New Frontiers

in Directional
Drilling
Drilling is a crucial part of field
development. Operating companies can
only optimize hydrocarbon production and
recovery by drilling their wells in the best
field locations. In the past, drilling was as
much an art as
a science. In many cases, drilling
operations relied on personal skill and
judgment, with key decisions being made
with only a limited understanding of the
subsurface environment. Today, drilling
engineers can call upon a wealth of
information and advanced techniques that
eliminate much of the guesswork that
characterized traditional drilling.

In this article, Sudhendu Kashikar reviews

the latest drilling methods and
technologies, and examines how they will
shape future operations.

he development of rotary
drilling
methods at the start of the
century provided the technical basis
twentieth
for effective oil and gas exploitation
and therefore helped to establish
the modern oil and gas industry. For
decades, drilling operations were
controlled by a small number of
experts. These experts tried to
interpret well conditions during
drilling and relied on improvisation
to overcome problems as they
arose. Those who had a detailed
knowledge of local geology and
understood the types of problems
that might be encountered in a
specific location usually achieved
the best results. However, success
rates for wells drilled under this
traditional system were highly
variable.

Vision,
understanding,
and
communication
Drilling engineers wishing to
improve drilling efficiency, avoid
potential hazards, and optimize
well placement need a detailed
understanding of reservoir
characteristics and how these
affect drilling operations in each
well.
Data collection during drilling
enables rapid and effective
modifications to the drilling plan.
As fresh information is gathered, it
can be incorporated into the
reservoir model. This helps to
ensure that the response to
unexpected developments is
appropriate. For example, the new
technology enables engineers to
adjust well positions in real time.
There are three elements to realtime positioning: vision technology
that provides clear images of the
wellbore in real time; interpretation
facilities (for example, iCenter*
environments) where data
are gathered and processed for
experts to review; and
connectivity between office-based
experts and their colleagues at the
wellsite (Figure 1).
The value of real-time
measurements lies in being able
to review the changes as they
happen and then respond
quickly to avoid potential
problems and minimize their
effect on the well. Continuous
monitoring enables field
operators to identify problems,
make informed decisions, and
deal with any unexpected
situations that arise during
drilling.
Schlumberger Drilling and
Measurements has real-time
support centers in operations
bases to maximize the value of
the information recorded in the
well. These centers offer a range
of data delivery and interpretation
options that operators can access
at any time. For example, the
operations support center in
Mussafa, Abu Dhabi, covers
operations in Oman, Qatar, United

Oil Operations, Petroleum

Development Oman, Abu Dhabi
Marine Operating Company, and
Occidental Petroleum
Corporation.
Some companies have taken the
monitoring and review process a
step further by introducing drilling
iCenter technology into their
offices. By using onsite centers, a
company can provide a
collaborative environment for the
various disciplines to interact, and
a process for maintaining
continuous interpretation and
review capabilities.

but were still very different to

those that can be applied today.
In the 1980s, wells were drilled
without the benefit of syntheticbase mud, top drives, steerable
motors,
polycrystalline diamond compact
bits, or computers. Without these
key tools and technologies, there
were many problems for the
directional driller
to overcome.

Figure 1: The real-time cycle

promotes continuous review
and refinement of drilling
operations.

These advances in technology

and interpretation capabilities
have given the driller the tools
and the mechanisms necessary to
reduce drilling risk and optimize
well placement beyond what was
possible just a few years ago.
Greater connectivity, and the
secure data access that this
allows, has been a key factor in
these advances and will lead to
profound changes in the drilling
sector for years to come.

An established
technology

Drilling engineers have long

understood the potential benefits
of steering their wellbores. The
worlds first horizontal well was
drilled near Texon, Texas, USA, in
1929. In the late 1930s and early
1940s, wells were drilled with
horizontal displacements of 30 to
150 m, and the worlds first
multilateral well was drilled in the
Soviet Union in 1953 (Figure 2). By
1980, the Soviet Union had drilled
more than 100 multibranch
horizontal wells, including
exploration, production, and
injector wells.
By the mid-1980s, drilling
techniques had advanced
significantly,

350 horizontal wells in 33

different oil and gas fields. At the
same time, European offshore
successes with directional
drilling in the North Sea
encouraged oil and gas
companies to
apply directional technologies to
land- based drilling. Today,
horizontal wells have been drilled
in every oil and gas basin, and the
technology is so efficient at
extracting oil and gas that it has
become a standard industry tool.
Modern directional drilling
methods are cost-effective and
extremely versatile, and they
offer significant advantages over
vertical drilling for the recovery of
oil and gas. Horizontal wells, for
example, can improve production
and increase reserves
by intersecting natural fractures
that cannot be accessed with
vertical wells. This delays the
onset of water or gas coning so
that more oil is produced, and
production from thin or tight
reservoirs and waterflood sweep
efficiency are improved (Figure 3).

Rotary steerable
systemsa new
direction
The introduction of rotary
steerable systems (RSS) in 1997
marked a major milestone for
drilling technology. The fully
rotating drillstring soon proved
more stable, less prone to
sticking, and better able to
facilitate hole cleaning and wall
smoothing than conventional
systems.
Before the arrival of RSSs,
wells were drilled using a
rotating mode for straight
sections and a sliding mode for
curved sections. Drilling in the
sliding mode was effective for
steering, but inefficient, as it
slowed the rate of penetration
(ROP) and produced poorquality wellbores.
This mode of drilling was a key
obstacle that needed to be
overcome when optimizing
directional drilling performance.
The emergence of RSS
technology delivered the benefits
that drilling engineers had
anticipated.

Figure 2: Well 66/45, drilled at

Bashkiria, now Bashkortostan,
Russia, was the first multilateral
well. It had nine lateral branches that
tapped the Ishimbay field reservoir.

