drilling ho zontal wclls usirrgcoilcd

trrbing for the drill string together with a bent mud motor. Coiled tubing
cquipmenl,ratherthan a conventionaldrilJ rig, is used. Sevemlsuccessful
holeshavcbeendrilledin the AustinChalkusingthis techniqLre. Althoughthis
is rrotyct viable commercially,{hc prospcctslb| thc {irturcap|cal
l,..ohniquc
11ood.

'lhe
equipmentusedto drill the first hole with coiledtubing is shown in lrig.
/ .1,7.2,1.3,7.4. The sidetrackhole from an existingverticalwell was drilled
.Ihe
rvith 2 in. OD coiled tubing for a horizontallcngthof 504 m (1652 ft).
Iubing had a tensile strengthof 60000 lb and the tubing injector could exert a
push-pullforceof60,000lb.

One ofthe problem inherentin this techniqueis that the coiled tubing, because
i{ is comingfrom a reel,canrrotbe rotatcdto orientcdthe drill nrotor.l hrs tras
hoenovercomeby using an orientingdeviccbchindthe drill nrotorA srrbis
lrcing <lcvelopcdthat can be arljustcdlionr lhc sutlicc via a wilclinc t<r
orientedthc drill face. The diameterof the hole drilled by this techniquc has
hcen too snrall to allow the nse of MWD cqrripnrent, but wirclinc stccring
lools arc used successfully.MWD tools arc now availablcc. g., advrnccd
MED (geosteeringtools) that can probably be adaptedto this sewice. Since
coiledtubingnormallyhasa wirelinewithin it, this doesnot prcsentthc sitnrc
problen as that found with jointed drill strings.The methodmay developto

,r-. tr|.S.F:|rrhrt
 CH.l/II CT & Case|lisbties I01

, cd6d iubhs */sLih.

cdr rbqlerr! h. coioldd

adtuiqbh ro!. uP sub

ch!cr vdrl8rc|

Fig. 7.1 Wellboreand directional BHA.

C o i l e dT u b l n gC o n n e c l o r

Navl-Drlll
H
IL]
Slarthg Mlll u
U
il
WhlpstockAssembly fl
Iqi l -D
D'rl l

a
Irig.7.2 Wit1.loi.t,
cuttiqg assenl ies Fig.7.3 l)1t,4for E trith C7

,r-. M.S. Farahnt

 CH. l/ C7 & Cas. llistotics lD2

:il{.p 1 S[ep 2 SLep 3 SLep 4 Sl.cl) a)

Fig. 7.4 Sicletr.ackpl'ocedures.

\\/here it is usellulfor the rcworking and re,completionof existiug wells

lithout lcquir-inga drill rig. I-Iowever,severalinprovementsare necessary
Lcfore tlrc method can be cornpetitiveeconornically.

r'oiled trbing dtilling may be particularlyuseful fol under balanccdrilling

l)ccauscit is not neccssaryto conlinuallyaddednew sectionsof dr.ill;lrPc.
llcvcralcolrparricsatc actingdcvelopirrg
toolslirl coilcdtubingdrillirrg.
!

.2 Mttltilmunl CoseStndies

t\lultilatcralwells are consideredby many to be arnongthe nrostin'rportant

lcchnoJogical bteakthroughs to be introducedto the oil andgasindustry.'l-hey
plovidelhe capabilityto drainthe resen,oir moreefficientlyresultingin an
increase(l rateof rocoveryin mostreservoirs.Industryleadershaveestinrated

Dr-.M.S. Farahai
 Cn. UI CI & Cls( Ilhtotias 103

ll)irt lhc use of nrultilateral systemswill allow rccovery r tos to inorcaset{)

l]( lwccl 30 1()6()Itorccnlo I lly(lr()cit
I hols ilr lrlacc.

Some tlrillirg scrvicescoltinue to be thc leaderin the new gcrerationof

n r | r l l i l i l l c r fcl l i l l i n g a n d c o n r p l c l i o tsry s l c n l sO
. r n r | l l i l l r l c r a:lr y s l c l l tisl r c
dcsigncd for case of use and can be customizedto sewice nearly all
multilatcral drilling needsi The following case studies offer.just a few
c\ilurplcsofwhal wc car accornplishrvilh locrrson cttslonrcrscrvico.

