 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
A Record of Firsts in 2005
|
|
At Balance has helped its customers achieve a number of industry firsts in pressure stability, well construction, and field life extension Like all useful drilling technologies the Dynamaic Annular Pressure Control (DAPC) system has provided a practical solution to many real world problems and a new category of benefits. Read about our record of firsts in well construction savings and field life extension: |
||||||||
|
2005 saw the first ever approval by the US Minerals Management Service for use of an automated system to control constant bottomhole pressure from a deepwater Gulf of Mexico platform. Plagued by depletion induced difficult conditions and costly drilling a deepwater GOM operator sought and won approval from the MMS to use the DAPC system for constant BHP control. Using the DAPC system the operator drilled through depleted zones too difficult for previous conventional efforts. In addition, he eliminated lost circulation, maintained wellbore stability, reduced operating cost, and gained access to previously unattainable producing zones. This was one of the first demonstrations of how the DAPC system could help extend the life of a mature field. |
||||||||||
|
In 2005 automated BHP control was first used as a complementary solution to access stranded reserves in a mature UK North Sea field.
Using the DAPC system enabled the operator to reenter existing horizontal wells with coiled tubing and drill into the surrounding, left-over oil. Having selected coiled tubing as the most cost effective drilling solution the operator elected to use the DAPC system to lower the mud weight, reduce the ECD, eliminate differential sticking of the CT, and maintain wellbore stability with the necessary flow rate to clean the hole. |
||||||||||
|
Later in the year an operator developing a tight gas field in the US mid-continent region combined, for the first time, a multiphase hydraulics model and an automated constant BHP control system to manage pressure during underbalanced drilling. With the DAPC system the operator was able maintain a constant BHP, eliminate lost circulation, and minimize damage to his tight gas reservoir. |
 |
|||