APRIL 2012

The Better Business Publication Serving the Exploration / Drilling / Production Industry

Gallery Of New Drill Bit Technology

Bits Increase ROP, Eliminate Trips

By Danny Boyd
Special Correspondent
Operators in both unconventional and
conventional plays in virtually every U.S.
basin are enjoying the best of both worlds
when it comes to reducing exploration
costs: drill bit advances and technology
enhancements that reduce bit trips and
set record rates of penetration for operators
continuing to lead the charge toward a
new energy era in North America.
With strong oil prices, the industry
continues to zero in on drilling liquidsrich reserves in all types of geologic settings with more complex well bore architectures. No matter the well type or
drilling plan, the objective is to drill a
full-gauge, high-quality hole to the target
interval in the least amount of rig time.
Optimizing performance and eliminating
nonproductive time begins with the bit,
one of the most critical components in
the drilling system.
Drill bit designers and engineers are responding to the challenge by equipping
operators with cutting-edge bits and performance-enhancing technological innovations that are eliminating trips, even recording
single bit runs to drill the entire vertical,
curve and lateral sections of horizontal
wells in some plays! The end result is improved drilling efficiencies, enabling oil
and gas companies to maximize their capital
dollars in the hunt for new reserveswhether
drilling long-lateral horizontal wells in unconventional formations, directional wells
offshore, or vertical wells in legacy oil
basins where commodity prices are invigorating activity.
However, oil drilling is clearly the new
driving force behind climbing domestic
drilling activity. With 16 percent more

rigs turning to the right in early April

compared with the same time in 2011,
about 65 percent of them were targeting
oil reservesthe mirror opposite of oil
versus natural gas drilling ratios only two
years ago. The American Petroleum Institute reports that 6,149 oil wells were
completed in the fourth quarter of 2011
up 10 percent year-to-year.
And the ramped-up U.S. oil drilling
activity is generating a production response
that is reversing the trend line on total
domestic oil output, positioning the industry to add millions of barrels a day in
new production going forward, according
to forecasters.
In addition to tailoring existing bits to
overcome obstacles in tight oil plays, bit
designers at the leading manufacturers
also have their eyes on an additional prize:
recovering activity in the Gulf of Mexico

that will require even greater bit performance and durability, especially in the ultradeepwater Lower Tertiary and ultradeep
Shelf play in shallow waters.
Shale-Optimized PDC Bits
The Spear* shale-optimized, steel-body
PDC drill bit from Smith Bits, a Schlumberger company, has made more than 4,000
runs in unconventional plays throughout
North America. However, Robert Ford,
product commercialization manager, Smith
Bits, says the company continues to develop
the bits to realize even greater ROPs and
cost savings from fewer trips.
Spear has been a very successful technology in terms of meeting and exceeding
customer expectations, but we are not
standing still, Ford comments. We continue to improve the technology in Spear.
Conventional PDC bits target either the

The Spear* 8-inch SDi513 steel

body PDC drill bit on a directional
motor from PathFinder, a Schlumberger company, drilled an Eagle
Ford curve and lateral, saving the
operator $46,780.

Reproduced in part for Schlumberger with permission from The American Oil & Gas Reporter

www.aogr.com

SpecialReport: Drilling Technology

curve or lateral section, and because of a
lack of hydraulic energy, cuttings accumulate
at the bottom of the well and reduce ROP
from packed blades, plugged nozzles, and
drill string stick/slip, he points out.
Spear PDC bits are designed to improve
shale play economics by drilling both
the curve and long lateral hole section to
minimize bit balling and short runs, improve ROP, and enhance directional control
through engineering features that improve
directional mud flow so the sharp cutter
edge always meets rock, Ford says.
Spear also includes a bullet-shaped
body design that makes it easier for cuttings to sweep around the body and into
the junk slot, he adds. In addition, a reduced body diameter increases the distance
between the bore hole and the bit body
in the junk slot, which improves the
ability of cuttings to pass through the
slots. Greater blade height also increases
the junk slot area.
While the Spear drill bit design has
worked well, Ford points out that not all
shales are alike, heightening the need to
adjust the bit to encounter transitional zones
with harder formations such as pyrites,
limestone and chert. Each play also has
other operational considerations that impact
bit design, especially in dry gas shale plays
such as the Haynesville, where optimizing
drilling performance is crucial to overall
drilling economics, he says.
Utilizing its IDEAS* integrated drill
bit design platform to optimize Spear drill
bit performance, Smith Bits engineers set
out to modify the cutting structure to
eliminate damage in complex lithologies,
according to Ford.
We have had many successful bit runs
where we have been able to improve performance with operators drilling these transitional zones, he comments. We also
recognize that we cannot simply take one
drill bit designed for the Eagle Ford and
place it in the Marcellus, and vice versa.
We have to tailor it to the application.
In the Eagle Ford, an operator faced
the challenge of drilling 834-inch curve
and lateral sections in a shale well in one
run while maintaining good directional
control in the curve and high ROP in the

