Abstract
Technology limits are continuously being pushed to meet the challenge of the ever increasing demand to drill deeper wells in deeper water. At the same time, the costs, time frame and risks have increased dramatically for such drilling projects, with the drilling and completion spread rates exceeding a million dollars per day. Errors in costs and timing have significant impact on project economics. How do you estimate the cost and timing appropriately and manage the risk? What are the potential trouble spots and how do you develop contingency plans? While drilling, which issues pose the greatest threat to project success? Are there new drilling and completion technologies or tools that can help mitigate the risks?
Drilling professionals have a wealth of experience in deepwater as well as the more traditional region of depth and reach that provides an intuitive framework and rich data set for probability assessments of what they may encounter. By appropriately tapping this data base of expertise and knowledge and using proven risk analysis techniques, teams can work through issues and gain better understanding of objectives, risks and uncertainties. Armed with these insights the team can frequently mitigate risks and move forward making more confident decisions.
This paper discusses a proven six step drilling solution and risk management approach. Structuring and analyzing a drilling project with this approach provides a robust assessment of the ultimate project economics. In addition, the team will gain non-intuitive insights, which enable them to make more informed decisions and develop effective risk management plans.