Patent Grant
7036610
This application further relates to disclosure in U.S. Disclosure Document No. 362582, filed on Sep. 30, 1994, that is entitled ‘RE: Draft of U.S. patent application Entitled “Method and Apparatus for Cementing Drill Strings in Place for One Pass Drilling and Completion of Oil and Gas Wells”’, an entire copy of which is incorporated herein by reference.
This application further relates to disclosure in U.S. Disclosure Document No. 445686, filed on Oct. 11, 1998, having the title that reads exactly as follows: ‘RE:—Invention Disclosure—entitled “William Banning Vail III, Oct. 10, 1998”’, an entire copy of which is incorporated herein by reference.
This application further relates to disclosure in U.S. Disclosure Document No. 451044, filed on Feb. 8, 1999, that is entitled ‘RE:—Invention Disclosure— “Drill Bit Having Monitors and Controlled Actuators”’, an entire copy of which is incorporated herein by reference.
This application further relates to disclosure in U.S. Disclosure Document No. 451292, filed on Feb. 10, 1999, that is entitled ‘RE:—Invention Disclosure— “Method and Apparatus to Guide Direction of Rotary Drill Bit” dated Feb. 9, 1999”’, an entire copy of which is incorporated herein by reference.
This application further relates to disclosure in U.S. Disclosure Document No. 452648 filed on Mar. 5, 1999 that is entitled ‘RE: “—Invention Disclosure— Feb. 28, 1999 One-Trip-Down-Drilling Inventions Entirely Owned by William Banning Vail III”’, an entire copy of which is incorporated herein by reference.
This application further relates to disclosure in U.S. Disclosure Document No. 455731 filed on May 2, 1999 that is entitled ‘RE:—INVENTION DISCLOSURE— entitled “Summary of One-Trip-Down-Drilling Inventions”, an entire copy of which is incorporated herein by reference.
This application further relates to disclosure in U.S. Disclosure Document No. 458978 filed on Jul. 13, 1999 that is entitled in part “RE:—INVENTION DISCLOSURE MAILED Jul. 13, 1999”, an entire copy of which is incorporated herein by reference.
This application further relates to disclosure in U.S. Disclosure Document No. 459470 filed on Jul. 20, 1999 that is entitled in part ‘RE: —INVENTION DISCLOSURE ENTITLED “Different Methods and Apparatus to “Pump-down” . . . . ”’, an entire copy of which is incorporated herein by reference.
This application further relates to disclosure in U.S. Disclosure Document No. 462818 filed on Sep. 23, 1999 that is entitled in part “Directional Drilling of Oil and Gas Wells Provided by Downhole Modulation of Mud Flow”, an entire copy of which is incorporated herein by reference.
This application further relates to disclosure in U.S. Disclosure Document No. 465344 filed on Nov. 19, 1999 that is entitled in part “Smart Cricket Repeaters in Drilling Fluids for Wellbore Communications While Drilling Oil and Gas Wells”, an entire copy of which is incorporated herein by reference.
This application further relates to disclosure in U.S. Disclosure Document No. 474370 filed on May 16, 2000 that is entitled in part “Casing Drilling with Standard MWD/LWD Drilling Assembly Latched into Casing Having Releasable Standard Sized Drill Bit”, an entire copy of which is incorporated herein by reference.
This application further relates to disclosure in U.S. Disclosure Document No. 475584 filed on Jun. 13, 2000 that is entitled in part “Lower Portion of Standard LWD/MWD Rotary Drill String with Rotary Steering System and Rotary Drill Bit Latched into ID of Larger Casing Having Undercutter to Drill Oil and Gas Wells Whereby the Lower Portion is Retrieved upon Completion of the Wellbore”, an entire copy of which is incorporated herein by reference.
This application further relates to disclosure in U.S. Disclosure Document No. 475681 filed on Jun. 17, 2000 that is entitled in part “ROV Conveyed Smart Shuttle System Deployed by Workover Ship for Subsea Well Completion and Subsea Well Servicing”, an entire copy of which is incorporated herein by reference.
This application further relates to disclosure in U.S. Disclosure Document No. 496050 filed on Jun. 25, 2001 that is entitled in part “SDCI Drilling and Completion Patents and Technology and SDCI Subsea Re-Entry Patents and Technology”, an entire copy of which is incorporated herein by reference.
This application further relates to disclosure in U.S. Disclosure Document No. 480550 filed on Oct. 2, 2000 that is entitled in part “New Draft Figures for New Patent Applications”, an entire copy of which is incorporated herein by reference.
This application further relates to disclosure in U.S. Disclosure Document No. 493141 filed on May 2, 2001 that is entitled in part “Casing Boring Machine with Rotating Casing to Prevent Sticking Using a Rotary Rig”, an entire copy of which is incorporated herein by reference.
This application further relates to disclosure in U.S. Disclosure Document No. 492112 filed on Apr. 12, 2001 that is entitled in part “Smart Shuttle™ Conveyed Drilling Systems”, an entire copy of which is incorporated herein by reference.
This application further relates to disclosure in U.S. Disclosure Document No. 495112 filed on Jun. 11, 2001 that is entitled in part “Liner/Drainhole Drilling Machine”, an entire copy of which is incorporated herein by reference.
This application further relates to disclosure in U.S. Disclosure Document No. 494374 filed on May 26, 2001 that is entitled in part “Continuous Casting Boring Machine”, an entire copy of which is incorporated herein by reference.
This application further relates to disclosure in U.S. Disclosure Document No. 495111 filed on Jun. 11, 2001 that is entitled in part “Synchronous Motor Injector System”, an entire copy of which is incorporated herein by reference.
This application further relates to disclosure in U.S. Disclosure Document No. 497719 filed on Jul. 27, 2001 that is entitled in part “Many Uses for The Smart Shuttles and Well Locomotives”, an entire copy of which is incorporated herein by reference.
This application further relates to disclosure in U.S. Disclosure Document No. 498,720 filed on Aug. 17, 2001 that is entitled in part “Electric Motor Powered Rock Drill Bit Having Inner and Outer Counter-Rotating Cutters and Having Expandable/Retractable Outer Cutters to Drill Boreholes into Geological Formations”, an entire copy of which is incorporated herein by reference.
And yet further, this application also relates to disclosure in U.S. Disclosure Document No. 499,136 filed on Aug. 26, 2001, that is entitled in part ‘Commercial System Specification PCP-ESP Power Section for Cased Hole Internal Conveyance “Large Well Locomotive™”’, an entire copy of which is incorporated herein by reference.
Various references are referred to in the above defined U.S. Disclosure Documents. For the purposes herein, the term “reference cited in applicant's U.S. Disclosure Documents” shall mean those particular references that have been explicitly listed and/or defined in any of applicant's above listed U.S. Disclosure Documents and/or in the attachments filed with those U.S. Disclosure Documents. Applicant explicitly includes herein by reference entire copies of each and every “reference cited in applicant's U.S. Disclosure Documents”. In particular, applicant includes herein by reference entire copies of each and every U.S. Patent cited in U.S. Disclosure Document No. 452648, including all its attachments, that was filed on Mar. 5, 1999. To best knowledge of applicant, all copies of U.S. Patents that were ordered from commercial sources that were specified in the U.S. Disclosure Documents are in the possession of applicant at the time of the filing of the application herein.
Applications for U.S. Trademarks have been filed in the USPTO for several terms used in this application. An application for the Trademark “Smart Shuttle™” was filed on Feb. 14, 2001 that is Ser. No. 76/213676, an entire copy of which is incorporated herein by reference. The “Smart Shuttle™” is also called the “Well Locomotive™”. An application for the Trademark “Well Locomotive™” was filed on Feb. 20, 2001 that is Ser. Number 76/218211, an entire copy of which is incorporated herein by reference. An application for the Trademark of “Downhole Rig” was filed on Jun. 11, 2001 that is Serial Number 76/274726, an entire copy of which is incorporated herein by reference. An application for the Trademark “Universal Completion Device”, was filed on Jul. 24, 2001 that is Serial Number 76/293175, an entire copy of which is incorporated herein by reference. An application for the Trademark “Downhole BOP” was filed on Aug. 17, 2001 that is Serial Number 76/305201, an entire copy of which is incorporated herein by reference.
Accordingly, in view of the Trademark Applications, the term “smart shuttle” will be capitalized as “Smart Shuttle”; the term “well locomotive” will be capitalized as “Well Locomotive”; the term “universal completion device” will be capitalized as “Universal Completion Device”; and the term “downhole bop” will be capitalized as “Downhole BOP”.
1. Field of Invention
The fundamental field of the invention relates to apparatus and methods of operation that substantially reduce the number of steps and the complexity to drill and complete oil and gas wells. Because of the extraordinary breadth of the fundamental field of the invention, there are many related separate fields of the invention.
Accordingly, the field of invention relates to apparatus that uses the steel drill string attached to a drilling bit during drilling operations used to drill oil and gas wells for a second purpose as the casing that is cemented in place during typical oil and gas well completions. The field of invention further relates to methods of operation of apparatus that provides for the efficient installation of a cemented steel cased well during one single pass down into the earth of the steel drill string. The field of invention further relates to methods of operation of the apparatus that uses the typical mud passages already present in a typical drill bit, including any watercourses in a “regular bit”, or mud jets in a “jet bit”, that allow mud to circulate during typical drilling operations for the second independent, and the distinctly separate, purpose of passing cement into the annulus between the casing and the well while cementing the drill string into place during one single drilling pass into the earth. The field of invention further relates to apparatus and methods of operation that provides the pumping of cement down the drill string, through the mud passages in the drill bit, and into the annulus between the formation and the drill string for the purpose of cementing the drill string and the drill bit into place during one single drilling pass into the formation. The field of invention further relates to a one-way cement valve and related devices installed near the drill bit of the drill string that allows the cement to set up efficiently while the drill string and drill bit are cemented into place during one single drilling pass into the formation. The field of invention further relates to the use of a slurry material instead of cement to complete wells during the one pass drilling of oil and gas wells, where the term “slurry material” may be any one, or more, of at least the following substances: cement, gravel, water, “cement clinker”, a “cement and copolymer mixture”, a “blast furnace slag mixture”, and/or any mixture thereof; or any known substance that flows under sufficient pressure. The field of invention further relates to the use of slurry materials for the following type of generic well completions: open-hole well completions; typical cemented well completions having perforated casings; gravel well completions having perforated casings; and for any other related well completions. The field of invention also relates to using slurry materials to complete extended reach wellbores and extended reach lateral wellbores. The field of invention also relates to using slurry materials to complete extended reach wellbores and extended reach lateral wellbores from offshore platforms.
The field of the invention further relates to the use of retrievable instrumentation packages to perform LWD/MWD logging and directional drilling functions while the well is being drilled, which are particularly useful for the one pass drilling of oil and gas wells, and which are also useful for standard well completions, and which can also be retrieved by a wireline attached to a Smart Shuttle having retrieval apparatus. The field of the invention further relates to the use of Smart Shuttles having retrieval apparatus that are capable of deploying and installing into pipes smart completion devices that are used to automatically complete oil and gas wells after the pipes are disposed in the wellbore, which are useful for one pass drilling and for standard cased well completions, and these pipes include the following: a drill pipe, a drill string, a casing, a casing string, tubing, a liner, a liner string, a steel pipe, a metallic pipe, or any other pipe used for the completion of oil and gas wells. The field of the invention further relates to Smart Shuttles that use internal pump means to pump fluid from below the Smart Shuttle, to above it, to cause the Smart Shuttle to move within the pipe to conveniently install smart completion devices.
