IADC/SPE 128251

Improved Drilling Performance Brings New Life to Colombia's Oldest Oil

Field
Pablo Bonilla, SPE, and Lizeth Alejandra Castillo, SPE, Occidental

Copyright 2010, IADC/SPE Drilling Conference and Exhibition

This paper was prepared for presentation at the 2010 IADC/SPE Drilling Conference and Exhibition held in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, 2–4 February 2010.

This paper was selected for presentation by an IADC/SPE program committee following review of information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s). Contents of the paper have not
been reviewed by the International Association of Drilling Contractors or the Society of Petroleum Engineers and are subject to correction by the author(s). The material does not necessarily
reflect any position of the International Association of Drilling Contractors or the Society of Petroleum Engineers, its officers, or members. Electronic reproduction, distribution, or storage of any
part of this paper without the written consent of the International Association of Drilling Contractors or the Society of Petroleum Engineers is prohibited. Permission to reproduce in print is
restricted to an abstract of not more than 300 words; illustrations may not be copied. The abstract must contain conspicuous acknowledgment of IADC/SPE copyright.

Abstract
Oilfield assets are subject to a daily and perpetual decline, and as existing oil fields mature, recovering the remaining reserves
is increasingly difficult. Billon dollar investments have to be made continually to offset the natural depletion and increase the
production. The amount invested to overcome the depletion rate and increase the production is challenged by efficiency
losses and rising expenses such as those generated by conservative drilling parameters, “train wrecks”, hidden flat times and
experience of the various service crew’s personnel available in today’s industry.

This paper will focus on the engineering aspect of wellbore construction that enhances the development of the oldest
Colombian oilfield. Significant improvements have been achieved in drilling operations by focusing on the effective
application of drilling engineering, lessons learned, Company’s best practices, and the adoption of state-of-the-art rig
technology, thus reducing the drilling cycle by improving flat-spot operations and drilling operations, allowing the continuity
of the development of the La Cira-Infantas mature oil fields in Colombia. Before September 2008 four conventional rigs
were being used to drill an average of 14 wells per month. In January 2009, due to the early success of the program, and the
need to optimize the CAPEX under the then current market situation only two automated rigs remain in operation, drilling an
average of 14 wells per month and reducing the well cost-per-foot in more than 18% while oil production has increased in the
order of 42%, and the success of the drilling operations have led to switching from an intensive work over/well services
campaign to a more efficient drilling campaign.

Introduction
The La Cira-Infantas field is being redeveloped by Ecopetrol and Occidental. Since the commencement of the
redevelopment in late 2005, oil production has been increasing, from September 2005 to June 2009 the production has
increased from 5,000 BOPD to 25,000 BOPD and production is expected to reach 40,000 BOPD with further development.
This has involved expanding the drilling activity.

The La Cira-Infantas field is the first oilfield discovered in Colombia and has been in production for over ninety years, since
1918. Located in the Middle Magdalena River Valley (Figure 1), near the city Barrancabermeja, the La Cira Infantas are two
distinct fields with separate closure although both are on the same structure, and produce oil from the same formation,
Mugrosa1. It has produced over 730 million barrels of oil from an estimated O.O.I.P. of 3.9 billion barrels of oil and was near
a field-wide plug and abandon decision four years ago but partners Ecopetrol and Occidental decided to implement a
waterflood redevelopment project in 2005. The drilling and workover activity has steadily ramped up from 2006 to the date.
New wells are generally preferred as the old wells lack the benefit of openhole logs and generally have mechanical problems.
Workovers are pursued when considered prudent2.

Development Status
Currently, La Cira-Infantas field has over 1800 wells, being drilled and worked over (Figure 2). The development drilling
strategy is to drill vertical and deviated wells (injectors and producers) in the Mugrosa formation. The main target is the C1
formation, which consist of approximately 600 feet of section, about 30 - 40% net to gross ratio. In the future, the A and B
zone will be completed.
2 IADC/SPE 128251

Figure 1. La Cira-Infantas Location. Middle Magdalena Valley.

Figure 2. La Cira-Infantas Location. Updated schedule. New wells and WO operations.

The productive area of the field covers 16,000 acres, with wells scattered in an area 12 miles long by 4.5 miles wide, thus
requiring several rig moves to complete the year’s schedule.
IADC/SPE 128251 3

Drilling Engineering

Well Design. The wells consist of two sections, the surface hole and the production hole (Figure 3). The surface hole is
often a vertical hole drilled with a packed assembly up to around 350 ft, directional work is rarely performed in this section,
only when the target is shallow and the displacement relative to the surface is large enough to disturb the production/injection
pattern due to the high inclinations and further displacement at TD, in order to reduce the well inclination and thus keep the
pattern as undisturbed as practical.

