TotalEnergies leveraged Baker Hughes i-Trak™ drilling automation services & Corva™ digital drilling support technologies to save 15 drilling days for the gas project offshore Argentina.
Benefits
- Improved ROP: Achieved an impressive 84% increase in on-bottom rate of penetration (ROP) in the 12-1/4 in. sections from well #1 to well #3.
- Reduced Weight-to-Weight Time (W2W): Enhanced visibility of hole conditions, leading to a 36% reduction in W2W times on the 12-1/4 in. sections.
- Increased Automated Footage: Carefully transitioned from manual to automated directional drilling. On the third well, 90%+ of the 17-1/2 in. and 12-1/4 in. sections were drilled automatically.
Applications
- i-Trak Automated Advisory: Delivered real-time, physics-based, data-driven alerts and recommendations for optimal drilling parameters.
- i-Trak Automated Directional Drilling: Enabled close-loop control from surface of the rotary steerable. This process automation allowed operations personnel to be de-burdened and attention to be re-focused on performance orientated tasks.
- Corva: Provided comprehensive KPI analytics, visualization, and detailed reporting.
Overview
TotalEnergies is committed to meeting growing global energy demands while improving well-construction efficiencies and reducing operational risks.
The Fénix project offshore Argentina is a testament to this commitment. With a planned production capacity of 10 million cubic meters of gas per day, Fénix will help meet approximately 8% of Argentina’s natural gas requirements, ensuring a stable and reliable energy supply.
To deliver Fénix with the highest safely and efficiency, TotalEnergies partnered with Baker Hughes to deploy our cutting-edge digital well construction technologies. Specifically, we delivered our i-Trak™ Automated Advisory and i-Trak™ automated directional drilling services to optimize drilling parameters and help ensure more precise directional control in the reservoir’s pay zone.
Our digital drilling solutions significantly improved on-bottom ROPs in three consecutive development wells thanks to insights delivered by our advanced physics-based, data-driven models.
But the performance improvements didn't stop there. Weight-to-weight times also improved, further driving up gross ROP.
This project marked the region's first automated directional drilling deployment, with a surface-based algorithmic controller for the rotary steerable system. By the third well, our automated solutions drilled over 90% of the 17-1/2 in. and 12-1/4 in. sections.
Finally, we deployed the Corva platform to expedite key performance indicator (KPI) analysis, track performance improvements, and highlight other optimization opportunities.
The result? The three development wells, with a total of 400 m of horizontal pay zone, were delivered 15 days ahead of plan, saving significant rig time and costs.
Our close collaboration with TotalEnergies delivered project success with an innovative automated directional drilling solution that serves as a blueprint for future operations.