Equinor’s concerns

Hard and abrasive stingers at the base of the 12 1/4-in section caused high levels of shock and vibration damage to drilling tools. This damage—combined with severe friction, high dogleg requirements, twistoffs, and fluctuating torque values when drilling through interbedded chalk and limestone— caused multiple trips to replace equipment.

What Equinor tried first

To mitigate tool damage, Equinor used an active vibration dampener on conventional tools to improve performance, but it was insufficient.

What Schlumberger recommended

In 2018, Schlumberger implemented a "one team" approach, leveraging a combination of technologies to maximize drilling efficiency in four wells. The operation included

• PowerDrive Xceed ruggedized RSS and PowerDrive Orbit RSS powered by PowerDrive vorteX powered RSS
• GeoSphere reservoir mapping-while-drilling service
• AxeBlade ridged diamond element bit
• OptiDrill real-time drilling intelligence service
• VERSACLEAN mineral oil–based drilling fluid system.

Additionally, other rig factors were changed: The crew

• was assigned a steady rotation to increase employee ownership in the project
• implemented a continuous lessons-learned followup that focused on time consumption after each section was drilled
• optimized logistics and personnel planning to ensure the right equipment and personnel were always available.