PETROLEUM EXPLORATION AND DEVELOPMENT

Volume 40, Issue 6, December 2013

Online English edition of the Chinese language journal

Cite this article as: PETROL. EXPLOR. DEVELOP., 2013, 40(6): 801–805. RESEARCH PAPER

Application of rotary geosteering drilling in deep and thin

reservoirs of Tarim Basin, NW China
ZHANG Chengguang1, 2,*, WU Qianli1, WANG Xiaoliang2, LÜ Ning3
1. CNPC Drilling Research Institute, Beijing 100083, China;
2. CNPC Tarim Oilfield Company, Korla 841000, China;
3. Sinopec Shengli Oilfield Company, Dongying 257001, China

Abstract: Geological features, such as deep and thin reservoirs and unstable structure margin, occur in an oilfield of the Tarim Basin. To
deal with these problems while drilling, a rotary geosteering drilling technique was introduced. The effect of its application was analyzed
with an example, the shortcomings were summarized, and suggestions were given for other oilfileds. The feasibility and necessity of us-
ing rotary geosteering drilling were presented according to the engineering challenges in the oilfield, then the theory and main tools of it
were introduced. Focusing on a double-step horizontal well in field application, the features and effects of this technique were elaborated.
With rotary geosteering drilling in this well, the average rate of penetration was high and oil reservoir encountering rate was up to 82% in
thin layers less than 1 m. Also, it avoided effortless weight on bit in sliding drilling method and made the wellbore more smooth and
clean. The problems met were concluded, for example, the tools build-up rate was affected by several factors, measurement while drilling
(MWD) signal was interfered, and the tools working performance was unstable. Suggestions were put forward for applying the rotary
geosteering drilling technique in other oilfields.

Key words: horizontal well; drilling; rotary geosteering; deep thin reservoir; logging while drilling (LWD)

Introduction ditions in the block, and ensuring the wellbore trajectory in

For deep reservoirs with complex geologic structure, well-
bore trajectory can not be effectively guided to pay zone by
use of bent housing PDM. Rotary geosteering drilling is used
more and more widely because of its technical advantages in
these reservoirs, and has become a mainstream technique to-
day [12]. In recent years, the number of wells with geosteering
and rotary steerable drilling has been soaring across the
world [3]. Taking Schlumberger Company as an example, the
number of wells drilled with geosteering increased from about
300 in 2006 to 700 in 2009, and the footage of rotary steerable
drilling increased from 5 898 km in 2006 to 19 740 km in
2011; from 2004 to 2010, geosteering drilling was applied to
more than 345 horizontal wells in various complicated reser-
voirs in China.
In a block of the Tarim oilfield, the thin sandstone reser-
voirs are deep in burial depth, small in thickness and laterally
unstable at the structural margin. Rotary geosteering drilling
has been introduced in order to develop this type of reservoir
more efficiently and continuous efforts have been put into
better adapting the technology to the specific formation con-
the best position of the pay zone.
1 Technical difficulties and countermeasures for
deep thin reservoir drilling of Tarim oilfield
(1) Deep and thin target layers. The targets are over 5 000
m deep vertically in general, and the total depth is 5 500–
6 000 m [4]. When using conventional slide drilling, friction
and torque will rise as depth increases, and requirements on
MWD signal transmission will be higher too. The targets are
two sets of sandstones, in which pay zones are thin, only 1–2
m thick [5]. To get better development, double-step horizontal
drilling needs to be applied. The rotary drilling mode used in
the rotary geosteering drilling, conducive to cutting removal
and hole cleaning, can lower drag, and enhance the capability
of horizontal section extension significantly.
(2) Long openhole section and wide variation in lithology.
The second drilling section about 5 000 m long is prone to
problematic weight transfer to the bit and differential sticking,
with thief zone and sloughing zone found in the same bore-
hole. Multiple sandstone-mudstone interbeds and strong abra-
sion result in uneven drilling time. Therefore, drilling fluid

Received date: 18 Apr. 2013; Revised date: 24 Sep. 2013.

