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Vol. 232 No. 4 |
Shale-optimized PDC drill bit
Schlumberger subsidiary Smith Bits has introduced its Spear shale-optimized steel body polycrystalline diamond compact (PDC) bit. The Spear drill bit is specifically designed for shale plays to efficiently drill a curve and a long lateral hole section for faster penetration rates in low-hydraulic-energy environments. The new bit is capable of drilling both curve and lateral sections, reducing the number of trips downhole and the associated rig time. The bit also reduces the driller’s NPT by minimizing vibration and preventing packed blades, plugged nozzles and cutter damage. The shale-optimized steel body PDC drill bit has been used successfully in the Bakken, Barnett, Marcellus, Haynesville and Eagle Ford shale formations of North America. In the Marcellus shale, for example, target ROP for drilling the horizontal leg was 50 ft/hr, but the Spear bit achieved ROPs greater than 65 ft/hr, a 30% improvement. In the Haynesville, the bit consistently drilled the horizontal section in one run at ROPs 10–20% faster than the best offset performance. The Spear drill bit permits high ROP through a combination of tall and thin blades, which provide a large area for cuttings flow. A unique hydraulic design directs flow toward the cutter faces, keeping them sharp, and also sweeping cuttings away from the bottom of the hole and around the bullet-shaped body into the annulus. Lower torque response and improved directional control are provided through the use of small cutters. To reduce and redistribute cutter loading and minimize vibration caused by high formation rock strength, LoVibe depth-of-cut control inserts are placed behind the shoulder and gauge cutters. The bit can be fitted with Onyx PDC cutters for hard rock applications.
Online management training Oilennium Ltd. has expanded its range of learning management system (LMS) online training modules, and has made them available for individual purchase. The range of courses has been expanded to include three main classifications: essential knowledge, health and safety, and technical courses. This allows any company to provide training in new skills to long-term employees, and an introduction to new employees who are transferring from another discipline. When users access the LMS, it instantly connects them to interactive exercises and animations designed to immediately capture their attention so that they remain engaged in the new material. The LMS monitors participant comprehension through a series of interactive review checks, and feeds back the results to the company. Each study module is fully trackable. Modules can be uploaded as files compliant with sharable content object reference model (SCORM), the body of standards and specifications used by the web-based e-learning global community. The system records user progress as they work their way through the program. When participants successfully complete a module, they will have gained a solid grasp of the subject matter. Users can fit their studies around their work schedules.
Proportional spool valve
Hawe Hydraulik SE of Munich, Germany, is offering the proportional spool valve, type PSL/PSV, complete with direct CAN-BUS interface. The new design has simplified wiring, supporting speedier and safer installation. Unlike other designs, the wiring is not designed as a daisy chain, but is connected and ready for straightforward insertion of the entire cable. The electrical connection complies with ingress protection rating IP 67, enabling a broad range of deployment in rough environmental conditions. The integrated signal relay ensures the automatic optimization of the valve’s reactive behavior. This helps reduce hysteresis by simplifying the precision of repetitions and/or the integration into automatic sequences. The self-teaching functions of parameters also reduce the set-up work. The CAN-BUS control facilitates actuation of complex systems with decentralized valve islets, sensors and actors. All pressurized components are made of steel, enabling flows up to 32 gal/min. and operating pressures up to 6,100 psi.
Conformable sand control system Baker Hughes announced the commercial launch of its GeoForm conformable sand-management system with shape-memory polymer (SMP) technology. A new approach to sand control, the system conforms to the borehole in an openhole environment—greatly reducing complexity compared to traditional gravel pack systems while improving efficiency, reducing rig time and mitigating risks associated with conventional techniques. The system uses SMP that is manufactured to a desired shape and size, placed on the outside of base pipe—similar to conventional screens—and then compacted to a smaller shape conducive to running in hole. When exposed to bottomhole temperatures and a catalyst, this material expands to its original shape to fully contact the borehole wall, conform to borehole abnormalities and provide a positive stress on the formation. This positive stress stabilizes the near-wellbore region and controls sand migration. The system’s modular design allows easy integration with existing Baker Hughes technologies such as Equalizer inflow control devices, Selectaflow screen isolation, or REPacker zonal isolation technology. Its flexibility also makes it a good solution for remediating existing sand control issues. The SMP can be deployed across the production interval to repair sanding problems through an existing completion.
