The second episode in our Hey Tom! series. This time: converting the stabilizer into a reamer. Please find out more information here: //ed-projects.com/reamerblade/

One of the great things with working in our office is that you get to learn a lot. And not just information related to the oil and gas industry. We give a minimum of 1 presentation a month on a random topic which we can choose. We’ve noticed, however, that we don’t share an awful lot, especially online. That’s why, you can now find a lot more posts, currently including… Instagram!  Check out the stuff we do on the following account: European_Drilling_Projects. See you there!

Here’s a video featuring our latest tool, don’t forget to turn on the audio. Tomorrow we’re having a lunch and learn to launch the Reamerblade. This session will start at 11:00 a.m. in our office in Heerhugowaard (Marconistraat 3). We got drinks and sandwiches so please feel free to join!

We just came back from visiting the Lone Star State to run our stabilizers, something we consider as another significant milestone for our company. The main problem our tool addresses in Texas is vibration, a problem we see worldwide. A problem, we believe, is partly caused by insufficient stabilization.  

 When we started making the brochures for our trip, we realized that our company and its product offering had changed significantly. What began as a simple mission to change the way the industry uses stabilizers has already translated itself into three different product categories in five different applications. Again, a moment to be proud off.

So far, we’ve designed and tested the following products:

The Switchblade/Reamerblade: a versatile stabilizer which gauge size can be changed on the location itself, eliminating the need for undergauge stabilizers. Additionally, the tool itself can be changed into a reamer tool, which can be run concentric or eccentric. 

The Fixedblade/Onbit: A re-designed stabilizer for downhole drilling efficiency. By changing the design of the conventional stabilizer, this tool promises to improve weight transfer, stabilization, a reduction in friction, and enhanced hole-cleaning. It can be run as a stabilizer as a Fixedblade or near the bit as an Onbit. 

The Bitbox: The final tool in our portfolio is the bitbox, a stabilizer placed directly above the bit to improve bit stability, minimize whirl and spiralling. This tool is equally suited for use on either a mud motor or RSS. 

The crazy thing is, the further we get along on this journey, the more applications we seem to come up with. To be continued.

Always moving forward

That’s what came to mind when describing the process of developing the new Reamerblade. This tool is designed to minimize borehole tortuosity by elongating micro doglegs and borehole spiral patterns. The Reamerblades are interchangeable with the Switchblade bodies and can be configured either eccentric or concentric. This addition to the Switchblade range will add versatility, enabling the operator to configure the tool as a reamer or stabilizer. To optimize performance, the Reamerblade should be run in tension and high-up in the drill string.

The tool is scheduled for deployment in Oman mid-April. The ED-Projects team will be in Oman from 25-29th of March, presenting the tool and visiting the OGWA exhibition.

Visit us at ADIPEC in Abu Dhabi.
Together with Cutting & Wear we are displaying our latest developments and stabilization tools.
Come visit us in hall 8 stand number 8550

During the 2017 IADC conference in Dubai our Fixedblade stabilizer was highlighted in an official IADC presentation.
Saudi Aramco presented the excellent Fixedblade results from trial runs conducted while drilling two dual-lateral wells in KSA region.
The presentation was given by Mr. Ossama Sehsah, Drilling Technology and Innovations Subject Matter Expert at Aramco.
Here you will find the official presentation

The drilling industry has never been more challenged than it is currently; consequently, we need to go back to bases and have a closer look at the root cause of many of the drillstring and borehole related problems we are currently confronted with on a daily basis.

The majority of drillstring and borehole related problems can be traced back to drillstring vibration and borehole instability and spiralling. As we push the envelope of possibilities ever further in extended reach drilling applications and complex borehole trajectories, it is understandable that the driveshaft of the entire system i.e. the drillstring requires adequate stabilisation.

A poorly designed stabilizer with no specific design criteria in combination with insufficient stabilisation points is the root cause of vibration in its many forms.

Bit and BHA whirl are a result of inadequate stabilisation; BHA whirl is a very disruptive sequence identified by and contributing to eccentric wear on BHA components. BHA whirl is the main contributor to lateral shock loads and the onset of stick-and-slip cycles.

Many of the vibration related problems confronting our industry are a combination of interrelated events which can be avoided or minimised if identified and managed.

Problems, when POOH for instance, in many incidences are a result of borehole patterns/spirals which create pinch points on near gauge stabilizers as the BHA inflexible by tension is pulling through the spiral borehole profile. Practical consideration should be given to the maximum outer diameter of string stabilizers to avoid pinching. Food for thought: the average ignition key on a motor car is 3mm = 1/8” of an inch, if the string stabilizers in the BHA are ¼” under gauge, the total clearance when pulling through a spiral profile wellbore is twice the thickness of your car key.

Boreholes are rarely or never cylindrical and boreholes drilled with PDC bits all have whirl pattern profiling to some degree. The reactive forces created by the rotation of PDC bits generates a tortuous reactive motion between the bit and the first stabilization point; this tortuous displacement is one of the root causes of bit whirl and borehole patterns. The greater the distance between the bit and the first stabilization point, the greater the amplitude of the whorl patterns.

“Avoid running pendulum assemblies in vertical hole sections”– A quote taken from a publication by Fred Dupriest on the same subject: “Packed good, Pendulum bad”.

Practical analysis of BHA modelling software, combined with experience and local knowledge are key components in improving BHA design. By optimising the placement stabilizer in the drillstring, identifying critical rotary speeds windows, are all vital when striving to improve BHA and drilling performance, minimising vibration and BHA component failures.

However, when modelling to find the optimum outer diameter gauge of Stabilizers to minimise the hazards of pinching when tripping out of the hole….. A word of caution here: there are too many variables in the complex phenomena of borehole spirals for the results modelling alone to be taken as a definitive solution.

The oil and gas industry has evolved considerably over the past four decades; we are drilling holes thirty percent faster today than we were in the mid-eighties. Yet there is one important element in the drill string where the design and profile have not changed in over 40 years.

Our goal is to design a range of stabilizer flexible enough to meet the challenges of today’s market.

This is what we are striving to change.

Tom Newman

CEO

September 2017

Having spent many hours talking to various customers I noticed an alarming trend, perhaps caused by the prolonged downturn in the industry. I would call this trend as “not seeing the value behind the cost”.

Other service or equipment providers will probably share my concerns about the similar behaviour of their clients. Cutting budgets and slashing costs were the necessary measures for many companies to survive, however, while chasing this so hard some companies simply forgot that sometimes they need to spend money in order to save more money.

It is folly to think you can save your way out of a financial downturn; rather, learn from the past, search for the new ideas to change your model and invest your way out.

Tom Newman