The field of invention disclosed herein also relates to using progressive cavity pumps and electrical submersible motors to make Smart Shuttles. The field of invention further relates to closed-loop systems used to complete oil and gas wells, where the term “to complete a well” means “to finish work on a well and bring it into productive status”. In this field of the invention, a closed-loop system to complete an oil and gas well is an automated system under computer control that executes a sequence of programmed steps, but those steps depend in part upon information obtained from at least one downhole sensor that is communicated to the surface to optimize and/or change the steps executed by the computer to complete the well.
The field of invention further relates to a closed-loop system that executes the steps during at least one significant portion of the well completion process and the completed well is comprised of at least a borehole in a geological formation surrounding a pipe located within the borehole, and this pipe may be any one of the following: a metallic pipe; a casing string; a casing string with any retrievable drill bit removed from the wellbore; a casing string with any drilling apparatus removed from the wellbore; a casing string with any electrically operated drilling apparatus retrieved from the wellbore; a casing string with any bicenter bit removed from the wellbore; a steel pipe; an expandable pipe; an expandable pipe made from any material; an expandable metallic pipe; an expandable metallic pipe with any retrievable drill bit removed from the wellbore; an expandable metallic pipe with any drilling apparatus removed from the wellbore; an expandable metallic pipe with any electrically operated drilling apparatus retrieved from the wellbore; an expandable metallic pipe with any bicenter bit removed from the wellbore; a plastic pipe; a fiberglass pipe; any type of composite pipe; any composite pipe that encapsulates insulated wires carrying electricity and/or any tubes containing hydraulic fluid; a composite pipe with any retrievable drill bit removed from the wellbore; a composite pipe with any drilling apparatus removed from the wellbore; a composite pipe with any electrically operated drilling apparatus retrieved from the wellbore; a composite pipe with any bicenter bit removed from the wellbore; a drill string; a drill string possessing a drill bit that remains attached to the end of the drill string after completing the wellbore; a drill string with any retrievable drill bit removed from the wellbore; a drill string with any drilling apparatus removed from the wellbore; a drill string with any electrically operated drilling apparatus retrieved from the wellbore; a drill string with any bicenter bit removed from the wellbore; a coiled tubing; a coiled tubing possessing a mud-motor drilling apparatus that remains attached to the coiled tubing after completing the wellbore; a coiled tubing left in place after any mud-motor drilling apparatus has been removed; a coiled tubing left in place after any electrically operated drilling apparatus has been retrieved from the wellbore; a liner made from any material; a liner with any retrievable drill bit removed from the wellbore; a liner with any liner drilling apparatus removed from the wellbore; a liner with any electrically operated drilling apparatus retrieved from the liner; a liner with any bicenter bit removed from the wellbore; any other pipe made of any material with any type of drilling apparatus removed from the pipe; or any other pipe made of any material with any type of drilling apparatus removed from the wellbore.
The field of invention further relates to a closed-loop system that executes the steps during at least one significant portion of the well completion process and the completed well is comprised of at least a borehole in a geological formation surrounding a pipe that may be accessed through other pipes including surface pipes, production lines, subsea production lines, etc.
Following the closed-loop well completion, the field of invention further relates to using well completion apparatus to monitor and/or control the production of hydrocarbons from the within wellbore.
The field of invention also relates to closed-loop systems to complete oil and gas wells that are useful for the one pass drilling and completion of oil and gas wells.
The field of the invention further relates to the closed-loop control of a tractor deployer that may also be used to complete an oil and gas well.
The invention further relates to the tractor deployer that is used to complete a well, perform production and maintenance services on a well, and to perform enhanced recovery services on a well.
The invention further relates to the tractor deployer that is connected to surface instrumentation by a substantially neutrally buoyant umbilical made from composite materials.
Yet further, the field of invention also relates to a method of drilling and completing a wellbore in a geological formation to produce hydrocarbons from a well comprising at least the following four steps: drilling the well with a retrievable drill bit attached to a casing; removing the retrievable drill bit from the casing; pumping down a one-way valve into the casing with a well fluid; and using the one-way valve to cement the casing into the wellbore.
And finally, the field of invention relates to drilling and completing wellbores in geological formations with different types of pipes having a variety of retrievable drill bits that are completed with pump-down one-way valves.
2. Description of the Prior Art
At the time of the filing of the application herein, the applicant is unaware of any prior art that is particularly relevant to the invention other than that cited in the above defined “related” U.S. Patents, the “related” co-pending U.S. Patent Applications, and the “related” U.S. Disclosure Documents that are specified in the first paragraphs of this application.
In disclosure of related cases, apparatus and methods of operation of that apparatus are disclosed that allow for cementation of a drill string with attached drill bit into place during one single drilling pass into a geological formation. The process of drilling the well and installing the casing becomes one single process that saves installation time and reduces costs during oil and gas well completion procedures. Apparatus and methods of operation of the apparatus are disclosed that use the typical mud passages already present in a typical rotary drill bit, including any watercourses in a “regular bit”, or mud jets in a “jet bit”, for the second independent purpose of passing cement into the annulus between the casing and the well while cementing the drill string in place. This is a crucial step that allows a “Typical Drilling Process” involving some 14 steps to be compressed into the “New Drilling Process” that involves only 7 separate steps as described in the Description of the Preferred Embodiments below. The New Drilling Process is now possible because of “Several Recent Changes in the Industry” also described in the Description of the Preferred Embodiments below. In addition, the New Drilling Process also requires new apparatus to properly allow the cement to cure under ambient hydrostatic conditions. That new apparatus includes a Latching Subassembly, a Latching Float Collar Valve Assembly, the Bottom Wiper Plug, and the Top Wiper Plug. Suitable methods of operation are disclosed for the use of the new apparatus. Methods are further disclosed wherein different types of slurry materials are used for well completion that include at least cement, gravel, water, a “cement clinker”, and any “blast furnace slag mixture”. Methods are further disclosed using a slurry material to complete wells including at least the following: open-hole well completions; cemented well completions having a perforated casing; gravel well completions having perforated casings; extended reach wellbores; extended reach lateral wellbores; and extended reach lateral wellbores completed from offshore drilling platforms.
In yet further disclosure in related cases involving the one pass drilling and completion of wellbores that is also useful for other well completion purposes, Smart Shuttles are used to complete the oil and gas wells. Following drilling operations into a geological formation, a steel pipe is disposed in the wellbore. In the following, any pipe may be used, but an example of steel pipe is used in the following examples for the purposes of simplicity only. The steel pipe may be a standard casing installed into the wellbore using typical industry practices. Alternatively, the steel pipe may be a drill string attached to a rotary drill bit that is to remain in the wellbore following completion during so-called “one pass drilling operations”. Further, the steel pipe may be a drill pipe from which has been removed a retrievable or retractable drill bit. Or, the steel pipe may be a coiled tubing having a mud motor drilling apparatus at its end. Using typical procedures in the industry, the well is “completed” by placing into the steel pipe various standard completion devices, some of which are conveyed into place with the drilling rig. Here, instead, Smart Shuttles are used to convey into the steel pipe various smart completion devices used to complete the oil and gas well. The Smart Shuttles are then used to install various smart completion devices. And the Smart Shuttles may be used to retrieve from the wellbore various smart completion devices. Smart Shuttles may be attached to a wireline, coiled tubing, or to a wireline installed within coiled tubing, and such applications are called “tethered Smart Shuttles”. Smart Shuttles may be robotically independent of the wireline, etc., provided that large amounts of power are not required for the completion device, and such devices are called “untethered shuttles”. The smart completion devices are used in some cases to machine portions of the steel pipe. Completion substances, such as cement, gravel, etc. are introduced into the steel pipe using smart wiper plugs and Smart Shuttles as required. Smart Shuttles may be robotically and automatically controlled from the surface of the earth under computer control so that the completion of a particular oil and gas well proceeds automatically through a progression of steps. A wireline attached to a Smart Shuttle may be used to energize devices from the surface that consume large amounts of power. Pressure control at the surface is maintained by use of a suitable lubricator device that has been modified to have a Smart Shuttle chamber suitably accessible from the floor of the drilling rig. A particular Smart Shuttle of interest is a wireline conveyed Smart Shuttle that possesses an electrically operated internal pump that pumps fluid from below the shuttle to above the shuttle that causes the Smart Shuttle to pump itself down into the well. Suitable valves that open allow for the retrieval of the Smart Shuttle by pulling up on the wireline. Similar comments apply to coiled tubing conveyed Smart Shuttles. Using Smart Shuttles to complete oil and gas wells reduces the amount of time the drilling rig is used for standard completion purposes. The Smart Shuttles therefore allow the use of the drilling rig for its basic purpose—the drilling of oil and gas wells.
In disclosure herein, a closed-loop system is used to complete oil and gas wells. The term “to complete a well” means “to finish work on a well and bring it into productive status”. A closed-loop system to complete an oil and gas well is an automated system under computer control that executes a sequence of programmed steps, but those steps depend in part upon information obtained from at least one downhole sensor that is communicated to the surface to optimize and/or change the steps executed by the computer to complete the well. The closed-loop system executes the steps during at least one significant portion of the well completion process. A type of Smart Shuttle comprised of a progressive cavity pump and an electrical submersible motor is particularly useful for such closed-loop systems. The completed well is comprised of at least a borehole in a geological formation surrounding a pipe located within the borehole. The pipe may be a metallic pipe; a casing string; a casing string with any retrievable drill bit removed from the wellbore; a steel pipe; a drill string; a drill string possessing a drill bit that remains attached to the end of the drill string after completing the wellbore; a drill string with any retrievable drill bit removed from the wellbore; a coiled tubing; a coiled tubing possessing a mud-motor drilling apparatus that remains attached to the coiled tubing after completing the wellbore; or a liner. Following the closed-loop well completion, apparatus monitoring the production of hydrocarbons from the within wellbore may be used to control the production of hydrocarbons from the wellbore. The closed-loop completion of oil and gas wells provides apparatus and methods of operation to substantially reduce the number of steps, the complexity, and the cost to complete oil and gas wells.
Accordingly, the closed-loop completion of oil and gas wells is a substantial improvement over present technology in the oil and gas industries.
The closed-loop control of a tractor deployer may also be used to complete an oil and gas well. Tractor deployer is used to complete a well, perform production and maintenance services on a well, and to perform enhanced recovery services on a well. The well servicing tractor deployer may be connected to surface instrumentation by a neutrally buoyant umbilical. Some of these umbilicals are made from composite materials.
Disclosure is provided of a method of drilling and completing a wellbore in a geological formation to produce hydrocarbons from a well comprising at least the following four steps: drilling the well with a retrievable drill bit attached to a casing; removing the retrievable drill bit from the casing; pumping down a one-way valve into the casing with a well fluid; and using the one-way valve to cement the casing into the wellbore.
Additional disclosure is provided that relates to drilling and completing wellbores in geological formations with different types of pipes having a variety of retrievable drill bits that are completed with pump-down cement one-way valves.
The following disclosure related to
In
The threads 16 on rotary drill bit 6 are screwed into the Latching Subassembly 18. The Latching Subassembly is also called the Latching Sub for simplicity herein. The Latching Sub is a relatively thick-walled steel pipe having some functions similar to a standard drill collar.
The Latching Float Collar Valve Assembly 20 is pumped downhole with drilling mud after the depth of the well is reached. The Latching Float Collar Valve Assembly is pumped downhole with mud pressure pushing against the Upper Seal 22 of the Latching Float Collar Valve Assembly. The Latching Float Collar Valve Assembly latches into place into Latch Recession 24. The Latch 26 of the Latching Float Collar Valve Assembly is shown latched into place with Latching Spring 28 pushing against Latching Mandrel 30. When the Latch 26 is properly seated into place within the Latch Recession 24, the clearances and materials of the Latch and mating Latch Recession are to be chosen such that very little cement will leak through the region of the Latch Recession 24 of the Latching Subassembly 18 under any back-pressure (upward pressure) in the well. Many means can be utilized to accomplish this task, including fabricating the Latch 26 from suitable rubber compounds, suitably designing the upper portion of the Latching Float Collar Valve Assembly 20 immediately below the Upper Seal 22, the use of various O-rings within or near Latch Recession 24, etc.
