The operator’s concerns

Pluspetrol needed to eliminate a trip while drilling a curve section with a high dogleg severity (DLS) of over 6°/30 m followed by a long lateral.

What they tried first

The operator had been using a two-run strategy for all previous wells—one run with a conventional BHA for the curve, a trip out, and another RSS run for the lateral.

What Schlumberger recommended

Schlumberger recommended using the NeoSteer CL curve and lateral at-bit steerable system (ABSS) to enable drilling the curve and lateral in a single trip.

What happened

Pluspetrol used the NeoSteer CL ABSS to drill the 2,000-m lateral section and the curve in a single run, totaling 2,621 m in 82.53 drilling hours. This reflected a 39% reduction of drilling time as compared with AFE and reduced CO₂ emissions by 128 metric tons.^† Additionally, Pluspetrol set a new ROP field record of 55 m/h, limited only by well cleaning. The curve section was drilled per plan from the kickoff point to the landing point with the required DLS. Using the hold inclination and azimuth (HIA) mode, the NeoSteer CL ABSS reduced tortuosity and enabled precise trajectory control throughout the lateral section. This resulted in a flawless 30-ft centralized casing run to TD without rotation in record time. The casing operation time was reduced by 1.5 days and 25%.

^†Calculations based on Schlumberger transitional methodologies.