CASE HISTORY| bakerhughes.com

Resultsnn Saved approximately 6 days of rig time and USD4.2 million

Solutionnn Employed the WellLink Radar service

nn Provided remote, real-time surveillance

nn Provided advance warning of a potential stuck-pipe event

nn Delivered advice based on lessons learned from previous situations

Challengesnn Ultradeepwater well

nn Presence of carnallite sections, which are viscous and tend to creep under differential stress

Offshore Brazil is a technically challenging drilling environment due to its size, depth, section length, and the presence of carnallite. Drilling through carnallite is challenging because its rate of creep is eight times more than common halite, or rock salt. Information from wells drilled through similar deep salt sections show that the salt closure rate for carnallite can reach 0.0415 in/hr (1.05-cm/hr) compared to 0.0052 in/hr (.01-cm/hr) for halite.

While drilling in this environment, operators often face nonproductive time (NPT) incidents such as stuck pipe, lost circulation, pipe failure, fishing, and plug and sidetrack. In some cases, operators are forced to sidetrack or even abandon wells after experiencing carnallite-related drilling difficulties.

Using its WellLink™ Radar remote drilling advisory service, Baker Hughes can identify symptoms of stuck pipe as they occur and provide actionable information well ahead of potential incidents. The WellLink Radar service consists of a team of remote service engineers

that use DrillEdge* case-based reasoning software—a decision support tool—to avoid stuck pipe caused by salt creep.

On this well, indicators of a possible incident were detected on the software’s radar. The remote service engineer verified the symptoms of stuck pipe and initiated a predefined communications protocol with the rig. Although 17 previous stuck-pipe incidents in this field had wasted, on average, nearly a week of rig time per incident, there were no NPT events while the WellLink Radar service was in use.

“WellLink Radar alerted us to a stuck-pipe signature on interval with carnallite that wasn’t identified in the geological prognosis. It is relevant in our operations in Santos Basin due to past stuck-pipe situations. The ability to view and track the situation and confirm the trends is priceless when dealing with presalt wells. This provides time to take action and prevent the incident from occurring,” said the operator’s representative.

WellLink Radar service

WellLink Radar Service Avoids Stuck Pipe in Offshore Brazil Presalt WellLocation: Santos Basin, Brazil

CASE HISTORY

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The operator saved approximately 6 days of rig time and USD4.2 million by avoiding stuck-pipe incidents. The cost savings were calculated using the spread rate for the time spent dealing with stuck-pipe events on offset wells. During some of these previous stuck-pipe events, the operator had to part the pipe, losing the bottomhole assembly. A sidetrack was required to complete the well.

The multidisciplinary drilling optimization group from Baker Hughes, integrated with the operator’s drilling team, used the WellLink Radar service and timely collaboration for informed decisions, avoiding NPT. This was the first successful deployment of the WellLink Radar service in Brazil.

*DrillEdge is a trademark of Verdande TechnologyThe DrillEdge software’s radar screen identified symptoms of stuck pipe, enabling timely avoidance.

The Baker Hughes remote service engineer monitored overpull and high breakover drag events with different levels of severity. The logging while drilling tool confirmed the presence of carnallite at the same

interval as the stuck-pipe signature.