The Float 32 of the Latching Float Collar Valve Assembly seats against the Float Seating Surface 34 under the force from Float Collar Spring 36 that makes a one-way cement valve. However, the pressure applied to the mud or cement from the surface may force open the Float to allow mud or cement to be forced into the annulus generally designated as 38 in
Relatively thin-wall casing, or drill pipe, designated as element 46 in
The drilling mud was wiped off the walls of the drill pipe in the well with Bottom Wiper Plug 52. The Bottom Wiper Plug is fabricated from rubber in the shape shown. Portions 54 and 56 of the Upper Seal of the Bottom Wiper Plug are shown in a ruptured condition in
Top Wiper Plug 64 is being pumped downhole by water 66 under pressure in the drill pipe. As the Top Wiper Plug 64 is pumped down under water pressure, the cement remaining in region 68 is forced downward through the Bottom Wiper Plug, through the Latching Float Collar Valve Assembly, through the waterpassages of the drill bit and into the annulus in the well. A Top Wiper Plug Lobe 70 is shown in
After the Bottom Surface 72 of the Top Wiper Plug is forced into the Top Surface 74 of the Bottom Wiper Plug, almost the entire “cement charge” has been forced into the annulus between the drill pipe and the hole. As pressure is reduced on the water, the Float of the Latching Float Latching Float Collar Valve Assembly seals against the Float Seating Surface 34. As the water pressure is reduced on the inside of the drill pipe, then the cement in the annulus between the drill pipe and the hole can cure under ambient hydrostatic conditions. This procedure herein provides an example of the proper operation of a “one-way cement valve means”.
Therefore, the preferred embodiment in
The preferred embodiment in
The steps described herein in relation to the preferred embodiment in
The preferred embodiment of the invention further provides apparatus and methods of operation that results in the pumping of cement down the drill string, through the mud passages in the drill bit, and into the annulus between the formation and the drill string for the purpose of cementing the drill string and the drill bit into place during one single drilling pass into the formation.
The apparatus described in the preferred embodiment in
Methods of operation of apparatus disclosed in
Typical procedures used in the oil and gas industries to drill and complete wells are well documented. For example, such procedures are documented in the entire “Rotary Drilling Series” published by the Petroleum Extension Service of The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Tex. that is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety comprised of the following: Unit I—“The Rig and Its Maintenance” (12 Lessons); Unit II—“Normal Drilling Operations” (5 Lessons); Unit III—Nonroutine Rig Operations (4 Lessons); Unit IV—Man Management and Rig Management (1 Lesson); and Unit V—Offshore Technology (9. Lessons). All of the individual Glossaries of all of the above Lessons in their entirety are also explicitly incorporated herein, and all definitions in those Glossaries shall be considered to be explicitly referenced and/or defined herein.
Additional procedures used in the oil and gas industries to drill and complete wells are well documented in the series entitled “Lessons in Well Servicing and Workover” published by the Petroleum Extension Service of The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Tex. that is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety comprised of all 12 Lessons. All of the individual Glossaries of all of the above Lessons in their entirety are also explicitly incorporated herein, and any and all definitions in those Glossaries shall be considered to be explicitly referenced and/or defined herein.
With reference to typical practices in the oil and gas industries, a typical drilling process may therefore be described in the following.
From an historical perspective, completing oil and gas wells using rotary drilling techniques have in recent times comprised the following typical steps:
Step 1. With a pile driver or rotary rig, install any necessary conductor pipe on the surface for attachment of the blowout preventer and for mechanical support at the wellhead.
Step 2. Install and cement into place any surface casing necessary to prevent washouts and cave-ins near the surface, and to prevent the contamination of freshwater sands as directed by state and federal regulations.
Step 3. Choose the dimensions of the drill bit to result in the desired sized production well. Begin rotary drilling of the production well with a first drill bit. Simultaneously circulate drilling mud into the well while drilling. Drilling mud is circulated downhole to carry rock chips to the surface, to prevent blowouts, to prevent excessive mud loss into formation, to cool the bit, and to clean the bit. After the first bit wears out, pull the drill string out, change bits, lower the drill string into the well and continue drilling. It should be noted here that each “trip” of the drill bit typically requires many hours of rig time to accomplish the disassembly and reassembly of the drill string, pipe segment by pipe segment. Here, each pipe segment may consist of several pipe joints.
Step 4. Drill the production well using a succession of rotary drill bits attached to the drill string until the hole is drilled to its final depth.
Step 5. After the final depth is reached, pull out the drill string and its attached drill bit.
Step 6. Perform open-hole logging of the geological formations to determine the quantitative amounts of oil and gas present. This typically involves making physical measurements that are used to determine the porosity of the rock, the electrical resistivity of the water present, the electrical resistivity of the rock, the total amounts of oil and gas present, the relative amounts of oil and gas present, and the use of Archie's Equations (or their equivalent representation, or their approximation by other algebraic expressions, or their substitution for similar geophysical analysis). Here, such open-hole physical measurements include electrical measurements, inductive measurements, acoustic measurements, natural gamma ray measurements, neutron measurements, and other types of nuclear measurements, etc. Such measurements may also be used to determine the permeability of the rock. If no oil and gas is present from the analysis of such open-hole logs, an option can be chosen to cement the well shut. If commercial amounts of oil and gas are present, continue the following steps.
Step 7. Typically reassemble the drill bit and the drill string in the well to clean the well after open-hole logging.
Step 8. Pull out the drill string and its attached drill bit.
Step 9. Attach the casing shoe into the bottom male pipe threads of the first length of casing to be installed into the well. This casing shoe may or may not have a one-way valve (“casing shoe valve”) installed in its interior to prevent fluids from back-flowing from the well into the casing string.
Step 10. Typically install the float collar onto the top female threads of the first length of casing to be installed into the well which has a one-way valve (“float collar valve”) that allows the mud and cement to pass only one way down into the hole thereby preventing any fluids from back-flowing from the well into the casing string. Therefore, a typical installation has a casing shoe attached to the bottom and the float collar valve attached to the top portion of the first length of casing to be lowered into the well. The float collar and the casing shoe are often installed into one assembly for convenience that entirely replace this first length of casing. Please refer to the book entitled “Casing and Cementing”, Unit II, Lesson 4, Second Edition, of the Rotary Drilling Series, Petroleum Extension Service, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Tex., 1982 (hereinafter defined as “Ref. 1”), an entire copy of which is incorporated herein by reference. In particular, please refer to pages 28–35 of that book (Ref. 1). All of the individual definitions of words and phrases in the Glossary of Ref. 1 are also explicitly and separately incorporated herein in their entirety by reference.
Step 11. Assemble and lower the production casing into the well while back filling each section of casing with mud as it enters the well to overcome the buoyancy effects of the air filled casing (caused by the presence of the float collar valve), to help avoid sticking problems with the casing, and to prevent the possible collapse of the casing due to accumulated build-up of hydrostatic pressure.
Step 12. To “cure the cement under ambient hydrostatic conditions”, typically execute a two-plug cementing procedure involving a first Bottom Wiper Plug before and a second Top Wiper Plug behind the cement that also minimizes cement contamination problems comprised of the following individual steps:
Step 13. Allow the cement to cure.
Step 14. Follow normal “final completion operations” that include installing the tubing with packers and perforating the casing near the producing zones. For a description of such normal final completion operations, please refer to the book entitled “Well Completion Methods”, Well Servicing and Workover, Lesson 4, from the series entitled “Lessons in Well Servicing and Workover”, Petroleum Extension Service, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Tex., 1971 (hereinafter defined as “Ref. 2”), an entire copy of which is incorporated herein by reference. All of the individual definitions of words and phrases in the Glossary of Ref. 2 are also explicitly and separately incorporated herein in their entirety by reference. Other methods of completing the well are described therein that shall, for the purposes of this application herein, also be called “final completion operations”.
Several recent concurrent changes in the industry have made it possible to reduce the number of steps defined above.
These changes include the following:
Because drill bits typically wore out during drilling operations until recently, different types of metal pipes have historically evolved which are attached to drilling bits, which, when assembled, are called “drill strings”. Those drill strings are different than typical “casing strings” run into the well. Because it was historically absolutely necessary to do open-hole logging to determine the presence or absence of oil and gas, the fact that different types of pipes were used in “drill strings” and “casing strings” was of little consequence to the economics of completing wells. However, it is possible to choose the “drill string” to be acceptable for a second use, namely as the “casing string” that is to be installed after drilling has been completed.
Therefore, the preferred embodiments of the invention herein reduces and simplifies the above 14 steps as follows:
Repeat Steps 1–2 above.
Steps 3–5 (Revised). Choose the drill bit so that the entire production well can be drilled to its final depth using only one single drill bit. Choose the dimensions of the drill bit for desired size of the production well. If the cement is to be cured under ambient hydrostatic conditions, attach the drill bit to the bottom female threads of the Latching Subassembly (“Latching Sub”). Choose the material of the drill string from pipe material that can also be used as the casing string. Here, any pipe made of any material may be used including metallic pipe, composite pipe, fiberglass pipe, and hybrid pipe made of a mixture of different materials, etc. As an example, a composite pipe may be manufactured from carbon fiber-epoxy resin materials. Attach the first section of drill pipe to the top female threads of the Latching Sub. Then rotary drill the production well to its final depth during “one pass drilling” into the well. While drilling, simultaneously circulate drilling mud to carry the rock chips to the surface, to prevent blowouts, to prevent excessive mud loss into formation, to cool the bit, and to clean the bit.
Step 6 (Revised). After the final depth of the production well is reached, perform logging of the geological formations to determine the amount of oil and gas present from inside the drill pipe of the drill string. This typically involves measurements from inside the drill string of the necessary geophysical quantities as summarized in Item “b.” of “Several Recent Changes in the Industry”. If such logs obtained from inside the drill string show that no oil or gas is present, then the drill string can be pulled out of the well and the well filled in with cement. If commercial amounts of oil and gas are present, continue the following steps.
Steps 7–11 (Revised). If the cement is to be cured under ambient hydrostatic conditions, pump down a Latching Float Collar Valve Assembly with mud until it latches into place in the notches provided in the Latching Sub located above the drill bit.
Steps 12–13 (Revised). To “cure the cement under ambient hydrostatic conditions”, typically execute a two-plug cementing procedure involving a first Bottom Wiper Plug before and a second Top Wiper Plug behind the cement that also minimizes cement contamination comprised of the following individual steps:
Repeat Step 14 above.
Therefore, the “New Drilling Process” has only 7 distinct steps instead of the 14 steps in the “Typical Drilling Process”. The “New Drilling Process” consequently has fewer steps, is easier to implement, and will be less expensive. The “New Drilling Process” takes less time to drill a well. This faster process has considerable commercial significance.
The preferred embodiment of the invention disclosed in
Another preferred embodiment of the invention provides a float and float collar valve assembly permanently installed within the Latching Subassembly at the beginning of the drilling operations. However, such a preferred embodiment has the disadvantage that drilling mud passing by the float and the float collar valve assembly during normal drilling operations could subject the mutually sealing surfaces to potential wear. Nevertheless, a float collar valve assembly can be permanently installed above the drill bit before the drill bit enters the well.