During the 1980s, directional

drilling was difficult and
comparatively costly. As a result, it
failed to achieve broad
acceptance within the industry.
Slant- hole drilling was the first
directional technique to be widely
adopted.
Between 1982 and 1992, more
than 1,000 slanted or angled wells
were drilled, primarily in Canada,
Venezuela, and China. The 1990s
upsurge in exploration activity saw
a sustained interest in horizontal
drilling, and the technique
emerged as the preferred option
for production wells in countries
such as Oman, Canada, and the
USA, and in areas like the North
Sea. Between 1990 and 1998,
Petroleum Development Oman
drilled

Figure 3: Horizontal wells offer a range of

production benefits.

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The introduction of improved

seismic methods and tools for
more detailed reservoir
characterization has given the
driller vital information about drilling
targets and the sequences above
them. These powerful techniques,
when combined with advances in
drilling technology, have led to
rapid and sustained improvements
in drilling operations. This gradual
development of tools and
techniques has delivered cost
reductions, time savings, and
safety improvements.
Today, operating companies can
benefit from a new approach to
drilling operations, an approach
that reduces drilling risks,
optimizes well positioning, and
provides consistently high-quality
results. The key to this step
change has been the emergence
of integrated drilling systems that
link procedures, people, and
technology to deliver better
wellbores that are placed more
accurately in the
reservoir, with reduced
nonproductive time. This level of
performance is achieved more
quickly, at a lower cost, and
without compromising the safety
of the well.
The number of directional wells
is growing every year, and many
of these are being drilled in more
challenging oilfield environments
such as deep
gas fields; carbonate reservoirs;
high- pressure, high-temperature
zones; and deepwater settings.
There
is Reservoir
also an increasing
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drilling in mature oil provinces,

performing infill-drilling campaigns

to extend asset life and maximize
value from existing infrastructure.

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Accurate and powerful

The PowerDrive* RSS is a compact
system, comprising a bias unit and
a control unit, that adds only 3.8
m to the length of the bottomhole
assembly (BHA) (Figure 4). The
bias unit sits immediately behind
the bit and applies force to the bit
in a controlled direction while the
entire drillstring rotates. The
control unit contains
self-powered electronics, sensors,
and a control mechanism to
provide the average magnitude
and direction of the bit-side loads
that are used to adjust well
trajectory.
The bias unit has three external,
hinged pads that are activated by
controlled mud flow through a
valve. The valve exploits the
difference in mud pressure
between the inside and the
outside of the bias unit. The
three-way rotary disk valve
actuates the pads by sequentially
diverting mud into the piston
chamber of each pad as it rotates
into alignment with the desired
push pointthe point opposite
the desired trajectoryin the well
(Figure 5).
Once a pad has passed the push
point, the rotary valve cuts off its
mud supply and the mud escapes
through a specially designed
leakage port.
Each pad extends no more than
approximately 0.95 cm during
each revolution of the bias unit.
An input shaft connects the rotary
valve to the control unit, and this
regulates the position of the push
point. If the angle of the input
shaft is geostationary with respect
to the rock, the bit is

constantly pushed in one

direction, the direction opposite
the push point. If no change in
direction is needed, the system is
operated in a neutral mode, with
each pad extended in turn, so
that the pads push in all directions
and effectively cancel each other
out.

Improved drilling
methods produce
better wells
Fully rotating steerable systems
have been tested and shown to
minimize problems such as
wellbore spiraling and ballooning.
RSS systems optimize the
efficiency of cuttings transport

Figure 5: Actuators push against

the side of the borehole to
steer the RSS.

Figure 4: The PowerDrive RSS produces high-quality boreholes at high

cleaner wellbores improve the flow

rates for hydrocarbons by
eliminating water sumps and gas
crests (Figure 6).
Improved reservoir access and
drainage
In areas where three-dimensional
directional drilling control is
troublesome, RSSs can provide a
much wider range of welltrajectory design options at low
operational risk. This has proved
particularly beneficial in fields
where a lack of directional drilling
control had limited well designs to
simple, two-dimensional wells and
thus restricted reservoir access and
field-drainage patterns. With the
introduction of rotary steerable
drilling techniques to these fields,
producible reserves are increased
through improved reservoir access
and
more efficient
drainage
Minimized
lost-in-hole
time
patterns.
Continuous pipe rotation,
smoother and less tortuous
trajectories, and overall
improvements in hole-gauge
quality help to reduce stuckpipe and lost-in-hole incidents.
A study comparing lost-in-hole
incidents for
RSSs with those for conventional
BHAs showed the RSS lost-in-hole
rate was only 15 % of that
experienced
with conventional
Improved
safety
systems.
When
drilling programs are
conducted with RSSs, fewer trips
in and out of hole should be
required. RSS methods

extend the life of drill bits, which

results in more footage per bit
and, therefore, fewer trips for bit
changing. In addition, continuous
rotation at high rotary speeds
results in very efficient hole
cleaning and removes the need
for many short cleaning trips.
RSSs are also much more versatile
and should be able to drill
all of the required section
trajectories (such as build, drop,
tangent, and turn) using a single
BHA design; this means fewer
trips for BHA change.
This dramatic reduction in tripping
saves time, reduces drill-floor
activity, cuts handling of tubulars,
and, ultimately, increases safety.
Reduced tripping activity can be
measured by plotting the footage
drilled against the total amount of
pipe tripped over the course of a
project. In some cases, the
introduction
of RSSs has reduced
Reduced environmental
impact
tripping by almost 50 %.
Drilling with rotary steerable
assemblies results in a more ingauge hole than drilling with
steerable motor systems. This
gives smaller volumes of drilled
cuttings waste and lower
drilling fluid losses. For example, if
the hole in a 1214-in section were
drilled overgauge to an average
diameter of 14 in, this would
represent an increase of about 30
% in cuttings waste and,
correspondingly, a 30 % lower
annular velocity compared with
drilling the section in gauge
(Figure 7).

Figure 7: Wells drilled overgauge

generate more cuttings waste and
are drilled at a lower annular
velocity.

All of the RSS-related

improvements listed combine to
deliver time savings, improved
safety performance, and greater
cost efficiencies that translate into
lower production costs for field
operators (Figure 8).

