SPE/IADC 119491

Reelwell Drilling Method

Ola Vestavik, Reelwell as; Scott Kerr, StatoilHydro; and Stuart Brown, Shell U.K.

Copyright 2009, SPE/IADC Drilling Conference and Exhibition

This paper was prepared for presentation at the SPE/IADC Drilling Conference and Exhibition held in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 17–19 March 2009.

This paper was selected for presentation by an SPE/IADC 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 Society of Petroleum Engineers or the International Association of Drilling Contractors and are subject to correction by the author(s). The material does not
necessarily reflect any position of the Society of Petroleum Engineers or the International Association of Drilling Contractors, its officers, or members. Electronic reproduction, distribution, or
storage of any part of this paper without the written consent of the Society of Petroleum Engineers or the International Association of Drilling Contractors 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 SPE/IADC copyright.

Abstract

A new drilling method has been developed in a Joint Industry Project, funded by StatoilHydro, Shell and the Research Council
of Norway through the Demo2000 programme. The new drilling method has the following features:
- New drilling tools and procedures for improved downhole pressure control.
- Optional drill-in liner for immediate wellbore isolation.
- Potential elimination of lost circulation and hole cleaning problems.

The new drilling method combines Managed Pressure Drilling and liner drilling. The method implies the use of a concentric
drill string. A downhole sliding piston is attached to the string and used for improved downhole traction and pressure control.
Several full scale drilling trials at the test rig “Ullrigg” in Stavanger have successfully demonstrated the main features of the
new concept and its unique possibilities for improved pressure control and drilling performance.

Introduction

The concept for the Reelwell Drilling Method was developed at Rogaland Research (now IRIS) in Stavanger, Norway. The
idea was originally motivated by the challenges to solve hole cleaning and Weight On Bit control for coiled tubing drilling
applications. After a feasibility study, the method was refined and found applicable to solve several challenges also for jointed
pipe drilling. The patented method has unique features for the following applications:

- Managed Pressure Drilling – Downhole pressure isolation during pipe connections.

- Liner Drilling – Optionally, a liner may be installed and potentially expanded enabling immediate wellbore isolation.
- Deep Water Drilling – The method enables use of low pressure riser and advanced gradients of the annular well fluid.
- Extended Reach Drilling – Hydraulic downhole thrust force and unique hole cleaning.

The developments have been conducted according to the following schedule:

2005: Feasibility study funded by the Research Council of Norway and StatoilHydro.
2006: JIP, StatoilHydro/Shell/Demo2000. Manufacture and testing of critical system.
2007-2008: JIP, StatoilHydro/Shell/Demo2000. Full scale prototype tests of integrated system at Ullrigg in Stavanger.

The main goal for the project has been to verify the following by full scale tests:
- Proof of concept and the practical application on conventional drilling rigs with jointed dual drill pipe.
- Capability for hole cleaning and downhole pressure/traction control.
- Drill-in liner application and the optional liner expansion.

The following presents the basics of the results from this verification program.
2 SPE/IADC 119491

EQUIPMENT ARRANGEMENTS

The Reelwell Drilling Method is based on a patented drilling fluid flow arrangement:
- A Dual Drill String, where one conduit is used for in-flow and the other conduit is used for the return fluid from the well.
- A Sliding Piston attached to the drill string in the cased hole is used to aid the pressure and traction control.
- Optionally, a liner can be conveyed while drilling and potentially expanded downhole in the same run. This enables
simultaneous drilling and lining.

Adaptation to the Drilling Rig

The Ullrigg Drilling and Well Centre is a well equipped full scale drilling rig with pumps, mud cleaning system and storage
tanks, well control equipment, 5” drill pipe etc. The U1 vertical well used in the verification program has a 13 3/8” surface
casing to 354 m MD, and a 12 ¼” open hole section to 1258 m MD. A 300 m long 13 ¾” casing was installed and a 80 m long
cement plug was placed in the in the lower part of this casing for the drilling tests.

Figure 1 presents a schematic of the two arrangements for the verification program, i.e. Plain Drilling and Liner Drilling. The
basic set-up with a top string adapter, the dual drill string, the sliding piston, the dual float and the flow x-over, are the same
for both arrangements.

Figure 1. Schematic of the Plain Drilling and Liner Drilling arrangements.

SPE/IADC 119491 3

The Plain Drilling arrangement is shown on the left side of figure 1. The Sliding Piston is attached to the Dual Drill Pipe at a
predetermined distance above the BHA. The Dual Float and Flow X-over is positioned at the top of the BHA.

The Liner Drilling arrangement is shown on the right side in figure 1. This arrangement also includes the following:
- A Liner Coupling attached to the Dual Float in the BHA.
- A Liner Expander, attached to the Sliding Piston.
- A Liner attached between the Liner Coupling and the Liner Expander.

