DRILLING
Remote-controlled drilling
The LLC Investekoproekt Drilling Support Centre (DSC) was established specifically to improve efficiency in building high-technology wells. The DDC supports the construction of practically all complex facilities, including high-load wells, wells with extended horizontal sections, and ultra-deep and multilateral wells. In addition to this, the Centre monitors the drilling of all wells designed for developing hard-to-recover hydrocarbon reserves, and supports the pilot testing of all new drilling technologies.
The DSC’s work is predominantly based around geo-steering technology, which involves obtaining information on a field’s geological model, in real time, with adjustments made to the well trajectory in line with this. Data is transferred from the boring (drilling) tool to the DSC in real time, and updated information displayed on the geological model of the field. Actual data is compared against projected data, analysed, and, if necessary, the well trajectory corrected on that basis in order to fall within the target zone. Then, as new data is received, the cycle is repeated, allowing uninterrupted control over drilling operations.
A serious problem, that reduces accuracy in drilling a well into an oil reservoir has, until recently, been delays in receiving data on surrounding rock through drilling tools — the design of which does not allow sensors to be placed within 15 metres of the drill-bit. To solve this problem the LLC Investekoproekt Science and Technology Centre has developed the industry’s first self-learning programme for optimising costs in drilling complex wells, making it possible — on the basis of inferential data — to clarify strata geology and, where necessary, take a decision on correcting the drilling trajectory, in real time.
