Technology Focus: Multilateral/Extended Reach (May 2010)

Abstract

Technology Focus Exploration and development projects suffered from uncertainties caused by downsizing of the worldwide economy last year. Wide variation in value of our main commodities caused delays in several offshore oil- and gas-asset projects. Our industry must ask if it has done enough to deal with these variations in commodity values and what would be the best way to mitigate their influence in the current market. Current statistics show that there is a long way to go. The cost of nonproductive time (NPT) is very high and needs to be mitigated. The importance of improvement performance in a critical economic environment is crucial to maintain our business. The main question is how to keep the interest of investments in this scenario. Fundamental to evaluating techniques, equipment, and design is understanding the risk variability. Professionals must respond to a more-fluid, less-certain business environment than did their predecessors. Assessing data and planning and executing a well involve a complex interaction of data, regional knowledge, and field experience. Different subjects not considered before such as communication skills, adding value, team building, and networking have a major role in mitigating the risks and in improving the performance and financial return of a project. These dynamics, along with increased globalization, require a broader set of skills. We are succeeding in drilling and producing wells in water depths and measured depths greater than 10,000 and 35,000 ft, respectively. However, decreasing NPT to acceptable ranges has not happened. Although innovative technologies have been implemented over the last 10 years that enable exploration and development in environments with difficult tectonic stress and subsalt or presalt wells, we still lack efficiency. In offshore operations that cost our industry more than USD 1.3 million/D, the current NPT between 20 and 30% in several areas of the world is not acceptable. For the sake of future business, operators and service companies should work together not only in development of new technologies but in aligning common goals such as a consistent NPT less than 5% in operations, which would guarantee several projects. This target requires a common goal of operators and service companies who, unfortunately, to date, have not been brought together, but in the current environment it is essential for our future. Multilateral/Extended Reach additional reading available at OnePetro: www.onepetro.org SPE 128314 • “Multilateral Wells Reduce CAPEX of Offshore, Subsea Development in Australia’s Northwest Shelf” by Brett Lawrence, Apache Energy, et al. SPE 128461 • “Successful Application of Dual-Lateral Junction Technology To Develop a Marginal Gas Field in the Carboniferous Area of the UKCS Southern North Sea” by A.J. Hatch, E.ON Ruhrgas, et al. SPE 128915 • “An Experimental Study To Define Operational Parameters Governing Hole Enlargement While Drilling Offshore Heavy-Oil Reservoirs” by F.G. da Costa, Petrobras, et al.