ROPs.
Figure 6: Conventional drilling technology produces tortuous wells. In horizontal producers, this can restrict the flow of
hydrocarbons (a). Flow rates are maximized when the borehole is smooth and straight (b).

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and reduce the risk of sticking.

Other studies indicate that using
an RSS reduces stress on loggingwhile- drilling (LWD) systems and
cuts bit wear. Good design and an
effective RSS will minimize or
eliminate undesirable effects
such as bounce, stick-slip, whirl,
and lateral vibration.
Fully rotating the entire
steering system
reduces mechanical and
differential sticking of the
drillstring because there are no
stationary components in
contact with the casing,
whipstock, or borehole. It also
reduces the risk of the BHA
packing off.
improves penetration rates
because there are no stationary
components to create friction.
The efficient removal of
cuttings means that cuttings are
not reground during drilling.
enhances the flow of drilled
cuttings past
the BHA because
Enhanced
production
there are no annular bottlenecks
The ability to land and position
in the wellbore.
wellbores more precisely within
the reservoir leads directly to
better production. The more
sophisticated RSSs, which have
automated, closed- loop control
of the steering response, can
position wells more precisely than
even the very best directional
driller could using conventional
technology. This ability to land
and navigate wells precisely within
the best production zones
provides an immediate benefit for
improving the production
performance of the well.
Straighter,

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The tools for the job

Drilling technology must be flexible
and enable the engineer to design
and execute the most appropriate
drilling program for any well. There
are often considerable variations
across oil- and gas-bearing
formations. Even adjacent wells
may be significantly different, and
each can exhibit unique
temperature, pore-pressure,
permeability, and lithological
conditions. The industry needs an
integrated drilling system that can
be adapted to these local variations
and that will meet the specific
needs of each customer.
For example, the PowerDrive
Xceed* RSS has been designed
to excel in harsh environments.
It is a fully rotating tool that
provides high levels of accuracy
and reliability in extreme drilling
applications.
Maersk Oil Qatar AS used the
PowerDrive Xceed system to drill
thin sands in the Nahr Umr
reservoir in Qatar (Figure 9). The
system provided excellent
geosteering control, with the bit
staying in the sand section
through 99 % of the 2,006-m,
812-in hole. More than 90 % of
the drain section was drilled within
the optimum sand zone, and,
during

Figure 8: The key features of the PowerDrive system. Precise deviation

control, continuous rotation, and improved hole cleaning all lead to lower
production costs.
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Figure 9: The thin sands of the Nahr

Umr reservoir in Al-Shaheen field
were drilled using a PowerDrive
Xceed system.

Today, drilling systems are being

deployed in tough conditions,
such as deep, hot wells, where
they are expected to deliver
better images and more accurate
data. Precision drilling and field
optimization require
excellent depth control and
smoother holes that pass into the
productive pays of any target
zone and remain within it.
When providing directional
drilling services, it is usually
preferable to drill from shoe to
total depth in one run, every
time, at maximum ROP. The
PowerDrive X5* RSS was
developed to meet these
challenges. This system
represents a step change in
reliability and efficiency that
makes it possible to drill longer
runs, optimize wellbore
placement, and reduce drilling
time. The associated cost savings
can be substantial.
The PowerDrive X5 system
has a robust steering section
and utilizes advanced coating
materials that reduce wear and
so ensure reliable, consistent
performance in a wide range of
drilling environments. The
systems electronics, which are
chassis mounted for reliability
and durability, can operate in
downhole temperatures of up
to 150 degC.
High-quality drilling is achieved
using a simple, rugged steering
section and directional
measurements near the bit for
precise, true-vertical-depth
directional control.

The availability of near-bit

measurements in real time
ensures accurate, efficient
drilling and wellbore placement.
The efficient downlink systems
and the automatic inclination
hold provide a smooth tangent
section and improve the
accuracy of the true vertical
depth in the horizontal section
critical for maximizing
recoverable reserves and the
wells production potential.
A measurement-while-drilling
(MWD) type triaxial sensor
package close to the bit
provides accurate azimuth and
inclination directional
information, which enables fast,
responsive directional control in
either the automatic or the
manual operation mode. Once a
target formation has been
penetrated, the trajectory can
be locked in using the
inclination-hold functionality. No
further input is required from the
directional driller. Steering
decisions are further aided by an
optional
real-time azimuthal gamma ray
measurement and imaging of the
wellbore to provide information
on formation dip or fault
boundaries. An azimuthal gamma
ray sensor 2 m from the bit
enables drillers and geologists to
identify bed boundaries quickly
and thus respond faster to
formation changes in order to
optimize well placement. Casing
and coring point detection are
optimal, penetration of the
formations to be cored is
Highminimized, and the chances of
performance
drilling through a potentially
drilling
with
a or wasting
valuable core
section
time
motor
coring
an uninteresting
When
a PowerPak*
steerable mud
formation
arein significantly
motor
is run
conjunction with a
reduced. system, all of the
PowerDrive
drilling energy is concentrated at
the bit. This configuration can
improve the ROP, eliminate
slip/stick and unpredictable

torque, minimize dogleg severity,

drill
a smoother hole, and
increase bit life (Figures 10 and
11).
PowerPak* steerable motors
are positive displacement mud
motors that incorporate a
stabilizer and a bent-housing
section that permits rotary
drilling in vertical, tangential, or
horizontal sections of the hole as
well as oriented drilling during
kickoffs or course corrections.
The surface-adjustable bent
housing provides flexibility as
orientation requirements
change.
The PowerPak motors modular
design meets a full range of
directional drilling requirements.
The superior design of the tool
features short bit-to- bend and bitto-stabilizer
Formationspacings to enable
high surface rotary speeds for
evaluation
improved hole cleaning.

while drilling

Two decades ago, formation

evaluation was usually
conducted using wireline
tools that were introduced to
the borehole once drilling had
been completed. The

delay between drilling and

logging that the results from
meant
wireline
logs had to be
corrected for invasion and other
postdrilling effects.
The Schlumberger LWD tool
was introduced in 1988. The
basic measurements were
resistivity,
neutron and density porosities,
and photoelectric factor. By the
early 1990s, improvements had
been made in areas such as tool
reliability and data-transfer rates.
Further advances included the
introduction of the IDEAL*
Integrated Drilling Evaluation and
Logging system, which enabled
drillers to monitor trends and spot
abnormal situations using quicklook interpretations on a drill-floor
screen, and the arc5* Array
Resistivity Compensated tool, which
proved extremely useful in thinbed environments.
This development process
has continued with the arrival
of two new measurement
systems, the
seismicVISION* seismic-whiledrilling service and the
proVISION* real-time reservoir
steering service tool, which
provide detailed formation
evaluation information during
drilling. This information has
changed the ways that wells are
drilled and reservoirs are
developed.