lateral, Ford says. Using a Spear drill

bit on a PathFinder positive displacement
motor, the operator saved $46,780 in rig
time by drilling the curve and lateral in
one run at a record ROP, he reports.
The Haynesville Shale poses its own
set of unique challenges for operators
using conventional PDC bits to drill into
the Travis Peak and Cotton Valley formations in East Texas, he continues,
noting that conventional bits have experienced cutter limitations boring through
hard, abrasive, interbedded, and deep
high-temperature formations that lead to
bit failure. Overall, cutter limitations have
restricted further advancement of PDC
drilling in East Texas, Ford adds.
Additionally, long lateral drilling in shale
plays presents additional challenges such
as cuttings accumulation at the bottom of
the well, which impedes access to fresh
rock and results in low ROP, packed blades,
nozzle plugging, and stick/slip, he goes on.
For one Haynesville operator, Smith
Bits engineers designed a Spear drill bit
with a more aggressive bullet profile that
maximized displacement of cuttings from
the bit face, Ford says. Hydraulic engineers
carefully examined dull bits to better understand the cuttings packing behavior that
was occurring between the blades and
around the nozzles. Using advanced fluid
modeling software, they enhanced the geometry of the bit body and incorporated a specialized cuttings evacuation channel close
to the nozzle exit to more efficiently direct
cuttings into the annulus. This had the
desired effect and significantly reduced bit
balling in the shale, and allowed the bit to
continue drilling the laterals without being
pulled prematurely.
Premium PDC Cutters
Smith Bits also continues to focus on
improving cutter durability, according to
Ford. The companys development in
2008 of its ONYX* PDC cutter resulted
in greater resistance to abrasive wear and
thermal degradation, which increased
PDC bit performance in hard and abrasive
formations.
Since then, further research and analysis, coupled with the investment from

Schlumberger in advanced component

testing facilities and goal of achieving
greater understanding of the fundamental
cutter/rock interaction, has led to developing ONYX II*, a premium PDC cutter
capable of retaining its sharp edge longer,
he remarks. The results have been stellar,
with the ONYX II cutter showing a 20
percent increase in footage while maintaining a better dull condition compared
with the original design.
Results indicate improved thermal stability, which enables the ONYX II cutter
to maintain its structural integrity and
resist diamond spalling and chipping,
Ford adds, with additional improvements
in diamond packing, grain size and the
synthetic material itself.
A whole range of technology advancements were made, and from that we developed ONYX II PDC cutters, which we
commercialized in late 2011, he says.
In a traditional world where you typically
have wear resistance, you tend to trade off
on the impact side. Not only did we not
sacrifice impact, but also improved wear
resistance.
Field testing in East Texas has resulted
in an average ROP increase of about 15
percent while producing improved dull bit
condition, Ford reports, adding that the
next-generation ONYX II PDC cutters are
expected to have a positive economic impact
in the East Texas region as well as in other
hard and abrasive applications worldwide.
For one operator in East Texas, the
ONYX II cutter was used on a SHARC*
high-abrasion-resistance PDC drill bit,
in which the entire hole section was
drilled in one run, where offset wells
typically took two to three bit runs to
complete the interval, Ford states. The
ONYX II bit drilled more than 4,000
feet at 53 ft/hr, compared with average
offset bit performance of 46 ft/hr ROP.
With activity gradually returning in
the Gulf of Mexico, Ford adds that Smith
Bits anticipates additional applications
of ONYX II cutters for operators looking
to cut costs in deepwater wells. We have
a broad range of bit solutions to meet a
wide range of goals for the operator. That
is the key for us, Ford concludes.
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