22.!:eqe_1(Fir1,5)

In 1996 and 1997, Sperry-sunsuccessfullyinstalled several95/8 in RMLS1M

RetrievableMultilateral Systemfor Occidentalpetroleum of eatat Ltd. fronr
ol'lshorcrig SANTA FE 127locatcdirr the ldd El Shargificld,Oftilror.cealar.
in tlrc Arbian Culf.'Ihe RMIS providesfull-boreaccessto the lat,:ralwhilc
nrairtainirgunrcstrictcd acccssto lhc rrain wellbolebclorvllrc latcr;tl.Onc o['
thescwclls was drilled as a dual lateralwith a single5 in. complctionwhiclr
pcrmilsseiectivereentryof eithcrlateralutilizinga specialkrol stringinstalled
or coilcdtubil1g.

Occidentalhad determinedthat the ISND ShuaibaFormation recoverywould

bc enhancedby drillirrg multilatcral wellbores in both the Shuaiha A and B
Members. Historically, production from vertical wells in this ficid has bcen
low, yicldingonly 300 bopd,u?ithratesup to 3500bopdbeingachievcrlin rarc
instanceswhere wells intersectedfaults. Occidental also deci<lcdtha,.it was
imperative for the futurc managontentof the Shuaibareservoit to desi.rninto
these wells the ability to leenter each wellbore selectiv€ly. The mosr cost_
effective method to aclrievethis is thc use of multilalcrutldrilling an<l
complction technology.With thc use of multilatcml. actual proclur:tron
pcrfon'nancehas matchedor exceededexpectationswith increases600y0rrver
ptevious production rates. lnitial production rates have averagcd4056 bopcl
pcr fateral, with individual wells producing up to 7724 bopd frorn both the
ShuaibaA and B. lollowing sevcralweeks of production,the wclls trave
stabilized,with one well, averaging6000 bopd combinedproductionfr.onr
both laterals.

D,. N{.S.F'nmhrf
 a lL l/I ( 1,\ (-t1!' Il^tlri's llltl

Fig.7.5

1)r.N{.S.Farahat
 CH. VII CT & Case fiisto es 105

This well was planned and drilled dual lateral well with medium reach
horizorltalwellboresin both the ShuaibaA and B. the 9 5/8 in ploductiou
casingwas run to 6138 ft. MD. The RM LS windowswas set at 5476 ft. MD
with thc KOP at a 78 inclinationat 5488ft. Ihcjunction ofthe upperShuaiba
A lateml with the prinrarywellborewas cemcntedat 4817 ft MD at a 90.4
irrclination.The lowcr was thcn drilled to 12686MD. This welJ is currently
being flowed as a Shuaibadual lateralproducerbr.rtwill evenhrallybc placcd
into scrviceas a poweredwater injection well.

7.2.2Case2 (Fip. 7.6)

Sperry-suncomplotedthc first 9 5/8 in LTBSTMcementedlateral for Mobil of

Canadain November 1996.thc installationof the 9 5/8 in LTBS in well
AD 10-35/1D16-35-18- 17-W3in Battrum,Saskatchewan, Canadawas only thc
third suchcommercialapplicationofthis technologyworldwidc.'llriswasalso
tllc first lateral reentry nade to on flate an annular casing packer for stagc
ccnrenting.

This well was drilled to drain two Roseray sand zoncs separatedby an
impermeablclaycr multilatcralsarc cxtremelyeffectiveirr drainingrcservoirs
separatedby impenrcablc rock layers and in decreasingovemll capital costs
rcquiredto devclop rcscr-vcs.

ln this heavy oil application,a 9 5/8 LTBS window joint was installed in the
nrain casingstringsarr 8.5 in main bore lateralwas dlilled fronr thc cusing
shoe and tlren lined with 5.5 in wire wrapped scrcens.A secondary6.5 in
lateral was drilled and lined with 4.5 in rvire wrapped screcns through thc
LTBS windows. The lateral was reenteredusing a completionsdcflection tool
to inflate the ACP and stagecementthejuncture ofthe main casingand lateral
linet. After removing{lrccomplctionsdcfiectiontools,full-borcacccssto both
lrtcralsis availablc.