Most of the directional work is performed in the production hole, using both positive displacement motors and
MWD/LWD tools. The directional profile is also designed in such manner that a smooth operation is obtained at all times.
The motor is selected to match the bit and the overall design of the BHA, such as quantity of stabilizers needed, their
placement along the BHA and their size, is engineered to impact both the percentage of slide depending on the well profile
and the borehole quality. The well’s TD vary in a range from 2,000 ft to 5,000 ft.

In vertical wells directional tools generally are used both to monitor verticality and improve well positioning by making
corrections as required. Also, since this is a mature field several old wells represent proximity issues so collision avoidance
also requires tight directional control. In addition it is proved that positive displacement mud motors improve drilling
performance.

Casing program. Typical casing program includes the following strings: 16”, 83 ppf, B-X42, to 25 fts MD.(Conductor
pipe). 9 5/8", 36 lb, K-55, BTC, R3 to 350 ft MD. 7", 26 ppf, N-80, BTC, R3 to bottom (2,000 to 5,000 ft MD).

Mud program. Surface section. This interval is drilled using water base mud. The normal mud weight range is 8.8 – 9.0
ppg. Production Section. This interval is drilled using, normally a polymer mud (water base). The normal mud weight range
is 8.9 – 9.3 ppg. But some cases require increase the mud weight up to 13.5 ppg.

Cementing program. Surface casing is cemented to surface with 15.8 ppg tail cement. Production casing is cemented
with 12.8 ppg tail cement to either 300 ft above the top of the AB-C sand or the A or B sand, depending on the potential for
production of either sand to guarantee proper zonal isolation for future development; the 12.5 ppg lead slurry is used from
this depth to surface.

WELL DESIGN
9 5/8”, 36#, K-
55, BTC, R3

@ 340 pies

AB-C

B3-C

C1

C3
7" 26 lb., N-80, BTC.

C5
@ TD

Figure 3. Well Geometry, generally “S” and verticals are preferred for Injectors.
4 IADC/SPE 128251

Hole Problems

Wells tend to be similar but challenges for the drilling operation vary from well to well. The main difficulty on this field
is the existence of depleted sands interbedded with shales, and production successfully being increased by waterflooding,
which added to the heterogeinity of the reservoir make each well unique.

Most problems encountered are summarized as follows.

Shallow hazards: Loss of circulation caused mainly by drilling through unconsolidated formations and faults; gas cut
mud while crossing through gas bearing sands; and shallow water flows. Given that the wells are located in multi-well
clusters and also the great amount of offset wells drilled since the 1920’s the well construction process faces well-to-well
collision risks.

Production hole hazards:

Loss of circulation: Losses occur mainly when drilling through depleted sands or in the vicinity of faults. Lost circulation
problems related to drilling through depleted sands are compounded by the low fracture gradient in the sands and the high
mud weight required to minimize compressive failure in adjacent shales. For depleted sands, the best way to manage lost
circulation is to prevent, rather than cure, the problem. Risks associated with loss circulation are managed by preparing a
detailed drilling procedure consisting of controlled parameters per formation crossed and strict adherence to the mud
program.

Well influx: while crossing through gas bearing sands, and abnormal pressure zones; or water influxes, most likely as a
consecuence of the enhanced oil recovery program.

Losses concurrent with kicks are not common but represent the highest risk scenario. Coping with this situation depends
on the case. A general guideline, once it is occurring, is: (1) cope with the problem early; (2) pumping cement is usually
wrong in this circumstance; (3) time is often the best ally, do not panic or try to force a situation that needs time to cure; and
(4) cope with high pressure and low gradients in a safe and efficient manner.

Differential Sticking: the severity of depletion of these sands increases risk of differential sticking. Some points to be
aware of in order to avoid stuck pipe situations are: (1) this may occur in any section of the hole (2) a permeable zone is
required; (3) pipe string may not be rotated or moved up or down; (4) hole circulation is unrestricted; (5) it probably occurred
when the pipe was static (i.e. while taking a survey or making a connection).

The most common method of prevention is to keep the pipe moving. However, the approach is (1) reduce MW to the
minimum possible values; (2) add lubricants to reduce the friction; (3) the use of hole enlarging tools reduces the exposed
sticking area.

Shale instability: the main symptoms in the field are increased drag on trips and restrictions to complete logging runs;
and in the past occasional stuck pipe.

