Hibernia Extended-Reach-Drilling and -Completion Record

This article, written by Technology Editor Dennis Denney, contains highlights of paper SPE 92347, "Hibernia Record Well Breaks Extended-Reach-Drilling and -Completion Envelope," by Carsten C. Elsborg, SPE, Esso Norway, and Adrian K. Power and Paul C. Schuberth, SPE, ExxonMobil Canada, prepared for the 2005 SPE/IADC Drilling Conference, Amsterdam, 23-25 February. In 2002, development began on the northernmost compartment of the Hibernia development project (Block A). To access these reserves, drilling and completing a 31,000-ft measured depth (MD) oil producer was proposed, with a horizontal departure and vertical depth that exceeded the industry extended-reach-drilling (ERD) limits. Successfully drilling this well required the application and extension of available technology. The project required a large monobore completion system. The trajectory required management of weak and unstable intervals across an extended 17,000-ft-MD intermediate section. To meet these challenges, existing local experiences were leveraged, and recognized international expertise was used to supplement existing practices. Introduction The Hibernia development project is in 265 ft of water, 200 miles offshore Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada’s easternmost province, in the Grand Banks region of the Atlantic Ocean. Reservoir access is provided by use of an iceberg-resistant gravity-based-structure (GBS) platform (Fig. 1) with 64 well slots. Two fully equipped and independent drilling rigs service the wells. Drilling was initiated from the structure in 1997. From the beginning, the project was envisioned as an ERD development that would extend the technology and experience limits as the platform matured. The reservoir is a series of thick-layered sandstones separated by intermediate shales. It is subdivided into large compartments or blocks by a series of faults that run bidirectionally across the reservoir (Fig. 2). These faults are highly sealing in nature and, hence, form the independent subreservoirs or fault blocks that make up the larger reserves. In 2002, the operator began accessing Block A, the largest undeveloped reserves block in the project. The block also was the farthest from the platform (approximately 4.5 miles). At the time, several extended-reach wellbores had been drilled to more than 20,000 ft MD. Careful evaluation was made of drilling a subsea-satellite well vs. use of ERD technologies and knowledge gained on similar Hibernia wellbores. The team recommended the ERD option to drill what would become Hibernia B-16 36 (OPA1), the longest well in the world at this true vertical depth (TVD). The reward for success would be significant from a cost-savings perspective if the incremental risks from a drilling and completion standpoint could be mitigated.

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