SANZHAR ZHARKESHOV, MERLIN ERD LIMITED, UK, EXPLAINS THE NEED FOR ECD
MANAGEMENT IN EXTENDED REACH WELLS.
CHALLENGES
COMBATTING
A
s the era of simple wells and easy to reach hydrocarbon
deposits ends, extended reach wells are becoming more
common in unleashing the potential of remote reservoirs.
Industry technology limits are being pushed out further by leading
extended reach drilling (ERD) operators to meet the demand. Major
advancements are being made in drill pipe and casing performance,
rig capacities, downhole tools, bits, and fluids chemistry. However,
one critical success factor is getting ever more challenging due to
the depletion of mature fields – the formation strength. This factor,
which defines the upper limit of the safe operating mud weight
window, is one of the current major limiters in drilling beyond
13 - 14 km (the latest world record is 13 500 m MD).
In the pursuit of increasing the operating window limits,
equivalent circulating density (ECD) is the only variable that can be
altered. Solving ECD issues and effectively managing this variable
are major concerns today. The objective of this article is to outline
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