The Business End of Drilling

Sometimes called the business end of a drillstring, the

drill bit is but one part of an extensive system that encompasses the drill bit, drillsite and drilling department. While
all links in the chain are important, bit performance ranks
as one of the most critical, and bit selection makes a big
impact on the bottom line.
A lot of time, money and technology ow from the ofce
end of the system to the bit. After geoscientists correlate
their data, map their prospect and brief their management, the drilling engineers begin their workdesigning a
well and a budget that are in line with the potential of the
prospect. In addition to projecting how much drillpipe is
required from surface to bottomhole location, they must
decide how much casing to run, how much mud to mix,
how much cement to pump and how much horsepower is
needed to do the job. Each of these comes with a price,
and after adding the cost of fuel, transportation, services
and logisticsalong with a hundred other factorsthey
estimate the cost of drilling and completing or abandoning
a well. These cost projections go into the authorization for
expenditure (AFE) that funds the project.
Determining the bit performance qualities that will
enable cost-effective drilling brings up many questions.
Can the bit withstand the rigors of the interval it is tasked
to drill? Is it steerable? Is it aggressive enough? Bit performancemeasured primarily in footage drilled and rate of
penetration (ROP)dictates how long it will take to reach
TD and how many trips it will take to get there.
Because of the bits critical importance, extensive bit
records are led on every bit that goes in the hole.
Operators and service companies maintain histories of
footage drilled, which include well name and location,
formation name, BHA details, bit type, depth in and out,
hours on bit, ROP, mud properties, bit dullness grades and,
in some cases, bit photographs. Tied to a geographic information system, this information aids in rapid access to
data from nearby wells. The DRS* drilling records system,
for example, contains more than three million records
from oil and gas elds around the world. This type of intelligence can provide vital guidance to bit selection for a
given eld or formation.
Bit dullness grades and evidence from photographs are
key indicators of bit performance and play a role in drillbit innovation. With this information, operators and bit
manufacturers form a concise evaluation of the way a bit
responds to downhole conditions. Bit response to challenging conditions is fundamental to reaching the pay
zone. In todays drilling environment, hard, abrasive for-

mations, extended-reach scenarios and harsh, deep targets are now standard.
Today, bit manufacturers use sophisticated design platforms to reduce trial and error by modeling bit dynamics at
the rock-cutter interface. To analyze how a bit will perform
in a specic drilling application, manufacturers subject
each bit to rigorous design evaluation and testing. This
helps bit companies introduce new designs to the eld
more quickly and with better reliability.
In addition to bit modeling programs, two fairly recent
innovations have helped drilling departments keep to their
drilling schedules with fewer bit trips, longer bit life and,
frequently, better ROP. The Stinger* conical diamond element, which is mounted on a PDC bit, fractures the rock
encountered at the center of the bitan area noted for
poor cutter efciency. The ultrathick polycrystalline diamond layer of the Stinger element permits high point loading to fracture the rock while the PDC cutters shear it. The
ONYX 360* rolling cutter is designed to help extend bit life
in abrasive environments (see PDC Bit Technology for the
21st Century, page 48). Mounted on high-wear areas of
the bit, this PDC cutter rotates to maintain a cutting edge.
The conical diamond element and rolling cutter help
drillers expand the envelope for PDC bits and improve
project economics. Such innovations are vital to helping
drilling departments maintain project schedules and meet
AFE budgets as they develop new reserves.

Alberto Maliardi
Drilling and Completions R&D Manager
Eni Exploration & Production
Milan, Italy
Alberto Maliardi joined Eni in 2002 and is currently the Drilling
and Completions R&D Manager.

An asterisk (*) denotes a mark of Schlumberger.