Prevention: (1) restore stress balance by adjusting mud weight and mud rheology; (2) inhibit the drilling fluid system by
the proper selection of drilling fluids system and mud additives: using mud with good hole cleaning characteristics could be
enough since the symptoms of the sloughing shale are the same as those of the dirty hole; (3) drill as fast as possible to
reduce shale exposure time.

Risk Management: Interaction between the Reservoir Management Team and the Drilling Team

Drilling successfully and controlling drilling costs in a challenging operating environment can make the difference in the
continuity of the development of a mature oilfield. Weak subsurface formations, with extensive faulting and a sequence of
stacked sands separated by shale is typical of the stratigraphy of the area. The severity of depletion of these sands increases
risk of mud losses and differential sticking. Typical pore pressure and fracture gradient profiles in these fields show a sand
depletion as low as 390 psi. Figure 4 indicates a typical pressure regime in these fields in La Cira-Infantas.

All the variables are taken into account through the interaction with the Reservoir Management Team, the main pieces of
information shared are: formation tops, pore pressures, location maps, expected correlation logs, geologic cross-sections,
geological deposition and tectonic stresses of the area via the Geomechanical model prepared for the field.
IADC/SPE 128251 5

However, correlating this information with the drilling offset data is the key for the success of developing the well
program since the latter is the only actual information about the behavior of the formations. Figure 5 depicts the Loss
Circulation Map for the field La Cira-Infantas, which is being kept current. Figure 6 indicates a the updated Mud Weight
Window from the Geomechanics Model

Formation
MD TVD EMW Pressure
Top
(ft) (ft) (ppg) (psi)
AB-C 1786 1763 7.84 712
B3-C 2471 2430 7.96 1000
C1 2975 2920 2.59 391
C3 3252 3189 2.25 372
C5 3555 3484 3.41 615

Figure 4. Typical formation pressures and their equivalent MW for a LCI Well.

Figure 5. Loss circulation and water injection map for the LCI Field. The cyan lines represent the faults.
6 IADC/SPE 128251

Figure 6. Effect of drilling direction through C1 (left) and C3 (right) and recommended MW.

Drilling Fluids

Among the main functions of the drilling fluids, the ones identified as those that have the highest impact on the project
are hole cleaning, formation pressure control and borehole stability.

Initially KCl/Polymer mud was being used. However, it was phased out mainly for environmental reasons. In Q2/08 the
KCl/Polymer system began to be replaced with a High-Performance Fresh-Water Fluid resulting in:

Improved wellbore stability

Improved solids separation at the centrifuge decanter through clay grabber additions
Improved cuttings integrity
Monitoring recycled mud used at the wellsite
Reduced associated waste management cost and footprint
Improve tracking on reports and quality of information
Improved bridging mechanism and wellbore stability by performing PSD analysis and intensive modeling for bridging
agent selection.

From the drilling operations standpoint the key learnings to share are: keep the mud weight as low as is safe for the well
and keep the solids content low to improve ROP.

Drilling Bits and BHA Design

Borehole calipers and UCS analysis (Figure 7) have been used to aid with the selection of the drilling bits and BHA
design, more properly the interaction between the drilling bit and the mud motor, and the effect of the whole system on
borehole quality. The shallow part of the production hole generally presents large washouts as consequence of the weak
formation being drilled (2 Kpsi), the high flowrates used and the directional work.

In the deeper areas the borehole caliper is more uniform, the compression strength is in the order of 3 to 6 Kpsi, and
generally no washouts are encountered. When close to TD the compression strength is in the order of 9 Kpsi with mild
abrasion and impact, without serious consequences on the drilling bit or the BHA. A light set bit, 4 to 5 blades and 19 mm
cutters does the task.

Early in the execution of the project 8 ½” PDC bits were being used, but drilling was accomplished with up to two
intermediate short trips to condition the hole in order to continue drilling and prior to reach TD. However, the trip out of the
hole was accompanied with severe drag and a couple of stuck pipe events, with LIH implications, occurred which led to the
utilization of reaming while drilling (RWD) tools. This technology produces larger annulus clearances in the open hole
sections thus reducing operational issues such as swab/surge, wellbore stability and improves the cementing programs.
IADC/SPE 128251 7

Figure 7. Reed Hycalog Terrascopes’s ® output.

Reaming while drilling (RWD) with bi-center bits has proven challenging with regard to avoiding vibration related
inefficiencies. There are two characteristics that are commonly responsible for the vibration problems with bi-center bits.

Due to the asymmetrical geometry of a bi-center bit, imbalances in force and mass have been viewed to be one of the
major challenges with this technology. Secondly, due to minimum pass-through requirements, these assemblies are virtually
always run with significantly under-gauge stabilizer3.

