hile multiwell pad drilling offers many advantages, operators often find themselves relying on traditional methods that prevent them from experiencing the full benefits this approach can provide. New technology that reduces flat time can unlock deeper cost savings and efficiencies operators have been waiting for.
Traditional extraction methods involve drilling down vertically from a new pad into a single well. This requires a rig to be disassembled, hauled to the next pad and then reassembled—even if the new well site is just a few feet away. Relocating a rig requires several days, hundreds of thousands of dollars and constructing an entirely new drilling pad, along with all the equipment and infrastructure that goes with it, making it costly to the operator and the environment.
Multiwell pad drilling is the multitasker of oil and gas production. There are simultaneous operations happening at one time. While an operator is perforating one well, they may be performing wireline on another well. Operations are completed in batches. These simultaneous operations can save hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars. What used to cost $10,000/hour using conventional methods, now costs about $3,000/hour with multiwell pad drilling. The overall cycle times and cost of drilling the well are dramatically reduced.
While multiwell pad drilling offers several compelling advantages, it can also create expenses for operators as field crews wait on site for their turn to perform their specific work. Production delays and increased planning can increase the complexity of employing multiwell pad drilling and can increase labor costs.
hile multiwell pad drilling offers many advantages, operators often find themselves relying on traditional methods that prevent them from experiencing the full benefits this approach can provide. New technology that reduces flat time can unlock deeper cost savings and efficiencies operators have been waiting for.
Traditional extraction methods involve drilling down vertically from a new pad into a single well. This requires a rig to be disassembled, hauled to the next pad and then reassembled—even if the new well site is just a few feet away. Relocating a rig requires several days, hundreds of thousands of dollars and constructing an entirely new drilling pad, along with all the equipment and infrastructure that goes with it, making it costly to the operator and the environment.
Multiwell pad drilling is the multitasker of oil and gas production. There are simultaneous operations happening at one time. While an operator is perforating one well, they may be performing wireline on another well. Operations are completed in batches. These simultaneous operations can save hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars. What used to cost $10,000/hour using conventional methods, now costs about $3,000/hour with multiwell pad drilling. The overall cycle times and cost of drilling the well are dramatically reduced.
While multiwell pad drilling offers several compelling advantages, it can also create expenses for operators as field crews wait on site for their turn to perform their specific work. Production delays and increased planning can increase the complexity of employing multiwell pad drilling and can increase labor costs.
Once installed, the company’s cementing crew successfully connected its cement head to the system and completed the cementing operation. The offline cementing system resulted in a significant reduction in NPT and cost savings. The E&P company saved 8 to 10 hours of cycle time and about $32,000 per well with this solution. The offline cementing system also enabled the E&P company to manage crews with pinpoint accuracy, eliminating the typical NPT that is common in multipad drilling as crews wait for each other to complete each operation.
Today’s climate is encouraging operators to challenge traditional approaches to see and do things differently—to take advantage of automation. Taking a systems-wide viewpoint helps unlock greater efficiencies and savings. By thinking in systems, not silos, improvements are identified that can impact the entire operation. Offline cementing is one of those improvements that can have positive ripple effects across a site.