Once the PIFCVA is installed into the drill string, then the drill bit is lowered into the well and drilling commenced. Mud pressure from the surface opens PIFCVA Float 86. The steps for using the preferred embodiment in
The PIFCVA installed into the drill string is another example of a one-way cement valve means installed near the drill bit to be used during one pass drilling of the well. Here, the term “near” shall mean within 500 feet of the drill bit. Consequently,
The drill bits described in
As another example of “ . . . any type of bit whatsoever.” described in the previous sentence, a new type of drill bit invented by the inventor of this application can be used for the purposes herein that is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,615,747, that is entitled “Monolithic Self Sharpening Rotary Drill Bit Having Tungsten Carbide Rods Cast in Steel Alloys”, that issued on Apr. 1, 1997 (hereinafter Vail{747}), an entire copy of which is incorporated herein by reference. That new type of drill bit is further described in a Continuing Application of Vail{747} that is now U.S. Pat. No. 5,836,409, that is also entitled “Monolithic Self Sharpening Rotary Drill Bit Having Tungsten Carbide Rods Cast in Steel Alloys”, that issued on the date of Nov. 17, 1998 (hereinafter Vail{409}), an entire copy of which is incorporated herein by reference. That new type of drill bit is further described in a Continuation-in-Part Application of Vail{409} that is Ser. No. 09/192,248, that has the filing date of Nov. 16, 1998, that is entitled “Rotary Drill Bit Compensating for Changes in Hardness of Geological Formations”, an entire copy of which is incorporated herein by reference. As yet another example of “ . . . any type of bit whatsoever . . . ” described in the last sentence of the previous paragraph,
Before drilling commences, the lower end of the coiled tubing 104 is attached to the Latching Subassembly 18. The bottom male threads of the coiled tubing 106 thread into the female threads of the Latching Subassembly 50.
The top male threads 108 of the Stationary Mud Motor Assembly 110 are screwed into the lower female threads 112 of Latching Subassembly 18. Mud under pressure flowing through channel 113 causes the Rotating Mud Motor Assembly 114 to rotate in the well. The Rotating Mud Motor Assembly 114 causes the Mud Motor Drill Bit Body 116 to rotate. In a preferred embodiment, elements 110, 114 and 116 are elements comprising a mud-motor drilling apparatus. That Mud Motor Drill Bit Body holds in place milled steel roller cones 118, 120, and 122 (not shown for simplicity). A standard water passage 124 is shown through the Mud Motor Drill Bit Body. During drilling operations, as mud is pumped down from the surface, the Rotating Mud Motor Assembly 114 rotates causing the drilling action in the well. It should be noted that any fluid pumped from the surface under sufficient pressure that passes through channel 113 goes through the mud motor turbine (not shown) that causes the rotation of the Mud Motor Drill Bit Body and then flows through standard water passage 124 and finally into the well.
The steps for using the preferred embodiment in
Therefore,
In the “New Drilling Process”, Step 14 is to be repeated, and that step is quoted in part in the following paragraph as follows:
With reference to the last sentence above, there are indeed many ‘Other methods of completing the well that for the purposes of this application herein, also be called “final completion operations”’. For example, Ref. 2 on pages 10–1 describe “Open-Hole Completions”. Ref. 2 on pages 13–17 describe “Liner Completions”. Ref. 2 on pages 17–30 describe “Perforated Casing Completions” that also includes descriptions of centralizers, squeeze cementing, single zone completions, multiple zone completions, tubingless completions, multiple tubingless completions, and deep well liner completions among other topics.
Similar topics are also discussed in a previously referenced book entitled “Testing and Completing”, Unit II, Lesson 5, Second Edition, of the Rotary Drilling Series, Petroleum Extension Service, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Tex., 1983 (hereinafter defined as “Ref. 4”), an entire copy of which is incorporated herein by reference. All of the individual definitions of words and phrases in the Glossary of Ref. 1 are also explicitly and separately incorporated herein in their entirety by reference.
For example, on page 20 of Ref. 4, the topic “Completion Design” is discussed. Under this topic are described various different “Completion Methods”. Page 21 of Ref. 4 describes “Open-hole completions”. Under the topic of “Perforated completion” on pages 20–22, are described both standard cementing completions and gravel completions using slotted liners.
Standard cementing completions are described above in the new “New Drilling Process”. However, it is evident that any slurry like material or “slurry material” that flows under pressure, and behaves like a multicomponent viscous liquid like material, can be used instead of “cement” in the “New Drilling Process”. In particular, instead of “cement”, water, gravel, or any other material can be used provided it flows through pipes under suitable pressure.
At this point, it is useful to review several definitions that are routinely used in the industry. First, the glossary of Ref. 4 defines several terms of interest.
The Glossary of Ref. 4 defines the term “to complete a well” to be the following: “to finish work on a well and bring it to productive status. See well completion.”
The Glossary of Ref. 4 defines the term “well completion” to be the following: “1. the activities and methods of preparing a well for the production of oil and gas; the method by which one or more flow paths for hydrocarbons is established between the reservoir and the surface. 2. the systems of tubulars, packers, and other tools installed beneath the wellhead in the production casing, that is, the tool assembly that provides the hydrocarbon flow path or paths.” To be precise for the purposes herein, the term “completing a well” or the term “completing the well” are each separately equivalent to performing all the necessary steps for a “well completion”.
The Glossary of Ref. 4 defines the term “gravel” to be the following: “in gravel packing, sand or glass beads of uniform size and roundness.”
The Glossary of Ref. 4 defines the term “gravel packing” to be the following: “a method of well completion in which a slotted or perforated liner, often wire-wrapper, is placed in the well and surrounded by gravel. If open-hole, the well is sometimes enlarged by underreaming at the point were the gravel is packed. The mass of gravel excludes sand from the wellbore but allows continued production.”
Other pertinent terms are defined in Ref. 1.
The Glossary of Ref. 1 defines the term “cement” to be the following: “a powder, consisting of alumina, silica, lime, and other substances that hardens when mixed with water. Extensively used in the oil industry to bond casing to walls of the wellbore.”
The Glossary of Ref. 1 defines the term “cement clinker” to be the following: “a substance formed by melting ground limestone, clay or shale, and iron ore in a kiln. Cement clinker is ground into a powdery mixture and combined with small accounts of gypsum or other materials to form a cement”.
The Glossary of Ref. 1 defines the term “slurry” to be the following: “a plastic mixture of cement and water that is pumped into a well to harden; there it supports the casing and provides a seal in the wellbore to prevent migration of underground fluids.”
The Glossary of Ref. 1 defines the term “casing” as is typically used in the oil and gas industries to be the following: “steel pipe placed in an oil or gas well as drilling progresses to prevent the wall of the hole from caving in during drilling, to prevent seepage of fluids, and to provide a means of extracting petroleum if the well is productive”. Of course, in light of the invention herein, the “drill pipe” becomes the “casing”, so the above definition needs modification under certain usages herein.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,883,125, that issued on Nov. 28, 1994, that is entitled “Cementing Oil and Gas Wells Using Converted Drilling Fluid”, an entire copy of which is incorporated herein by reference, describes using “a quantity of drilling fluid mixed with a cement material and a dispersant such as a sulfonated styrene copolymer with or without an organic acid”. Such a “cement and copolymer mixture” is yet another example of a “slurry material” for the purposes herein.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,343,951, that issued on Sep. 6, 1994, that is entitled “Drilling and Cementing Slim Hole Wells”, an entire copy of which is incorporated herein by reference, describes “a drilling fluid comprising blast furnace slag and water” that is subjected thereafter to an activator that is “generally, an alkaline material and additional blast furnace slag, to produce a cementitious slurry which is passed down a casing and up into an annulus to effect primary cementing.” Such an “blast furnace slag mixture” is yet another example of a “slurry material” for the purposes herein.
Therefore, and in summary, a “slurry material” may be any one, or more, of at least the following substances as rigorously defined above: cement, gravel, water, cement clinker, a “slurry” as rigorously defined above, a “cement and copolymer mixture”, a “blast furnace slag mixture”, and/or any mixture thereof. Virtually any known substance that flows under sufficient pressure may be defined the purposes herein as a “slurry material”.
Therefore, in view of the above definitions, it is now evident that the “New Drilling Process” may be performed with any “slurry material”. The slurry material may be used in the “New Drilling Process” for open-hole well completions; for typical cemented well completions having perforated casings; and for gravel well completions having perforated casings; and for any other such well completions.
Accordingly, a preferred embodiment of the invention is the method of drilling a borehole with a rotary drill bit having mud passages for passing mud into the borehole from within a steel drill string that includes at least the one step of passing a slurry material through those mud passages for the purpose of completing the well and leaving the drill string in place to make a steel cased well.
Further, another preferred embodiment of the inventions is the method of drilling a borehole into a geological formation with a rotary drill bit having mud passages for passing mud into the borehole from within a steel drill string that includes at least one step of passing a slurry material through the mud passages for the purpose of completing the well and leaving the drill string in place following the well completion to make a steel cased well during one drilling pass into the geological formation.
Yet further, another preferred embodiment of the invention is a method of drilling a borehole with a coiled tubing conveyed mud motor driven rotary drill bit having mud passages for passing mud into the borehole from within the tubing that includes at the least one step of passing a slurry material through the mud passages for the purpose of completing the well and leaving the tubing in place to make a tubing encased well.
And further, yet another preferred embodiment of the invention is a method of drilling a borehole into a geological formation with a coiled tubing conveyed mud motor driven rotary drill bit having mud passages for passing mud into the borehole from within the tubing that includes at least the one step of passing a slurry material through the mud passages for the purpose of completing the well and leaving the tubing in place following the well completion to make a tubing encased well during one drilling pass into the geological formation.
Yet further, another preferred embodiment of the invention is a method of drilling a borehole with a rotary drill bit having mud passages for passing mud into the borehole from within a steel drill string that includes at least steps of: attaching a drill bit to the drill string; drilling the well with the rotary drill bit to a desired depth; and completing the well with the drill bit attached to the drill string to make a steel cased well.
Still further, another preferred embodiment of the invention is a method of drilling a borehole with a coiled tubing conveyed mud motor driven rotary drill bit having mud passages for passing mud into the borehole from within the tubing that includes at least the steps of: attaching the mud motor driven rotary drill bit to the coiled tubing; drilling the well with the tubing conveyed mud motor driven rotary drill bit to a desired depth; and completing the well with the mud motor driven rotary drill bit attached to the drill string to make a steel cased well.
And still further, another preferred embodiment of the invention is the method of one pass drilling of a geological formation of interest to produce hydrocarbons comprising at least the following steps: attaching a drill bit to a casing string; drilling a borehole into the earth to a geological formation of interest; providing a pathway for fluids to enter into the casing from the geological formation of interest; completing the well adjacent to the formation of interest with at least one of cement, gravel, chemical ingredients, mud; and passing the hydrocarbons through the casing to the surface of the earth while the drill bit remains attached to the casing.
The term “extended reach boreholes” is a term often used in the oil and gas industry. For example, this term is used in U.S. Pat. No. 5,343,950, that issued Sep. 6, 1994, having the Assignee of Shell Oil Company, that is entitled “Drilling and Cementing Extended Reach Boreholes”. An entire copy of U.S. Pat. No. 5,343,950 is incorporated herein by reference. This term can be applied to very deep wells, but most often is used to describe those wells typically drilled and completed from offshore platforms. To be more explicit, those “extended reach boreholes” that are completed from offshore platforms may also be called for the purposes herein “extended reach lateral boreholes”. Often, this particular term, “extended reach lateral boreholes”, implies that substantial portions of the wells have been completed in one more or less “horizontal formation”. The term “extended reach lateral borehole” is equivalent to the term “extended reach lateral wellbore” for the purposes herein. The term “extended reach borehole” is equivalent to the term “extended reach wellbore” for the purposes herein. The invention herein is particularly useful to drill and complete “extended reach wellbores” and “extend reach lateral wellbores”.
