Publications

Wellhead Platform B (WHPB) – Ujung Pangkah (UP) field is located in front of Bengawan Solo river estuary where the water depth at circa of 6 – 9 meter LAT and experienced up to 135 feet legs penetration. Due to this environment challenging, Extended Reach Drilling (ERD) well is one of the option to be able accessing the far end of reservoir (reef front). The UPB-ERD-1 well reservoir target is situated more than 14,000 ft south east of WHPB and this equates to an ERD ratio of 2.4 (VS/TVD). The UPB-ERD-1 well was drilled in 2011 and was the first ERD type well in UP field. The UPB-ERD-1 well was drilled and completed in 115 days or approximately 35 days behind the original plan. Hole problems were the major problem during drilling UPB-ERD-1 well. 12-1/4” BHA was stuck when pulled out of hole (POOH) and this led to fishing operations. Then 9-5/8” casing was stuck 700 ft off bottom and this led to sidetracking operations. Due to UPB-ERD-1 well was drilled using Water-Based Mud (WBM), the top key lesson/recommendation was to drill with Synthetic Oil-Based Mud (SOBM) for the next ERD wells in UP Field to improve drilling performance. The second ERD well was drilled in Q3 2012 or 10 months after drilling the UPB-ERD-1 well in order to get the rig and onshore facility ready for SOBM implementation. The UPB-ERD-2 well reservoir target is close to the reef front boundary with planned Total Depth (TD) more than 16,000 ft and this equates to an ERD ratio of 2.8. The 12-1/4” hole section was drilled with minimal issues and 9-5/8” casing was run to bottom at 10,992’ MD, the deepest 9-5/8” casing point in Pangkah Field with VS/TVD ratio of 1.8. The hole problem occurred when a BHA trip was conducted during drilling 8-1/2” hole section. The new 8-1/2” BHA could not pass the 9-5/8” casing shoe. The well was sidetracked inside 9-5/8” casing twice but the hole problems still occurred. After trying to manage the hole problems for almost 2 weeks, the UPB-ERD-2 well was temporarily abandoned and full well design review was conducted. After conducting full well design review, the third ERD well, UPB-ERD-3 with planned TD more than 14,000 ft, was drilled successfully with minimal issues and ahead of original plan. This paper will provide an overview of drilling challenges on the first two ERD wells, a full well design review prior to drill the third ERD well and successful result of the third ERD well.