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Various stabilizer types are used in the industry, such as bladed stabilizers with straight or spiral blades, roller-reamers, and other emergent forms. Their designs are proved, via many in-field measurements, to have a significant impact on vibration levels. Although experimental data is extremely valuable to rank the available design options, testing the different stabilizers can be costly and sometimes risky. In addition, in-field conditions can be difficult to control making the comparisons between stabilizers even more complicated. Assessing the design impact using numerical simulations represents an interesting alternative to provide objective comparisons based on tests in a controlled environment. This numerical model is applied to quantify the effect of stabilizer design in terms of vibration, from straight blades to highly spiraled blades . First, a parametric study of blade design and wellbore inclination effects on stabilizer vibrations is presented by considering differe...

When drilling in sliding mode, axial oscillation tools (AOT) and surface oscillation tools (SOT) are two possible solutions that are used in the industry to overcome the friction forces, especially in unconventional well trajectories with a long lateral section. The AOT is assembled in the drillstring and run in hole such that it is generally placed in the middle of the lateral section. It is actuated by the mud flow to produce high-frequency axial vibrations . As for the SOT, it is placed at surface and produces low-frequency torsional oscillations in the drillstring by alternating the rotation direction. For some challenging trajectories, the idea of combining both tools, where the SOT reduces the friction on the top part of the trajectory and the AOT deals with the bottom part, seems appealing. However, when coupling the two types of oscillations, one should be careful to the possible implications on tool face control performance. Numerical simulations show that the AOT helps th...

Rotary steerable systems (RSS) and steerable motors pose their own unique challenges when modelling the bottomhole assembly (BHA) directional behavior. This paper aims to present a methodology that allows the anticipation of problems such as mechanically stuck pipe or lock up situations when running in hole casing or completion strings. The methodology consists of 3 tasks: evaluation of intermediate doglegs and wellbore tortuosity using a unique Rock-Bit-BHA analysis , modelling of the casing deformation including potential centralization and then modelling the run in hole (RIH) of the completion. The directional capabilities of a BHA are affected significantly by the selection of the drilling bit, type of directional drilling driving system and the type of formation. The resulting trajectory can be either very smooth or very tortuous with significant additional local doglegs . The deformation of the casing as well as the completion post buckling analysis is completed using a robus...

  Through a unique and collaborative approach of competitive service companies, engineering resources were combined and leveraged to identify and mitigate risks of wellbore instability, losses and drilling dysfunctions. Combining service companies’ resources and knowledge allowed to set up a new transversal approach to challenge old paradigms and implement new drilling tools ( directional drilling and bits) adapted to this environment. Rate of Penetration (ROP) improvement roadmap based on data analysis and engineering implemented through the processing of offset wells drilling data , real-time monitoring of Mechanical Specific Energy (MSE) and drilling dysfunctions avoidance. Team spirit-based approach where all actors of the execution embarked on board. Thanks to this new transversal approach and unique collaboration among all the competitive service companies, an overall reduction of drilling dysfunctions was achieved. Optimization efforts were successfully implemented by fo...

  Contact friction along drill string is one of root causes of stick-slip vibrations , especially when drilling an unconventional well with a long lateral section. By using a downhole steerable motor in rotating mode, the motor bend can create important contact forces between the drill string and wellbore and consequently generate considerable frictional torques opposed to the drill string rotation. Therefore, for more accurate estimations of stick-slip behavior, these forces need to be considered in stick-slip modeling. In this paper, a torsional vibration model based on a mass-spring system with multiple degrees-of-freedom is used to investigate the drill string stick-slip behavior. This stick-slip model includes the drill bit friction torque , contact friction along the drill string, and mud damping. The contact forces along drill string are determined using an advanced 3D drill string behavior model allowing to consider the motor bend effect. They are then integrated in the...

  Positional uncertainty in wellbores is caused by numerous error sources and propagates in magnitude along the measured depth of the wellbore. This can be problematic when planning or drilling closely spaced long reach wells while still satisfying collision avoidance policies. The ellipses of uncertainty associated with surveys acquired by standard Measurement While Drilling (MWD) tools are often too large to enable adequate separation factors between wells. MWD tools are instruments mounted inside the bottom hole assembly (BHA) and use an accelerometer and magnetometer sensor package to determine the inclination and magnetic azimuth while drilling. The magnetic azimuth is used to calculate a true (geographic) azimuth by adding the declination angle from a geomagnetic reference model. The largest sources of error in standard MWD survey are inaccuracies in the global geomagnetic reference model and magnetic interference from the BHA. These error sources can be reduced significa...

We present a study conducted to develop and validate new capabilities for offshore geomagnetic surveying that employs the autonomous marine vehicle (AMV) to map the crustal magnetic field and monitor disturbance fields surrounding offshore drill sites. Knowledge of geomagnetic field direction and strength in the wellbore are essential parameters needed for directional drilling . To compute wellbore azimuth, the directional driller compares the magnetic field measurement provided by the measurement-while-drilling (MWD) tool with the geomagnetic field reference data to position the wellbore in real time while drilling. Correction for variations in the disturbance field is essential for accurate mapping of the crustal geomagnetic field. Unfortunately, land-based stations are not ideal for mapping the disturbance field in the offshore because of the distance of the station from the measurement site and the different electrical conductivity of the subsurface. To address the need for impro...

