01 Planning

PLANNING Proper planning is key to optimizing operations and minimizing expenditures

PLANNING The drilling engineer's job is to develop oil and gas reserves at minimum cost Oil

companies are in the business to make money

If

we do not make money, we cannot stay in business

PLANNING The drilling engineer's job is to develop oil and gas reserves at minimum cost Oil

companies are in the business to make money

If

we do not make money, we cannot stay in business

PLANNING The drilling plan can be anything from a single sheet of paper to several books It depends upon the complexity of the well Data acquisition The

first step in formulating any drilling plan is to gather information for drilling the well

PLANNING Some

information is always available

Geologic

prognosis

 The geologic prognosis contains information about the formation to be drilled

 It should define the objectives of the well  It should indicate the types of logs required and whether cores and drill stem tests will be required

PLANNING Example in book Name and Location: Dry

Hole No. 1-"A", 700' FNL & 660' FEL Section 82, Block B-1, H&GN Survey, Northwest Mendota Field, Roberts County, Texas. Objective Horizon and Contract Depth: Base of Upper Morrow Sand plus 100' (30m); Approved depth 11,350' (3460m)

PLANNING

Estimated Formation Tops  Estimated

Elevation, KB  Top Wichita-Albany Anhydrite  Top Wolfcamp Dolomite  Top Possible Lost Circulation  Top Douglas Sands  Top Granite Wash  Top 13 Finger Lime  Top Morrow Formation  Top Morrow Sand

2,857' 2,950' 4,150' 4,300' 7,100' 9,950' 10,910' 11,100' 11,165'

871m 899m 1,265m 1,311m 2,164m 3,033m 3,325m 3,383m 3,408m

PLANNING Possible Producing Zones:  Douglas  Stray  Des

Sand

7,100-7,200'

Douglas Sand 7,400'

Moines

 Granite  Upper

Wash

2,164-2,194m 2,256m

9,050-9,900'

2,758-2,018m

9,950-10,800'

3,033-3,292m

Morrow Sand 11,165'

3,403m

PLANNING Samples:  Catch

10' (3m) samples from 6,800' (2070m) to TD. Wash thoroughly, air dry, and tie in 100' (30m) bundles. 10' (3m) drilling time from 3,350' (1020m) to TD.

Coring:  One

50' (15m) oriented core of Upper Morrow Sand 11,165 to 11,215, (3,403m to 3,418m) approximately. (Need core for dipmeter study and environmental analysis.)

Drill Stem Testing:  Possibly

one test in Granite Wash

PLANNING Surveys: Dual

Induction and Compensated Neutron Formation Density logs

Remarks: Set

surface casing at 3,350' (1021m); set intermediate casing at 10,950' (3,338m) (5 1/2” – 139.7mm). Possible string of 2 1/2" (64mm) tubing to be set outside of 5 1/2" (139.7mm) casing in order to test Granite Wash.

PLANNING Geologic map Provides

information on offset wells that can be used for a reference

PLANNING Geologic maps Geologic

cross section and structure

PLANNING Control wells Control

wells should be geologically similar to the well being planned

PLANNING Bit record Information

from offset bit records

can show  Casing points  Mud weights  Deviation  Time to drill  Number of bits  Types of bits Hydraulics

PLANNING

PLANNING Open hole logs Information Caliper Pore

on formation types

log can indicate hole stability

pressures from shale values

PLANNING Drilling mud recap and proposal Recommended Information

mud program

on offset wells

Time

required to drill offsets

Hole

problems

Mud

properties

PLANNING

PLANNING Scout ticket Information

on

productive horizons and production rates

PLANNING When available, daily drilling reports are the most valuable information They

give detailed drilling information including an hourly breakdown

They

may also give descriptions of the drilling problems

PLANNING

PLANNING

PLANNING

PLANNING Once all the information is collected, it is the drilling engineers responsibility to develop a drilling plan Improvements in drilling practices are always possible and expected in an area

PLANNING Local problems and drilling conditions must be analyzed with respect to a broad, ever changing expertise in order to develop the best possible drilling program

PLANNING Be a skeptic It

is our responsibility as drilling engineers to question drilling practices which are inconsistent with sound judgment or other experiences in similar areas

