Downhole Sensors Support Successful Drilling Redesign Initiative in the Midland Basin

The Midland Basin teaches a hard lesson in drilling harder rock. SM Energy first drilled there in 2008 before launching a successful horizontal drilling campaign in 2013. This work focuses on a successful application of the limiter redesign process supported with downhole sensors. Whirl suppression generates ROP performance improvements. This objective is complicated with a coupling to stick slip in hard rock applications. High WOB and therefore high torque tends to excite stick slip. Torque oscillations start, speed oscillations follow, and result in inconsistent DOC. Bit forensics on large wear flat shoulder cutter wear and delamination indicate high speed, friction, and heat damage under these conditions. This problem is explored in depth across the interbedded intermediate section of three pilot wells within the operator’s southern Midland Basin acreage. All three wells were drilled in a single bit run to TD and successfully cased and cemented by design. Three high frequency sensors recording at 100 Hz were installed in each BHA – one located in the bit, above the drilling motor, and at the drill collars. High frequency surface measurements were successfully tied to subsurface sensor observations. Good wellbore trajectory design, high ROP, and low planned dog leg severity positively contributed to weight transfer exceeding +97% based on WOB measurements in the BHA. Autodriller setpoint control and tuning unlocked ROP gains between 20-40% in the shallow hole section. MSE is reintroduced. Its practical value in baseline drilling surveillance and benchmarking is confirmed. The first well is treated as the control in the project. The trial starts with the common bit and BHA for the area with planned parameter step tests performed in each significant formation group. The second and third wells repeat the same workflow with progressive BHA changes to a single component. Depth of cut control is designed and utilized successfully on these wells to reduce torque oscillation. Roller reamers implemented on the final well act as a low torque stabilizer to increase useful torque at the bit. Torque stabilization and minimizations strategies must be paired with sufficient drill string stiffness to maximize performance impact in high WOB applications. The drilling performance initiative outlined in this paper is meant to be accessible to all drill teams and a call to action to redesign problems to the economic limit, forever.