Technologies based on conveyor principle are used in various industries. The main purpose of conveyor method is to break up a complex process into stages. Each stage involves performing the same operation, which allows reducing the time it takes to get the result. The main objective achieved by this approach is to optimize the process of continuous product creation without losing its quality. The article describes how the conveyor principle can be applied to drilling a group of horizontal wells from a well pad that is batch drilling in LLC RN-Uvatneftegas. The peculiar thing about constructing horizontal wells is that while drilling the conductor, surface casing and the production string sections, 127 mm heavyweight drill-pipes (HWDP) are used, and when drilling the liner section - 88.9 mm HWDP. This makes it necessary to change the drilling tools. Every drill tool change takes 1.8 days. When drilling several horizontal wells from a well pad, the time spent on tool changes becomes significant. The authors compare drilling schedules of four horizontal wells constructed using a traditional technology and the batch drilling technology, which enables drilling horizontal wells by sections. The data shows that the batch drilling principle can significantly reduce the time spent on jobs other than drilling. Commissioning time for wells drilled by the traditional technology and the ones using the batch drilling are estimated. It is established that when the sequential drilling method is used the first well is put into operation earlier, however, with batch drilling, commissioning time for the entire group of wells is reduced, which enables to produce additional oil. Besides, it is noted that the use of batch drilling reduces the volume of drilling mud used and eliminates the costs associated with idle time of expensive equipment (rotary-steerable systems). The main criteria applying batch drilling method for drilling horizontal wells are listed.
References
1. Povalikhin A.S., Bliznyukov V.Yu., Double-hole drilling technology (In Russ.), Stroitel'stvo neftyanykh i gazovykh skvazhin na sushe i na more, 2013, no. 9, pp. 4–10.
3. URL: https://www.rosneft.ru/press/subsidiaries/item/191449/