Figure 2 presents a flow schematic of the surface system. On the left of the figure is shown the mud pump which pumps the
drilling fluid into the side entry port of the Top String Adapter and down the annular channel of the drill string. The return
fluid from the well flows back through the inner channel of the dual drill string and passes through a surface choke system
before returning to the shakers and mud tanks.

Flow Schematic - Surface System

USB

DAQ Hard RW PC
Box

Manual
Choke
P 112 Q 110

Q 109 P 111
Pressure Pressure Flow
sensors
Regulating Fine To mud tank
Top Drive
sensor Sensor
Adapter Choke Tuning
Manual Flow Pressure P 113 (Coriollis)
Choke
Valve Sensor sensor
(Turbine)
P 116 Control Panel
Active drilling
fluid pump
P 115 Upper Annulus Control Unit
RKB Flow
Q 114
Sensor (Turbine)
RCD
BOP 2" Through Safety
RCD to upper Valve
annulus
Tank
Backpressure Fine Tuning
Sliding Piston Regulator Regulator
Valve Valve
13 3/8” Casing

Pressure Check
10 ¾” Casing
gauge valve
8 5/8" Liner
Pump
Dual Float DF
LC
Injection line &
Liner Coupling Measurment point

Sand

Cement sample Legend

Injection channel Electric, signal cable
Casing Shoe Hydraulic line
Mud flow in
Mud, flow out
UAC flow line
1xx DAQ channel number

Figure 2. Flow schematic.

On the top of the BOP is installed a Rotating Control Device (RCD) to allow pressurization of the well annulus while drilling.
The upper well annulus between the Sliding Piston and the RCD is pressurized by means of a regulated pump.

The drilling sample consists of a 300 m long 10 ¾” casing assembly, suspended from the wellhead. The lower casing joint has
a welded steel plug on the bottom end. The casing contains a 80 m cemented section on the bottom covered by ca 15 m sand.

A ¼” hydraulic control line installed in the annulus between the 13 3/8” casing and the 10 ¾” casing to enable measurement of
the well pressure while drilling, and for the kick trials. The upper end of the ¼” line is connected to a pressure gauge at surface
near the wellhead. The lower end of the ¼” line is connected to the inside of the 10 ¾” casing through a hole is drilled in the
casing about 200 m depth, i.e. 100 m above the bottom steel plug
4 SPE/IADC 119491

The casing joints in the 10 ¾” drilling sample are welded in the connections to avoid that they unscrew during the trials. The
casing is locked for possible rotation at the casing hanger by a special arrangement.

Figure 3 presents a picture of the modified drilling fluid flow arrangement at Ullrigg. The fluid is pumped into the side entry
port of the Top String Adapter through a separate 2” hose from the pump manifold. The return flow from the well comes from
the top of the Top String Adapter, through the main mud hose. From the stand-pipe the fluid flows through a 2” hose, via the
choke and down to the normal return flow conduit.

Top String Adapter

with side entry port

Return flow hose

to the return line

Figure 3. The flow arrangements at Ullrigg.

Tools and Equipment

The following tools were used for Plain Drilling:

The Top String Adapter is positioned at the top of the Dual Drill String. This adapter contains a swivel and has one flow port
to allow pumping the drilling fluid down into the well and another flow port for the return flow from the well. The top string
adapter is attached to a hose for the side-entry inflow and is attached to the conventional swivel in the travelling block for the
return flow.

The Dual Drill String is a conventional 5” drill string that is modified with inner pipe inserts in a patented arrangement. The
arrangement allows for quick and easy modification of a conventional drill string to a dual drill string at site.

The Sliding Piston is a tool that is attached to the Dual Drill String and functions inside the cased hole. The piston allows drill
pipe rotation and isolates the well annulus outside the Dual Drill String. The Sliding Piston is arranged to allow for bypass
flow when required, but allows the pressurization of the well annulus between the Sliding Piston and the BOP/RCD. This
arrangement converts the well to a hydraulic cylinder, where the Sliding Piston is the cylinder piston and the dual drill string is
the cylinder rod. The Sliding Piston allows the use of different fluid properties below and above the piston. Thus it is possible
to have a high density kill mud in the well above the sliding piston, while the fluid in the well below the Sliding Piston is a
lower density active circulation fluid.

The Dual Float is a patented surface controlled valve positioned at the lower end of the dual drill string. The Dual Float
enables simultaneous closure and opening of both channels of the drill string. In the fail safe default position, the valve closes
SPE/IADC 119491 5

both channels of the dual drill string. The Dual Float enables the downhole isolation of the well and thus pressure-less
connections at surface during Managed Pressure Drilling operations.

