Penetration Rate Estimation Model for Directional and Horizontal Wells

Common application fields for directional and horizontal drilling are in offshore and onshore when there is no way of drilling vertical wells. During directional and horizontal well drilling, many additional challenges occur when compared with vertical well drilling, such as limited weight on bit, harder hole cleaning, trajectory control, etc. This makes even harder to select the proper drilling parameters for increasing the rate of penetration. This study aims to propose a rate of penetration model considering many drilling parameters and conditions. The proposed model is a modified Bourgoyne & Young’s model which considers formation compaction, formation pressure, equivalent circulating density, and effective weight on bit, rotation of the bit, bit wear, hole cleaning, inclination, fluid loss properties and bit hydraulics. Also, a bit wear model is developed for roller cones and PDCs. The model performance is tested using field data obtained from several directional and horizontal offshore wells drilled at Persian Gulf. It is observed that the model can estimate rate of penetration with an error of ±25 % when compared with the field data.

Dr. Osgouei has PhD in petroleum engineering from Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering Department of Middle East Technical University (METU), Turkey. He is working as lecturer in the Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS since April 2011.