Maximize reservoir exposure in Korchagin field
Lukoil, one of the biggest oil and gas producers in Russia, is
developing the Yuri Korchagin field of the North Caspian Sea. Projects in this
oil field have used extended-reach drilling practices from shallow platforms to
fully exploit the 58 km2 reservoir area with TVD of 1,560 m. To
maximize drilling efficiency on its next extended-reach well in the field,
Lukoil continued to work with Schlumberger for integrated project management
that would incorporate directional drilling, MLWD, and drilling fluids.
Integrate drilling system to optimize drilling efficiency
For drilling a long lateral section, Schlumberger provided the
PowerDrive X6 RSS and a MDSi716 SHARC high-abrasion-resistance PDC bit with
ONYX PDC cutters. The team selected the MEGADRIL drilling-fluid system to
optimize drilling efficiency and hole cleaning. With this oil-base mud system,
the challenging lateral could be drilled in one run without wiper trips,
maintaining stability in reactive shales that can cause problems for tripping
and rotating. The bit and drilling-fluid systems were provided respectively by
Smith Bits and M-I SWACO, which are Schlumberger companies.
Schlumberger monitored torque and drag trends against roadmaps to
analyze hole conditions for quick decisions on connection, tripping, and
drilling practices. The torque-and-drag roadmaps were evaluated continuously to
determine the number of pipe reciprocations, which helped engineers optimize
the circulating and reciprocating time.
