Maersk Oil Company Profile

58 Technical Capabilities Technical Capabilities
59
Drilling
Driven by the need to develop a cost-effective solution to produce from the low
permeability chalk reservoirs in the Danish North Sea, Maersk Oil became a pioneer
in the application of horizontal drilling techniques. Extended reach drilling
increases the effective surface area of the well and therefore maximises contact
with the reservoir. In order to position these long reach horizontal wells optimally,
geosteering skills using biostratigraphic data, cuttings and Logging While Drilling
(LWD) data were perfected in-house. Multilateral wells helped to further reduce
the number of well slots required to develop the fields. These skills complement
Maersk Oil’s toolbox of well completion and stimulation technologies.
Extended reach drilling
Maersk Oil has become an industry leader in extended reach
horizontal well drilling by developing superior skills in geosteering,
well bore positioning and surveying, well completion and
stimulation. Maersk Oil pioneered the application of horizontal
drilling techniques in the North Sea and has become expert in
the development of closely spaced long horizontal well line drive
patterns. Its expertise and capabilities in this area has enabled
Maersk Oil to unlock oil and gas from tight fields.
Geosteering
Maersk Oil has been an industry leader in geosteering through
complex carbonate reservoirs for 25 years. It has developed
a high level of in-house experience in geosteering using high
resolution bio-, litho- and sequence stratigraphy combined
with fine-scale layering models. The workflows include rigorous
integration of stratigraphic information, cuttings data and when
available, LWD data.
The quality and value of information gathered along horizontal
wells while drilling requires detailed preparation, discipline integration
and experience since the data is crucial for optimising
well steering and positioning.
To ensure the necessary flexibility and the ability to make rapid
decisions, Maersk Oil makes sure that a high level of empowerment
and decision making takes place on the rig, while drilling.
Horizontal wells were introduced in 1987 in the tight chalk of
the Dan Field, offshore Denmark. Since then, horizontal drilling
technology has been adopted by the industry as the preferred
technology for developing tight reservoirs. The Halfdan field,
offshore Denmark, and the Al Shaheen field, offshore Qatar, were
both developed using horizontal wells which included several
dual lateral wells. This enabled the wells to cover a larger amount
of the reservoir and saves a number of slots on the platforms.
This allows the drilling and optimal positioning of very long
horizontal wells and is an important prerequisite for an effective
appraisal of flank areas or thin oil columns using horizontal wells.
For the record-breaking 12.3 kilometre well in the Al Shaheen
field, geosteering was applied throughout the entire reservoir
section with assistance from LWD data. A complete suite of
formation evaluation information such as gamma ray, azimuthally-focused
laterolog resistivity, bit resistivity, porosity and bulk
density was utilised to make real time geosteering decisions.
In the Al Shaheen field, Maersk Oil succeeded in placing 95%
of the ultra long reservoir sections in targets less than 10 feet
thick. Some wells we turned some 90 degrees while geosteering
within the 3-6 feet thick target.
3D visualisation of the horizontal well pattern in the Al Shaheen field, offshore Qatar
Multilateral wells
Multilateral well technology is nothing new to the oil industry but
the level of complexity has increased; especially in the functionality
of well junctions. Many operators will have good production rates
without performing a stimulation of their reservoirs and therefore
Multilateral wells can increase reservoir contact significantly.
In Maersk Oil Qatar, several Multilateral wells were drilled where
barefoot holes have been stimulated prior to running the actual
completion. However, with the extended reach wells drilled here, the
reservoir contact is somewhat maximised by different means.
Most Maersk Oil Multilateral wells in Denmark are dual-laterals.
The main reason for this is to manage the risk versus reward
as for each junction, the complexity increases. This is evaluated
for each project or well independently. The increased cost and
risk exposure are rewarded by the increased reservoir contact,
which has been as much as twice the size of reservoir sections
measuring around 13,000 feet.
Another reason for choosing a Multilateral design could be a
limitation in surface footprint or as for Maersk Oil, a limited
number of slots from a certain location. It can also be a conscious
economic decision when designing offshore facilities
for a field development plan as it was done for Halfdan North
East. Halfdan North East is a thin chalk gas reservoir that
was developed with a mixture of single and dual-laterals in a
spiral pattern for optimal reservoir contact. Here Multilateral
technology, together with the CAJ stimulation technique was
applied to target the entire reservoir from a single location.
The Multilateral systems are RAM level 5 which ensures pressure
integrity at the junction so each lateral can be stimulated
individually.