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Well control procedures for extended reach wells

The limits of directional drilling continue to be pushed back as horizontal or near-horizontal reservoir sections are being drilled, cased, cemented and completed to tap reserves at extreme distances. Continuous development of new technology and adopting a technical-limit approach to performance delivery are key elements for the success and further development of extended-reach drilling projects.
For this study a two-phase well control simulator was used to evaluate different kick scenarios that are likely to occur in extended-reach wells. An extensive simulation study covering a vide range of variables has been performed. Based on this investigation together with a literature review, well-control procedures have been developed for extended-reach wells. The most important procedures are as follows:

Perform a "hard" shut-in when a kick is detected and confirmed.
Record the pressures and pit gain, and start to circulate immediately using the Driller's Method.
Start circulating with a high kill rate to remove the gas from the horizontal section.
Slow down the kill circulation rate to 1/2 to 1/3 of normal drilling rate when the choke pressure starts to increase rapidly.

The simulator has been used to validate the procedures.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:tamu.edu/oai:repository.tamu.edu:1969.1/513
Date30 September 2004
CreatorsGjorv, Bjorn
ContributorsJuvkam-Wold, Hans C.
PublisherTexas A&M University
Source SetsTexas A and M University
Languageen_US
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeBook, Thesis, Electronic Thesis, text
Format703044 bytes, 75932 bytes, electronic, application/pdf, text/plain, born digital

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