technology advances increase drilling efficiency

8/13/2019 Technology Advances Increase Drilling Efficiency

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Technology Advances Increase Drilling EfciencyKey Energy Servicesby Jeremy Handeland,

District Manager Drilling Operations

Rocky Mountain Marketplace

Driven by the desire to increase protability and

enhance efciency, advances in engineering, tools

and technology continue to evolve the exploration and

production (E&P) landscape. Limitations that once

plagued E&P ventures have been alleviated by new

software, equipment and automation systems. The

benets of these technologies can be seen in the form

of increased savings, safety and speed.

The invention of Rotary Steerable Systems (RSS) in the

late 90s proved as a signicant step forward in the

advancement of directional drilling and provided the

opportunity for increased Rate of Penetration (ROP),

control and accuracy. Adding to this success, the

industry continued to make strides with real-time

technologies such as advanced Measurement While

Drill ing (MWD) and Logging While Drilling (LWD) Systems;

visualization and reservoir characterization systems; and

automation systems.

According to Baker Hughes rotary rig count, in North

America alone, oil and gas drilling has increased 214

percent over the last decade to reach a total rig count

of approximately 1,859. These numbers have been in-

uenced by directional drilling which has seen a 1,165

percent increase in horizontal wells. Additionally, US

drilling onshore has shifted its attention to shale activity

with focuses on the Bakken, Eagle Ford, Marcellus,

Utica, Permian, Williston and Niobrara formations.

Benets from technology can be seen in the form of

prolonged production from greenelds and brown-

elds, elevated return on investments, safety on the

jobsite and accuracy while dril ling. Technological ly

advanced avenues for collecting data have positively

affected where, how, when and what people drill.

Historical setbacks

The historical focus on improving drilling efciency has

been highly technical. Innovations in the 90s introducedthe use of computers, enabling reservoir modeling

and imagery in addition to increased control. The use

of computers has created synergy between downhole

machinery located thousands of feet below the earths

surface and people at the wellsite, in the lab or even

hundreds of miles away in a corporate ofce. Previously,

costs in conjunction with the uncertainty and unreli-

ability of directional drilling prevented its popularity. The

lack of real-time data to determine appropriate depths,

pressure, mud weight and uid loss hindered the drilling

engineers ability to control or mitigate risks to improveefciency and productivity.

Made manageable by todays technologies, Non-

Productive Time (NPT) events reduce drilling productivity

while increasing costs. NPT events include downhole

trips to replace drill bits, downhole tools, drive systems

and bottomhole assemblies. These events may be either

planned based on estimated rates of equipment wear or

unplanned due to equipment failure for various reasons.

The longest and most expensive NPT events are typically

unplanned and are often associated with well safety.

NPT events such as well blowouts can be extremely

costly in terms of lost productivity, environmental damage

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and adverse publicity. Other NPT events such as stuck

pipe can also be costly and can cause operators to

abandon the well.

Operator errors, equipment wear and failure to clean

the wellbore in a timely fashion all can cause equipment

to become stuck or lost in the well. Fishing is the pro-

cess of removing this equipment. On an industry-wide

basis, shing may account for 25 percent of drilling

costs. Fishing is often time-consuming, complex and

risky. Dealing with stuck or lost equipment may be more

complex in wells containing both vertical and horizontal

well sections. At times, it may be more cost-effective to

sidetrack or even abandon a well rather than engaging

in shing operations.

Key Energy Services extensive arsenal of shing tools

include a wide range of equipment from whipstocks and

mills to an exclusive line of Johnston Jars and proprietary

drilling tensile shear subs. Each is available with ancillary

equipment, depending on situation and site needs.

Geoscience advances

Today, much drilling involves reentering vertical wells in

old elds, cutting windows and drilling horizontal wells

penetrating old producing horizons. There is just as

much of this type of drilling as drilling of completely new

grassroot wells to penetrate old producing formations

with horizontal wells. This is the case in areas such as in

the Permian Basin, North Dakotas Bakken Shale and

areas of Kansas and Appalachia (the Marcellus Shale).

Forecasts are that extended reach horizontal drilling will

become increasingly common in California.

