EXPANDABLE TUBULAR technolo-gy is providing more completion optionsand certain casing drilling operationsare becoming standard.

A session at the 2002 IADC/SPE DrillingConference, 26-28 Feb in Dallas, focuseson the latest developments and recentfield experience with these two advanc-ing technologies. The session is chairedby M B Stone, Big 6 Drilling Co and JSmith, Weatherford International Inc.

C A S I N G D R I L L I N G

Until recently, drilling with casing hadnot been applied economically to main-stream drilling operations. But sinceearly 2000, developments have madedrilling down surface casing a standardoperation in several parts of the world.

The enabling technology has been adrillable drill bit, or “Drill Shoe.” Unlikeconventional bits, which are inherentlynon-drillable, this tool is constructedfrom soft alloy and contains a cuttingstructure that does not damage the nextbit in the hole.

IADC/SPE paper 74547 reports a projectby a major operator to evaluate drillingwith casing on the Gulf of Mexico shelf.

“Rotary Drilling With Casing: A FieldProven Method of Reducing Well Con-struction Costs,” was prepared for theDrilling Conference by M T Wardley,Weatherford BBL; W R Protas, Ten-gizchevroil; J L Howard, ChevronUSA Inc; and J Bain and J Z Thomp-son, Weatherford BBL.

The Drill Shoe method is the first truly“single-trip” technique of drilling withcasing; nothing is pulled out of the hole.It allows operators to simultaneouslydrill and install casing in one operation.Cementing can begin immediately uponreaching TD.

The next drill string is run in conven-tional manner and drills out the shoetrack and Drill Shoe without damage tothe drill bit and then proceeds to drillthe next section of wellbore.

Since its first use in January 2000, morethan 130 drilling-with-casing operationshave been completed successfully withthis technology, the authors report. Cas-ing sizes range from 7-in. to 20-in., with

run lengths up to 1,500 ft. Benefits haveincluded reduced trip time, eliminationof hole problems and improved safety.

R O T A R Y E X P A N S I O N

Expandable tubular technology has sofar been dominated by one expansiontechnique: forcing a solid cone or pigthrough a tubular. Now an alternativeexpansion method is gaining signifi-cance: the use of tools that are rotatedinside the expandable tubulars.

IADC/SPE paper 74548 outlines thedevelopment of the rotary expansiontechnique. In “The Applications ofRotary Expansion to Solid ExpandableTubulars,” the authors discuss the ben-

efits of rotary expansion, including highcontact force; low rolling friction; lowaxial loads; and tolerance to dimension-al anomalies of the expandable tubularand of the parent casing. The technolo-gy also facilitates top-down expansion.

The paper was prepared by S J Harrall,A M Duggan and G L Innes, Weather-ford International Inc.

E X P A N D A B L E S A N D S C R E E N

Shell UK recently set 3 new worldrecords in expandable tubular technolo-gy application in 6-in. horizontal hole.IADC/SPE paper 74549 describes theoperations. “Expandable Sand Screen:Three New World Records in Shell UK’sBrigantine Field,” was prepared by A EWeekse and S H Grant, Shell E&P UK.

Deployment and expansion of 4,000 ft of4-in. Expandable Sand Screens (ESS) inBrigantine B surpassed the previousrecord tenfold. Deployment of 7,000 ft of4-in. ESS in Brigantine A involved fully

expanding 4,920 ft of the screen. Finally,the modified Compliant Rotary Expan-sion System [CRES] was used for fullprimary expansion of the bottom 60 ft ofthe 2,150-ft ESS in Brigantine C.

Brigantine is a small offshore gas fieldlocated 100 miles northeast of Bacton inthe Southern North Sea and containsthree small hydrocarbon-bearing blockslong deemed individually uneconomical.The application of new technologies,Deliver the Limit [DtL] concept andteamwork turned these “marginal”accumulations into a viable project.

ESS was preferred to conventional sandcontrol methods like gravel pack dueprimarily to the larger bore it providesand the high potential to eliminateannular space when fully expandedagainst the wellbore.

The 3 wells were completed 32 daysahead of plan and achieved initial pro-duction rates of 30% above expectationwith total added value of £13.5 million.

U S I N G S T A N D A R D C A S I N G

Casing drilling places demands on thecasing string that are normally onlyrequired of drill string components. Cas-ing is used only once, so solutions mustbe less costly than for drill pipe.

IADC/SPE alternate paper 74550describes technologies that have beendeveloped to address 3 casing drillingperformance needs: increased torque,wear protection and centralization.“Adapting Standard Casing for CasingDrilling” was prepared by M W Slack,Noetic Engineering Inc; P G Angman,Tesco Corp; and T M Kaiser, NoeticEngineering Inc.

To circumvent premium connections,multi-lobe rings were developed to gripthe coupling center bore and form shoul-ders for the pins, significantly increas-ing the torque capacity of standard-tol-erance API connections without com-promising thread seal performance.

Wear protection for casing collars andcentralization of the casing string havebeen achieved by attaching devices tothe casing with a rapidly installedcrimped connection that provides hightorque capacity and prevents axialmovement. n

52 D R I L L I N G C O N T R A C T O R January/February 2002

Expandable tubulars and casing drilling are options

Rotary expansion tool provides high contactforce, low rolling friction and low axial loads.