Figure 10: The principle of the

mud motor.

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this operation, the system

achieved
a significant 90-degree change in
well trajectory azimuth at an
extended step-out. This level of
performance has proved very
difficult to achieve with
conventional technology.
Reliability and wear
resistance are key features in
demanding
environments. The PowerDrive
Xceed tool has a totally enclosed
internal steering mechanism and
rugged, field- proven electronics
that safeguard
the tools performance in
abrasive, hot, and high-shock
applications.
The reduced dependence of the
steering principle on wellbore
contact makes the tool ideal for
openhole sidetracking steering in
overgauge- hole and softformation
applications.
Minimal
The next
step
wellbore dependence also
As the exploration and production
enables the PowerDrive Xceed
industry extends its operations into
system to be used with bicenter
new areas, there is increasing
bits for directional drilling.
pressure on service companies to
provide tools with higher levels of
reliability that can complete
demanding drilling programs
quickly and cost-effectively.

F
i
g
u

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Reduce depth
uncertainty with realtime borehole seismic
The seismicVISION LWD tool
delivers time-depth/velocity
information in real time without
affecting drilling operations. The
tool helps operating companies
to make the best drilling
decisions, while reducing costs
and improving safety. The
seismicVISION tool delivers
traditional borehole- seismic
measurements, including realtime checkshot and interval
velocity data, that reduce the
uncertainty of events ahead of
the bit. Real-time access to these
calibration data is critical where
there are significant uncertainties
in the timedepth relationship or
in wells where casing must be set
in an interval identified by surface
seismic data.
Continuously updating the
bits position on the seismic
map helps
in navigation, selection of casing
and coring points, prediction of
target depth, and reduction of
Real-time
sidetracks producibility
and pilot holes.
information
whilevelocities
drilling
Acquired interval
provide
the
necessary
data to
The proVISION nuclear magnetic
manage
pore
pressure
resonance tool helps oilwhile
and gas
drilling
and to
to optimize
optimize mud
companies
weight.
productivity. This tool represents

The big picture from the

borehole
Although LWD and MWD tools have
been available for many years, it
is only recently that advances in
data transmission and
interpretation have progressed to
generating accurate images of
the wellbore. These images are
based on real-time data and offer
insight into what is really
happening downhole.
Typically, a high-quality image is
drawn from detailed, 3D
resistivity data. A resistivity tool
similar to the wireline-deployed
FMI* Fullbore Formation
MicroImager tool supplies these
data. The resistivity tool is
capable of identifying wellbore
features and characterizing faults,
cementation changes, and
threaded or spiraling boreholes
caused by bit

whirl. Software converts the

resistivity data into 3D wellbore
images that can be viewed from
any angle using simple mouse
movements. The resistivity
measurements are transformed
into 56 azimuthal sectors around
the circumference of the wellbore
to provide extremely detailed
images.
Current imaging-while-drilling
technology is sufficiently fast and
accurate to facilitate
geosteering while drilling.
Modern software and MWD
telemetry systems provide a
clear insight into 3D wellbore
features, well placement within
the reservoir, wellbore stability
issues, formation dip, and
structural configurations.
Combining resistivity and density
services with real-time logging
images and geosteering

a step change in how nuclear

magnetic resonance technology
is applied to formation
characterization. The proVISION
tool delivers real-time evaluation
of formation productivity, and
provides
reliable determinations of
mineralogy- independent porosity,
bound- and free-fluid volumes,
productive zones, and pore size,
as well as the identification of
fluids (Figure 12).

Figure 12: The proVISION tool clearly identifies hydrocarbon layers, rock
porosity, production zones, and bound- and free-fluid volumes.

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Figure 13: High data-transmission rates enable drillers to control

wells with high ROPs.

Figure 14: LWD tools can help drilling engineers to modify mud
weights and so avoid problems such as kicks and fluid loss.
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techniques will help operators to

reduce risk and overcome some
of the geological uncertainties
encountered while drilling
complex wells.
Ultrahigh telemetry rates (up
to 12 bps) have been used to
optimize
horizontal well placement and to
warn of wellbore stability issues
before they jeopardize operations
or impact on drilling costs (Figure
13). Transmission of high-quality,
real-time azimuthal and image log
data is possible, even in cases
where penetration rates are high.
Resistivity images are transmitted
uphole to present the wellbore in
four quadrants. This information
can be wrapped into a 3D image
of the wellbore, which helps the
drilling team to optimize well
placement using geological
markers. Armed with this
information, the drilling engineer
can make rapid adjustments to
the wellbore trajectory, relative to
geological bedding planes or
faults, and can modify steering
while drilling.
Wellbore stability problems
are detected using ultrasonic
caliper logs from density LWD
tools. Hole enlargement or
washouts can be identified
while drilling or during
subsequent trips. This helps to
monitor wellbore stability and
enables adjustments to be made
to mud weights or effective
circulating density as required
(Figure 14).
Wellbore stability problems can
be confirmed using VISION*
Formation Evaluation and Imaging
While Drilling technology that
incorporates azimuthal
density/neutron viewer software,
which provides density- image
and caliper data while drilling.
The azimuthal density/neutron
viewer also generates 3D images
and caliper logs that, when
combined, make it easier to
understand wellbore conditions
during drilling. In addition, the 3D
density images and ultrasonic
caliper information enable
engineers to characterize
wellbore instability mechanisms
and then resolve them. This is
vital in completions where gravel
packs or expandable screens are
required. The ultrasonic and
density caliper information
gathered during drilling can

