Advanced LWD Sonic and Real-time Geomechanics for Optimized Drilling of Exploratory Wells in Southeastern Offshore - México
Summary
Pre-drill Wellbore Stability (WBS) modeling serves to support overall well design, however controlling WBS during well construction phase often requires a more interactive approach between geomechanics and drillers to minimize wellbore degradation. In exploratory wells, to address drilling challenges, a multi-domain (drilling engineering, logging-while-drilling, petrophysics and geomechanics) approach has been applied in tertiary sediments in the southeastern gulf coast GOM. The case study discusses the processes and new generation sonic tools to minimize formation related drilling problems, by the utilizing high quality multipole acoustic monopole and quadrupole measurements (to get robust compressional and shear slowness, along with Stoneley regardless of mud slowness). In some wells special under-reaming BHA designs were required to perform simultaneous hole-opening without extra drilling runs. Due to the hole-opening initiatives, the bottom hole assembly (BHA) would need to be stabilized with drilling simulators to minimize drilling vibrations to avoid destruction of downhole tools, such as logging-while-drilling (LWD), bits, directional drilling systems and also drill pipe; and damage the borehole with BHA shocks.
