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Three Key ComponentsThere are three basic components to the SeaLancesystem. In addition to the RSJ, there is the casing drill bitand the drive mechanism.The drillable casing bit is a proven technology frequentlyapplied in land and shelf-type wells where a surfaceblowout preventer (BOP) is used. But building a drivemechanism for the subsea system involved creation of arunning tool.The result is the first drilling-with-casing system that canbe deployed below the rotary table. The tool locks intoa setting sleeve below the wellhead, providing a meansthrough which casing tension is held and providing atorque path from the drillpipe through the casing to thebit. This process enables the entire string to be rotatedto make hole.The RSJ has two functions. In addition to telescopinginto itself to set the wellhead housing, it also enablesactivation of a circulating valve to enable cementingabove the drillable casing bit, which could have restrictedcirculation at the bottom of the hole. Both features will bedriven hydraulically and activated by a ball drop.Developing this system entailed a considerable designeffort that built on years of experience in multipleWeatherford product lines.“We started putting the pieces together and redesigningthis and that—before long we ended up with acompletely new system. However it is all based onexisting technology and ultimately that is the mostimportant factor,” says Beattie.Next Generation Plans“This is just the start,” says Beattie about theinitial 20‐inch system. “We are already anticipatingenhancements to improve operations and meet specificapplication requirements.”Other investigations are focused on the changes thateven larger casing diameters will require. Larger sizes—such as 22- and 28-inch systems—will require somemajor design work to handle the weight and complexityof expertly rotating such a large mass.“We have explored other sizes at rudimentary levelsand had some ‘aha’ moments that made us happy westarted with a smaller casing. But in general, things aremoving along briskly,” says Beattie.Managing Deepwater DrillingDevelopment of the SeaLance subsea DwC systemextends a proven drilling-hazard mitigation technique toa much-needed application in the upper hole.By managing shallow hazards, the system pushes casingpoints deeper in the wellbore. Contingency strings canbe applied closer to the reservoir where options areoften desperately needed, and other hazard mitigationMitigating Drilling HazardsAs the industry takes on increasinglychallenging reserves, with most ‘easy’prospects having already been drilled, theapproach must be altered. At times, newertechnologies must be deployed to minimizenonproductive time (NPT) and make thesereserves economically viable.In areas where hole instability, loss zonesor sloughing shales are a concern, DwCtechnology has been implemented to mitigatethese problems that are expected withconventional methods. Having the casingconstantly on bottom while drilling createsan environment where there is a mechanicalsmearing of cuttings against the wellbore bythe large surface of the casing, thus reducingthe previously mentioned hazards.An estimated 10 to 40 percent of expendituresare still spent drilling trouble zones. It has beenproven, however, that trouble zones can bedrilled, and sometimes avoided, if new drillingpractices are used. To be successful, drillinghazards and associated potential risks mustbe understood.Three of Weatherford’s well constructiontechnologies stand out as highly effective meansof managing and mitigating drilling hazards:• DwC drilling-with-casing systems, includingthe SeaLance system• Managed pressure drilling• MetalSkin ® solid tubular expandablestechniques can be better leveraged. As a result,deepwater wells can be drilled more efficiently and withoptimal hole size.“The SeaLance system can benefit subsalt and otherdifficult plays around the world, including in the Gulfof Mexico, Brazil, Africa, the South China Sea andAustralia,” says Beattie.The SeaLance system joins a consistently evolvingWeatherford capability for mitigating deepwater drillinghazards. These technologies are changing the economicsand the drillability of many challenging assets.10 magazine
MPD Opens New Doors in AsiaRapidly advancing technology and the capability to drill the undrillable, while reducing costs andimproving safety, are making MPD a key facilitator in the world’s toughest plays—in Asia and beyond.The transition of managed pressure drilling (MPD)from reactive to proactive happened fast.From humble beginnings as an after-the-factcontingency, MPD has evolved into a suiteof hazard-prevention methodologies that arefast becoming the doorway to drilling a newgeneration of wells around the world thatpreviously were nearly impossible to drill.Nowhere is this development more apparent thanAsia, where MPD’s mitigation of total fluid lossesin the region’s notorious carbonate geology hasbeen the enabler for entire fields.Proactive success here has spurred the useof other MPD methods to solve differentdrilling problems in Asia and elsewhere. Andit has contributed greatly to the creationand refinement of a simple, but increasinglysophisticated technology.Asian RootsMPD in Asia began in 2005 for a major operatoron a production platform in Indonesia wheretotal losses and kicks were encountered in thefractured limestone. These kick-loss scenarios madedevelopment drilling on the platform near impossible.Wells were exceeding time and budgets, and this fact hada direct impact on the field development program.“Using an early pressurized mud-cap variant of MPDprovided a solution for the platform development drillingand helped to set the scene for the growth of MPD inAsia,” explains Steve Nas, Weatherford’s ControlledPressure Drilling Engineering Manager, Asia Pacific.At about the same time, Shell was fighting simultaneouskicks and losses in their limestone reef wells in east Malaysia.They brought their experience with pressurized mud-capdrilling (PMCD) in Venezuela (described in SPE 52828*) as asolution for their east Malaysia carbonate wells.Between 2005 and 2008, the International Associationof Drilling Contractors (IADC) formalized the definition ofMPD. This step along with the success of early PMCDapplications and the availability of the high-pressurerotating control devices (RCDs), opened the door to thequick adoption of MPD operations in Asia.One of the early adopters was Santos, an Australian oil andgas company. Drilling in Indonesia, Santos had experiencedsignificant kick-loss issues in the carbonates on their Jerukexploration well.The Secure Drilling system enables quick and accurate identification and controlof influxes, reducing the size of the influx and saving time compared withconventional operations.To drill the second appraisal well using the Sedco 601semisubmersible, Weatherford provided a solution using aRiserCap ® PMCD system. This project became one of thefirst successful MPD operations from a semisubmersible rig.With the successful drilling of these carbonate wells,more operators began using MPD as a best practice forreducing nonproductive time (NPT), and during the pastfour years, PMCD has become standard practice.“Today virtually all operators in Asia that are drillingthe commonly known ‘Kujung’ or ‘Baturaja’ limestoneformations call Weatherford for our MPD tools andtechniques,” says Nas. “Several field developmentscurrently ongoing in Asia would not have been possiblewithout the use of MPD techniques.”Fractured reservoirs throughout Southeast Asia are nowroutinely drilled with MPD techniques. Success in thesedifficult reservoirs is leading to more closed wellboredrilling techniques. In these applications, MPD is beingused to drill tight-gas reservoirs, high-pressure/hightemperature(HP/HT) reservoirs, and to reduce reservoirdamage and drill more effectively.The recent acquisition of the Secure Drilling systemfurther extends the application and acceptance of MPDmethods. Operators are now considering using MPD fromfloating rigs in HP/HT reservoirs.1Urselmann, R.; Cummins, J.; Worrall, R.N.; and House, G. Pressured Mud Cap Drilling: Efficient Drilling of High-Pressure Fractured Reservoirs. Paper SPE/IADC 52828 presented at the 1999 SPE/IADC Drilling Conference. 9–11 March 1999.october 2009 11
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