./)r.M.S. Farrhat
 ( tl.I ll (-1 .\ (nr Ili\!ui^ lll(t

Fi14.7.6.

/)/'. N{.S.Fr[rl!:rf
 C . I tl ( 7 tr Ca\. tttsL,i.s t0't

7.2-l!sss ltf!c,7.])

During Septcrnbcr
1996,Spcrry-sun -l
antl DresserOil ools succcsstirlly drillcd
and completeda biplanarmultilateralrvcll using Sperry-srrn
s L'l BS l,ateral
Tie-Back Systcm with selective through-tubingreentry and isolation
capabilitiesprovided by the DresserOil Tools LRS Lateml Reentry System.
Thc muftilateral 2l1I)-l7AlB off the Bravo platfotm- was conrpletcd for
PhillipsPetroleumNorway in thc EldfiskField in the Crcatcl Dkofiskarcaof
thc Norwcgian Sectorin the North Sea.

Phillips Petroleum chose to use the LTBS and LRS prirrarily f{)r selective
isolation and shut-in capabilities rvhile maximizing the productive flow
conhol. The combinedsystemalso allows accessto the primary casingwhile
maintaining full-bore accessto the laterals,which may be re-enlcredat any
tinre dLu-ingthe life of the u,ell. Without the usc of thesespccializedsystenrs,
Phillips could not economically producs the remaining reserves in this
rcscrvoirc.

Zone the higher pemreability Cbalk formation knorvn as the Tor- as well as a
secoudhodzontal latcml in thc shallowerEkofisk forrnation.l)rclimirrrry
productionresultssuggcstthat thc upperlateralwill produccapproxirnrtcly26
% of the total ilcrenental recovery expectedfrom this wc]|.'lhe reser.ycs
recqveredfrom the tighter Ekofisk lormation would havc bcen left in placc b_v
a sllntlald Udfisk horizontirlrvcll-

Tlris well was the first cornmercial multiJateralsystern appliczrtionin the

Norwegian North Sea featuring a non-restricting3.81 in through-tuningrnci
throughbore ID, reentryand isolationnrcthod-Drcssc| 'fool
Oil s I lts. A 7
lirrcl tic-back,5.5 productionlincr, and , 4.75 in opcn Irolc aud rrrultilatcral
systcnrprovided the lough-tubinglccntfy. The LRS was successfullyuscd to
isolate the upper lateral while perfomring 10000psi (BHP) fr.acjob in lower.
latcral.This wasalsothc fir'stNorwegianNolth Seawell to utilizca pre-millcd
lateral drilling rvindo*-Sperry-Suns I-TBS.

/)r. lU.S.Farahat
 CIL t'II CI t Crsel/isrorn,s108

Fig. 7.7.

D/: M.S. F:rrrlr:rt

 CE t/II CI & Cav llistt,i.s 109

12.4 Case4 (Fig, 7.8)

In Febnrary1q96.Spen)/-Sun. alongu irh NederlandseAardolicMaatschappij

B. B. (a joint venfure between Shell and Exxon) and pressule Conlfol
EngineeringLimited (PCE), successfullycombined their expertiscto achieve
thc rvorlds first selectivethrough-tubing.feentryinto a multilateral well RTD
l.l. locatedi n t h c R o l l e l d a nFri e l di n t l r e\ c r h c r i a n d s .

Spcrry-Sun Downhole Tool Developmenf Group and pCE worked closcly

togetherto modify and developPCE s MLR MLrltilateralReentrySystcm.
making it compatible with Specry-Suns LTBS lateral Tie-llack System.Thc
integratedsystem usescomponentsdevelopedby both Speny sun and pCF in
oldcr to deploy equipmentsuch as a through-tubingdeflection tool on coiletl
hrbing,thus allowing selectivereentryinto lateralwellbores.