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What could possibly go

wrong?
Oil and gas companies spend
around USD 20 billion on drilling
each year. Unfortunately, about 15
% of this is attributed to losses.
These losses include materials
such as drilling equipment and
fluids, and deficiencies in drilling
process continuity (called
nonproductive time) that are
incurred while searching for and
implementing remedies to drilling
problems
(Figure 15). Avoiding drilling
problems cuts finding and
development costs and enables
oil companies to focus on their
core businessbuilding and
replacing reserves.
Every well presents problems:
the main challenge for drilling
engineers is to manage the
drilling risk in a way that prevents
small problems from escalating.
Most of the time spent drilling
wells, and most of the cost, is
associated with cutting down
through the rock sequence above
the reservoir. Knowing what the
potential risks are and where they
are likely to occur helps to keep
the drilling program on schedule.
There are various problems that
can trouble drilling engineers
(Figure 16, an). For example,
drillpipe can become stuck
against the borehole wall through
differential pressures or by
lodging in borehole irregularities;
b. Collapsed
skill anda.force are required
to free
Cement
it. When sticking cannot be
resolved,
related the only solution
casingmay be
to abandon the

The faults and fractures that the

wellbore encounters open
conduits for loss of drilling fluid
to the formation. Excessively
high mud pressure can fracture
the formation and cause lost
circulation. However, if the mud
pressure is too low, it will fail to
keep high-pressure formations
under control and can lead to gas
kicks or blowouts.

Drillstring vibrations can weaken

and destroy pipe and equipment
as well as seriously damage the
wellbore.
And some problems, even if
they
do not completely suspend the
drilling process, jeopardize
subsequent logging, completion,
and production.
Drillers who have to decide how
best to correct these problems
face tough challenges: there are
many factors for them to consider.
For example, increasing the mud
weight to control wellbore stability
in one interval in a well may cause
fracturing elsewhere. Often, the
most effective solutions cannot be
widely applied, as many drillingrelated problems are well- or fieldspecific. The key to successful
drilling is to develop a sound plan,
update
continuously
g.toPoor
holethis
cleaning
as new information becomes
available, and

to inform all the relevant

personnel. The plan must include
procedures to follow under normal
circumstances and methods for
dealing with the most likely and
the most severe problems that
could be encountered.
Despite these challenges,
successful drilling should be a
routine process for properly
trained personnel who are
following a well-defined drilling
procedure and who have sufficient
data and tools for interpretation.

h. Wellbore geometry

Figure 15: Offshore drilling costs are high, and problems that take days to
solve will have major implications for field-development budgets.

c. Differential
sticking

d. Drillstring
vibration

e. Fractured

f. Geopressure

zone

i. Debris

j. Key seating

k. Mobile
formation

l. Reactive
formation

m.
Unconsolidated
zone

n.
Undergauge
hole

Number 6,
2005

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3
4

stuck portion and drill a sidetrack

around it. This changes the
drilling program completely and
may significantly increase the
wells cost.
Drilling at high ROPs can save
time and money, but when this
high rate is accompanied by a low
drillstring rotation rate or a mud
flow rate that fails to lift rock
cuttings to surface, the result is
stuck pipe.

Figure 16: Every well can present problems for the drilling engineer. Understanding the potential risks and where
problems might occur helps to keep the drilling program on schedule.
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Real-time dip information,

provided by the LWD resistivity
imaging tools, can be used to view
geological structures and reduce
the uncertainties in earlier
geological models. Production
teams can also analyze surface
seismic data to establish the
presence or location of erosion
surfaces that might jeopardize the
well trajectory. Data transmission
from the rig site enables experts to
observe the wellbore remotely and
to anticipate changes in the
bedding plane and the structural
behavior of the reservoir.
Azimuthal
density/neutron
viewer software also enables
structural dip
picking from
images. This can be
used in combination with the
real-time data for structural
interpretation. Bed dips and layer
thickness are also characterized for
the evaluation of structural cross
sections. The reduction in risk and
geological uncertainty will make
LWD
VISION
toolan essential tool
wellbore
imaging
eliminates
theoperating
need forina
for companies
geologically
pilot
hole complex fields.
The VISION drilling tool has helped
to save time and reduce costs by
enabling several operators
worldwide to drill deepwater
production wells without first
drilling a pilot hole. The geological
drilling campaigns used real-time
LWD images and bit resistivity data
to land the well in the reservoir.
Accurate well steering and
placement require significant
prejob planning in order to
minimize drilling risks while
steering using geological criteria.
The use of LWD images in real
time was a key element in
predicting undesirable events that
might otherwise have jeopardized
the success of the project. In this
well, subseismic faults and
premature entry into the shale
zone occurred. The interpretation
of the available log and image
data was critical to the decisionmaking process during drilling
and ensured reentry into the
reservoir.

Drilling optimization and the

benefits it brings cannot be
achieved through tools and
technology alone. Drilling and
production engineers require riskmanagement systems to help
them to optimize wellbore
construction and performance,
and to learn the lessons from
previous drilling programs. This
approach requires detailed
planning, real-time control during
execution of the drilling plan, and
a method for reviewing
performance.
The first challenge for a new
drilling program is to link all the
relevant

Stimulati
on
operatio
ns
Drilli
ng
operatio
ns

expertise. This means that all

parties can observe the wells
progress in real time and that the
drilling engineer has the full
support of an expert team, should
the well encounter any difficulties.
Modern connectivity systems
such as the InterACT* real- time
monitoring and data delivery
system make this possible by
linking remote locations to field
offices and corporate
headquarters through secure
Internet and intranet connections
(Figure 17).