* Corresponding author. E-mail: zcgdri@cnpc.com.cn
Foundation item: Supported by the National Science and Technology Major Project (2011ZX05021-005).
Copyright © 2013, Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration and Development, PetroChina. Published by Elsevier BV. All rights reserved.
 ZHANG Chengguang et al. / Petroleum Exploration and Development, 2013, 40(6): 801–805
viscosity and shear strength should be controlled properly, bit
type should be selected according to the operating features of
steering tools and short tripping should be used frequently to
assist cutting removal in rotary drilling.
(3) The reservoirs at the structural margin are uneven in
distribution, making stratigraphic correlation difficult. At the
structural margin, unstable sand bodies, wide variation in
formation dip, and difficult stratigraphic correlation pose great
challenges to the landing position identification and pay zone
tracking. Therefore, the LWD/MWD data must be accurate
and steering tools must have rapid and stable building up ad-
justment capability.
(4) High requirements on trajectory control. In the deviated
section, it is difficult to maintain a stable build-up rate of tools
in mudstone, and inclination angle needs to be monitored and
calculated in real time. Timely adjustment is required when
the actual trajectory is found not conforming to the designed
one. Since the target window in thin pay zone is narrow, with
a half target height of only 0.5 m, and a proper angle is needed
for landing, otherwise, there will be no leeway for adjustment
of borehole trajectory [6]. LWD/MWD is relied on to obtain
information such as angle between the actual trajectory and
formation during horizontal drilling to ensure the hit ratio of
reservoirs.
2 Principles of rotary geosteering drilling
“Geosteering”, integrating drilling, LWD and reservoir en-
gineering organically into one [7], aims to optimize the place-
ment of horizontal well trajectory in reservoir, reduce drilling
risk, enhance drilling efficiency and maximize well productiv-
ity and investment return [3]. In this technology, geosteering
operation is realized by use of rotary steerable tools, instead
of the previously used slide-drilling by means of bent housing
downhole motor [8], in combination with LWD/MWD to
measure geologic and engineering parameters [910], and
real-time interpretation and control of drilling track are real-
ized by the surface software system through timely adjustment
of the formation/structure models based on parameters from
MWD [7, 11].
Rotary steerable tools can be divided into three types in
terms of steering mode: push-the-bit (represented by
Bake-Hughes AutoTrack RCLS and Schlumberger Power-
Drive X5/X6), point-the-bit (represented by Schlumberger
PowerDrive Xceed) and composite type [1, 1214]. For push-the-
bit type of tool, the operating commands to the downhole
system are adjusted in real time based on comparison between
measured parameters and the designed ones, and the pad near
the bit extended towards borehole wall controlled by control
circuit and hydraulic system provides the lateral force needed
for the bit to change hole inclination and azimuth, making the
bit advancing along the preset borehole trajectory, at a maxi-
mum build-up rate of 8°/30 m. The point-the-bit type, similar
to bent housing PDM, the internal eccentric shaft driven by
the servo-motor provides a dip of 0.6° with the drill collar axis
 802 
to the bit shaft, while the motor rotates at a RPM same as the
drill collar speed, but in a reverse direction to hold the tool-
face, making the borehole trajectory extend towards the tar-
get [1, 13], with the maximum build-up rate of 8°/30 m. The
composite type can be regarded as the combination of the
former two types, which depends on the extension of the
pushing pads inside the tool towards the inner wall of drill
collar (not the formation) to change the dip of the bit shaft
with the collar, to deliver the directional effect, with a nominal
build-up rate as high as 17°/30 m. It is known from the appli-
cation experiences and results in China and abroad,
point-the-bit and composite types are the future development
direction of rotary steerable tool, with high rate of angle
build-up and working performance little affected by lithology.
In actual drilling operation, proper LWD tools should be
selected and added into the BHA based on formation features
and operational demand to realize real-time measurement of
parameters such as natural gamma, resistivity, porosity, for-
mation temperature, well inclination, azimuth, toolface, WOB,
torque, etc. After the measured data are transmitted to surface,
geosteering engineers on site can analyze the rock properties,
bed boundary and structural dips based on data curves or im-
ages to adjust the borehole trajectory and steer the landing of
horizontal section.
3 Application
A double-step horizontal Well H4, 5 965 m in total depth, is
located in the margin of a regional reservoir structure in the
Tarim Oilfield. It was drilled with the application of the rotary
geosteering technique. The ROP was 2.6 m/h, and the actual
hit ratio of reservoirs was up to 82.2% in the case of thin pay
zones (less than 1m). PowerDrive X6 and PowerDrive Xceed
were used in this well and the BHA was 8 ½ (215.9 mm)
PDC drill bit+6 ¾ (171.4 mm) X6/Xceed+6 ¾ (171.4 mm)
geoVISION LWD+6 ¾ (171.4 mm) TeleScope MWD+5
(127 mm) NMDP+5 (127 mm) DP+5 (127 mm) HWDP+5
(127 mm) DP.
Directional sidetracking was conducted at the depth of
4 620 m in Well H4, and then PowerDrive Xceed was used in
build-up drilling. In this process, however, we found that the
deflecting force of Xceed was slightly insufficient when in
small borehole inclination (less than 22°) or in shale with low
ROP. The average build-up rate was 3.3°/30 m which lagged
behind the designed one (4.2°/30 m). Then PDM was installed
to build up borehole inclination to 45°, later PowerDrive
Xceed was changed back for the purpose of good borehole
quality. In the landing section, top of the reservoir should be
identified by means of GR and resistivity in geoVISION LWD.
Due to unstable marker bed, however, it was difficult to cor-
relate the logging data in vertical pilot hole with that of offset
wells, which result in a wrong track out of the pay zone from
its bottom (5 312 m) after point A (target landing point, 5 301
m, see Fig. 1). By the analysis of the LWD data (Fig. 2) on
site, geosteering engineers adjusted the commands of Xceed
 ZHANG Chengguang et al. / Petroleum Exploration and Development, 2013, 40(6): 801–805