The Surface Data Acquisition and sensor package contains mainly pressure sensors and flow meters. The in-flow meter is
mounted at the stand pipe manifold and the return flow meter is mounted at the exit of the return choke. The system contains
computer model for diagnosis and control.

The Rotating Control Device (RCD) is rented from Weatherford, type Williams model 9000. The tool is a simple and passive
RCD with a maximum pressure rating of 500 psi.

The Upper Annulus Control consist of a pump set up for a maximum flow of around 400 lpm. The pump is remotely
controlled from the drillers cabin.

The Return Choke is a Remote Dual Choke rented from Ullrigg. The choke panel positioned next to the driller cabin for easy
communication between the driller and the choke operator.

Additional Tools for Liner Drilling:

The Liner Expander is a patented arrangement for liner expansion.

The Liner Coupling is a patented arrangement that allows for the coupling of the liner to the drill string with built-in switches
for flow and rotation control.

The Under-reamer is rented from Smith, type DTU 7200. The under-reamer was mounted directly to a 7 7/8” tri-cone drill bit
from Smith. The under-reamer was arranged from Smith to open the hole from 7 7/8” to 9.5”.

The Spider is rented from Odfjell. This tool acts as a secondary drill-floor and enables the setting of slips on the drill pipe
when running the drill string through the 8 5/8” liner, when the liner hangs in slips at the drill floor.

Ullrigg was set-up for rotation with a hexagonal Kelly modified with an inner string. The Top String Adapter was mounted on
the top of the Kelly.

RESULTS

Pressure and Flow Tests

Figure 4 presents the results from the initial pressure tests of the upper annular volume in the well, i.e. the volume enclosed by
the following surfaces:
- in radial direction between the outside of the drill string, and the inside of the 10 ¾” casing,
- in axial direction between the closed annular BOP and the Sliding Piston.

Figure 4 shows the test sequence where the pressure in the well annulus has been increased stepwise to 50 bar using the Upper
Annulus Control pump. The test was performed with continuous circulation through the drill bit. As can be observed from the
figure the hook load increases in steps according to the increase in the annular pressure. This demonstrates the hydraulic force
transfer capability of the Sliding Piston to the hook load. It also demonstrates the sealing capability, as there was no
requirement to supply fluid to maintain pressure.
6 SPE/IADC 119491

Annulus pressure test

60

50
P (bar), Hookload (ton)

40

Backpressure (bar)
30
Hookload (ton)

20

10

0
09:43:12 09:53:12 10:03:12 Time (hh:mm)

Figure 4. Pressure test of the upper well annulus.

Figure 5 presents a situation where the drill string is first lowered into the hole, and then the drill string is pulled out of the
hole. One can observe that the return flow from the well responds immediately when moving the drill string in and out of the
well:
- When not moving the drill string, the return flow and the inflow both have equal value.
- When moving the drill string into/out of the well, the return flow respectively increases/decreases due to the added closed
end steel volume that is lowered into the well.

The figure shows that the differential flow can be measured precisely, and that the sensitivity to detect kick and loss of drilling
fluid is high. The resolution in measuring the volume changes by the differential flow arrangement is judged to less than ca 10
liter/min, i.e. very precise and fast compared to conventional detection methods.

Sand cleaning

140
Pressure (bar); Flow rate (10 lpm); Length (10 cm)

120

100 Flow out (10 lpm)

Hook position (10 cm)

80
Flow in (10 lpm)
60
Hook load (ton)
40

20

0
14:11:00 14:21:00 14:31:00 14:41:00
Time (hh:mm)

Figure 5. Flow characteristics when moving the drill string inside the well.
SPE/IADC 119491 7

Drilling Trials

Figure 6 presents the recordings when drilling the cement plug with the plain drilling system. The recordings are performed
during the drilling of one drill pipe joint. The pipe joint is drilled down in approx. 40 minutes with a ROP up to 20 m/h. It is
observed that the return flow rate is generally slightly higher than the inflow rate during drilling. The spikes in the return flow
measurement at start-up, and occasionally in the subsequent minutes due to pipe movements.

Drilling cement

140
Pressure (bar); Flow rate (10 lpm); Length (10 cm)

120

100 Rotary Table (RPM)

Flow out (10 lpm)
Hook position (10 cm)
80
Flow in (10 lpm)
Hook load (ton)
60 SPP (bar)
Pwell (bar)
UAC Pressure (bar)
40

20

0
10:49:00 10:59:00 11:09:00 11:19:00 11:29:00 11:39:00
Time (hh:mm)

Figure 6. Drilling the cement with the Plain Drilling system.

Cuttings Transport

The cuttings produced had a size up to few millimeters. However, in some instances particles of 1-3 cm were produced and
efficiently transported to the surface during the drilling operations.