Previous drilling and production data and geological

information are available for these old elds. Together,

they provide information on how geology impacts the

drilling process. This information guides operators in

drilling these formations more productively thus improving

drilling efciency and production economics.

Many of the wells in these elds, particularly shale plays,

are shallow and can be drilled or redrilled using rigs that

are lighter and physically smaller than rigs used in new

eld development. To optimize drilling rig design for old

drilling areas and most shale formations, rig operators

are using single- or double-mast rigs.

Key Energy Services extensive eet of service rigs

includes a wide range of classes including 1000+ hp,

Class V self-propelled carrier or trailer-mounted rigs.

Each is available with ancillary equipment depending

on class and site needs.

While well life varies by formation, horizontal drilling

has given life to wells that were once declared tapped

out. For example, the Eagle Ford shale formation in

Texas, once considered an old formation, is predicted

to remain productive to approximately 2028. The for-

mation covers 23 counties, and expenditures in 2011

reached approximately $14.6 billion. Horizontal drilling

and hydraulic fracturing have made it possible to tap

into shale to extract hydrocarbons. Unconventional

petroleum deposits in Canada, dubbed oil sands, have

also grown to become an attractive source of energy.

While governmental regulations prohibit drilling in

geographical regions with respect to the environment,

modern technology affords drilling engineers with the

knowledge and technology to drill almost anywhere in

the world.

Advances in technology

Advancements made in the drilling and recovery of oil

and gas coupled with the exploration of new formations

and the rediscovery of older, once less productive

formations have broadened drilling opportunities. In

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the Williston Basin, multi-stage fracing sleeves and

packers allow the wellbore to be fractured in many

different segments which greatly increase the penetration

and efciency of the fracturing process. This process

is also making its way to other hot oil and gas plays.

In terms of transportation and distribution, pipelines

and gas plants are being built to move the product to

the market more efciently.

Rigs are constantly being built and upgraded with

safer, more efcient tools and equipment; automation

in equipment such as top drives, iron roughnecks

and hydraulic catwalks have all greatly reduced the

involvement of employees in dangerous situations

while handling drill pipe during drilling operations,

said Handeland. This multi-use equipment also

eliminates the need for switching tools for certain

jobs and eliminates costly time spent rigging up and

down third party companies to run pipe.

Todays tools have transformed planning and accuracy.

Once drilling operations commence, several engineer-

ing parameters can contribute to or reduce drilling

efciency. Seismic graphing and geological studies

have helped companies pinpoint the best locations

for drilling wells; this gives the companies a very high

success rate along with the geological sampling and

MWD surveys throughout the drilling of well ensure

that the hole stays in the pay zone.

Horizontal wells

Horizontal wells are drilled to better penetrate productive

formations. The exposed length of wellbore penetrating

the productive interval is far greater than that provided

by a vertical well. Increasing the overall length of well-

bore penetrating the production interval reduces the

amount of bypassed oil and gas that is never produced;

thereby, horizontal drilling increases both hydrocarbon

production rate and the ultimate reservoir depletion.

Deviated wellbores permit penetrating production

formations where vertical access is not possible due to

topography or pre-existing human activities. Horizon-

tal drilling allows more wells to be drilled from a single

pad; in many cases, this limits environmental impact

while allowing drilling and production activities to be

managed from a central complex instead of many

separate locations.

The rst signicant use of horizontal well drilling technol-

ogy occurred in the 1970s. During this time, the use of

downhole drilling motors driven by the hydraulic power

of circulating drilling mud became common. Most of

the vertical pipe was held in a stationary position while a

piece of bent drill pipe allowed the drill bit at the bottom

of the wellbore to be rotated, changing the direction

of drilling. MWD tools allow the change in the drilling

direction to be determined and adjusted accordingly.

Including MWD tools in the drill string allows this to be

done on a near-real-time basis. By closely monitoring

operations, other MWD tools allow operators to prevent

premature equipment failure.

LWD techniques and tools are employed to increase

drilling precision. LWD tools assist the MWD system

and allow engineers to make adjustments in mud

weights, uids and real-time steering. LWD tools

generate 3-D images to provide the engineer with

prot- and time-saving information. In conjunction with

MWD tools, LWD tools provide the engineer with an

accurate reading of the reservoir.