Wirelin
e
loggin
g

Producti
on
monitori
ng

Right first time

As with all oilfield operations,
drilling is an activity that field
operators want to complete
quickly and cost- effectively. The
keys to avoiding problems while
drilling are assessing and
managing risk, and optimizing
wellbore construction through
detailed planning and real-time
monitoring during the execution
phase. Predrilling analysis and
prediction, with real-time updating
as drilling progresses, enable the
drilling engineer to anticipate
potential problems ahead of time
and to solve them proactively. No
Drilling Surprises (NDS) is a
focused process that covers all
aspects of well planning and
execution, and delivers relevant
information to the appropriate
personnel at every stage in the
drilling

operation. There are three

phases in an NDS project, see
Figure 18.
Continuous updating of the
living well plan helps the asset
team to ensure that drilling
decisions are based on accurate
and up-to-date information and
that they will not compromise
hydrocarbon production
recovery, or safety.

Technologies
to meet key
challenges

Growing market demand has

created a broad spectrum of
drilling services. Today, leading
service companies are investing
heavily in their own research and
development to keep pace with
industry needs and are
participating in collaborative
efforts with their customers. New
products and services

are being introduced to fill the

gaps in drilling-services
packages, and companies are
starting to integrate drilling data
with seismic, logging,
production, and other reservoir
data.
This integration has led to benefits
in areas such as stimulation,
completions,
production
Balancingand
costs
and
optimization.
benefits
Many operators, while
acknowledging the technical
advances that have been made in
drilling, would like to see more
technology aimed directly at
reducing costs. Although costs
appear to be falling in many areas,
for example, software, well costs
are not coming down. In real
terms, some wells cost more
today than they would have done
5 or 10 years ago. However, these
higher costs do reflect the
technical

Downhol
e
monitori
ng

Figure 18: The three phases in an NDS project. Careful planning, live monitoring and updating during drilling, and
detailed postjob analysis can help to eliminate drilling problems before they arise.

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The path to better

wells

Figure 17: The InterACT real-time monitoring and data delivery system
provides secure monitoring and control.
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3
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the two designer wells totals

5,000 m3/d and depletion is
expected in 7.6 years.

Brownfield drilling

Figure 19: Brownfield production dominates global oil

and gas supply.

achievements of recent years,

as the industry drills deeper
and more complex wells.
Well construction costs may be
rising, but the aim of reservoir
development technology is to
optimize reservoir exploitation
using
a few advanced wells that
significantly outperform their
conventional

counterparts. Nowhere has

this been illustrated more
clearly than
in Russia, where a field
development plan for 57
vertically drilled wells was
recently scrapped in favor of two
geosteered horizontal wells. The
total
field production from the original
plan was estimated at about 2,000
m3/d with a 19-year life.
Production from

Figure 20: The key challenges in brownfield

development are to reach bypassed oil costeffectively and to avoid collision with existing wells.

Middle East & Asia Reservoir

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Figure 21: The steep rise in global oil demand will be driven by countries
in the developing world.
Sources: Energy Information (EIA). Office of Energy Markets and End Use,
International Statistics Database and International Energy Annual 1999, DOE/EIA0319(99) (Washington, DC, February 2001) EIA. World Energy Projection System
(2002).

Figure 22: As conventional oil production peaks, other sources of

hydrocarbons, such as heavy oils or coalbed methane, will have to be tapped
to meet demand.

Number 6,
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8

Today, most of the worlds oil

production comes from mature
fields (Figure 19), and some of
these brownfield assets are over
30 years old. The industry is
working hard to prolong the lives
of these fields, to optimize
production from them, and to
improve recovery factors through
remediation and productionenhancement technologies.
However,
there are many technical and
economic challenges to be
overcome in mature and
brownfields. In these fields, drilling
expenditure must be justified by
the value of the incremental
production from the asset (Figure
20).
In recent years, significant
progress has been made in this
area by developing technologies
designed to combat the decline
of older fields and to add
capacity for the future.
Once the company
operating a brownfield
asset has a clear

understanding of the reservoir

and
its production, it can
optimize well placement and
select the best
perforation zones or drilling
trajectories.
Over the next decade,
worldwide oil demand is
projected to increase
significantly, especially within the
developing economies (Figure
21). Published estimates indicate
that the reserves to meet this
demand are available, but that
they are those that
are usually more difficult and
costly to produce. Reserves
located in remote or challenging
environments such as deep water
or environmentally sensitive
regions, or those that are
considered nonconventional such
as coalbed methane or heavy oil
will require substantial research
and development to devise
suitable extraction solutions
(Figure 21). The key to success will
be finding economically viable
methods to tap those reserves,
despite the increased technical
complexity that will be necessary.
Recent advances in wellboreconstruction and productionenhancement techniques have
been key contributors in this drive
to meet technical challenges
while reducing costs. Until now,
the demand for stimulation
services has been largest in North
America, but demand is rising
quickly in other parts of the
world. Even in the Middle East,
which contains many of the
worlds most prolific reservoirs,
depletion and production
problems are starting
to affect field
performance
Reaching
further
,
and
production-enhancement
drilling smarter
services are being
As operators locate
investigated.
Interestsatellite
fields
and
bypassed
zones
in unconventional resources
is
around
a
main
reservoir,
increasing globally, a surethey
sign
may seek
these with
that
easy to
oil develop
and gas production
extended-reach
wells.
may soon be a thing ofHowever,
the past.
for extended-reach wells to
succeed there must be a careful
assessment of risk. Extended
wells can reach under urban
centers or protected wilderness
sites to tap oil and gas that
would be inaccessible using
any other approach.

Middle East & Asia Reservoir

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Extended reach in the South

China Sea
Phillips China Inc. and its partners,
China National Offshore Oil
Company and Shell China,
discovered the Xijiang 24-3 field
in the South China Sea in 1994
(Figure 23). The operators drilled
several wells to different
producing horizons and put them
on production. Smaller, satellite
reservoirs, such as Xijiang 24-1,
were not drilled because the
estimated production would not
support the costs associated with
a separate platform or drilling
subsea wells.

economics dictated that every

new well should produce oil to
cover or offset drilling costs.
The first proposed bottomhole
location was over 8 km from the
platform, and meeting the
objectives of this well would
require going beyond the range of
normal development drilling.
Ultimately, an extended-reach well
was directionally drilled, to a then
world-record measured depth of
more than 9,200 m, while using
real-time LWD services to provide
formation evaluation in a timely
and cost-effective manner. The
success of this well led to an
extension of the drilling campaign.
Subsequent wells, while not
reaching as far from the platform,
used LWD sonic and resistivity
logging tools to provide real-time
seismic correlation, porosity data,
and hydrocarbon evaluation.
These data enabled the operator
to optimize costs and make
decisions much more quickly.
Dramatic rise in drilling
efficiency for Middle East
operator

Figure 23: Extended-reach drilling

opens up smaller satellite fields at
a fraction of the cost of traditional
field development methods.

