Safely Exceeding Buckling Loads in Long Horizontal Wells: Case Study in Shale Plays

摘要

Drilling operations face several limits that intensify uncertainty and risks. Because of the deeper and/or longer wells, drilling equipment is pushed to its mechanical and endurance limits. The general industry perception is that when drillstrings or casing strings exceed conventional helical-buckling criteria, they cannot be operated safely in the hole because the risk of failure or lockup is too high. However, some theoretical, experimental, and field case studies have shown that tubular may be run in the hole even in a buckling state, within safe limits. This paper shows a case study in long horizontal wells for which helical-buckling load has been exceeded without compromising the success of the operations.