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Module – 8
Directional Drilling
Section – 8
Well Design Fundamentals
Introduction
• Well Trajectory Design is one of the very first steps for Well Planning
• This is a responsibility of the D&M Drilling Engineer who works together with Well
Engineers, Geologist and Directional Driller
• Normally the Oil Operator provides surface coordinates with vertical elevations and
the coordinates for one or more objectives, including its shape
• It is very important to involve the Drilling Engineer since the visualization and
selection of geological objectives in order to optimize the well trajectory with regards
to drilling hazards (Well Collision, Faults, Difficult formation to slide, etc.)
• All dogleg severity limitations have to be specified at the very beginning of the well
trajectory design (BHA Max Dogleg capability, Casing bending capacity, Completion
Assembly specs, Electro-Sumersible pumps, etc)
• Make sure that the Drilling Engineer is using previous experiences in the same field
Well Design Terminology
• There is a specific terminology that we need to understand for well trajectory design
• This directional terminology define the main characteristics for the well trajectory
• These terms describe how the well trajectory is built without the need of looking at
the drawing
• The Directional Driller will use these terms to give a verbal update for the current
status of the well trajectory and he might ask for decisions to be taken based on the
information given
Well Profile Concepts
t
of the latitude and departure. It is the
n
em e
on
distance from the WRP to any survey or
Latitude
ti
sp l a
ec
lS
Total Depth
i
or D
ca
rti
•
Ve
Vertical Section is the projection of the
u re
Clo s
displacement to the vertical projection Vertical Projection
plane Plane
target at TD
Bottom Well Positioning: Vertical Section
Vertical Section = Displacement X Cos (Target Azimuth – Closure Azimuth)
Target
Survey Station
Depart ure
ent
cem
of the Survey Station onto the
n
tio
Latitude
pla
Plane of Proposal
ec
Dis
lS
ca
rti
Ve
Surface Reference Point
Bottom Well Positioning: Closure Azimuth
T arge t
De pa rt ure
−1 Departure
CLOSURE AZIMUTH = tan
nt
Latitude
e
acem
Latitude
l
Disp
n
tio
c
Se
al
rtic
Ve
Surface Reference Point
Purpose for calculating Vertical Section
ent
Well Plan by plotting on it the “VS” vs. “TVD”
cem
n
for each survey station (bottom of well
Latitude
tio
pla
position)
ec
lS
Dis
ca
rti
Ve
PLANE OF PROPOSAL
Exercise - Well Plan Format
For a simple build hold profile, if the well was going due
Plane of East, 90 deg, this would be as shown.
Proposal
However if the plane of proposal was stated as 180
90 degrees
degree, what would the well look like on a plan view?
1000ft
Plane of Proposal
2000ft
180 degrees
Impact of Kick off Depth on Well Trajectory
For the same target and BUR:
• The shallower the kick off depth, the lower the tangent angle and the shorter is the
well length.
Surface Reference Point
Examples:
MD INCL AZI TVD NORTHING EASTING
feet deg deg feet N/-S feet E/-W feet
For a KOP 1
TIE 0 0 0 0 0 0
Shallow KOP KOP 1000 0 90 1000 0 0
2000 30 90 1955 0 256
10712 30 90 9500 0 4612
KOP 2
MD INCL AZI TVD NORTHING EASTING
feet deg deg feet N/-S feet E/-W feet
For a TIE 0 0 0 0 0 0
Deeper KOP 5735 0 90 5735 0 0
KOP 7735 60 90 7389 0 955
11958 60 90 9500 0 4612 Target
Shallow Kick off Point
• Essential for pad drilling or platforms to get away from other wells
• ERD wells use very high kick off points and very high angle tangent section angles
• Allowing high build up rates here will have large impact on torque values further
down well
“J” Vs. “S” type Wells
To hit the same target for the same KOP, BUR and DOR, profiles would be
as follows:
• As can be seen for the same kick off point there is a large difference in the tangent angle and
measured depth of the well
• “S” type wells will tend to develop a lot more torque than an equivalent displacement “J” type, it
also depends on the DD work
• Usually “S” shaped wells drilled for “production reasons” have a small tolerance on the angle
across reservoir (less than 5 or 10 degrees)
• “S” type wells are unavoidable for low displacement wells or when directional drilling is
complicated at deeper sections
• Directional drilling might be very difficult at the drop off curve due to high torque and BHA hanging
Summary
• Every target potentially has 100’s of well plans to hit the centre.
• Choose your plan based on reason – don’t just accept the 1st one you are given
• Use geology to help with plans, if you know a formation naturally builds then use
this to your advantage
• Also find out if formations are stable drilled in all directions
• Make plans as simple as possible
• Remember big bends at top sections cause major torque issues later
• Know what the completion mechanism is during design stage e.g. ESP’s need
tangent sections, PCP’s have dogleg constraints