Steerable drilling needs minimal well interaction

摘要

ROTARY STEERABLE DRILLING systems were commercialized and introduced to the oil and gas industry 6-7 years ago, and work using two different techniques, either push the bit or point the bit. Both work very well and the technology has been accepted by most oil and gas companies to more precisely and efficiently target their geological objectives, especially in long horizontal wells. With push the bit systems, pads are used to steer the tool. These are typically close to the bit but there still must be some interaction with the wellbore, which occasionally results in some limitations on the tool's capabilities. For example, in openhole sidetracks once the sidetrack is started the pad can only push so far before it loses contact with the wellbore. If drilling in a very soft formation, the pad might not have anything to push against because the hole could be washed out. Most point the bit systems also require well bore interaction to maintain directional control and many of the same limitations apply