The Piceance Basin, located in Western Colorado, is a 6,000-square-mile basin consisting of vertically stacked sand-shale sequences. Gas-in-place estimates exceed 200 trillion cubic feet. The operator started developing its acreage in 1982 with 160-acre bottom-hole spacing. Over time, dictated by reservoir performance and enabled by drilling and completion technology, such as PDC bits and directional drilling , field development migrated to 10-acre bottom-hole spacing with surface locations consisting of three to four wells per pad. Historically, pricing pressures dictated the use of conventional mechanical drilling rigs. In recent years, as product prices increased and as well inventory in easily accessible areas became drilled up, the need to drill many wells from a single remote surface location became apparent. These purpose-built rigs facilitate this, plus bring multiple performance improvements, environmental benefits, and well cost reduction to the asset. This paper will be...

Automated geosteering relies on logging-while-drilling data from offset wells to make inferences about the geological formation and help guide directional drilling of the subject well. When data from multiple offset wells are available, it is desirable to consistently combine data typelogs from these wells to better estimate the 3D geological formation around the drilling path . We develop a quantitative typelog alignment method based on a Bayesian approach, where the alignment map between pairs of typelogs are modeled as a random function with a prior distribution. A multi-stage penalized procedure is developed that optimizes this alignment map to minimize a misfit function, while taking the prior knowledge into consideration. Read out the tech paper in detail by visiting here: https://www.helmerichpayne.com/resources/technical-publications/improved-typelog-alignment-for-automated-geosteering-using-multi-stage-penalized-optimization or you can reach out to us directly here: https...

  This paper describes the innovative engineering workflow which has been used to ensure the safe deployment of deep production liners on long step-out wells of a deep offshore development field. It highlights the importance of accurate Torque & Drag modelling during planning and operations and provides details on how the use of downhole data assisted in understanding downhole conditions on the first wells, which allowed to optimize the running and setting procedure for the next wells of the field. For this methodology, a unique Torque & Drag stiff-string model was used to simulate the evolution of side-forces, tension, stretch, torque and twist along the string at every stage of the deployment and setting of the liner. Simulations were performed both during planning phase and operations. Once the well completed, downhole memory data from a logging tool was compared with simulations, which allowed to calibrate the model, better understand downhole conditions, and provid...

We can’t be H&P without our employees’ drive, motivation and dedication to our operations. They are the reason we are the industry's most trusted provider of drilling efficiency and reliability. This video played at H&P's 2023 Service Awards where we honored almost 900 hundred employees for reaching career milestones. By utilizing the materials provided herein, the user agrees H&P does not provide or purport to provide any goods, services, or direction regarding the user’s specific work environment. The information included herein is continually under development and is subject to change at any time, therefore users must exercise their own independent judgment to evaluate their use of and reliance on these materials. The implementation of any practices described herein is at user’s own discretion and risk. H&P assumes no liability for any losses, (including, without limitation, incidental, special, punitive, or consequential damages), arising in any manner fro...

An indispensable item for every roughneck is the tally book, used to measure and count the drill pipe entering and exiting the wellbore. The current practice is for a crew member to measure the pipe with a pipe strap and enter the information, each time while tripping, into their tally book. This manual entry is prone to error, leading to potential mistakes in the calculated drilling depth and poorly sequenced lithologies, which in turn may contribute to an unsafe environment and drill bit damage due to inaccurate drillstring length. These mistakes often require an additional trip out of hole and increase the amount of nonproductive time. Computer vision technology has shown promise in other industries with its ability to automate similar recognition and counting tasks. A dual-use system has been developed where the same cameras for pipe counting can be used for red zone entry detection, holding the potential to enhance the overall safety of the drilling process . A pilot application...

Unplanned sidetracks are low-frequency high-cost events that have meaningful negative impact on the economics of oil field development. While it is clearly desirable to reduce the frequency and severity of unplanned sidetracks , without a robust baseline for event frequency it can be difficult to estimate the value and efficacy of actions taken to mitigate sidetrack risk. For high volume drilling operations , there exists enough data to establish a meaningful baseline. This study aims to quantify the costs of unplanned sidetrack operations to drilling in North America by estimating the frequency of sidetracks, the reason the sidetrack was needed, typical amount of lost footage and time due to the sidetrack being required. With estimates of these values available a better cost-model for sidetracks maybe developed with which sidetrack mitigating technologies and techniques may be better evaluated for return on investment. A comprehensive set of approximately 6,500 North American wells ...

Drilling operations can induce several external excitations to the drillstring and bottom-hole assembly (BHA) due, namely, to the drillstring-wellbore contacts, bit-rock interactions, fluid flow, and mass imbalances. On the one hand, such undesirable excitations may lead to excessive vibrations and damage to the drill bit, BHA, or drill-pipes. On the other hand, some vibration tools are used to intentionally introduce a source of lateral vibrations in the drillstring to reduce the friction effects and enhance the rate of penetration. Whether these vibrations are undesirable or intentional, efficient models are necessary to predict them accurately to help optimize the drilling parameters and vibration tools placement in the drillstring. The time-domain analysis can give a detailed portrayal of drillstring vibrations , but usually requires a lengthy computational time, especially for the simulation of long structures. This paper focuses on an alternative analysis using a forced vibrati...