Norm Hein, Oil & Gas Optimization Specialist, Ltd.
Lynn Rowlan, Echometer Company
Dog Leg Severity (DLS) had been used for many decades as recommendations to try to drill oil and gas wells and provide "trouble free" operating conditions. Many of these recommendations were historically based on vertical, shallow (<5000 ft.) deep wells. But as wells continued to be drilled deeper, the recommendations were still applied. With the current drilling and operating practices of deviated and/or horizontal wells, these recommendations may no longer be applicable. Additionally, the deviation measurement interval (degrees/100 ft.) also may no longer be accurate when trying to match downhole problems using existing rod string design software. Furthermore, as wells have become deeper and many now also exclusively are drilled as deviated/ horizontal, side loading (SL) may be a more appropriate condition to be used to determine problems. This paper will review the historic DLS recommendations, provide insight on deviation measurement interval, discuss the importance of SL, and provide new recommendations for drilling wells that should provide better, longer term, less problematic operating wells.