Track: Case Studies

Abstract

Horizontal drilling has recently been proven to be technically and economically feasible in broad range of geological settings. A horizontal well typically starts by drilling vertically in order to examine rock fragments at different layers so that possible hydrocarbon accumulations can be determined. The tangent section of the well is drilled along a deviated well path to just above the reservoir section to what is known as kick off point. From this point, the well is drilled at an increasingly higher angle arcing around toward an angle close to horizontal. The point at which the well enters the reservoir is called the entry point. The well then is continuously drilled at near-horizontal orientation with the intention of keeping it substantially within the reservoir target until the desired length of horizontal penetration is reached. This study aims to determine the optimum well path parameters in order to reduce drilling costs and risks of drilling wells deviated from their targets. There are several techniques used for computing directional survey including tangential, balanced tangential, average angle, curvature radius, and minimum curvature. Three case studies were conducted to assess and compare these techniques. Minimum curvature technique yielded more accurate results than other techniques.