Therefore, the preferred embodiments above generally disclose the one pass drilling and completion of wellbores with drill bit attached to drill string to make cased wellbores to produce hydrocarbons. The preferred embodiments above are also particularly useful to drill and complete “extended reach wellbores” and “extended reach lateral wellbores”.
For methods and apparatus particularly suitable for the one pass drilling and completion of extended reach lateral wellbores please refer to
In
Using analogous methods described above in relation to
After the Bottom Surface of Wiper Plug A that is element 128 positively “bottoms out” on the Top Surface 74 of the Bottom Wiper Plug, then a predetermined amount of gravel has been injected into the wellbore forcing mud 142 upward in the annulus. Thereafter, forcing additional water 136 into the tubing will cause the Upper Plug Seal of Wiper Plug A (element 130) to rupture, thereby forcing cement 138 to flow toward the Float 32. Forcing yet additional water 136 into the tubing will in turn cause the Bottom Surface of Wiper Plug B 134 to “bottom out” on the Top Surface of Wiper Plug A that is labeled with numeral 146. At this point in the process, mud has been forced upward in the annulus of wellbore by gravel. The purpose of this process is to have suitable amounts of gravel and cement placed sequentially into the annulus between the wellbore for the completion of the tubing encased well and for the ultimate production of oil and gas from the completed well. This process is particularly useful for the drilling and completion of extended reach lateral wellbores with a tubing conveyed mud motor drilling apparatus to make tubing encased wellbores for the production of oil and gas.
It is clear that
In
The previously described methods and apparatus were used to first, in sequence, force gravel 172 in the portion of the oil bearing formation 164 having producible hydrocarbons. If required, a cement plug formed by a “squeeze job” is figuratively shown by numeral 174 in
The cement 176 introduced into the borehole through the mud passages of the drill bit using the above defined methods and apparatus provides a seal near the drill bit, among other locations, that is desirable under certain situations.
Slots in the drill pipe have been opened after the drill pipe reached final depth. The slots can be milled with a special milling cutter having thin rotating blades that are pushed against the inside of the pipe. As an alternative, standard perforations may be fabricated in the pipe using standard perforation guns of the type typically used in the industry. Yet further, special types of expandable pipe may be manufactured that when pressurized from the inside against a cement plug near the drill bit or against a solid strong wiper plug, or against a bridge plug, suitable slots are forced open. Or, different materials may be used in solid slots along the length of steel pipe when the pipe is fabricated that can be etched out with acid during the well completion process to make the slots and otherwise leaving the remaining steel pipe in place. Accordingly, there are many ways to make the required slots. One such slot is labeled with numeral 178 in
Therefore, hydrocarbons in zone 164 are produced through gravel 172 that flows through slots 178 and into the interior of the drill pipe to implement the one pass drilling and completion of an extended reach lateral wellbore with drill bit attached to drill string to produce hydrocarbons from an offshore platform. For the purposes of this preferred embodiment, such a completion is called a “gravel pack” completion, whether or not cement 174 or cement 176 are introduced into the wellbore.
It should be noted that in some embodiments, cement is not necessarily needed, and the formations may be “gravel pack” completed, or may be open-hole completed. In some situations, the float, or the one-way valve, need not be required depending upon the pressures in the formation.
Therefore,
Further, the above provides disclosure of a method of drilling an extended reach lateral wellbore from an offshore platform with a rotary drill bit having mud passages for passing mud into the borehole from within a steel drill string that includes at least the steps of passing sequentially in order a first slurry material and then a second slurry material through the mud passages for the purpose of completing the well and leaving the drill string in place to make a steel cased well to produce hydrocarbons from offshore platforms.
Yet another preferred embodiment of the invention provides a method of drilling an extended reach lateral wellbore from an offshore platform with a rotary drill bit having mud passages for passing mud into the borehole from within a steel drill string that includes at least the step of passing a multiplicity of slurry materials through the mud passages for the purpose of completing the well and leaving the drill string in place to make a steel cased well to produce hydrocarbons from the offshore platform.
It is evident from the disclosure in
And yet further, another preferred embodiment of the invention provides a method of drilling an extended reach lateral wellbore from an offshore platform with a coiled tubing conveyed mud motor driven rotary drill bit having mud passages for passing mud into the borehole from within the tubing that includes at least the steps of passing sequentially in order a first slurry material and then a second slurry material through the mud passages for the purpose of completing the well and leaving the tubing in place to make a tubing encased well to produce hydrocarbons from the offshore platform.
And yet another preferred embodiment of the invention discloses passing a multiplicity of slurry materials through the mud passages of the tubing conveyed mud motor driven rotary drill bit to make a tubing encased well to produce hydrocarbons from the offshore platform.
For the purposes of this disclosure, any reference cited above is incorporated herein in its entirely by reference herein. Further, any document, article, or book cited in any such above defined reference is also incorporated herein in its entirety by reference herein.
It should also be stated that the invention pertains to any type of drill bit having any conceivable type of passage way for mud that is attached to any conceivable type of drill pipe that drills to a depth in a geological formation wherein the drill bit is thereafter left at the depth when the drilling stops and the well is completed. Any type of drilling apparatus that has at least one passage way for mud that is attached to any type of drill pipe is also an embodiment of this invention, where the drilling apparatus specifically includes any type of rotary drill bit, any type of mud driven drill bit, any type of hydraulically activated drill bit, or any type of electrically energized drill bit, or any drill bit that is any combination of the above. Any type of drilling apparatus that has at least one passage way for mud that is attached to any type of casing is also an embodiment of this invention, and this includes any metallic casing, any composite casing, and any plastic casing. Any type of drill bit attached to any type of drill pipe, or pipe, made from any material is an embodiment of this invention, where such pipe includes a metallic pipe; a casing string; a casing string with any retrievable drill bit removed from the wellbore; a casing string with any drilling apparatus removed from the wellbore; a casing string with any electrically operated drilling apparatus retrieved from the wellbore; a casing string with any bicenter bit removed from the wellbore; a steel pipe; an expandable pipe; an expandable pipe made from any material; an expandable metallic pipe; an expandable metallic pipe with any retrievable drill bit removed from the wellbore; an expandable metallic pipe with any drilling apparatus removed from the wellbore; an expandable metallic pipe with any electrically operated drilling apparatus retrieved from the wellbore; an expandable metallic pipe with any bicenter bit removed from the wellbore; a plastic pipe; a fiberglass pipe; any type of composite pipe; any composite pipe that encapsulates insulated wires carrying electricity and/or any tubes containing hydraulic fluid; a composite pipe with any retrievable drill bit removed from the wellbore; a composite pipe with any drilling apparatus removed from the wellbore; a composite pipe with any electrically operated drilling apparatus retrieved from the wellbore; a composite pipe with any bicenter bit removed from the wellbore; a drill string; a drill string possessing a drill bit that remains attached to the end of the drill string after completing the wellbore; a drill string with any retrievable drill bit removed from the wellbore; a drill string with any drilling apparatus removed from the wellbore; a drill string with any electrically operated drilling apparatus retrieved from the wellbore; a drill string with any bicenter bit removed from the wellbore; a coiled tubing; a coiled tubing possessing a mud-motor drilling apparatus that remains attached to the coiled tubing after completing the wellbore; a coiled tubing left in place after any mud-motor drilling apparatus has been removed; a coiled tubing left in place after any electrically operated drilling apparatus has been retrieved from the wellbore; a liner made from any material; a liner with any retrievable drill bit removed from the wellbore; a liner with any liner drilling apparatus removed from the wellbore; a liner with any electrically operated drilling apparatus retrieved from the liner; a liner with any bicenter bit removed from the wellbore; any other pipe made of any material with any type of drilling apparatus removed from the pipe; or any other pipe made of any material with any type of drilling apparatus removed from the wellbore. Any drill bit attached to any drill pipe that remains at depth following well completion is further an embodiment of this invention, and this specifically includes any retractable type drill bit, or retrievable type drill bit, that because of failure, or choice, remains attached to the drill string when the well is completed.
As had been referenced earlier, the above disclosure related to
Before describing those new features, perhaps a bit of nomenclature should be discussed at this point. In various descriptions of preferred embodiments herein described, inventor frequently uses the designation of “one pass drilling”, that is also called “One-Trip-Drilling” for the purposes herein, and otherwise also called “One-Trip-Down-Drilling” for the purposes herein. For the purposes herein, a first definition of the phrases “one pass drilling”, “One-Trip-Drilling”, and “One-Trip-Down-Drilling” mean the process that results in the last long piece of pipe put in the wellbore to which a drill bit is attached is left in place after total depth is reached, and is completed in place, and oil and gas is ultimately produced from within the wellbore through that long piece of pipe. Of course, other pipes, including risers, conductor pipes, surface casings, intermediate casings, etc., may be present, but the last very long pipe attached to the drill bit that reaches the final depth is left in place and the well is completed using this first definition. This process is directed at dramatically reducing the number of steps to drill and complete oil and gas wells.
Please note that several steps in the One-Trip-Down-Drilling process had already been finished in
The Smart Drilling and Completion Sub has provisions for many features. Many of these features are optional, so that some or all of them may be used during the drilling and completion of any one well. Many of those features are described in detail in U.S. Disclosure Document No. 452648 filed on Mar. 5, 1999 that has been previously recited above. In particular, that U.S. Disclosure Document discloses the utility of “Retrievable Instrumentation Packages” that is described in detail in
As described in U.S. Disclosure Document No. 452648, to maximize the drilling distance of extended reach lateral drilling, a preferred embodiment of the invention possess the option to have means to perform measurements with sensors to sense drilling parameters, such as vibration, temperature, and lubrication flow in the drill bit—to name just a few. The sensors may be put in the drill bit 192, and if any such sensors are present, the bit is called a “Smart Bit” for the purposes herein. Suitable sensors to measure particular drilling parameters, particularly vibration, may also be placed in the Retrievable Instrumentation Package 194 in
Any such measured information in
In one preferred embodiment of the invention, commands sent to any Smart Bit to change the configuration of the drill bit to optimize drilling parameters in
In a preferred embodiment of the invention the Retrievable Instrumentation package includes a “directional assembly” meaning that it possesses means to determine precisely the depth, orientation, and all typically required information about the location of the drill bit and the drill string during drilling operations. The “directional assembly” may include accelerometers, magnetometers, gravitational measurement devices, or any other means to determine the depth, orientation, and all other information that has been obtained during typical drilling operations. In principle this directional package can be put in many locations in the drill string, but in a preferred embodiment of the invention, that information is provided by the Retrievable Instrumentation Package. Therefore, the Retrievable Instrumentation Package has a “directional measurement instrumentation” that is an example of a “directional measurement instrumentation means”.
As another option, and as another preferred embodiment, and means used to control the directional drilling of the drill bit, or Smart Bit, in
As an option, and as a preferred embodiment of the invention, the characteristics of the geological formation can be measured using the device in
Yet further, the Retrievable Instrumentation Package may also have active vibrational control devices. In this case, the “drilling monitoring instrumentation” is used to control a feedback loop that provides a command via the “communications instrumentation” to an actuator in the Smart Bit that adjusts or changes bit parameters to optimize drilling, and avoid “chattering”, etc. See the article entitled “Directional drilling performance improvement”, by M. Mims, World Oil, May 1999, pages 40–43, an entire copy of which is incorporated herein. Therefore, the Retrievable Instrumentation Package may also have “active feedback control instrumentation and apparatus to optimize drilling parameters” that is an example of “active feedback and control instrumentation and apparatus means to optimize drilling parameters”.