to its 100% building-up angle state and it worked well. The
trajectory came back into the pay zone at point A1 (5 360 m,
seen in Fig. 1). In the subsequent horizontal section (5 360–
5 965 m), there were two small segment of tracks out of oil
layer (section A2–A3 in Fig. 1, 5 436–5 470 m; section
A4–A5 in Fig. 1, 5 492–5 560 m) because of the failure of
Xceed and sudden change of formation dip. Detecting this in
time, engineers adjusted the commands of Xceed to turn the
trajectory back into the reservoir. The whole horizontal tra-
jectory was placed as expected, with the hit rate of reservoir in
CD section reaching up to 100%.
In recent years, PowerDrive X5/X6/Xceed+LWD+MWD
have been used commonly for rotary geosteering drilling in
the deep thin reservoirs of Tarim oilfield. As more wells are
drilled and drilling parameters are optimized continuously, the
rotary geosteering drilling has adapted gradually to the forma-
tions in the block, its advantages show up progressively. Ta-
bles 1 and 2 list some wells drilled by rotary geosteering

Fig. 1 Wellbore trajectory of Well H4


Fig. 2 Sectional LWD data of Well H4

Table 1 Application data of rotary geosteering drilling

Pay zone thickness /m Successful
Operation Borehole Section/ Footage/ ROP/
Well Top pay zone Bottom pay ratio/ Tools
time (Year) size/mm m m (m·h1)
section zone section %
H1 2005 215.9 4 571–5 776 1 205 4.20 1.4 0.8 56.2 PD X5+AND
PowerPak/PD
H2 2008 215.9 4 690–5 441 751 2.05 65.3
X5+PeriScope
H3 2010 215.9+152.4 4 689–5 618 929 2.32 4.0 83.6 PD X5/Xceed+PeriScope
H4 2012 215.9 4 620–5 965 1 345 2.60 0.7 0.9 82.0 PD X6/Xceed+geoVISION

