This originally appeared in World Oil Magazine OCTOBER 2019 issue, used with permission.

TRANSITIONAL DRILLING CHALLENGE

One of the biggest challenges facing the drilling industry is interfacial severity, or transitional drilling. This is broadly de­fined as layers of rock with different hard­ness that require the bit to drill through the transition, putting cutting forces on different parts of the profile. The imbal­ance of force concentration can induce vibration or even cause cutter overload, both of which lead to severe cutting struc­ture damage.

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In the southern Delaware Basin, operators are faced with the challenge of drilling through transitional formations in the intermediate sections. While drilling the horizontals, laminated sections are often encountered, bringing unexpected challenges from well to well.

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This article first appeared in the September 2019 edition of Hart Energy E&P Magazine.

Going Deep

Operators are Applying New PDC Bit Technology to Combine Sections and Drill Record Wells

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – August 29, 2019

According to Childhood Cancer Canada (CCC), more than 10 thousand children in Canada are battling cancer. Charity Intelligence Canada states that CCC reported the overall childhood cancer research community reduced childhood cancer mortality by 25% in the past decade, with the help of their contribution to research.

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An operator in Egypt recently partnered with Ulterra to drill their longest interval in the Meleiha West Deep field. While encountering the lower Alam El Bueib (AEB) formation, the formation transitions into highly interbedded lithology containing high abrasive sandstone and siltstone. Typical performance in this field requires at least two bits to drill the interval, especially due to challenges faced in the AEB formation.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – August 6, 2019

Ulterra is pleased to announce that LAGCOE leadership has declared the winners of its New Technology Showcase, and SplitBlade™ has been selected as a winning technology to be featured at the 2019 Technical Exposition and Conference held in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA on October 9th-11th. Ulterra is honored to stand alongside other winning companies to present their technology to the hundreds of exhibitors and thousands of attendees during this conference.

To read more about LAGCOE, visit www.lagcoe.com Read More

Recently, an operator targeting the Montney formation in Canada, an extensive resource play that reaches across northwest Alberta and into northeast British Columbia, was challenged with a particular pad in the Briar Ridge field. Specifically, this operator experienced several instances of bit balling while drilling the upper formations with 6-bladed bit designs. This resulted in a significant loss in ROP and instances where a trip was required as the bit was unable to be fully cleaned to the point where drilling could not continue.

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A recent performance in the Austin Chalk formation helped set a higher standard for drilling in this formation. SM Energy, a leading oil and gas exploration company servicing Texas and the Rocky Mountains, recently teamed up with Crescent Directional and Ulterra while targeting this resource. Although durability was a major concern, SM Energy had a goal of reducing the number of trips in the lateral section while pushing the limits on ROP.

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Recently, an operator in Lea County, New Mexico was targeting the Leonard formation, a sub-unit of the Bone Spring formation located within the Delaware Basin with a goal of drilling their longest 8.5” lateral while saving time downhole. Typically, drilling a well of this length in this formation could take over 4 weeks to drill, with challenges faced especially in the lateral section demanding multiple bits to be employed to reach total depth.

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As Ulterra continues to expand manufacturing operations and capabilities both nationally and internationally, we are committed to increasing our focus on all aspects of health, safety, security, and the environment (HSSE). This increased focus has included taking the necessary precautions and commitments to develop and implement policies and an environmental management system (EMS) that comply with the standards developed by The International Organization for Standardization (ISO).

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