High-build-rate rotary steerable system
Schlumberger has released the PowerDrive Archer high-build-rate rotary steerable system (RSS). The system delivers well profiles previously possible only with motors, and with the ROP and wellbore quality of a fully rotating RSS. The system can drill complex 3D trajectories and openhole sidetracks from any inclination. It can drill vertical and horizontal sections in one run, with no flat time for trips to change the bottomhole assembly. In field trials in North America and the Middle East, the system has consistently drilled high build rates in many formations, with some wells exceeding 17°/100 ft. The PowerDrive Archer hybrid steering system is a combination of both push-the-bit and point-the-bit technologies. This allows the tool to deliver high build rates from any deviation and to do so accurately from vertical.
Multistage completion system
Packers Plus Energy Services has released a new technology capable of fracturing 60 stages downhole while pumping only 15 treatments at surface. This new system, called QuickFRAC, can meet the need for increased stage numbers in formations such as the Bakken, Niobrara and Marcellus shales. QuickFRAC allows the operator to do the job of pumping 15 stages on surface while the system does the job downhole, providing as many as 60 individual stages. This is done by taking a single pumping treatment on surface and precisely directing it into two to five stages downhole. The system allows operators to fracture several isolated stages at one time through a process known as batch fracturing.
Long-string wireline transport
Wireline and well intervention technology specialist Wireline Engineering has successfully deployed its Open Hole Roller Bogie technology at Catcher field in the UK central North Sea, operated by EnCore Oil. The technology was used by well management company Applied Drilling Technology Inc. (ADTI), a division of Transocean, to perform a number of wireline runs. It is the first equipment of its kind to be commercially available in the UK and worldwide. The Open Hole Roller Bogie is a specialized conveyance tool used in downhole operations to eliminate tool string friction in deviated oil and gas wells. It can be deployed in extreme downhole conditions and increase the envelope of wireline conveyance. The tool is capable of conveying the longest tool strings and has been successful at up to 75° deviation.
Infinite-activation circulation sub
The TAZ Multiple Activation Circulating Sub has been introduced by X Drilling Tools (XDT), a Reservoir Group company. With wells becoming increasingly complex, it is likely that pumping large volumes of drilling fluid or lost-circulation material will be required at some point during the drilling process, making it necessary that a circulation sub be run in the bottomhole assembly. These tools have had a limited number of activations. The TAZ tool is the first circulation sub to provide an unlimited number of activations downhole. The tool remains dormant in the BHA until opened by pumping down a “magic ball.” The resulting pressure drop allows the mechanism to engage, opening three ports to the annulus. The central feature of the TAZ system is that the “magic ball,” which is made of naturally degradable material, disappears upon activation, ensuring that a 2-in. clearance is maintained through the tool at all times. Closing the ports is achieved by pumping down an identical ball, which also degrades upon deactivation, leaving the tool dormant and ready to be activated again in an endless cycle.
Dual-redundant pressure regulator
Midland-ACS introduced a high-integrity pressure regulator for the pneumatic control systems that are widely used for valve actuation in the oil and gas industry. Called OPD Stemsaver, the device guards against any failure of the filter-regulator that controls compressed air system pressure, by providing dual-redundant over-pressure protection. It ensures that any downstream actuators for controlling process valves cannot accidentally be exposed to dangerous over-pressures that could be high enough to shear a valve stem or cause other damage. Automated control valves are particularly common in hazardous areas such as offshore platforms, where there may be as many as a 1,000 actuated valves. Although considerable safety design effort goes into ensuring that the actuators that control these valves can be relied on in the event of an emergency, pneumatic actuation systems typically use a single filter-regulator component, and the failure of this component can expose downstream devices to pressures as high as two or more times the norm. This can be enough to cause significant damage, even providing an actuator with enough torque to shear a valve stem. As standard, OPD Stemsaver can be set to regulate pressure in the 58–116-psi range. The device is supplied as a single compact unit, fabricated in 316 stainless steel to meet the anti-corrosion requirements of environments such as offshore platforms. In use, the secondary regulator is set to operate at a slightly higher pressure than the primary regulator. If activated, the secondary regulator provides feedback to the plant’s distributed control system.
