Exclusive video: Steerable drilling liner service drills, evaluates wellbore while installing liner

Brage Johannessen, vice president of drilling services, speaks with Drilling Contractor associate editor Joanne Liou in an exclusive video about SureTrak, a service that is designed to drill and evaluate complex 3D wells while simultaneously installing a liner.

Baker Hughes has introduced SureTrak, a steerable drilling liner service that was among the latest technologies launched at the 2013 OTC. “With this service, we’re able to mitigate technical and economical risks associated with drilling and completing wells in depleted or low-pressure zones, unstable formations, such as shale and coal layers, or formations with variable flows and pressures,” Brage Johannessen, vice president of drilling services at Baker Hughes, stated during a press conference on 7 May.

In conventional drilling operations, it is necessary to pull the drill string before running the casing or liner into the borehole. The steerable drilling liner service uses proven rotary steerable drilling and liner-drilling technologies, including the company’s AutoTrak rotary steerable system and modular logging-while-drilling and measurement-while-drilling systems, to drill, evaluate and install a liner to total depth in one run. “The result, apart from the reduced risk exposure by eliminating the need for wiper trips and a separate casing run, this technology has proven to provide access to reservoirs that otherwise might be considered unreachable with conventional drilling technology,” Mr Johannessen said.

The SureTrak steerable drilling liner service was developed to safely and economically address operational challenges, such as narrow drilling margins, borehole collapse and lost circulation. The service enhances wellbore integrity and minimizes formation damage but does not require any additional rig equipment to be installed to run the system.

SureTrak and AutoTrak are trademarks of Baker Hughes.