Therefore, the Retrieval Instrumentation Package in the Smart Drilling and Completion Sub in
For the purposes of this invention, any apparatus having one or more of the above features (a), (b) . . . , (j), (k), or (l), AND which can also be removed from the Smart Drilling and Completion Sub as described below in relation to
In
As shown in
Guide recession 214 in the Smart Drilling and Completion Sub is used to guide into place the Retrievable Instrumentation Package having alignment spur 216. These elements are used to guide the Retrievable Instrumentation Package into place and for other purposes as described below. These are examples of “alignment means”.
Acoustic transmitter/receiver 218 and current conducting electrode 220 are used to measure various geological parameters as is typical in the MWD/LWD art in the industry, and they are “potted” in insulating rubber-like compounds 222 in the wall recession 224 shown in
A first directional drilling control apparatus and instrumentation is shown in
There is a second such directional drilling control apparatus located rotationally 90 degrees from the first apparatus shown in
For a general review of the status of developments on directional drilling control systems in the industry, and their related uses, particularly in offshore environments, please refer to the following references: (a) the article entitled “ROTARY-STEERABLE TECHNOLOGY—Part 1, Technology gains momentum”, by T. Warren, Oil and Gas Journal, Dec. 21, 1998, pages 101–105, an entire copy of which is incorporated herein by reference; (b) the article entitled “ROTARY-STEERABLE TECHNOLOGY—Conclusion, Implementation issues concern operators”, by T. Warren, Oil and Gas Journal, Dec. 28, 1998, pages 80–83, an entire copy of which is incorporated herein by reference; (c) the entire issue of World Oil dated December 1998 entitled in part on the front cover “Marine Drilling Rigs, What's Ahead in 1999”, an entire copy of which is incorporated herein by reference; (d) the entire issue of World Oil dated July 1999 entitled in part on the front cover “Offshore Report” and “New Drilling Technology”, an entire copy of which is incorporated herein in by reference; and (e) the entire issue of The American Oil and Gas Reporter dated June 1999 entitled in part on the front cover “Offshore & Subsea Technology”, an entire copy of which is incorporated herein by reference; (f) U.S. Pat. No. 5,332,048, having the inventors of Underwood et. al., that issued on Jul. 26, 1994 entitled in part “Method and Apparatus for Automatic Closed Loop Drilling System”, an entire copy of which is incorporated herein by reference; (g) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,842,149 having the inventors of Harrell et. al., that issued on Nov. 24, 1998, that is entitled “Closed Loop Drilling System”, an entire copy of which is incorporated herein by reference. Furthermore, all references cited in the above defined documents (a) and (b) and (c) and (d) and (e) and (f) and (g) in this paragraph are also incorporated herein in their entirety by reference. Specifically, all 17 references cited on page 105 of the article defined in (a) and all 3 references cited on page 83 of the article defined in (b) are incorporated herein by reference. For further reference, rotary steerable apparatus and rotary steerable systems may also be called “rotary steerable means”, a term defined herein. Further, all the terms that are used, or defined in the above listed references (a), (b), (c), (d), and (e) are incorporated herein in their entirety.
The following block diagram elements are also shown in
It should be evident that the functions attributed to the single Smart Drilling and Completion Sub 188 and Retrievable Instrumentation Package 194 may be arbitrarily assigned to any number of different subs and different pressure housings as is typical in the industry. However, “breaking up” the Smart Drilling and Completion Sub and the Retrievable Instrumentation Package are only minor variations of the preferred embodiment described herein.
Perhaps it is also worth noting that a primary reason for inventing the Retrievable Instrumentation Package 194 is because in the event of One-Trip-Down-Drilling, then the drill bit and the Smart Drilling and Completion Sub are left in the wellbore to save the time and effort to bring out the drill pipe and replace it with casing. However, if the MWD/LWD instrumentation is used as in
The preferred embodiment of the invention in
The preferred embodiment in
In any event, after the total depth is reached in
It should also be noted that in the event that the wellbore had been drilled to the desired depth, but on the other hand, the MWD and LWD information had NOT been obtained from the Retrievable Instrumentation Package during that drilling, and following its removal from the pipe, then measurements of the required geological formation properties can still be obtained from within the steel pipe using the logging techniques described above under the topic of “Several Recent Changes in the Industry”—and please refer to item (b) under that category. Logging through steel pipes and logging through casings to obtain the required geophysical information are now possible.
In any event, let us assume that at this point in the One-Trip-Down-Drilling Process that the following is the situation: (a) the wellbore has been drilled to final depth; (b) the configuration is as shown in
As described earlier in relation to
The “Wiper Plug Pump-Down Stack” is generally shown as numeral 322 in
The “Smart Shuttle Chamber” 346 is generally shown in
Smart Shuttle Chamber 346 also has first Smart Shuttle chamber inlet tube 358 and first Smart Shuttle chamber inlet tube valve 360. Smart Shuttle Chamber 346 also has second Smart Shuttle chamber inlet tube 362 and second Smart Shuttle chamber inlet tube valve 364. Smart Shuttle Chamber 346 has upper Smart Shuttle chamber cylindrical wall 366 and upper smart Shuttle Chamber flange 368 as shown in
The “Wireline Lubricator System” 374 is also generally shown in
The Wireline Lubricator System in
The Smart Shuttle shown as element 306 in
In
In
One method of operating the Smart Shuttle is as follows. With reference to
After the Automated Smart Shuttle System is primed, then the wireline drum is operated to allow the Smart Shuttle and the Retrieval Sub to be lowered from region D of
The Smart Shuttle shown as element 306 in
In
Then, in
Element 306 in
As mentioned earlier, a U.S. Trademark Application has been filed for the Mark “Smart Shuttle”. This Mark has received a “Notice of Publication Under 12(a)” and it will be published in the Official Gazette on Jun. 11, 2002. Under “LISTING OF GOODS AND/OR SERVICES” for the Mark “Smart Shuttle” it states: “oil and gas industry hydraulically driven or electrically driven conveyors to move equipment through onshore and offshore wells, cased wells, open-hole wells, pipes, tubings, expandable tubings, liners, cylindrical sand screens, and production flowlines; the conveyed equipment including well completion and production devices, logging tools, perforating guns, well drilling equipment, coiled tubings for well stimulation, power cables, containers of chemicals, and flowline cleaning equipment”.
As mentioned earlier, a U.S. Trademark Application has been filed for the Mark “Smart Shuttle”. This Mark has received a “Notice of Publication Under 12(a)” and it will be published in the Official Gazette on Jun. 11, 2002. The “LISTING OF GOODS AND/OR SERVICES” for Mark “Well Locomotive” is the same as for “Smart Shuttle”.
The “Retrieval & Installation Subassembly”, otherwise abbreviated as the “Retrieval/Installation Sub”, also simply abbreviated as the “Retrieval Sub”, which is generally shown as numeral 308, has one or more of the following features (hereinafter, “List of Retrieval Sub Features”):
Element 402 that is the “internal pump of the Smart Shuttle” may be any electrically operated pump, or any hydraulically operated pump that in turn, derives its power in any way from the wireline. Standard art in the field is used to fabricate the components of the Smart Shuttle and that art includes all pump designs typically used in the industry. Standard literature on pumps, fluid mechanics, and hydraulics is also used to design and fabricate the components of the Smart Shuttle, and specifically, the book entitled “Theory and Problems of Fluid Mechanics and Hydraulics”, Third Edition, by R. V. Giles, J. B. Evett, and C. Liu, Schaum's Outline Series, McGraw-Hill, Inc., New York, N.Y., 1994, 378 pages, is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.
For the purposes of several preferred embodiments of this invention, an example of a “wireline conveyed smart shuttle means having retrieval and installation means” (also “wireline conveyed Smart Shuttle means having retrieval and installation means”) is comprised of the Smart Shuttle and the Retrieval Sub shown in
It is now appropriate to discuss a generalized block diagram of one type of Smart Shuttle. The block diagram of another preferred embodiment of a Smart Shuttle is identified as numeral 434 in
The preferred embodiment of the block diagram for a Smart Shuttle has a particular virtue. Electrically operated pump 450 is an electrically operated turbine pump, and when it is operating with valves 454 and 460 open, and the rest closed, it can drag significant loads downhole at relatively high speeds. However, when the well goes horizontal, the loads increase. If electrically operated pump 450 stalls or cavitates, etc., then electrically operated pump 436 that is a positive displacement pump takes over, and in this case, valves 440 and 446 are open, with the rest closed. Pump 436 is a particular type of positive displacement pump that may be attached to a pump transmission device so that the load presented to the positive displacement pump does not exceed some maximum specification independent of the external load. See
The Smart Shuttle shown as element 306 in
Another preferred embodiment of the Smart Shuttle contemplates using a “hybrid pump/wheel device”. In this approach, a particular hydraulic pump in the Smart Shuttle can be alternatively used to cause a traction wheel to engage the interior of the pipe. In this hybrid approach, a particular hydraulic pump in the Smart Shuttle is used in a first manner as is described in
In
In
In the event that seals 500–502 or 504–506 in
The “hybrid pump/wheel device” that is an embodiment of the Smart Shuttle shown in
The downward velocity of the Smart Shuttle can be easily determined assuming that electrically operated pump 402 in
ΔV1/Δt=ΔZ/Δt{π(a1)2} Equation 1.
Downward Velocity=ΔZ/Δt={ΔV1/Δt}/{ρ(a1)2} Equation 2.
Here, the “Downward Velocity” defined in Equation 2 is the average downward velocity of the Smart Shuttle that is averaged over many cycles of the pump. After the Smart Shuttle of the Automated Smart Shuttle System is primed, then the Smart Shuttle and its pump resides in a standing fluid column and the fluids are relatively non-compressible. Further, with the above pump transmission device 508 in
The preferred embodiment of the Smart Shuttle having internal pump means to pump fluid from below the Smart Shuttle to above it to cause the shuttle to move in the pipe may also be used to replace relatively slow and relatively inefficient “well tractors” that are now commonly used in the industry.
In
In
In
In
In relation to
With respect to
To emphasize one major point in
The entire system represented in
The following describes the completion of one well commencing with the well diagram shown in
The first step is to disconnect the top of the drill string 170 in
In addition to typical well control procedures, the second step is to attach to the top of that drill pipe first blow-out preventer 316 and top drill pipe flange 320 as shown in
The third step is the “priming” of the Automated Smart Shuttle System as described in relation to
The fourth step is to retrieve the Retrievable Instrumentation Package. Please recall that the Retrievable Instrumentation Package has heretofore provided all information about the wellbore, including the depth, geophysical parameters, etc. Therefore, computer system 556 in
The fifth step is to pump down cement and gravel using a suitable pump-down latching one-way valve means and a series of wiper plugs to prepare the bottom portion of the drill string for the final completion steps. The procedure here is followed in analogy with those described in relation to
The sixth step is to saw slots in the drill pipe similar to the slot that is labeled with numeral 178 in
The seventh step is to close the first blow-out preventer 316 in
The eighth step includes suitably closing first blow-out preventer 316 or other valve as necessary, and removing in sequence the Coiled Tubing Lubricator System 634, the Smart Shuttle Chamber System 372, and the Wiper Plug Pump-Down Stack 322, and then using usual techniques in the industry, adding suitable wellhead equipment, and commencing oil and gas production. Such wellhead equipment is shown in
In light of the above disclosure, it should be evident that there are many uses for the Smart Shuttle and its Retrieval Sub. One use was to retrieve from the drill string the Retrievable Instrumentation Package. Another was to deploy into the well suitable pump-down latching one-way valve means and a series of wiper plugs. And yet another was to deploy into the well and retrieve the Casing Saw.
