I N NOVATI N G WH I LE DR I LLI N G
or an f a list o
Sc Upon its launch in 2022, HiFi helped Patterson-UTI see a 27.8%
increase in the amount of lateral footage placed in the drilling
window compared with its average in the previous year. After the
system was rolled out to the company’s APEX rigs, it saw an 8%
increase in average daily footage drilled from 2021 to 2022, and
an average well depth increase of 500 ft in the same time span.
In one Eagle Ford project, Patterson-UTI deployed the software
system in an area where high ROP was common, so there was an
increased need for precise lateral targeting and deliberate steer-
ing decisions. The company determined that reducing the sliding
percentage and the overall number of slides could yield a reduc-
tion in drilling time, resulting in a smoother wellbore.
A pre-job analysis of directional drilling in offset wells revealed
an average of four slides per 1,000 ft, with a 35% variance between
the day and night directional driller. For this project, the operator
had the directional drillers follow their standard operating proce-
dure for four offset wells on the pad, and a fifth well would utilize
the HiFi Guidance system to make all steering decisions in the
lateral. Results showed the four offset wells had an 8.6% average
slide percentage, compared with just 3.3% for the fifth well – this
marked a 62% reduction in sliding percentage in the lateral.
Additionally, the number of slides was reduced by 46% when
comparing the directional drillers versus the HiFi Guidance sys-
tem in the lateral. Drilling time was reduced by 17 hours, resulting
in a direct savings of $35,000. DC
Algorithms built into Patterson-UTI’s HiFi Guidance system
refine the calculation of rotational tendencies and motor
yield in real time, optimizing slide schedulin g. The company
says it has seen a 27.8% increase in lateral footage placed in
the drilling window since launching the technology last year.
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