Recent Drilling Performance Improvements In Deep Horizontal 6" Reservoir Sections In The Val D'Agri Field

Exploiting the reservoirs in the Val d'Agri field in Italy requires drilling of long, highly inclined 6" hole sections through a faulted limestone formation at a vertical depth of nearly 4000 m. This very difficult drilling environment is known for drilling problems such as directional control, severe vibrations, weight transfer problems, hole cleaning, mud losses etc. In recent reservoir sections, a new MWD-based downhole data acquisition and processing system was introduced that provided insight into the downhole conditions while drilling with state-of-the-art steerable motor technology. This case study starts with a description of the bottom hole assembly utilized including the new downhole tool. Numerous log examples with downhole and surface drilling data document the downhole drilling environment at a level of detail and accuracy not available before. The log examples also document how drilling parameters were changed to address unfavorable trends downhole at an early stage. The drilling performance results are discussed and compared against earlier experience