The rst commercial vertical well drilled in the United

States occurred in 1859 in Venango County, Penn., and

was completed under the instruction of Colonel Edwin

L. Drake. Since then and up until the 1970s, this form

of drilling served as the primary method. Vertical drilling

requires less pad space, water, time and resources but

is also less productive. The typical vertical well requires

two to four acres of land compared to ten

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and up for a horizontal well. Additionally, the average

cost for a vertical well rests at about $750,000 to $1.1

million while the average cost for a horizontal well costs

anywhere from $6 million to $8 million.

The completions phase includes the processes or tools

required to prepare the wellbore for production. Edge

Oileld Services, a subsidiary of Key Energy Services,

provides high pressure rental equipment and services

which support well completion activities. Group opera-

tions emphasize the necessary completion activities

and subsequent remediation work required. Equipment

and services offered by Edge include frac stack

spreads, well testing/hydraulic choke services, and re-

verse unit services. Additional completions equipment

include, but are not limited to: packers, ow control

mechanisms, liner systems, sand control devices and

uids. Fluid hauling plays a crucial role in effective reservoir

management. Key Energy Services also offers a variety

of drilling uids and disposal solutions.

Automation

Automated drilling rigs reduce safety hazards; subse-

quently, the industry has pushed to remove employees

from the drilling process. Rig Automation replaces the

highly strenuous conditions of the rig oor by the more

pleasant environment of a climate-controlled room.

People remain more alert under these more comfortable

working conditions, thus contributing to safe rig operations.

The same or fewer number of people can monitor several

drilling rigs simultaneously which, in-turn, improves

drilling economics.

Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA)

control systems are computer-controlled systems that

monitor and control industrial processes. These control

systems are installed on rigs to control drilling equipment

and used in conjunction with drilling automation systems.

In addition to improving safety, technology has also

made it possible to drill in extreme, new environments

all over the world. New equipment and advances in

automation have made drilling and production possible in

areas such as the Middle East where temperatures can

reach up to 113 degrees Fahrenheit and in the Arctic

where temperatures can dip as low as -50 degrees

Fahrenheit. High Pressure/High Temperature (HP/HT)

situations can involve a combination of high depth,

temperature and pressure situations. Todays high

performance technologies including uids, casing

materials and well completion systems are developed

to withstand these instances.

With the strong focus on the North American shale

plays, Key Energy Services provides the services and

equipment needed to perform in the cold of the

Williston and Bakken regions and the heat of the

Eagle Ford, said Handeland. Dependent on the en-

vironment and situation, Key has an extensive array

of rental equipment and services, from hard items

such as pipe, rods, or even Blow Out Preventers, to

our proprietary services such as SmartTong Rod

Connection Services, Hydra-Walk Pipe Handling

System, and the Sand-X system.

Safety

Safe operations mean fewer drilling process interruptions,

thereby improving drilling productivity and economics.

In recent years, Health, Safety and Environment policies

have become more stringent as a result of the BP Deep-

water Horizon Explosion. While this occurred offshore,

it has also affected the industrys perception onshore.

Enhanced safety precautions have been developed to

better prevention, intervention and response procedures.

Several American Petroleum Institute (API) Standards

have been developed and amended as a result. Many

of these procedures concern well design and blow out

preventer regulations. Automation has helped to alleviate

the concern for safety as fewer employees are required

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on the rig site. (Figure 1)

Future plans

Advances in technology have in-turn equated into

advances in production and increased drilling efciency.

These strides have allowed drilling in areas once con-

sidered too harsh and extreme. As technology evolves,

developments will continue to be seen internationally.

Horizontal wells make it possible to raise productionwithout drilling several vertical wells; however, the

increased demand for energy and the emerging

shale plays still have the rig count rising. Customers

recognize Keys willingness to provide the best and

most reliable equipment in the industry; preventive

maintenance, training and rst-class operational

supervision ensure that equipment is always kept up

to standards. Key Energy Services is the largest on-

shore, rig-based well servicing contractor based on the

number of rigs owned. Key provides a complete range

of well intervention services and has operations in allmajor onshore oil- and gas-producing regions of the

continental United States and internationally in Mexico,

Colombia, the Middle East and Russia.

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technology advances increase drilling efficiency

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