Curve/lateral drilled with a customized BHA and a HyperSteer™ bit

Overview

To optimize drilling performance and improve efficiency, an operator in the Midland Basin required a bottomhole assembly (BHA) designed to reduce drilling dysfunctions and complete curve and lateral sections in a single run. The operator recruited Halliburton to address these challenges and complete as many single-run curve/lateral sections as possible. Addressing the above challenges required a customized BHA design that utilized a motorized rotary steerable system (RSS) with an iCruise® X intelligent RSS along with a standard makeup length bit.

Challenge

While flex assemblies yield acceptable build rates to land a curve per the directional plan, high vibrations can occur when the BHA continues drilling into the lateral. This can lead to premature tool/bit failure requiring a sometimes long and costly trip out of the hole.

Solution

As part of the DatCI™ design at the customer interface process, Halliburton determined that removal of the flex assembly in the motorized RSS BHA could help reduce shock and vibration when the BHA is drilled into the lateral after completion of the curve. This would increase one-run curve/lateral success rates and reduce trips and BHAs needed to drill the section. Halliburton selected the HyperSteer™ directional drill bit because it utilizes a shorter makeup length resulting in a reduced bit-to-pad length. This combination allows removal of the flex assembly but with the capability to achieve the desired build rates necessary to land the curve within a set window.

Result

The HyperSteer directional drill bit proved to have less shock and vibrations in the lateral compared to competitor bits, and the operator was able to complete the curves without a flex assembly and achieve several one-run curve/lateral sections. This solution doubled the operator’s percentage of one-run curve/laterals. Additionally, more footage was achieved with the initial BHA and less time was spent tripping in the lateral to change out the BHA to remove the flex assembly.