Space and weight saving flowmeters
With its self-conditioning differential pressure cone design, McCrometer’s V-Cone flowmeter provide a fluid measurement solution for rugged offshore production applications from seafloor to platforms. Featuring advanced differential pressure technology, the V-Cone flowmeter and highly scalable Wafer-Cone flowmeter provide superior flow measurement accuracy and repeatability regardless of fluid dynamics. Testing to API 22.2 Protocol for Differential Pressure Flow Devices proves the meter’s accurate flow measurement with minimal pipe runs. V-Cone is also available with international certifications such as Measurement Canada and Inmetro. Built-in flow conditioning reduces the upstream/downstream straight pipe run required by orifice plates and Venturi tubes by up to 70%. Less pipe and reduced total weight also simplify vessel balancing, making it easier to find the optimal location for flowmeter installation. The meter provides accuracy of ±0.5% of actual flow and repeatability of ±0.1% over the entire range. It can be used for the measurement of liquid, steam or gas and is available for line sizes from 1/2 in. to 120 in., with a 10/1 turndown ratio for wide rangeability. Its no-moving-parts design provides an extremely rugged instrument. The highly scalable Wafer-Cone flowmeter is suitable for small line processes in line sizes from 1 to 6 in. for onshore wellhead measurement in coalbed methane and oil sands applications. It can be installed virtually anywhere in a piping system or be easily retrofitted into an existing piping layout. The Wafer-Cone flowmeter achieves an accuracy of ±1.0%, with a repeatability of ±0.1%, and operates over a flow range of 10/1.
Console for accurate MPD choke control
M-I SWACO has released the Low Pressure AutoChoke Console (LPAC) unit, a precision-built choke console that provides accurate and economical control of the autochoke unit during managed pressure drilling (MPD), underbalanced drilling (UBD) and other low-surface-pressure operations. The LPAC unit allows the operator to directly set and maintain the desired backpressure on the well using either the local hydraulic power unit (HPU) console or the remote human-machine interface (HMI) panel near the driller. The LPAC enables seamless transition between autochoke units, while simultaneously controlling two units. The unit can maintain pressure for more than two hours after loss of rig air and up to one hour after loss of rig power, due to the hydraulic accumulator, air storage tank and uninterruptible power supply. The unit’s sunlight-readable touch screen panels ensure accurate readings in any weather condition and allow for precise pressure inputs to the autochoke units. Screens display additional operating parameters including casing and drill pipe pressures, pump rates, strokes and diagnostics. The remote HMI, which comes standard with the LPAC unit, can be placed anywhere, allowing the choke operator to work in close proximity to the driller throughout the MPD or UBD section of the well. The LPAC unit is also equipped to be controlled by third-party software.
Customizable stimulation services
Weatherford has introduced Fracology, a customizable approach to maximize production, performance and reservoir life through synchronized stimulation services. Drilling, completion, fracturing and production operations can be optimized through the evaluation of core samples and other forms of direct petrochemical measurements. Wellsite analysis becomes an integral part of the information loop when the drilling begins. Cuttings and mud provide a large amount of useful information. From data obtained in the evaluation and analysis phases, the fracturing process can be fine-tuned to optimize and maximize the placement and hydrocarbon yield. Continuous feedback from microseismic output permits a response to changing conditions as operations proceed. Real-time microseismic data gathered during fracturing is used not only to monitor the reservoir’s behavior but also to adjust the fracturing parameters and optimize results. Data obtained about the quality of the completion is provided in a 3D view of the drainage network.
Remote open-close pressure testing
Red Spider’s eRED is the company’s first tool to use remote open-close technology for pressure-testing applications. The technology, which has been used in 12 fields, typically reduces slickline runs from eight to one. In subsea workover operations, savings of up to 41 hours have been recorded in a single job. Further development work has resulted in the two new products—PowerBall and the eRED-FB (a completion placement valve). The eRED-FB completion placement valve can save up to 32 hours of rig time by eliminating the need for any interventions during the operation. It is essentially a tubing-mounted eRED, permanently deployed as part of the tubing string, which, when open, provides a full through-bore for well fluids. PowerBall is a reservoir isolation barrier that prevents fluid loss during the upper completion phase of well construction. Its increased reliability can deliver major time reductions in subsea operations and significantly enhance safety.
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