July/August Archives - ��N��

In search of equilibrium in the North Sea

Linda Hsieh — Thu, 09 Jul 2015 20:20:05 +0000

The North Sea – once bursting with demand for drilling rigs due to favorable oil prices – is now in the midst of an oversupply. As operators adjust their budgets to accommodate $50-60 oil by cutting overall CAPEX and drilling spend...

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Better and better, bit by bit

Linda Hsieh — Thu, 09 Jul 2015 20:20:04 +0000

Manufacturers rethink cutter placement on PDC, hybrid bits to direct more force to formation without compromising control. Improved modeling capabilities provide better understanding of how a specific bit will react…

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People, Companies and Products

Linda Hsieh — Thu, 09 Jul 2015 20:19:40 +0000

The educational institution in charge of managing, organizing and developing the formal education of all seafarers in Mexico has selected offshore simulators from Kongsberg Maritime for the Marine Education Center in Ciudad del Carmen, Campeche.

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PDC bit uses staggered cutter configuration to take energy from vibrations to drill ahead

Arafat Hoque — Thu, 09 Jul 2015 20:19:39 +0000

Excessive vibration caused by unrestrained lateral forces in directional wells can wreak havoc on drilling operations. In addition to reducing ROP, directional control (i.e., steerability) and overall drilling efficiency, torsional vibration at the bottomhole assembly (BHA) is often pegged as the source of a number of costly issues, including broken cutters, dull bits, trips and even damaged formations.

To address such vibration-related problems, Ulterra Drilling Technologies has developed CounterForce, a patent-pending technology with a cutter orientation design inspired by the machining industry. It features a staggered cutter configuration capable of improving mechanical specific energy by dampening vibration, reducing bit reactive torque and redirecting force back into the rock. The cutting structure features pairs of cutters with opposing side rakes (angles), which allows the bit to harness reactive forces from the formation to counter the lateral forces from the drillstring.

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Deepwater, high-pressure completion tubular maximizes combined-load capabilities

Arafat Hoque — Thu, 09 Jul 2015 20:19:39 +0000

This article discusses a two-year comprehensive effort to design, test, manufacture and deploy a new high-pressure completion tubular for Chevron’s deepwater Gulf of Mexico operations. The major challenge was to design, test and manufacture a subsea completion string that would provide efficient hydraulics during the fracturing operations while ensuring mechanical and pressure integrity.

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IADC workgroup conducting studies to better understand, manage gas-in-riser events

Linda Hsieh — Thu, 09 Jul 2015 20:19:39 +0000

As the oil and gas exploration industry has moved drilling operations into ever deeper water, it has depended heavily on techniques first developed and used successfully in relatively shallow water. Often the assumption, or at least expectation, is that well control problems become more challenging in deepwater operations.

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High-cost subsea sector faces test of economics

Linda Hsieh — Thu, 09 Jul 2015 20:19:39 +0000

Risk, cost and safety and environmental concerns impact every aspect of oil and gas recovery, but these challenges are especially daunting in the subsea sector. Here, as operators drive into increasingly deeper reservoirs and high-pressure, high-temperature (HPHT) fields, a single failure can be catastrophic.

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From the President/CEO: Through tough times, IADC will maintain focus on safety, crew competence, cost reductions

Linda Hsieh — Thu, 09 Jul 2015 20:19:39 +0000

Our industry is facing the most difficult of times. Internally within your companies, shareholders, executive boards and senior leadership are asking you to do more with less. Outside, customers are beating you over the head on costs and performance metrics, while competitors are nipping at your heels and regulators continue to crack the safety whip.

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HSE&T Corner

Linda Hsieh — Thu, 09 Jul 2015 20:19:38 +0000

The use of chemicals is fundamental to all economies, including the oil and gas drilling industry. Hazardous chemicals have the potential to cause injury to employees who work with and around them and, in a worst-case scenario, exposure to hazardous chemicals can be fatal. For example, in 2007, an employee died from an apparent chemical overexposure while working on a drilling rig. When the employee began showing signs of dizziness, the employee was sent to the doghouse while the crew continued to run more than 25 stands of pipe in the hole.

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On-command reamer allows for digital confirmation of multiple activations, blade status

Linda Hsieh — Thu, 09 Jul 2015 20:19:38 +0000

Expandable reamers were developed to improve efficiencies and reduce risk when drilling through problematic formations in deepwater and other offshore wells. While mechanical and hybrid expandable underreamers have been used for some time in offshore applications, they have not provided the communication, operational reliability and flexibility that operators desire in high cost-per-foot drilling applications.

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July/August Archives - ���N����

In search of equilibrium in the North Sea

Better and better, bit by bit

People, Companies and Products

PDC bit uses staggered cutter configuration to take energy from vibrations to drill ahead

Deepwater, high-pressure completion tubular maximizes combined-load capabilities

IADC workgroup conducting studies to better understand, manage gas-in-riser events

High-cost subsea sector faces test of economics

From the President/CEO: Through tough times, IADC will maintain focus on safety, crew competence, cost reductions

HSE&T Corner

On-command reamer allows for digital confirmation of multiple activations, blade status

July/August Archives - ��N��