Enhance well design innovation and planning effectiveness
Dallas-based Petro-Hunt L.L.C. operates in various fields in North
Dakota, with many of its current wells in the core area of the Bakken region in
McKenzie County. Because several of the company’s wells in this area
present a challenging well profile due to HPHT well conditions and extensive
area development, Petro-Hunt is continuously seeking new ways to enhance well
design innovation and increase planning efficiency to drill and complete its
wells faster and more effectively.
Petro-Hunt recognized that it needed to reevaluate its well planning
technologies and methodologies to mitigate bottlenecks for its engineers. The
primary issues with the company’s current process stem from the use of
traditional software workflows, which hinder engineers from effectively
creating multiple planning scenarios, and collaboration among a
multidisciplinary well planning team and service company personnel during
various stages of the company’s well planning process. These have
ultimately limited the time for the company’s engineers to innovate their
well designs in the region—impacting the efficiency and effectiveness of
Petro-Hunt’s operations.
To overcome these issues, Petro-Hunt consulted with Schlumberger to
determine the best path toward a more effective, efficient solution.
Integrate company processes with engineering workflows in a
collaborative environment
Schlumberger offered Petro-Hunt the opportunity to test the DrillPlan
solution POC in the DELFI environment on a challenging HPHT well in McKenzie
County. The well targeting the second bench of the Three Forks Formation had a
24,000-ft TD, bottomhole temperature of 300 degF, and requirement that the
wellbore angle in the unit be no less than 45° to the N-S hardlines to meet
state regulations and qualify for reduced setbacks. These factors resulted in a
well profile challenged by high torque and drag values and collision risks.
The DrillPlan solution was used to create well planning proposals that
integrated Petro-Hunt processes and policies, automatic and concurrent well
engineering, and drilling program generation. The solution freed up time for
Petro-Hunt’s engineers to focus on well design innovation on the
challenging project—and communicate more effectively and collaboratively
with geologists and other stakeholders, including service company personnel, to
expedite tasks such as designing the BHA and mud, bit, and cement.
Ultimately, the DrillPlan solution revealed several areas for
improvement to increase efficiency and well results compared with the
company’s current well planning technologies and methodologies.
