The customer faced two drilling challenges. First, eliminating a rathole in the 8½-in × 9½-in section typically required a dedicated trip, which would extend the drilling time and raise costs. Second, the benchmark system used in earlier attempts disrupted communication between the PowerDrive™ rotary steerable systems and the TeleScope™ high-speed telemetry-while-drilling service, preventing effective steering of the BHA into the reservoir. As a result, the customer sought a solution that would eliminate the rathole without an extra trip, while maintaining uninterrupted communication between the RSS and MWD tools.
To address the customer’s challenges, SLB proposed the Rhino multicycle hydraulic underreamer, which delivers on-demand hydraulic activation with full wired communication for rathole elimination applications. This advanced technology was deployed in the 8½-in × 9½-in section, where it successfully underreamed the wellbore while drilling. This avoided an extra rathole elimination trip, saving 2 days of rig time and related costs. Additionally, the solution ensured seamless communication between the RSS and MWD, allowing the BHA to be steered accurately into the reservoir and enabling Neuro autonomous directional drilling to improve the ROP. The success of this operation has set a new benchmark for the operator’s drilling projects, demonstrating the value of combining innovative tools such as the Rhino underreamer with advanced automation technologies. The lessons learned from this project are expected to be applied to future wells to further optimize drilling performance and reduce operational costs.
