New Products & Services

Vol. 234 No. 7

Steerable service to drill and evaluate wellbore, install liner

Baker Hughes has globally commercialized its SureTrak steerable drilling liner service, which is designed to drill and evaluate complex, 3D wells, while simultaneously installing a liner. The service reduces the technical and economic risks associated with drilling and completing wells in low-pressure zones, unstable shale and coal layers, and formations with variable flows and pressures. In conventional drilling operations, it is necessary to pull the drillstring before running the casing or liner into the borehole. The SureTrak service uses proven rotary steerable drilling and liner-drilling technologies, including the Baker Hughes 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 SureTrak steerable drilling liner service was developed to address operational challenges, such as narrow drilling margins, borehole collapse and lost circulation in a safe, economical way. The service enhances wellbore integrity and minimizes formation damage. It does not require any special rig equipment.

Magnetic Bull Nose added to frac system

NCS Oilfield Services, an independent technology and services company specializing in multistage completions, has made available the Magnetic Bull Nose, a new downhole component of NCS fracture completion systems. The device fastens to the NCS Mongoose bottomhole assembly (BHA) and picks up metal debris and loose filings from the wellbore, preventing them from entering the BHA and causing damage. The Magnetic Bull Nose is magnetized with 24 powerful magnets, producing 7 in. of active magnetic field.

Tenaris reports positive results from field run

Tenaris released a case study on the completion of the company’s first installation of its latest multifunctional coating, used in one of Petrobras’ offshore pre-salt fields. The dry coating, called Dopeless, is applied to pipes post-threading, and is intended to protect against the deepwater conditions. The coating was applied to the TenarisHydril connections before deployment to the exploratory deepwater well. A 1,000-m string, with 22 joints of 18-in. P110 TenarisHydril Wedge 511, and 69 identical joints using Dopeless technology, allowed Petrobras to compare and analyze the dry coating in an operation at a water depth of more than 3,000 ft.

Resin-coated proppant is ideal for low-temperature wells

The Oilfield Technology Group of Momentive Specialty Chemicals has released a new resin-coated proppant technology for fracturing. Momentive’s Black Ultra proppants are a next-generation, resin-coated sand utilizing a multi-functional resin system that bonds at low temperatures. These proppants are ideal for fracture treatments in low-temperature reservoirs, where flowback control is necessary. Low-temperature bonding, down to 90°F bottomhole static temperature, is achieved without the use of a consolidation aid. In addition, the resin alters the relative permeability of the proppant pack, leading to higher oil production. These advanced proppants also contain re-healing properties, important for cyclic stress that occurs over the life of the well.

New field-tested application analyzes hydraulics via smartphone

Varel International Oil and Gas Drill Bits has launched a new application that allows users to instantly complete hydraulics analysis with the use of a smartphone. The application’s calculations are inclusive of total annular velocity, with inputs for multiple strings of drill pipe and drill collar diameters. In addition, the platform houses multiple reference documents, for both fixed cutter and roller cone drill bits, with a quick reference total flow area calculator. The application is compatible with Apple, Android and Blackberry devices, and can be downloaded at the respective app stores or by visiting:

Dual-deck shale shaker works onshore and offshore

M-I SWACO, a Schlumberger company, has introduced the MD-2 dual-deck shale shaker. When combined with DURAFLO composite screens, the MD-2 shaker provides optimal solids control performance for drilling applications. The development of the MD-2 shale shaker was the result of customer requests for a durable mid-range shaker, suitable for both onshore and offshore applications. M-I SWACO developed the dual-deck shale shaker, using the proven design of the offshore-suited MD-3 triple-deck shaker, while also utilizing design elements from the onshore-suited MONGOOSE PRO shale shaker.

Upgrade to seismic interpretation software

Paradigm has released Paradigm 2011.3, the latest upgrade to the Paradigm 2011 synchronized software release.  It delivers significant advances in functionality, usability, integration and performance across the entire exploration and production chain. The Paradigm 2011.3 release provides a powerful upgrade to the comprehensive SeisEarth multi-survey, regional-to-prospect, interpretation solution by extending structural and stratigraphic workflows with new voxel volume rendering.  This GPU-based rendering enables “real-time” subsurface scene creations, with dramatic acceleration of refresh speeds and negligible aliasing. The release also incorporates multi-horizon flattening (GPU-based), horizon slicing and proportional slicing with property extractions, so that geoscientists can better understand stratigraphic sequences and depositional histories.

Completions analytics estimate cumulative production

MicroSeismic has introduced the Productive-SRV (Productive-Stimulated Reservoir Volume) completions analytics.  The multiple-patents-pending technology introduces a novel method to estimate how much of the stimulated fracture remains open through proppant placement.  Productive-SRV incorporates three microseismically derived calculations to estimate target zone productivity: a magnitude-calibrated discrete fracture network (DFN), the propped fracture estimation and the Fat Fracture drainage estimation.  The combination of these techniques can be used to estimate 90-day cumulative production. Productive-SRV is determined from integrating microseismic data with known treatment parameters and near-wellbore geology and geomechanics.