Middle East & Asia Reservoir

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Reliable
tools and
clearer
pictures
Drilling places tough demands on
tools. For Schlumberger, tool
reliability has been a priority for
many years.
Every downhole tool that the
company develops is subjected to
an intense testing program that
simulates the severe shock,
bending, vibration,
and temperature cycles it will
encounter in the well. By using
sophisticated test methods, new
tools can be subjected to a
lifetime of downhole stress in
just a few days.
Only tools that pass these tests are
released to the field. Tool reliability
is vital and helps to boost
performance, but not all of the
improvements in drilling
operations are made downhole.
Schlumberger is working in close
cooperation with operating
companies to develop and
introduce 3D visualization rooms
for integrated well planning and
remote support through real-time
data transfer and virtual- reality
technology (Figure 24). Some
operating companies are using
software packages that help them
to produce integrated well
designs that bring geophysicists,
geologists, and drilling engineers
together to work
on the same model. This
enables the team to identify
zones of interest, select targets,
and work on the well path in an
integrated process.
Real-time visualization and the
use of secure Internet links, such
as the InterACT system, also
enable companies to identify
potential
problems before they affect
production. Operating companies
that use virtual- reality systems for
well planning report these have led
to optimized designs that help to
save time and money.
Visualization technology has a
proven track record and is
constantly under development. For
many companies, the major
challenge is not introducing the

The way ahead

The demands of modern oil
and gas exploration will
continue to
shape the drilling-services sector.
In mature and marginal fields,
operating companies expect
complex wells, excellent
reliability, and low drilling risks at
reasonable costs. As a result,
manufacturers and service
suppliers will have to continue to
improve their technology and
provide more efficient equipment
throughout every area of the
drilling process. To achieve this
goal, manufacturers and service
companies will have to work in
close
cooperationwith
with customers
Collaborating
to
answer
their
specific
needs.
customers
There are many examples of
collaborative projects for
developing new technologies
and processes with customers.
For example, Schlumberger
Drilling and Measurements is
currently working
with BP and Shell on a throughtubing RSS that is designed to
reduce the costs of sidetracking
from existing wells and to reach
small pockets of hydrocarbons in
mature fields.
In the drilling sector, the key to
business success is the ability to
drill wells efficiently and safely
while

providing maximum
environmental protection.
Operating companies and
regulatory authorities set
these standards as part of the
field- development plan, and
any service company that
cannot reach the required
standards is unlikely to form a
long-term partnership.
Future advances in tools and
techniques will be driven by the
needs of customers. Oil and
service companies that can
establish and maintain business
relationships over several years
are more likely to
optimize drilling performance
and so generate time and cost
savings.
Leading operators have found
that they can benefit from
synergy when modern workflow
processes
are applied
by highly
People
make
the trained
and experienced members of
difference
the drilling team operating within
The
introduction
of instrumented
a
customized
business
model.
drilling systems, including
surface and downhole
components, has had a
beneficial effect on the drilling
community. This step change in
technology made it necessary to
implement radical training
programs to teach personnel
how to get the best from the
new equipment. As

Figure 24: Advanced visualization facilities enable field operators to

assess reservoir conditions within a multidisciplinary framework.

drilling engineers gained

experience and confidence in
applying the new drilling
practices, they were prepared to
conduct drilling programs that
were more technically
demanding.
Drilling, like any other technology,
will continue to develop.
Engineering capabilities will
become increasingly important as
the reservoir targets become
harder to drill and technology
offers further opportunities for
efficiency improvement.
People also play an increasingly
critical role in developing new
business models. The last few
years have seen evolution in the
way that service companies
particularly drilling-services
providerswork with their
customers. In some areas, the
traditional short-term client
supplier relationship persists. In
areas where work is seasonal and
activity is variable, this may be the
only sensible way of working.
However, many operators have
been trying to enter into more
comprehensive and long- term
relationships, particularly where
the work scope is larger and more
consistent. This approach benefits
the oil company and the supplier,
who can become a drilling partner
rather than an equipment and
service vendor.
As the industry moves forward,
an important consideration is
more risk sharing and
collaboration in order to ensure
that solutions are provided for
todays and tomorrows
challenges.
Leading service suppliers are
investing heavily in new
technology and processes, and
in personnel development for
addressing these challenges. To
continue this process, and
potentially raise investment
levels, requires service
companies
to find opportunities for
collaborating with their
customers, particularly when they
will be rewarded for the value
they bring through improved
drilling performance.

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Number 6,
2005

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Production from the Xijiang 243 field indicated that the booked
reserves understated the actual
amount of oil in place. Revised
maps and seismic interpretations
provided the operator with
several promising undrilled
locations, including the Xijiang
24-1 structure. This location
became regarded as a
development project, but was
still considered too small to
justify a new platform.
Proving the validity of the new
maps required drilling additional
wells. In a newly discovered
prospect, these would normally
be vertical delineation wells,
which are discarded after logging.
However, project

In the Middle East, Schlumberger

has helped one operator achieve
a 52 % (USD 1.5 million) reduction
in total well costs. This resulted
primarily from a 91 % increase in
drilling efficiency per bit run,
which persuaded the field
operator to replace conventional
motor technology throughout the
companys ongoing field program
with the PowerDrive system.
During the second phase of the
multiwell program, the operator
needed increased ability to
overcome obstacles in the highly
faulted and laterally variable
sandstone reservoir. Nearly 90 % of
these wells required openhole
sidetracks for geological
realignment. The available seismic
data defined the heavily faulted
area, and sidetracks were
imperative. Steerability and
directional control in loose sands;
geosteering between different sand
layers; abrasion; excessive wear;
and hole cleaning were among the
obstacles to be overcome.
The PowerDrive Xceed
system met the challenge
and exceeded
expectations on cost and time
savings. Reduced wellbore
tortuosity cut trip time by 68 %
a direct result of improved hole

used the PowerDrive Xceed system

to drill the longest well in the field
and, for the first time, managed to
drill the sandstone section (4,172
m) in one run.

