Extended Reach Drilling

Extended Reach Drilling

HXR provides specialized, highly detailed Extended Reach Drilling engineering design, rigsite engineering services, and operational training classes to clients worldwide. Using ERDPro®, one of the most advanced modular drilling engineering software suites on the market today and developed specifically to address the needs of our clients who demand expert rigsite analysis of real-time drilling parameters as well as highly accurate engineering models, HXR can help you plan even your most difficult drilling and completions projects. Our Drilling Engineers and ERD Specialists have global experience in horizontal drilling, extended reach drilling and deepwater drilling, from the North Slope of Alaska to the GOM, the North Sea, West Africa and the Middle East, and they are available for in-house assignments working as part of your office-based design and engineering team or as rigsite drilling engineers who assist the rig team on more difficult and higher-visibility projects. HXR also offers project management and drilling supervision, with trained, experienced Drill Site Managers (DSMs) dedicated to your project’s success. Whatever your project size, and wherever it is located, HXR’s Extended Reach Drilling Services team can help solve the problems you are experiencing on your wells, worldwide.

Our ERD engineering and operations services are here to help

The core of HXR’s Extended Reach Drilling Services division is our on-site ERD Specialists. Trained in extended reach drilling techniques and offshore drilling operations, and with a focus in several specialized technical disciplines — directional drilling and drilling fluids — our ERD Specialists go out to your rig site and model upcoming trends in hydraulics, torque, drag, surge/swab, pore pressure, and other parameters. If any of the drilling parameters begin to diverge from established trends, such as higher P/U and S/O weights or higher ECD than expected, then our ERD Specialists can help with ways to bring your well back on track before it goes off the rails.

Engineering Software

HXR has partnered with Pegasus Vertex, Inc., to jointly develop one of the industry’s most advanced modular drilling engineering software suites available, ERDPro®, and with Dr. Martin Traugott, acclaimed GOM pore pressure specialist, to develop DEEPWATERPro® Pore Pressure Prediction software. ERDPro® is tailored to horizontal and extended reach wells, both on- and offshore, and features not only well planning and design capability, but field-measured data input as well. DEEPWATERPro® is specially designed for extended reach drilling wells offshore, taking into account multiple seismic/sonic stacks along the 3-D wellpath, and adjusting for water depth and formation temperature in a high-angle hole. Used together, HXR’s complete engineering suites cut downtime, increase safety, and provide optimization to any drilling project.

Well Design

In addition to rig- and office-based engineering personnel, HXR also offers Well Design Studies (WDS). These studies are completed by HXR’s staff engineers and can be done for just one well or for an entire development program. Given the target and surface location, rig information and planned wellpath, HXR can do a complete workup on the well(s) for expected T&D, hydraulics and swab/surge for every hole section, as well as casing-point design using DEEPWATERPro® as applicable. Any potential problems, such as ECD exceeding fracture gradient or DP torque limitations, can be identified, and the well can be replanned or special equipment needs can be identified.

HXR also offers formalized training for our clients in the fields of directional and horizontal drilling, extended reach drilling, deepwater drilling and Arctic drilling. These pre-spud engineering meetings utilize the Well Design Study (WDS) that was developed specifically for the upcoming drilling project and detail, by section, what we can expect when we drill it, from a T&D, hydraulics, hole stability and directional drilling standpoint. They showcase extended reach drilling techniques that have been developed around the world for more complex wells, as well as give a forum for all team members to air concerns and discuss, in detail, any issues they feel will impact the project.