Case Study

NeoSteer CLx ABSS Drills Three Sections in One Run Without Compromising ROP, Southwest Marcellus Shale

Published: 10/01/2019

Case Study

NeoSteer CLx ABSS Drills Three Sections in One Run Without Compromising ROP, Southwest Marcellus Shale

Published: 10/01/2019

Chart showing the NeoSteer CLx ABSS successfully drilled the tangent, curve, and lateral sections at a high ROP, leaving a high-quality borehole even in the tangent section.

The NeoSteer CLx ABSS successfully drilled the tangent, curve, and lateral sections at a high ROP, leaving a high-quality borehole even in the tangent section.

The operator’s concerns

Northeast Natural Energy wanted to improve operational efficiency and well quality in drilling a long tangent section, a high-DLS curve section, and a long 8,682-ft lateral.

What was planned

The operator was going to use two BHAs due to the high performance required to successfully drill these sections according to plan. However, this well had the largest step-out on the pad and required kicking off at 56° inclination for 3,160 ft and drilling through abrasive sandstone.

What Schlumberger recommended

Schlumberger recommended using the NeoSteer CLx ABSS with AxeBlade ridged diamond element bit and the xBolt G2 accelerated drilling service to drill the tangent, steep curve, and long lateral in one run.

What was achieved

The NeoSteer CLx ABSS drilled 13,819-ft MD through all three sections and reduced the tortuosity of the complex well trajectory while staying 91% in a 4-ft zone, compared with most wells with a 10- to 20-ft window. This percentage includes the footage at the heel where the wellbore was soft landed. Throughout the drilling process, azimuthal image and dip picking helped the wellbore stay in zone through formation changes. Using the NeoSteer CLx ABSS instead of the traditional two-BHA strategy also enabled Northeast Natural Energy to maintain a high ROP because the operator was able to avoid sliding.

Location

Appalachian Basin, Marcellus Shale, United States, North America, Onshore

Details

The NeoSteer CLx extreme curve and lateral at-bit steerable system (ABSS) enabled Northeast Natural Energy to drill tangent, high-DLS curve, and long lateral sections through hard formations without compromising ROP or pulling out to change the BHA.

Products Used

NeoSteer CLx system improves control and reaction time

Drill the curve and lateral in a single run and eliminate the need to change out the BHA for every section

The NeoSteer CLx system enables operators to drill extreme high-dogleg curves and laterals.

xBolt G2

Accelerated drilling service

Drill faster and more accurately using three downhole telemetry options, all in one BHA.

AxeBlade

Ridged diamond element bit

Improve penetration rates and directional control with our ridged 3D cutting element bit.