The demonstration program verified efficient transport of solids up to 10% concentration by volume. No plugging of the return
flow conduit occurred during the tests. This demonstrates very high cleaning efficiency, and indicates the potential of the
method to solve hole cleaning problems experienced in the field. The surface choke showed a tendency to accumulate cuttings,
however, it was successfully cleaned by flushing.

Downhole Pressure Control

The system used for control of the pressure in the upper annulus of the well above the Sliding Piston proved to operate
efficiently and reliably.

When drilling, the downhole pressure is determined by the drilling fluid density and of the dynamic friction component in the
return flow. When the pump is stopped the dynamic component is zero. In order to keep constant downhole pressure in the
well during stopping the mud pump, the pressure regulation is achieved by choking the return flow. After the Dual Float is
closed, the pressure in the well is isolated downhole by the Sliding Piston and the Dual Float. Thus, during connections there is
no surface pressure. When restarting circulation after the connection, the Dual Float is again opened, and the circulation flow
rate is established and adjusted so that all required choking is performed through the return conduit and little or no choking is
performed on surface. The capability to keep the downhole pressure approximately constant during connections was
successfully proven during the test program.
8 SPE/IADC 119491

Controlling Influx and Loss

The capability for proper well control was demonstrated by:

1. Precisely measure the gain/loss from the well due to small active mud volume.
2. Control gain/loss rapidly by choke or flow rate control.
3. Close the Dual Float and isolate the well at depth.

The flow sensor arrangement enabled fast and precise detection of kick and loss, and both of the above methods for control
were successfully demonstrated. The ability to avoid loss of the annular well fluid above the Sliding Piston was demonstrated
in the pressure tests, see figure 4 above. The establishment of detailed well control procedures and the certification of tools are
ongoing.

Dual Drill Pipe Handling

Figure 7 presents handling the DDP during the operations. The figure shows the situation during connection at the drill floor.
In general, the DDP handling was performed without any significan challenges. Prior to the operations, the insert pipes were
individually adapted and inserted into the conventional 5” drillpipe. The handling of the Dual Drill Pipe then followed similar
procedure as conventional pipe handling. The DDP was handled efficiently in singles, and was also racked in stands in the
derrick.

Figure 7. Dual Drill Pipe connection.

Liner Drilling

The liner drilling was limited due to a failure in the rented under-reamer tool. The only available tool suited for our
application, had been used for drilling elsewhere prior to the test. The failure implied that the under-reamer arms did not open
the hole to the required size. It was decided to stop when the liner was drilled about 20 m into the new section. The liner was
then expanded to hang in the 10 ¾” casing and released from the drilling BHA. After liner release, the drill string was pulled
to the surface, leaving the 85 m long liner section downhole as planned.

Tool Performance

The Top String Adapter worked without any problems throughout the test period.

The Sliding Piston demonstrated effective performance. The results indicate that ca 30 bar of backpressure creates
approximately 10 tons on the hook. The hook load increase represents a hydraulic force provided by the Sliding Piston. This
hydraulic force can be converted into a downhole thrust force. The potential and capacity for applying hydraulic WOB was
successfully demonstrated.
SPE/IADC 119491 9

The Dual Float has been subjected to an extensive test program in the laboratory. The tool experienced a leakage during the
first part of the tests, due to a failure in the opening procedure. However, the tool was repaired and performed according to
specifications during the rest of the trials.

The Liner Expander demonstrated its design function and the combination of the Liner Expander and the Sliding Piston has the
potential to be an efficient liner expansion system

The Liner Coupling showed reliable performance during the trials. After pulling out of hole the Liner Coupling was in good
condition, and the mechanism for liner release was proven.

CONCLUSION

The main elements of the Reelwell Drilling Method were successfully demonstrated during the test program:

- Sliding Piston provides hydraulic WOB and prevents loss of the annular well fluid.
- Efficient hole cleaning and ability to transport large pieces of cuttings in the returns.
- Rapid detection of gain/loss volumes less than 100 l.
- Downhole well isolation and small pressure fluctuations during pipe connections.
- Drilling with liner, including liner hanger expansion and release from the liner after drilling.

The program has demonstrated the practical application of the Reelwell Drilling Method. The method has a significant
potential for Managed Pressure Drilling, for challenging pressure zones and depleted reservoirs. The method has special
features for extended reach drilling and for deep waters. The next step is to qualify the method in an onshore pilot well.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thanks to the Research Council of Norway, Shell and StatoilHydro for their support and funding of the development and test
program. Special thanks to Bernt Pedersen and their colleagues in Shell, and to Alastair Buchanan, Tore Welzin, Arne
Torsvoll, Jafar Abdollahi and their colleagues in StatoilHydro for valuable input during the planning and execution of the
verification program. Also thanks to Per Simensen, Per Bu and colleagues at IRIS for constructive co-operation, and to other
co-operating companies for their efforts in achieving the successful results.