Table 2 Application data of bent housing PDM

Operation Borehole Section/ Footage/ ROP/ Pay zone thickness /m Successful
Well
time (Year) size/mm m m (m·h1) Top pay zone section Bottom pay zone section ratio/%
H5 2007 4 820–5 517 697 1.24 1.5 1.5 45.3
H6 2008 4 639–5 905 1 266 1.54 1.0 1.5 55.6
215.9
H7 2008 4 756–5 620 864 1.77 1.5 1.5 77.8
H8 2011 4 720–5 542 822 1.51 1.0 61.5
 803 
 ZHANG Chengguang et al. / Petroleum Exploration and Development, 2013, 40(6): 801–805
drilling and conventional bent housing PDM respectively.
Their comparison shows that the average ROP and reservoir
hit ratio of rotary gepsteering drilling are higher to different
degrees at roughly the same footage per well than the conven-
tional slide/composite drilling.
4 Analysis and conclusions of field application
Analysis of field application of rotary geosteering drilling
in the deep thin reservoirs of the Tarim oilfield leads to the
following understandings:
4.1 Results of rotary steerable drilling
During drilling in the deviated and horizontal sections,
WOB was more effectively transferred to the bit, comparing
with slide-drilling with PDM. 3D directional control resulted
in smoother borehole and reduced torque /frictional drag,
which is good for lowering operational risk. Rotation over the
whole drilling process enhanced the agitation of drilling fluid
and cuttings, favorable for cutting carrying and transport, thus
mitigating cutting accumulation and making the hole cleaner.
4.2 Function of LWD
LWD is the key in trajectory control during rotary steerable
drilling. As the eye of rotary steering, LWD plays a crucial
role during drilling of the landing and horizontal sections in
thin reservoirs. The correlation of the measured natural
gamma and resistivity between the well being drilled and off-
set wells is critical for precisely locating the marker bed. The
dual measurements of geometry and geology can accurately
navigate the bit to the target. Through identification of lithol-
ogy, detection of bed boundary and fluid interface, and
judgement of bit up-going or down-going, borehole exten-
sional direction can be monitored to keep the trajectory within
the reservoir.
4.3 Problems and solutions
4.3.1 Several factors affecting build-up rate of tools
When sidetracking at vertical or slight deviated well section,
the performance of rotary steerable drilling tools will be af-
fected if the building-up trend has not formed yet, especially
in hard formations. Besides, the servo-motor in PowerDrive
Xceed holds the toolface by counter-rotating the offset man-
drel at the same rpm as the collar, thus when the stick-slip
effect is significant, the rotating speed measurement will have
errors, therefore the uncertain output of motor leads to the
unsteady of bit-pointing and building-up rate, furthermore,
drill bit could not cut sandstones efficiently, which explains
that low ROP and low building-up rate occured at the same
time. In this case, driller should work up and down the drilling
tools, adjust drilling parameters (decrease WOP, increase sur-
face RPM, etc.) in order to avoid bit bouncing downhole as
far as possible.
4.3.2 Insufficient tool stability
During drilling of Well-H4, PowerDrive Xceed failed 3
 804 
times due to long interval of fill-up, burst of flex tube resulted
from pressure difference, unstable electric voltage, etc. Also,
MWD failed 1 time because of a problem of its coil resistance
in alternator leading to the signal loss. These all resulted in
tripping out to change BHA which took 190.25 hours in total.
To improve the stability of the tools in deep well and long
time drilling, manufactures should select high quality acces-
sories and engineers on site should operate according to drill-
ing codes as well.
4.3.3 Interference in transmission of MWD signal in deep
wells
The increase in well depth will make the transmission path
of MWD mud pulse signal longer, leading to increase of sig-
nal attenuation and drop in SNR. In addition, the fluid flow
properties, bubbles, pump noises and other factors will have
great impacts on MWD signal [14], especially in deep wells. To
reduce signal interference, the following measures can be
used: adjusting signal transmission band, ensuring the quality
and performance of drilling fluid with solid control and filtra-
tion devices, and changing pump to reduce pump noise, etc.
4.4 Experiences sharing
Rotary steering BHA, with higher stiffness than PDM BHA,
could suffer tripping difficulties in well sections with big
dogleg angles. During the drilling of the horizontal section of
Well H4, a short trip was needed at an interval of 40–50 m,
resulting in long NPT. To solve this problem, a smoother tra-
jectory with no severe doglegs is advised, and also the flexible
nipple may help.
Rotary steerable tools of push-the-bit type use pads to
change the bit direction by extending against the wellbore,
which are likely to wear when used in hard formations. By
