Schlumberger launches at-bit steerable system for single-run horizontal wells
Schlumberger has introduced the NeoSteer at-bit steerable system (ABSS) at the 2019 SPE Annual Technical Conference in Calgary, Canada. In this video with DC on 30 September, Ziad Akkaoui, Drilling and Measurements Product Champion, Schlumberger, discusses the capabilities and recent successes of the system.
The new system improves horizontal well drilling performance by providing high-dogleg capability and increased rate of penetration in the curve and the lateral. It leverages digital technologies by combining the latest trajectory control algorithms, and machine-learning and data analytics to provide improved planning and execution performance.
“The NeoSteer family is a real game-changer for the industry. We have combined cutting structures with steering systems, enabled through digital technology, to drill steeper curves, longer and straighter laterals,” Tarek Rizk, President, Drilling & Measurements, Schlumberger, said. “Our customers will benefit from improved performance by increasing rate of penetration, accurate well placement and a high-quality wellbore, which reduces overall well construction costs.”
The system has already drilled a total of more than 792,480 m during 250 runs in the unconventional reservoirs in North America and Argentina. The fastest well drilled was in the DJ Basin and drilled shoe to shoe, vertical, curve and lateral totaling 4,609.5 m in 29 on-bottom hours with an average ROP of 159.4 m/hr.
In the Marcellus Shale, the fit-for-basin NeoSteer CLx extreme curve and lateral ABSS enabled an operator to drill difficult tangents, high-dogleg curves and long lateral sections through hard formations while maintaining low tortuosity. Conventional methods would have required two BHAs to overcome drilling through challenging abrasive sandstone sections. However, the NeoSteer CLx was able to drill three sections, totaling 4,212 m, at a higher ROP and in a single run.
In the DJ Basin, SRC Energy used the NeoSteer CL curve and lateral ABSS to drill a 12-well pad targeting vertical curves and lateral sections in a single run. The operator was able to increase ROP by 20%, saving as much as 21 hours in a single well, while targeting various zones in the unconventional Niobrara shale formation.
