Better Turns for Rotary Steerable Drilling
Rotary steerable drilling technology has evolved considerably since its dramatic entry to the eld in the late 1990s. The unique capabilities of the newest sy stems offer increased ex ibility and greater reliability for drilling complicated wellbore trajectories in harsh environments.
Rotary steerable systems arrived on the drilling scene in the late 1990s to immediate acclaim. An extended-reach well drilled during 1997 in the Wytch Farm fi eld in the UK was the fi rst well
with a departure more than 10 km [6.2 miles] drilled using this new technology.1
Up until that
well was drilled, engineers approximated the operation of rotary steerable systems by using
Bit deflection using whipstocks • Limited control • Missed targets
Mike Williams Su gar Land, Tex as, USA
For help in preparation of this article, thanks to Glaucio Alves Barbosa, Chris Lenamond, Roger Pinard and Ulisses Sperandio, Macaé , Brazil; Emma Bloor, Liz Hutton and Curtis Robinson, Sugar Land, Texas, USA; Tim Curington and Paul Wilkie, Stonehouse, England; Bjø rn Engedal, Norsk Hydro, Stavanger, Norway; Ricardo Juiniti Bernardo, Petrobras, Macaé, Brazil; Hilaire Tchetnga, Luanda, Angola; and Paul Wand, London, England.
adnVISION (Azimuthal Density Neutron), PERFORM (Perfor- mance Through Risk Management Process), PowerDrive, PowerDrive Xceed, PowerDrive Xtra and PowerPulse are marks of Schlumberger.
Positive-displacement motor • Improved directional control • Inefficient
Steerable drilling motor
• Rotary and sliding modes controlled at surface
• Improved directional control
• Tortuosity from slide drilling limits reach
Rotary steerable system • Continuous rotation
• Excellent directional control • Improved borehole quality • Increased rate of penetration • Highly efficient
> Evolution of directional-drilling technology. Positive-displacement motors and steerable drilling motors supplanted primitive bit de ection using whipstocks. Rotary steerable systems, introduced in the late 1990s, were the rst devices to provide three-dimensional trajectory adjustment while rotating continuously.
4 Oilfi eld Review
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76