Collaboration Allows Introduction of Automated Advisory System in Offshore Well

Abstract

_ This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Chris Carpenter, contains highlights of paper OTC 31443, “Operator and Service Provider Collaborate To Successfully Introduce an Automated Advisory System in a Wildcat Exploration Well Offshore Mexico,” by Peter Batruny, SPE, M. Razali Paimin, and M. Arriffuddin Allauddin, Petronas, et al. The paper has not been peer reviewed. Copyright 2022 Offshore Technology Conference. Reproduced by permission. _ The authors of the complete paper describe a collaboration between an operator and a service company formed during a project’s well-planning phase to evaluate the feasibility of automation for a holistic drilling-advisory platform that facilitates real-time decision making based on downhole and surface data. The collaboration resulted in a successful deployment of an automation platform as a solution to manage and mitigate risks and optimize drilling operations in exploration wells. Introduction The probability of nonproductive time (NPT) and invisible lost time (ILT) occurring in exploration wells is higher because of a lack of experience in the area concerned. The operator estimates that NPT caused by hole problems accounts for 22% of total NPT (Fig. 1). The authors’ work aims to apply a novel, automated drilling-operation monitoring technique on a wildcat exploration well in the Gulf of Mexico through the collaboration of operator and service provider. A collaborative framework and technology integration is applied to minimize the effect of uncertainty on NPT and ILT. Description and Application of Equipment and Processes The well is in the Salina Basin, approximately 67 nautical miles north of shore, with an estimated water depth of 66 m below mean sea level. The maximum planned well total depth was approximately 4400 m true vertical depth subsea. The proposed well lies in a four-way anticline structure. Despite the abundance of wells around the location, most exploration activities performed in the area have been focused on the Middle and Lower Pliocene (shallower) interval, causing well correlation at the Miocene stratigraphic interval to be extremely limited. In addition, the disparate thicknesses of the Pliocene sediments in the area create significant challenges in terms of geological correlation. Five offset wells were used as stratigraphy correlation, with distances ranging from 8 to 31 km. Downhole losses and borehole instability were experienced in all offset wells, with well-control events experienced in three out of five offset wells.