Page 171 - Introduction to Petroleum Engineering

158 DRILLING

8.4.3 extended Reach Drilling

Extended reach drilling (ERD) refers to drilling at one location with the objective of
reaching a location up to 10 km away that may otherwise be inaccessible or very
expensive to drill. ERD wells are justified in several circumstances. For example, an
ERD well may be able to access an offshore location from an onshore location, it may
be drilled from a well site location that minimizes environmental impact, or it may be
drilled from a well site location that minimizes its impact in a densely populated area.
Horizontal, extended reach, and multilateral wellbores that follow subsurface
formations are providing access to more parts of the reservoir from fewer well
locations. This provides a means of minimizing environmental impact associated
with drilling and production facilities, either on land or at sea. Extended reach wells
make it possible to extract petroleum from beneath environmentally or commercially
sensitive areas by drilling from locations outside of the environmentally sensitive
areas. In addition, offshore fields can be produced from onshore drilling locations
and reduce the environmental impact of drilling by reducing the number of surface
drilling locations.

8.5 ACTIVITIeS

8.5.1 Further Reading
For more information about drilling, see Hyne (2012), Denehy (2011), Mitchell and
Miska (2010), Raymond and Leffler (2006), and Bourgoyne et al. (1991).

8.5.2 True/False

8.1 A well integrity test can be conducted by altering mud density.
8.2 Surface casing is used to protect potable water.
8.3 Production casing has a smaller diameter than production tubing.
8.4 Drill collars are used to prevent the drill pipe from kinking and breaking
by putting weight on the bottom of the drill string.
8.5 Drill cuttings are not removed from drilling mud before it is recirculated into
the well.
8.6 Both “S”‐curve and “J”‐curve well trajectories have kickoff points.
8.7 A top drive is a motorized power swivel located below the traveling block and
used to turn the drill string.
8.8 Well spacing can be reduced by infill drilling.
8.9 Delineation wells are drilled before discovery wells.
8.10 An AFE is used to obtain permission to spend money.