The deployment into the wellbore of the well suitable pump-down latching one-way valve means and a series of wiper plugs and the Casing Saw are examples of “Smart Completion Devices” being deployed into the well with the Smart Shuttle and its Retrieval Sub. Put another way, a “Smart Completion Device” is any device capable of being deployed into the well and retrieved from the well with the Smart Shuttle and its Retrieval Sub and such a device may also be called a “smart completion means”. These “Smart Completion Devices” may often have upper attachment apparatus similar to that shown in elements 620 and 622 in
Any “Smart Completion Device” may have installed within it one or more suitable sensors, measurement apparatus associated with those sensors, batteries and/or power source, and communication means for transmitting the measured information to the Smart Shuttle, and/or to a Retrieval Sub, and/or to the surface. Any “Smart Completion Device” may also have installed within it suitable means to receive commands from the Smart Shuttle and or from the surface of the earth.
The following is a brief initial list of Smart Completion Devices that may be deployed into the well by the Smart Shuttle and its Retrieval Sub:
From the above list, the “smart completion means” includes smart one-way valve means; smart one-way valve means with controlled casing locking means; smart one-way valve means with latching means; smart wiper plug means; smart wiper plug means with controlled casing locking means; smart wiper plugs with latching means; smart wiper plug means for cement squeeze jobs having controlled casing locking means; smart retrievable latching electronics means; smart whipstock means with controlled casing locking means; smart drill bit vibration damping means; smart robotic pig means to machine slots in pipes; smart robotic pig means to chemically treat inside of pipes; smart robotic pig means to mill any required slots or other patterns in pipes; smart liner installation means; and smart packer means.
In the above, the term “pump-down” may mean one or both of the following depending on the context: (a) “pump-down” can mean that the “internal pump of the Smart Shuttle” 402 is used to translate the Smart Shuttle downward into the well; or (b) force on fluids introduced by inlets into the Smart Shuttle Chamber and other inlets can be used to force down wiper-plug like devices as described above. The term “casing locking mechanism” has been used above that means, in this case, it locks into the interior of the drill pipe, casing, or whatever pipe in which it is installed. Many of the preferred embodiments herein can also be used in standard casing installations which is a subject that will be described below.
In summary, a “wireline conveyed smart shuttle means” has “retrieval and installation means” for attachment of suitable “smart completion means”. A “tubing conveyed smart shuttle means” also has “retrieval and installation means” for attachment of suitable “smart completion means”. If a wireline is inside the tubing, then a “tubing with wireline conveyed shuttle means” (also “tubing with wireline conveyed Smart Shuttle means”) has “retrieval and installation means” for attachment of “smart completion means”. As described in this paragraph, and depending on the context, a “smart shuttle means” may refer to a “wireline conveyed smart shuttle means” or to a “tubing conveyed smart shuttle means”, whichever may be appropriate from the particular usage. It should also be stated that a “smart shuttle means” may be deployed into a well substantially under the control of a computer system which is an example of a “closed-loop completion system”.
Put yet another way, the smart shuttle means may be deployed into a pipe with a wireline means, with a tubing means, with a tubing conveyed wireline means, and as a robotic means, meaning that the Smart Shuttle provides its own power and is untethered from any wireline or tubing, and in such a case, it is called “an untethered robotic smart shuttle means” (also “an untethered robotic Smart Shuttle means”) for the purposes herein.
It should also be stated for completeness here that any means that are installed in wellbores to complete oil and gas wells that are described in Ref. 1, in Ref. 2, and Ref. 4 (defined above, and mentioned again below), and which can be suitably attached to the retrieval and installation means of a smart shuttle means shall be defined herein as yet another smart completion means. For example, in another embodiment, a retrieval sub may be suitably attached to a wireline-conveyed well tractor, and the wireline-conveyed well tractor may be used to convey downhole various smart completion devices attached to the retrieval sub for deployment within the wellbore to complete oil and gas wells.
Various different well completions typically used in the industry are described in the following references:
It is evident from the preferred embodiments above, and the description of more complex well completions in (a), (b), (c), and (d) herein, that Smart Shuttles with Retrieval Subs deploying and retrieving various different Smart Completion Devices can be used to complete a vast majority of oil and gas wells. Here, the Smart Shuttles may be either wireline conveyed, or tubing conveyed, whichever is most convenient. Single string dual completion wells may be completed in analogy with
It is further evident from the preferred embodiments above that Smart Shuttles with Retrieval Subs deploying and retrieving various different Smart Completion Devices can be also used to complete multilateral wellbores. Here, the Smart Shuttles may be either wireline conveyed, or tubing conveyed, whichever is most convenient. For a description of such multilateral wells, please refer to the volume entitled “Multilateral Well Technology”, having the author of “Baker Hughes, Inc.”, that was presented in part by Mr. Randall Cade of Baker Oil Tools, that was handed-out during a “Short Course” at the “1999 SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition”, October 3–6, Houston, Tex., having the symbol of “SPE International Education Services” on the front page of the volume, a symbol of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, which society is located in Richardson, Tex., an entire copy of which volume is incorporated herein by reference.
During more complex completion processes of wellbores, it may be useful to alternate between wireline conveyed smart shuttle means and coiled tubing conveyed smart shuttle means. Of course, the “Wireline Lubricator System” 374 in
Many preferred embodiments of the invention above have referred to drilling and completing through the drill string. However, it is now evident from the above embodiments and the descriptions thereof, that many of the above inventions can be equally useful to complete oil and gas wells with standard well casing. For a description of procedures involving standard casing operations, see Steps 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14 of the specification under the subtitle entitled “Typical Drilling Process”.
Therefore, any embodiment of the invention that pertains to a pipe that is a drill string, also pertains to pipe that is a casing. Put another way, many of the above embodiments of the invention will function in any pipe of any material, any metallic pipe, any steel pipe, any drill pipe, any drill string, any casing, any casing string, any suitably sized liner, any suitably sized tubing, or within any means to convey oil and gas to the surface for production, hereinafter defined as “pipe means”.
From the disclosure herein, it should now be evident that the above defined “smart shuttle means” having “retrieval and installation means” can be used to install within the “pipe means” any of the above defined “smart completion means”. Here, the “smart shuttle means” includes a “wireline conveyed shuttle means” and/or a “tubing conveyed shuttle means” and/or a “tubing with wireline conveyed shuttle means”.
A first definition of the phrases “one pass drilling”, “One-Trip-Drilling” and “One-Trip-Down-Drilling” is quoted above to “mean the process that results in the last long piece of pipe put in the wellbore to which a drill bit is attached is left in place after total depth is reached, and is completed in place, and oil and gas is ultimately produced from within the wellbore through that long piece of pipe. Of course, other pipes, including risers, conductor pipes, surface casings, intermediate casings, etc., may be present, but the last very long pipe attached to the drill bit that reaches the final depth is left in place and the well is completed using this first definition. This process is directed at dramatically reducing the number of steps to drill and complete oil and gas wells.”
This concept, however, can be generalized one step further that is another embodiment of the invention. As many prior patents show, it is possible to drill a well with a “retrievable drill bit” that is otherwise also called a “retractable drill bit”. For example, see the following U.S. Patents: U.S. Pat. No. 3,552,508, C. C. Brown, entitled “Apparatus for Rotary Drilling of Wells Using Casing as the Drill Pipe”, that issued on Jan. 5, 1971, an entire copy of which is incorporated herein by reference; U.S. Pat. No. 3,603,411, H. D. Link, entitled “Retractable Drill Bits”, that issued on Sep. 7, 1971, an entire copy of which is incorporated herein by reference; U.S. Pat. No. 4,651,837, W. G. Mayfield, entitled “Downhole Retrievable Drill Bit”, that issued on Mar. 24, 1987, an entire copy of which is incorporated herein by reference; U.S. Pat. No. 4,962,822, J. H. Pascale, entitled “Downhole Drill Bit and Bit Coupling”, that issued on Oct. 16, 1990, an entire copy of which is incorporated herein by reference; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,197,553, R. E. Leturno, entitled “Drilling with Casing and Retrievable Drill Bit”, that issued on Mar. 30, 1993, an entire copy of which is incorporated herein by reference. Some experts in the industry call this type of drilling technology to be “drilling with casing”. For the purposes herein, the terms “retrievable drill bit”, “retrievable drill bit means”, “retractable drill bit” and “retractable drill bit means” may be used interchangeably.
For the purposes of logical explanation at this point, in the event that any drill pipe is used to drill any extended reach lateral wellbore from any offshore platform, and in addition that wellbore perhaps reaches 20 miles laterally from the offshore platform, then to save time and money, the assembled pipe itself should be left in place and not tripped back to the platform. This is true whether or not the drill bit is left on the end of the pipe, or whether or not the well was drilled with so-called “casing drilling” methods. For typical casing-while-drilling methods, see the article entitled “Casing-while-drilling: The next step change in well construction”, World Oil, October, 1999, pages 34–40, and entire copy of which is incorporated herein by reference. Further, all terms and definitions in this particular article, and entire copies of each and every one of the 13 references cited at the end this article are incorporated herein by reference.
Accordingly a more general second definition of the phrases “one pass drilling”, “One-Trip-Drilling” and “One-Trip-Down-Drilling” shall include the concept that once the drill pipe means reaches total depth and any maximum extended lateral reach, that the pipe means is thereafter left in place and the well is completed. The above embodiments have adequately discussed the cases of leaving the drill bit attached to the drill pipe and completing the oil and gas wells. In the case of a retrievable bit, the bit itself can be left in place and the well completed without retrieving the bit, but the above apparatus and methods of operation using the Smart Shuttle, the Retrieval Sub, and the various Smart Production Devices can also be used in the drill pipe means that is left in place following the removal of a retrievable bit. This also includes leaving ordinary casing in place following the removal of a retrieval bit and any underreamer during casing drilling operations. This process also includes leaving any type of pipe, tubing, casing, etc. in the wellbore following the removal of the retrievable bit. The retrieved cable-tool bit or bailer dangling on the end of its line became known as the fish.
In these days of rotary drilling, a fish can be any undesirable object in the hole that must be removed before drilling can continue, such as a damaged or stuck part of the drilling string, a lost wireline logging tool, a bit cone, a hand tool, or even naturally occurring pieces of iron pyrite.
In particular, following the removal of a retrievable drill bit during wellboring activities, one of the first steps to complete the well is to prepare the bottom of the well for production using one-way valves, wiper plugs, cement, and gravel as described in relation to
The above described “landing means” can be used for yet another purpose. This “landing means” can also be used during the one-trip-down-drilling and completion of wellbores in the following manner. First, a standard rotary drill bit is attached to the “landing means”. However, the attachment for the drill bit and the landing means are designed and constructed so that a ball plug is pumped down from the surface to release the rotary drill bit from the landing means. There are many examples of such release devices used in the industry, and no further description shall be provided herein in the interests of brevity. For example, relatively recent references to the use of a pump-down plugs, ball plugs, and the like include the following: (a) U.S. Pat. No. 5,833,002, that issued on Nov. 10, 1998, having the inventor of Michael Holcombe, that is entitled “Remote Control Plug-Dropping Head”, an entire copy of which is incorporated herein by reference; and (b) U.S. Pat. No. 5,890,537 that issued on Apr. 6, 1999, having the inventors of Lavaure et. al., that is entitled “Wiper Plug Launching System for Cementing Casing with Liners”, an entire copy of which is incorporated herein by reference. After the release of the standard drill bit from the landing means, a retrievable drill bit and underreamer can thereafter be conveyed downhole from the surface through the drill string (or the casing string, as the case may be) and suitably attached to this landing means. Therefore, during the one-trip-down-drilling and completion of a wellbore, the following steps may be taken: (a) attach a standard rotary drill bit to the landing means having a releasing mechanism actuated by a releasing means, such as a pump down ball; (b) drill as far as possible with standard rotary drill bit attached to landing means; (c) if the standard rotary drill bit becomes dull, drill a sidetrack hole perhaps 50 feet or so into formation; (d) pump down the releasing means, such as a pump down ball, to release the standard rotary drill bit from the landing means and abandon the then dull standard rotary drill bit in the sidetrack hole; (e) pull up on the drill string or casing string as the case may be; (f) install a sharp retrievable drill bit and underreamer as desired by attaching them to the landing means; and (f) resume drilling the borehole in the direction desired. This method has the best of both worlds. On the one-hand, if the standard rotary drill bit remains sharp enough to reach final depth, that is the optimum outcome. On the other-hand, if the standard rotary drill bit dulls prematurely, then using the above defined “Sidetrack Drill Bit Replacement Procedure” in elements (a) through (f) allows for the efficient installation of a sharp drill bit on the end of the drill string or casing string, as the case may be. The landing means may also be made a part of a Smart Drilling and Completion Sub. If a Retrievable Instrumentation Package is present in the drilling apparatus, for example within a Smart Drilling and Completion Sub, then the above steps need to be modified to suitably remove the Retrievable Instrumentation Package before step (d) and then re-install the Retrievable Instrumentation Package before step (f). However, such changes are minor variations on the preferred embodiments herein described.
