Enabling Technologies Help Drilling an Extreme ERD Well on Brage Field, North Sea

Drilling a nine km (Kilometers) extreme ERD (Extended Reach Drilling) well by a rig which was initially designed for six km and on a platform that did not provide any empty well slot posed a challenge to the Brage asset team. The well (A-36 A/B) was planned with an ambitious slot recovery operation removing all casing strings to surface to allow for a 24-inch sidetrack. Due to unexpected challenges during the slot recovery only a 19-m window between the 28-in conductor shoe (at 315-m MD) and the old 13 3/8-in casing stump was available. A very successful kick-off using a mud motor and Gyro-While-Drilling bottomhole assembly (BHA) was performed. An RSS (Rotary Steerable System) BHA was used to drill the rest of the section Both "push the bit" and "point the bit" RSS technologies were the key enablers in drilling long sections and helping to deploy casing strings. The well was successfully geosteered through two reservoirs, including a new reservoir landing strategy, adding valuable extra reservoir meters. The reservoir Mapping-While-Drilling and Magnetic Resonance-While-Drilling service helped to navigate in challenging reservoirs maximizing reservoir exposure. Advanced polyglycol Water-Based Mud system was utilized in 24-in section followed by advanced Oil-Based Mud (OBM), and Low Solids OBM systems enabled drilling this extreme ERD well. An upgraded Cuttings collection and transportation system meeting ERD requirements and offshore slop water treatment system also played key role in drilling optimization. Real-time monitoring of critical well construction operations was performed using specialized technologies. Optimized Viscous Reactive Pill (VRP) was successfully used for the first time in North Sea to provide cement plug base at deeper depths (7200-m MD) resulting in a successful kick-off using "point the bit" RSS systems. An ERD specialist subsidiary of the service company was involved in ERD design verification and training of offshore personnel. Outstanding equipment reliability of surface equipment and downhole tools enabled shoe-to shoe drilling of these sections. The OneTeam culture combined with the main service provider integrated solutions, and an open-minded and brave approach led to drilling longest well in this brownfield ever. It was completed 32-days ahead of plan with all objectives met. The deep lower screen completion was successfully deployed, and the well is producing as expected. This 9,023-m MD well is the longest Offshore well drilled by the Operator and 2nd longest drilled by the Operator ever.