4
1

Cooperationthe
key to long-term
success
In many fields, the drillingservices providers are only called
in once the targets have been
selected and the drilling program
has been sketched out. This
leaves very little scope for the
service provider to help reduce
costs or increase the efficiency
of the program. When drillingservices providers are present
from the early stages of field
development and intimately
involved in the planning process
from the conceptual target
selection, then their potential
impact is much greater and the
cost savings can be immense
(Figure 25). Targets can be
selected to tie in with the
optimal drilling surface location or
slot, and targets may be linked
to increase the reservoir
penetration with a single
wellbore. Well profiles can be
optimized by reservoir engineers
and petrophysicists to ensure
the optimal trajectory, and the
field can be planned to ensure
that anticollision issues are
addressed. In addition, involving
the drilling- services drilling
engineers at this early stage
enables early optimization of the
BHA. All these factors, when
added together, can significantly
reduce well costs.
Developing relationships
characterized by openness and
trust between operators and
contractors
is performance
fundamental to
Assessing
team building. Even without
For drilling performance to
financial incentives, close
improve as a field development
cooperation encourages people
or contract progresses,
to
performance must be
be proactive and find new
benchmarked effectively. The
ways to boost performance.
key performance indicators
(KPI) must be genuine measures
of drilling performance, and
must be agreed upon by the
operator and the provider in
advance. As drilling advances
and the number of wells
increases, the learning curve can
be

Middle East & Asia Reservoir

Review

much more closely tied to an

operators own performance
metrics when a well is drilled.
By crossplotting these suggested
metrics against each other, it
becomes apparent that after a
certain base level of reliability is
achieved (meters between
failures), savings from increased
reliability become very small
compared with those achieved
through increased effective
performance (meters per
circulating hour). As the effective
performance improves the drilling
efficiency, the well cost continues
to be significantly reduced.
Performance also directly affects
the

Figure 25: Choosing an integrated service company to cover all aspects of

drilling lowers costs, saves time and reduces the administrative burden on
operating companies.

number of sections drilled

before a failure occurs, so,
while no increase in reliability
would be seen in terms of
traditional reliability KPIs such as
mean time between failures,
the
reliability measured as meters
between
failures
continue to
Meeting
the will
targets
improve.
Operators want strong production
from every well they drill, so
justifying a drilling campaign on
prospects
other than certainties has become
increasingly difficult in recent
years. As a result, operators and
service providers must work
together to ensure that the
targets are selected, planned, and
drilled correctly. To help the
operating companies reach their
business goals, service companies
must understand the financial
limitations and find a way to work
profitably within them.
The development of new
technology should be driven by
the operators needs and only
introduced where a business
benefit can be clearly
demonstrated. This is where the
use of performance-driven KPIs
becomes invaluable. Although new
technology often has a reliability
risk, its use may be justified if it
offers a step change in
performance. To help operators
weigh these issues, it is essential
that service companies be
involved early in the planning
process. This enables better
technical solutions to be
proposed and planned to address
the needs of any project.

Risks and rewards

Drilling-services providers are
generally compensated on an
hourly basis for equipment and
personnel. However, many
service providers maintain that
the key to sustained
improvement is for them to share
some of the potential project risks
and the value that they can
deliver through performance
gains. This kind
of business model already exists in
the exploration and production
industry and could include
incentives for shoe- to-shoe
drilling, reduced number of
failures, and variable pricing based
on effective penetration rates.
Over the past 20 years, the
exploration and production
industry has welcomed
innovations in drilling practices
ranging from the introduction of
MWD technologies
and steerable motors, to
computerized rig-site displays and
high-resolution while-drilling logs.
In the early 1990s, various
operators and service companies
applied while-drilling
measurements to new methods of
stuck-pipe avoidance and
developing drilling training
programs.
Today, the development rate
for new drilling methods and
technologies remains high.
This continued commitment
to drilling optimization
reflects the fact that
well designs and drilling
programs have become more
complex, and present tough,
new challenges and offer
greater potential rewards.

The key challenges for the next

decade are already well defined.
Drilling multilateral wells requires
extraordinary accuracy and control.
Deepwater and high-pressure, hightemperature wells offer additional
challenges. Wells are being drilled
in tectonically active and remote
areas where the infrastructure may
be less well developed and the
communications problematic. The
emergence of new drilling
technology
is driven by the needs of the
industry (Figure 26).
Sharing risks and rewards would
fit into the cooperative systems
being advocated by operators.
Many oil
companies are now seeking a
complete package from drillingservices providers. By this, they
mean that their drilling-services
provider is an important member
of the team and plays a full role in
assessing projects and tackling
problems. If service companies
and their customers can achieve
this level of trust, then other
benefits will follow.

Figure 26: Drilling technology has advanced rapidly over the past 30 years. The development and introduction of new
tools has enabled engineers to reach deeper and more complex targets in frontier areas and established oil
provinces.

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Number 6,
2005

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2005

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2

assessed and the impact of

various drilling services can be
evaluated.
Typically, drilling-services
companies have been assessed
on and compared using tool
reliability in terms of circulating
hours. While this provides
a simple way to compare
suppliers, it does not drive
performance, and leading
companies are trying to use
KPIs that better reflect the
impact that a service provider
can have on drilling
performance. For example,
Schlumberger is trying to move
to more representative KPIs
such as meters between failure
and meters
drilled per circulating hour,
which are

4
3