To briefly review the above, many descriptions of closed-loop completion systems have been described. One particular version of a closed-loop completion system uses a preferred embodiment that discloses methods of causing movement of shuttle means having lateral sealing means within a “pipe means” disposed within a wellbore that includes at least the step of pumping a volume of fluid from a first side of the shuttle means within the pipe means to a second side of the shuttle means within the pipe means, where the shuttle means has an internal pump means. Pumping fluid from one side to the other of the smart shuttle means causes it to move “downward” into the pipe means, or “upward” out of the pipe means, depending on the direction of the fluid being pumped. The pumping of this fluid causes the smart shuttle means to move, translate, change place, change position, advance into the pipe means, or come out of the pipe means, as the case may be, and may be used in other types of pipes.
In
In
In
In
In
In
In
The particular variety of a pump-down one-way cement valve shown in
In
In
As shown in
Retrievable drill bit apparatus 684, also called a retractable drill bit apparatus, is disposed within lower pipe section 680. The retrievable drill bit 686, also called the retractable drill bit, is attached to the retrievable bit apparatus at location 688. It has pilot drill bit, and first undercutter 692, and second undercutter 694. The pilot bit may be any type of drill bit including a roller cone bit, a diamond bit, a drag bit, etc. which may be removed through the interior of the lower pipe section (when the first and second undercutters are retracted). Portions of such a retractable drill bit apparatus are generally described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,197,553, an entire copy of which is incorporated herein by reference. The retrievable drill bit apparatus latch 694 latches into place within Latch Recession 25. The retrievable drill bit apparatus possesses a top retrieval sub 696 so that it can be retrieved by wireline or by drill pipe, or by other suitable means. Upper seal 698 of the retrievable drill bit apparatus is used to pump down the apparatus into place with well fluids and to prevent mud from flowing downward below the upper seal in the region between the inner portion of lower pipe section 680 and the outer portion of the retrievable drill bit apparatus (which region is designated by element 690 in
The well is drilled and completed using the following procedure. In relation to
Then using techniques described in relation to
It is now appreciated that the dimensions of portions of the Latching Float Collar Valve Assembly 21, including the Upper Seal 23, the Latch Recession 25, the Latch 27, and the Latching Spring 29 are to be designed so that the outside diameter d1 of the retrievable drill bit apparatus 684 designated by the legend d1 in
The retrievable drill bit apparatus 684 in
In the above discussion in this Section, a well fluid may include any of the following: water, mud, or cement. In the above discussion in this Section, the term “well fluid” may also be a “slurry material” defined earlier.
The pump-down one-way valve means may include the following: (a) any types of devices that latch into place near the end the a pipe; (b) any type of devices that “bottom out” against a stop near the end of a pipe; (c) any type of devices that have a “locking key-way” near the end of a pipe; (d) any type of devices that have overpressure activated “locking dogs” that lock into place near the end of a pipe; (e) any type of pump-down one-way valve means attached to a wireline where sensors are used to sense the position, and to control, the one-way valve; (e) any type of pump-down one-way valve means attached to a coiled tubing; and (f) any type of pump-down one-way valve means attached to a coiled tubing having electrical conductors that are used to sense the position, and to control, the one-way valve.
Various preferred embodiments provide for an umbilical to be attached to a pump-down one-way valve means where the umbilical explicitly includes a wireline; a coiled tubing; a coiled tubing with wireline; one or more coiled tubings in one concentric assembly with at least one electrical conductor; one or more coiled tubings in one assembly that may be non-concentric; a composite tube; a composite tube with electrical wires in the wall of the composite tube; a composite tube with electrical wires in the wall of the composite tube and at least one optical fiber; a composite tube that is neutrally buoyant in any well fluid present; a composite tube with electrical wires in the wall of the composite tube that is neutrally buoyant in well fluids present; a composite tube with electrical wires in the composite tube and at least one optical fiber that is neutrally buoyant in any well fluids present.
In view of the above, one preferred embodiment of the invention is the method of drilling and completing a wellbore in a geological formation to produce hydrocarbons from a well comprising at least the following four steps: (a) drilling the well with a retrievable drill bit attached to a casing; (b) removing the retrievable drill bit from the casing; (c) pumping down a one-way valve into the casing with a well fluid; and (d) using the one-way valve to cement the casing into the wellbore.
In view of the above, another preferred embodiment of the invention is the method of pumping down a one-way valve with a well fluid into a casing disposed in a wellbore penetrating a subterranean geological formation that is used to cement the casing into the wellbore as at least one step to complete the well to produce hydrocarbons from the well, whereby any retrievable drill bit attached to the casing to drill the well is removed from the casing prior to the step.
In view of the above, another preferred embodiment of the invention is the method of pumping down a one-way valve with well fluid into a pipe disposed in a wellbore penetrating a subterranean geological formation that is used to cement the pipe into the wellbore as at least one step to complete the well to produce hydrocarbons from the well, whereby the retrievable drill bit attached to the pipe to drill the well is removed from the pipe prior to the step, and whereby the pipe is selected from the group of “pipe means” listed above. Here, the well fluid may be drilling mud, cement, water or a “slurry material” which has been defined earlier.
In view of the above, yet another preferred embodiment of the invention is the method of pumping down a one-way valve into a pipe with a fluid that is used as a step to cement the pipe into a wellbore in a geological formation within the earth.
In view of the above, yet another preferred embodiment of the invention is the method of pumping down a cement float valve into a casing with a fluid that is used as a step to cement the casing into a wellbore in a geological formation within the earth.
In view of the above, the phrases “one-way valve”, “cement float valve”, and “one-way cement valve means” may be used interchangeably.
While the above description contains many specificities, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the invention, but rather as exemplification of preferred embodiments thereto. As have been briefly described, there are many possible variations. Accordingly, the scope of the invention should be determined not only by the embodiments illustrated, but by the appended claims and their legal equivalents.
The present application claims priority from and the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/384,964, filed Jun. 3, 2002, that is entitled “Umbilicals for Well Conveyance Systems and Additional Smart Shuttles and Related Drilling Systems”, which is fully incorporated herein by reference. The present application claims priority from and the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/367,638, filed Mar. 26, 2002, that is entitled “Smart Shuttle Systems and Drilling Systems”, which is fully incorporated herein by reference. The present application claims priority from and the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/353,457, filed Jan. 31, 2002, which is entitled “Additional Smart Shuttle Systems”, which is fully incorporated herein by reference. The present application also claims priority from and the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/313,654, filed Aug. 19, 2001, that is entitled “Smart Shuttle Systems”, which is fully incorporated herein by reference. The present application is a continuation-in-part (C.I.P.) application of co-pending application Ser. No. 10/162,302, filed Jun. 4, 2002, that is entitled “Closed-Loop Conveyance Systems for Well Servicing”, which is fully incorporated herein by reference. Application Ser. No. 10/162,302 is a continuation-in-part (C.I.P.) application of application Ser. No. 09/487,197, filed Jan. 19, 2000, that is entitled “Closed-Loop System to Complete Oil and Gas Wells”, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,397,946, that issued on Jun. 4, 2002, which is fully incorporated herein by reference. Application Ser. No. 09/487,197 was corrected by a Certificate of Correction, which was “Signed and Sealed” on the date of Oct. 1, 2002, to be a continuation-in-part (C.I.P.) of application Ser. No. 09/295,808, filed Apr. 20, 1999, that is entitled “One Pass Drilling and Completion of Extended Reach Lateral Wellbores with Drill Bit Attached to Drill String to Produce Hydrocarbons from Offshore Platforms”, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,263,987, that issued on Jul. 24, 2001, which is fully incorporated herein by reference. Application Ser. No. 09/295,808 is a continuation-in-part (C.I.P.) of application Ser. No. 08/708,396, filed Sep. 3, 1996, that is entitled “Method and Apparatus for Cementing Drill Strings in Place for One Pass Drilling and Completion of Oil and Gas Wells”, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,894,897, that issued on Apr. 20, 1999, which is fully incorporated herein by reference. Application Ser. No. 08/708,396 is a continuation-in-part (C.I.P.) of application Ser. No. 08/323,152, filed Oct. 14, 1994, that is entitled “Method and Apparatus for Cementing Drill Strings in Place for One Pass Drilling and Completion of Oil and Gas Wells”, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,551,521, that issued on Sep. 3, 1996, which is fully incorporated herein by reference. Applicant claims priority from and the benefit of the above five Applications having Ser. Nos. 10/162,302, 09/487,197, 09/295,808, 08/708,396, and 08/323,152. The present application relates to application Ser. No. 09/375,479, filed Aug. 16, 1999, that is entitled “Smart Shuttles to Complete Oil and Gas Wells”, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,189,621, that issued on Feb. 20, 2001, which is fully incorporated herein by reference. The present application further relates to PCT Application Serial No. PCT/US00/22095, filed Aug. 9, 2000, that is entitled “Smart Shuttles to Complete Oil and Gas Wells”, which is fully incorporated herein by reference. This PCT Application corresponds to Ser. No. 09/375,479. The present application also relates to application Ser. No. 09/294,077, filed Apr. 18, 1999, that is entitled “One Pass Drilling and Completion of Wellbores with Drill Bit Attached to Drill String to Make Cased Wellbores to Produce Hydrocarbons”, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,158,531, that issued on Dec. 12, 2000, which is fully incorporated herein by reference.
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| WO 0037771 | Jun 2000 | WO |
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| WO 0112946 | Feb 2001 | WO |
| WO 0146550 | Jun 2001 | WO |
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| WO 0179650 | Oct 2001 | WO |
| WO 0181708 | Nov 2001 | WO |
| WO 0183932 | Nov 2001 | WO |
| WO 0194738 | Dec 2001 | WO |
| WO 0194739 | Dec 2001 | WO |
| WO 0203155 | Jan 2002 | WO |
| WO 0203156 | Jan 2002 | WO |
| WO 0244601 | Jun 2002 | WO |
| WO 02081863 | Oct 2002 | WO |
| WO 02086287 | Oct 2002 | WO |
| WO 03074836 | Sep 2003 | WO |
| WO 03087525 | Oct 2003 | WO |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60313654 | Aug 2001 | US | |
| 60353457 | Jan 2002 | US | |
| 60367638 | Mar 2002 | US | |
| 60384964 | Jun 2002 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 10162302 | Jun 2002 | US |
| Child | 10189570 | US | |
| Parent | 09487197 | Jan 2000 | US |
| Child | 10162302 | US | |
| Parent | 09295808 | Apr 1999 | US |
| Child | 09487197 | US | |
| Parent | 08708396 | Sep 1996 | US |
| Child | 09295808 | US | |
| Parent | 08323152 | Oct 1994 | US |
| Child | 08708396 | US |
