Customer and Design Engineer Interaction Process Enhances Drilling Efficiency for the Operator in Offshore Malaysia

Abstract In general, the formation in offshore East Malaysia is more challenging than the formation in offshore West Malaysia. One reason is primarily because of the highly interbedded soft and hard formation throughout the well. What is even more challenging is the nature of polycrystalline diamond compact (PDC) cutters, which are prone to breakingbecause of the impact from those highly interbedded formations. Field T is a fieldwithin the area that is well known for using a significant amount of drill bits to drill a well. Most PDC bits exhibited bad dulls and cutting structure conditions, particularly in the shoulder area. Broken and chipped cutters have resulted in the bits being pulled out of hole prematurely, unable to continue drilling to well total depth (TD). In the early days during the exploration phase, the PDC bits used in this field ended up mostly with ring out (RO) dulls regardless of the number of blades being used. This bad dull condition improved significantly during Phase 1A development drilling in Field T compared to drilling during exploration. However, it has being recognized that further improvements could still be made during Phase 1B development drilling in terms of rate of penetration (ROP) without compromising bit durability. To address the challenge, the approach should be a different bit design modifications rather than just a taking an off-the-shelf bit.Collaboration between the drilling project team and drill bit design engineers began months before the project was scheduled to start. This began the continuous interaction process between both parties to enhance drilling efficiency for the operator. After several meetings, discussions and presentations, the drilling project team and drill bit design engineers developed the optimum bit design solution for this application. Several design iterations were performed to obtain the most efficient cutting structure layout before finalizing and manufacturing the bit specifically designed for this field T. As a result, the entire 8.5 inch section was drilled using one specifically designed bit with an outstanding rate of penetration improvement, which was the objective of the 8.5 inch holesection. The successful result reflects a great team effort attained by thorough planning and execution process by both drilling project team and drill bit design engineers.