Abstract
A decade after field testing the first modern rotary steerable systems, steerable motors still command more than 80% of the directional drilling market. While rotary steerable systems offer a significant technical advantage over steerable motors and provide an enabling technology for many wells, economic forces may moderate their current high growth rate. The realities of balancing system performance, directional program complexity, cost, and risks often dictate bypassing this "latest and greatest" technology.
Evolutionary improvements in steerable motor power, reliability, and operational techniques have allowed them to maintain a healthy competition with the more capable, but more expensive, rotary steerable systems. Operators encourage service companies to provide less costly rotary steerable solutions, but for the short term, the best solution for many wells is still to use the old tried and true steerable motors.
