Recently NuVista Energy Ltd. completed the deepest well and longest lateral section ever drilled in Western Canada. In the April 25, 2018 edition of the Daily Oil Bulletin, Mark Thorne, Drilling Superintendent at NuVista, released a statement attributing much of their success to Pacesetter’s Orbit™ Rotary Steerable System among other service providers.

“Unlike conventional, directional drilling, where you have to slide, rotary steering allows you to steer the well in any direction, while rotating the entire time. By doing that, you get a smoother wellbore, a smoother wellbore means less torque, and less torque means you can reach further. Also, having a smoother wellbore helps us get our completion systems in the ground.”

Click here to read the full article.

CHALLENGE

Place production wells in target layer of Ellerslie member in Redwater, AB and acquire resistivity data required to optimize overall field development and maximize oil production.

SOLUTION

Use robust LWD services for formation evaluation while drilling to provide real-time data for geosteering and evaluation.

RESULTS

-Each well drilled shoe to shoe with one BHA per section accumulating 203 pumping hours without NPT.
-Acquired resistivity measurements required to place wells within target reservoir layer, maximize oil production, and optimize overall development plan.
-Achieved an average on-bottom ROP of 64 m/hr while delivered good hole quality.

ACQUIRE HIGH-QUALITY LWD MEASUREMENTS FOR GEOSTEERING IN PRODUCTION WELLS

Operator targeted the Ellerslie member in a field in the Viking basin drilling five horizontal production wells. Placement of the horizontal wells near the base of the target formation above the oil/water contact would be challenging using standard gamma measurements with gas readings. In order to overcome this challenge, adequate geological data had to be obtained to aid in geosteering these wells and optimize overall development plan and maximize oil production set forth in the objectives of the operator. Pacesetter Directional Drilling utilized Array Wave Resistivity service to provide Phase and Attenuation Resistivity, gamma ray, and dynamic inclination measurements in real-time at various depth of investigation for interpretation and steering. Pacesetter’s robust XEM EM System was also ran to transmit the measurements without hindering expected ROP through the build and lateral sections. The integrated BHA maximized drilling performance and minimized risk drilling the five wells successfully while steering to the trajectory required by the proposal plan. As a result, the operator achieved their well objectives and field development plans.

Hydrocarbon bearing formations in the reservoir can be identified with Resistivity tools, when Gamma readings are inadequate.

Download this Case Study.

CHALLENGE

Accurately drill a build and lateral monobore well, placing the lateral within targeted Ellerslie formation and optimizing position in the target zone.

SOLUTION

Use Pacesetter’s Near Bit Inclination Motor coupled with dynamic inclination measurements right above the motor enabling the precise placement of the well within the target Ellerslie reservoir.

RESULTS

– Successfully drilled multiple wells achieving one run per well with no complications.

– Saved operator on drilling time, increasing ROP by 12% on average compared to the first well by minimizing slide intervals with lower ROP.

– Minimizing doglegs in the build section to meet operator’s requirement.

MAINTAIN DIRECTIONAL CONTROL IN BUILD & LATERAL SECTIONS WITH RELIABLE
TECHNOLOGY

The operator is drilling monobore wells, build and lateral sections, in Ellerslie formation in a Viking Oil play. To navigate within the lateral and stay in the target zone, the operator used Pacesetter’s Near Bit Inclination (NBI) Motor providing inclinations 1 meter behind the bit coupled with Continuous Inclinations located 11 meters behind the bit. The NBI sensor’s close proximity to the bit coupled with dynamic inclination measurements above the motor while sliding and rotating helped reduce the reaction time for making critical steering decision while maintaining the wellbore in the target zone.

ACCURATE STEERING THROUGH ROBUST INCLINATION MEASUREMENTS

Enhanced directional control and confidence in time-critical decision making were made possible through the combination of NBI Motor measurements coupled with dynamic inclinations allowed for maximum in-zone exposure. The in-depth information gained from the combined technologies helped the operator correctly determine the position and accurately direct the drilling, staying within the target interval.

Figure 1 Zoomed-In view of portion of lateral section showcase accuracy

EXCELLENT DIRECTIONAL CONTROL MAINTAINED

The enhanced system provided by Pacesetter resulted in an improved well trajectory and placement within the target reservoir with improvements achieved progressively while drilling the build and lateral sections of each well. The confidence gained through the use of the combined technologies enabled average ROP to be increased incrementally well after well, by minimizing slide intervals with slower ROP, averaging a 12% overall ROP increase for the 5 wells drilled successfully with no reported issues. The capability of obtaining high resolution inclination measurements at various positions along the BHA has a multitude of applications in drilling and completions by getting a clearer picture of the tortuosity of the wellbore. The graph below displays the well trajectory of one of the wells drilled from kick off point to toe of the well showing the alignment of all three inclination measurements, Near Bit Inclination, Dynamic Inclinations and Survey Inclinations. The quick updates of all inclinations were made possible through Pacesetter’s XEM EM System with dynamic inclinations transmitted every 20 seconds.

Figure 2 Near Bit Inclination and Continuous Inclination measurements illustrate wellbore tortuosity not seen with surveys

Download this Case Study.

Nuvista Energy Ltd. has successfully broken the records for deepest well and longest lateral section ever drilled in Western Canada.  Reaching a measured depth of 7,848 m – including a 5,000 m horizontal section – this remarkable feat was achieved with the aid of Pacesetter’s Orbit™ Rotary Steerable System and drilling fluids provided by Canadian Energy Services.

Congratulations to Nuvista Energy Ltd. and the crews of Nabors Rig 127.

Shell Canada Limited has drilled the deepest well in Western Canada using Pacesetter’s Pin Down PowerDrive Rotary Steerable System. This Duvernay well reached TD at 7,770m and consisted of two RSS runs in the Build and Lateral. The longest RSS run was 3,765m setting a new record for both Shell Canada and Pacesetter.

Pacesetter would like to congratulate Shell Canada and the crews of Ensign 770 for this incredible accomplishment!

In January 2018, NuVista Energy drilled the longest well and longest lateral section in Western Canada. This Montney well had a total depth of 7,356m with a 4,500m lateral displacement.

Pacesetter would like to congratulate NuVista and the crews of Nabors 127 for this exciting accomplishment!

Shell Canada Limited successfully drilled their longest RSS run in Western Canada using Pacesetter’s Pin Down PowerDrive Rotary Steerable System. This build and lateral run began at 2,694md and was completed at 6,162md drilling 3,468m in a total of 113 hours.

Congratulations to Shell Canada Limited and the crews of PD 574 for this accomplishment.