Despite the above statements shocks incidents are not common. Initially using bicenter bits with positive displacement
mud motors required a dedicated drill out BHA because of the bent housing used on the motor, and also it was observed that
the BHA generally had a tendency to drop angle and worst of all, the wellbore had a gun barrel shape. Although the use of
string stabilizers for BHA stability is negligible due to the standoff between hole OD and Stabilizer OD, the use of string
stabilizers placed along the BHA has helped to mitigate the gun barrel effect and the dropping tendency of the BHA. To be
able to use a single BHA to drill out and drill the formation the bent housing has been set to 1.15° and the well profiles have
been prepared successfully with the BHA as design criteria.

It is important that bits are optimised, otherwise ROP is diminished, tools can become balled up, and more weight on bit
is required in order to maintain the desired ROP. This results in increased torque, limited directional control, and most likely
reduced bit life due to rapid tooth wear.

Cementing

The cementing operation has been steadily efficient, the main practices applied are:
Start treating the mud before the end of the bit run, before running the casing.
The mud during has to be thinner so that the cement can displace it.
Reciprocate the casing when the cement reaches the annulus.
8 IADC/SPE 128251

Drilling Practices

RPM. Soft formations do not need high rotary speeds to be drilled efficiently. Higher speeds, 120 RPM, are, however,
required for directional needs, for example to maintain verticality or to maintain the tangent.

WOB. Keeping the hole straight has been occasionally the constraining factor on a few wells, requiring low weight on bit
to avoid severe departures from the trajectory. However penetration rates and weight limits on tools have not been a concern.

Flowrate. The flowrate is maximized in order to provide powerful hydraulics at the bit and improved hole cleaning.
Borehole calipers and careful review of the directional work (slide sheet) has demonstrated that there is little concern for
washouts (Figure 8) created by the high horsepower, in the order of 6 to 8, along the hole, the main recommendation is to cut
back on flow only if there is no directional response, or it is poor, other than that the flowrate is kept at the maximum the
tools specifications allow for. Another important criteria is to ensure that sweeps of the correct volume are pumped
frequently enough so that both cutters and hole are flushed and maintained clean.

Figure 8. 6-Arm borehole caliper. The nominal hole size is 9 7/8”, the caliper shows a maximum OD of 9.7” and a
minimum of 9.4”, drilled at the maximum allowable flowrate.

Automated Rig Technology

Under the current scope of work, the addition of state-of-the-art drilling rigs has allowed the reduction of the drilling
cycle by improving flat-spot operations (Figure 9) such as rig move times as well as drilling time (Figure 10) through the use
of optimized drilling parameters using an electronic driller, utilizing a super-single rig set up with specialized drillpipe/casing
handling equipment, eliminating wiper trips, use top drives and backreaming and specific built-for-purpose equipment4 which
facilitates BOP nipple up and testing, and cementing, as well.

Current drilling is being implemented by two Helmerich and Payne FlexRigs, equipped with technology that is shortening
the drilling cycle. A key feature of the rig design is that it uses variable frequency AC drives (VFD) and Programmable
Logic Control (PLC) technology. This, together with integrated electronic instrumentation, gives the driller better control of
the drawworks, top drive, mud pumps and virtually every other significant piece of equipment, which ultimately leads to
improved safety and reliability. In addition, they are more easily transported in the field.

This advanced technology coupled with tested drilling practices offer more efficient performance. The operating metrics
are much better than those of the older rig fleet – equipped with kelly.

There are two components in efficiency gains: fast rig moves and fast drilling.

The first component involves reducing cycle time through faster rig moves. The rigs are designed to move efficiently
from well to well and from pad to pad. Component modularity is coupled with trailer-mounted equipment: one-piece
substructure, BOP attached to the substructure and integrated top drives, features that make rig-moving not only faster, but
safer.

As a reference, the current loads moved by the contractor are 29, 22 belong to the rig contractor and 7 to the Operator and
other companies. The total loads moved when the old fleet was operating were 41, 34 from the rig contractor and 7 to the
Operator and other companies.

The main reason for reduced drill days is greater hydraulic horsepower available at the bit. An increase in power available
allows distroying more rock per unit of time and and improved hole cleaning during the drilling process. Flowrate, Standpipe
Pressure and Hydraulic Horsepower at the Bit are in the order of 1.4 to 3 times larger with the automated rigs than with the
conventional rigs.
IADC/SPE 128251 9

AVERAGE MOBILIZATION TIME

3.0

2.5

2.0
DAYS

1.5

1.0

0.5

0.0
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3

2007 2008 2009

YEAR

Figure 9. Evolution of Rig Move Time.