'l l
lrrough-tubing coiled tubing reentry to the lateral was a fundamental
rcquirementof this project as was the need to improve productiorr.'l'his well
was designed to reach different reservesin the sane rcsenoit rvhich wcrc
scparatedby layers of diflcring permeability.NAM wantcd to reaohnrorc of
thc field and increasethe dr.ainagc
area.ln thc initial prodnctionphrse,rccrrtry
was not required.Ilowevel, the reentry operationwas cauicd out ilnyway, lc\
confirm that it will be achievablewhen NAM determinesthe need lbr reentrv.

After successfullydrilling and lining the rnain wellbore, a lateral was <lrillcd
orrt of the primary casing using the I-TBS. This lateral was thcn comDlclcd
with a linel which was tied back to the pr imary casing.Then, LrsingSperry
Sun s upper muleshoeassembly,the MLR nipple was latchedacrossthe LTIIS
ptemilledwindorvand held in placeusingthe SSDSlatchsysten. fhis acrior)
allowedNAM {o dcploy PCE s throdghtubing deflcctiontool coilcd tubing
ard set it in the MLR lippJe asscnrbly.
Sclcctivethroughtubingaccessto the
Iateralwellborcrvasconfinnedasa dumnryplug wasrun in smoothlyandthcn
retrieved fiom the PCE nipple located in the lateral liner. Finally, the
dcflection tool was rctrievedon coiled tubins.

,,: M.S. Farahat

 Lil. l'll (:1 li (.:tt? Ilistutit | | l{'l

'fhis
aclrievcrnenlrvas a nullilatcrai anrl conrplction t c c h n o l o g i c a l
lr|cakthrorrgh. l1 provcs thc lcasibility of sclcctivc to thc iirtcfrl rvcllltorc iirr
thcpellornranocof well servicingopelations.

Fig.7.8.

Dl lV.S.Falahrf
 CH. VII CT & fnsc llisktii.s 111

st"olLct; e_!_0'ic. 7.Y

Z.1 UUWblelsLeqrcHi
'I
his first nrultilatcrllwcll in thc Middlc lirrstwrs tlillctl irr l\,larclrl996. lhc
conrpietionconsistcdof two horizoltalla{cralscnconrpassing about3500fl of
crposedholein eachleg (Fig. 7.9)

'l
he operatordrillcd the lower lateralscclionas an extcnsionoflhc parentrvcll
borc.The uppcr'latcralwell sectionexitedout a 9 5/8 in., 40lb/ftp,rrcutc'rsrrrg
string into an 8.5 in. hole. A 7 in lincr was set through thc build until
horizontal.

'|
his liner was set with a compositejoint acrossthe hollorv whipslock face as
<liscrrsscdcnrlicr.'l'helincr rvasccnrcnlc(1.
rrndlhc lllclal rvirst:orrrplctcd
thcn
llow tcstcdfor 2 weeks.

'l
hc lowcr parcntwcll borc was llrcn rcoponcd,lnrl lhc.jrrnc{ion \vls llrcssrrrc
t( sted.Bccauseof the vcrticflllypenrreablc naturcof lhc lirrnralionin whiclr
llrc cxit wirsplacc(1,
ccnlcntsqtrcczcs wcrc ttcc<k:rl
at llrc.jurcti()rl() plss llrc
I'r)sitiveandnegativepressurctcsts.

l'lugs wcle thcn pullcd fionr thc prrcnt nrrtllatcralwcll bolosusirrgfull grugc
'l
rnd tlrrough-tubing diveltersand a window bushingasscnrbly. hc rvinclows
b u s h i t rags s c t n b lwy a su l t i n r a t c lIyc f t i n t h c . j u n c l i o an n, da 4 . 5 i n . l L r b i nsgl ri n g
r r s r r r rirr t h cl r l ) p ccr o n r I l c t i r n ) .

'lhis
installationtook longerto run lhan anticipatcd,ncvertheless,
both wcll
l'ores becameproductive.The oricntationnipple and mating lock dcvicc
r',,orkcdwell. Bascd on tlris cxpcficncc,Drodificationsrvcrc rradc to thc
andbeslpracticcptoccdulcs.
rlcflectols,enhancingefficiencies

,/. i\'I.S.txrihrt
 CH. VII C7 & CoseIlinoli.s 112

Fig.7.9.

,/. ['I.S. Farahnf