Can

the well be drilled more efficiently and at a lower cost

PLANNING Develop expertise in every phase of drilling Learn

all you can

Spend

time on the rig to become familiar with operations

Don't

close your mind to new technology or the experience of others

PLANNING Establish realistic objectives Stick

to facts, data, and statistics

Don't do anything simply because it's the established routine Time is the most important factor  All

efforts should be directed at reducing time

PLANNING Attack general practices in view of new technology For real savings, attack the hazards  Attack

the abnormal pressure problems, the deviation, the lost circulation, or the pipe sticking problems

PLANNING Support conclusions and recommendations with data, analysis, and calculations Follow up and honestly evaluate your efforts Report Don't

success and failures alike

place blame; find solutions

PLANNING The “Technical Limit” (“Drilling the Limits”) is defined as the best possible well construction performance for a given set of design parameters The

technical limit is a well design process by which drilling and completion costs are reduced

PLANNING The assumption is made that costs are time driven Up

to 70% of drilling costs are time dependent

If the amount of time on location can be reduced, the cost of the well can be reduced

PLANNING This reduction requires extraordinary effort and commitment challenging the common mindset and philosophy of the drilling personnel

PLANNING The technical limit approach consists of answering three questions. What

is the current performance? Or what is the historical or actual performance of wells near the location?

What

is a possible and achievable performance? Alternately, what is the theoretical limit of the performance in this location?

What

resources or investments are needed to achieve the theoretical or technical limit?

PLANNING Offset wells are evaluated in detail for time required to drill and complete Based on the gathered information, the well drilling plan is broken down into many tasks Complicated wells may have more than 100 separate tasks

PLANNING The time is broken up into Theoretical

well time, Conventional lost or down time, and Invisible lost time Technical Limit Theoretical Well Time

Invisible Lost Time

Industry Normal Well Time Actual Well Duration

Conventional Lost or Down Time

PLANNING Technical limit requires much more in-depth well analysis and planning Each

phase of the drilling operation must be broken down into it's parts

On

complicated wells, planning may take as much as six month and thousands of man hours

PLANNING Example Time

to drill 12 ¼” hole (311mm)

 Pick up BHA  Trip in hole  Test casing  Drill out shoe track  Drill formation  Leak off test

PLANNING Example Time

to drill 12 ¼” hole (311mm)

 Drilling  Surveying  Tripping  Circulating  Formation evaluation  Etc.

PLANNING After the time breakdown, every detail must be analyzed by a team The

team includes drilling, completion, production, reservoir, service companies, drilling contractor, permitting, purchasing and management

PLANNING Field

personnel need to be included as part of the planning and implementation

During the actual well construction, the time for each operation must be tracked Deviation from the technical limit must be explained and solutions offered

PLANNING A post well analysis is conducted after the well construction is completed Summarize Give

the lessons learned

possible solutions to eliminate the lost time

PLANNING There cannot be an environment where the parties are looking for someone to blame It must be: What

are the problems

What

are the solutions

How

can we improve

PLANNING Jones and Poupet reported 20% improvement from the best previous offset well performance and 25% cost reduction from the budgeted amount Technical Limit

Well Drilled after the Alternate Planning

Best Well in the field

Historical Estimate with One Improved Task

Historical Estimate

15

21.63

27.25

31

41

PLANNING The technical limit approach provides an immediate benefit of reduced costs to construct a well It

intensifies planning and engineering effort Challenges the established practices and procedures Creates an opportunity for better performance and thereby, accelerates well construction activities

PLANNING The technical limit approach should not be designed to surpass the regulatory, health and safety issues related to well development

PLANNING The approach improves well construction time, and hence would need careful resource planning during the construction phase as well as after the construction activity is over It

does no good to drill faster if you have to wait on equipment or personnel because they are not there on time

PLANNING As with any new activity, there will be a learning curve for implementing and reaping full benefits from the new approach

PLANNING Extending The Alternate Approach to Drilling Cost Management Time

dependent costs e.g. drilling rig rate etc.

Time

independent variable costs e.g. mud, cement etc.

Fixed

costs e.g. casing, well heads, mobilization, demobilization etc.

PLANNING Extending The Alternate Approach to Drilling Cost Management  A

much larger improvement can be achieved by also including timeindependent costs into the planning procedure

The

time-independent cost element can be 30-60% of the well cost

PLANNING Extending The Alternate Approach to Drilling Cost Management  A

well with a high proportion of timedependent cost can justify increasing time-independent cost to achieve improved drilling performance