AVERAGE FT / DRILLING DAY

1200

1000

800

600

400

200

0
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3

2007 2008 2009

YEAR

Figure 10. Drilling Time Improvement.

From a safety perspective, the Flex Rigs have delivered significantly better Injury Illness Rates (IIR) than conventional
rigs similarly employed. Flex Rigs have an outstanding record of IIR since their introduction in the project to Q3/09 (Figure
12).

The other personal impact area relates to operator comfort. These latest generation rigs use an integrated control system
that allows for hoisting and lowering of the drill string with a single joy stick. The variable frequency AC drive in
combination with an electronic driller and block control system greatly reduces the physical exertion and stress placed on the
operators. These features together with a climate controlled closed cabin completely rewrites the drilling operators daily
experience. The new rigs also include mechanized tubular handling which greatly reduces the repetitive manual labor
required for making-up and breaking-out tubulars.
10 IADC/SPE 128251

90 4500

80 4000

70 3500

60 3000

50 2500
TIME (Hrs)

DEPTH (ft)
40 2000

30 1500

20 1000

10 500

0 0
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3

2008 2009
YEAR

Flat Time Surface Flat Time Production Average Depth

Figure 11. Flat Time Improvement: logging, casing running and cementing.

TRIR vs IADC

2.58

2.28
IIR

2
\ 1.86
1.63

1.09 1.03

0
2007 2008 2009 YTD

IADC TRIR

Figure 12. HES performance evolution.

Financially, the main comparison driving the economics is rather straightforward and a function of a step-change
improvement in cycle time per well. Another impact is that cash flow starts earlier as the two rigs have been able to keep the
well count steady without risking production, on the contrary, once the decision was made to reduce the fleet working in the
field the AFE for the project was calculated with 10 wells delivered per month between both rigs, but the reality is that both
rigs deliver 14 wells per month, and thus providing more production than that initially calculated (Figure 13). Also, given the
success of the campaign the AFE had to be reformulated to accommodate more wells to be drilled during the present year.

Conclusions

The effective application of lessons learned, Company best practices, and the addition of state-of-the-art drilling technology
have allowed the reduction of the drilling cycle: the drilling rate has been successfully increased, flat times reduced and
lessons learned have been applied and shared between both rigs improving performance from well to well and rig to rig.

Lessons learned were also applied to the smaller conventional rigs initially operating in the field and healthy competition
amongst these rigs evidently improved the overall performance.
IADC/SPE 128251 11

28,000

27,000

26,000

25,000
BOPD

24,000

23,000

22,000

21,000

20,000
Apr-09
Jan-09

Jul-09

Oct-09
Actual Original AFE New AFE 134+42 Aug-2009

Figure 13. Evolution of production output. The initial AFE was calculated with 10 wells per motn, the revised AFE was
calculated with 14 wells per month which also showed the need to add more wells to keep both rigs busy to the end of the
year.

Under the current drilling program two automated rigs drill an average of 14 wells per month while reducing the well cost-
per-foot in more than 18% and oil production has increased in the order of 42% thus overcoming the decline rate of the field
but also allowing the use of a reduced Capex scheme.

An important factor to consider is that prior experience drilling in this field is continually challenged, using repeated trials to
produce learnings and improvements during all phases od the deployment of all the technologies applied.

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Ecopetrol and Occidental management for their support of this project and this paper.
Additionally the aouthors would like to thank the contributions being made by our colleagues at every level in the project.

References

1. Dickey, P.A., “La Cira-Infantas Field - Colombia, Middle Magdalena Basin”, Structural Traps VII, AAPG,
Treatise of Petroleum Geology, Atlas for Oil and Gas Field, 1992.
2. Prieto, M.A., Mantilla, J., Owens, B.K., Lobo, A., Fernandez, F., “Redevelopment Progress for Colombia’s La
Cira-Infantas Field”, SPE 120794, presented at the 2009 Latin American and Caribbean Petroleum Engineering
Conference, Cartagena, Colombia, May 31 – June 3, 2009.
3. S.G. Lapierre, N. Seiler, D. C-K Chen, “Mitigating Vibration in Bi-center Drilling Programs”, SPE 87097-MS,
presented at the IADC/SPE Drilling Conference, Dallas, Texas, 2-4 March 2004.
4. Lindsay, J.W, Marchand, S., Tauzin, J. , “Innovative Technology for Today’s Land Rigs - FlexRig”, AADE
01-NC-HO-29, presented at the AADE 2001 National Drilling Conference, “Drilling Technology- The Next
100 years”, Texas, March 27 - 29, 2001.