comparison, point-the-bit type tools have a greater wear resis-
tance, so the point-the-bit type and composite type ones are
recommended in abrasive formation.
Rotary steerable tools of push-the-bit type need high pres-
sure drilling fluid to push the pads, which have requirements
for bit pressure-drop. The pump pressure needs to be in-
creased by about 3 MPa compared with point-the-bit type
tools. Therefore, safety and reliability of surface pipelines,
and the drilling fluid supply and mud flow need to be ensured
when using push-the-bit type ones.
From the experiences of the Tarim oilfield, rotary geosteer-
ing drilling has a remarkable competitive edge in deep and
ultra-deep reservoirs with uncertain lateral distribution. For
complex formations, a deviated pilot hole is recommended to
be drilled in order to obtain logging data of target layers and
determine the formations lithologic characteristics and depths.
5 Conclusions
In view of the technical difficulties in drilling the deep thin
reservoirs in the Tarim oilfield, rotary geosteering drilling was
introduced. The technical advantages are showing up gradu-
ally through ongoing trial, with the hit ratio reaching 82% in
 ZHANG Chengguang et al. / Petroleum Exploration and Development, 2013, 40(6): 801–805
reservoirs of less than 1 m thick. In line with the wide change
in lateral physical properties and complex structure of the
formation, LWD was used during drilling. The logging data
from LWD was used to update the geologic models in time to
ensure the best placement of borehole trajectory in reservoirs.
The problems encountered in field application of the rotary
tools were summarized, including build-up rate of Power-
Drive Xceed susceptible to influence of well inclina-
tion/lithology/torque, interference of MWD signal transmis-
sion and instability of rotary geosteering tools assembly. And
countermeasures were proposed.
The application of rotary geosteering drilling in the deep
thin reservoirs of the Tarim oilfield has provided reference for
the development of similar oil reservoirs. Trajectory shall be
designed more smoothly to eliminate severe dogleg in local
area, also drill tools such as flexible nipple shall be added. For
strongly abrasive formation, it is recommended to use
point-the-bit type or composite type of rotary steering tools.
When push-the-bit tool is used, safety and reliability of sur-
face pipelines shall be ensured to guarantee the liquid supply
and flow rate of mud pump. Besides, it is suggested to drill a
deviated pilot hole first in order to get more precise logging
information of the target bed interval.
References
[1] Yonezawa T, Cargill E J, Gaynor T M, et al. Robotic con-
trolled drilling: A new rotary steerable drilling system for the
oil and gas industry. SPE 74458, 2002.
[2] Von Flatern R. Rotary steerables ready for the mainstream.
Offshore Engineer, 2003, 28(4): 32–34, 36.
[3] Wu Qi. Application and development of geosteering and ro-
tary steerable techniques. Beijing: Petroleum Industry Press,
2012.
[4] Zhang Bingshun, He Xuanpeng, Wang Zhijun. Drilling tech-
 805 
nology for well HD1-7H in Harderson oilfield. Petroleum
Drilling Techniques, 2002, 24(5): 20–22.
[5] Xiang Jianmin. Development technique for horizontal wells in
Tarim Oilfield. Petroleum Exploration and Development,
2006, 33(6): 722–728.
[6] Wang Aiguo, Wang Minsheng, Tang Zhijun, et al. Double
staircase horizontal drilling technology in deep thin reservoirs.
Petroleum Drilling Techniques, 2003, 31(3): 13–15.
[7] Su Yinao. Geosteering drilling technology and its develop-
ment in China. Petroleum Exploration and Development,
2005, 32(1): 92–95.
[8] Rong Haibo, He Changhua. Status quo and development of
geosteering drilling at home and abroad. Drilling and Produc-
tion Technology, 2006, 29(2): 7–9.
[9] Li Yichao, Wang Zhizhan, Qin Liming, et al. Key surface log-
ging technologies in horizontal geosteering drilling. Petroleum
Exploration and Development, 2012, 39(5): 620–625.
[10] Qin Zongchao, Liu Yinggui, Xing Weiqi, et al. Application of
geo-steering technique of horizontal well in complex fluvial
reservoir: A case from Caofeidian 11-1 Oilfield. Petroleum
Exploration and Development, 2006, 33(3): 378–382.
[11] Li Long, Wang Lei, Wang Chenglin, et al. First application of
the new-style rotary steering tool, Power Drive Xceed, in west
of South China Sea. Oil Drilling and Production Technology,
2010, 32(5): 24–27.
[12] Liu Feng. Application of POWER-V and PD-XCEED steering
vertical drilling technique in Bohai Oil Field. Oil Drilling and
Production Technology, 2009, 31(5): 29–32.
[13] Su Yinao, Dou Xiurong, Wang Jiajin. Function, characteristics
and typical configuration of rotary steerable drilling system.
Oil Drilling and Production Technology, 2003, 25(4): 5–7.
[14] Tang Nan, Wang Yuelong, Huo Aiqing, et al. A downward
signal processing method for rotary steerable drilling system
based on signal similarity. Petroleum Exploration and Devel-
opment, 2012, 39(1): 111–117.