CNOOC Drills Through ZOE with Near-Pinpoint Trajectory Control in East China Sea | SLB

CNOOC Drills Through ZOE with Near-Pinpoint Trajectory Control in East China Sea

Published: 09/13/2017

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CNOOC successfully reached the TD with a center-to-center distance between planned Tie-in 0 MD, 0 TVD and actual trajectory of 2.14 m [7 ft]
CNOOC successfully reached the TD with a center-to-center distance between planned Tie-in 0 MD, 0 TVD and actual trajectory of 2.14 m [7 ft]
Location
China, Asia
Details

East China Sea

Borehole
12 1/4 in

Drilling interval
3,498- to 3,944-m
[11,476- to 12,938-ft] MD,
3,457- to 3,780-m
[11,342- to 12,402-ft] TVD

Zone of exclusion (ZOE) alert zone
678–3,919 m
[12,067–12,854 ft]

ZOE fail zone
3,711.83–3,874.68 m
[12,178–12,713 ft]

Background
CNOOC China Ltd. needed to drill a 12 1/4-in section to reach TD. However, the optimal trajectory required an azimuth of 0.09°—forcing the well design to plot through the ZOE and presenting additional accuracy challenges. Avoiding the ZOE meant that well tortuosity would increase tremendously. It would also force a much longer well path, increasing other drilling costs. It was determined that the PowerDrive Xcel rotary steerable system in gyro mode was the best solution.
Products Used